Susan Banks, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
Wow, that is so cool!” "I want to share my excitement about science with students. Biology is best learned through doing and I try to develop opportunities for students to get as much hands-on experience as possible in the classroom or in the research lab. The knowledge, enthusiasm, and skill set that students build in the biology program at Florida Southern College is important no matter which path they choose after earning their undergraduate degree.
Biography
Throughout my training, I have had the opportunity to teach students in the classroom and to mentor them on research projects in the lab. My scientific research background is in the areas of cell biology, genetics, biochemistry, and neuroscience. I earned my BA in Biology from The University of Kansas, my PhD in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology from The University of Texas at Austin, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. As an undergraduate and graduate student, my research took advantage of imaging and the powerful genetics of fruit flies to study cell-cell communication. My dissertation was focused on Auxilin, which is involved in endocytosis, and its role in Notch/Delta signaling. As a postdoctoral researcher, I used biochemistry and imaging to study protein-protein interactions at synapses in the sea lamprey. More specifically, I studied how the presence of excess alpha-syn uclein, a protein linked to Parkinson's Disease, results in synaptic defects. I am looking forward to continuing this research with students at Florida Southern.Education
B.A. Biology (with honors), The University of Kansas, Lawrence, 2000-2004Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 2004-2012
Postdoctoral Training, The Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering, The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA. PI: Jennifer Morgan. Project: Parkinson’s Disease: Utilizing the lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, to identify the mechanism by which excess α-synuclein causes synaptic vesicle trafficking defects, 2012-2016
Awards
Florida Southern College- Marine Biological Laboratory Whitman Research Associate (Summer 2019)
- Faculty Summer Stipend Award (Summer 2019)
- Hansen Faculty and Student Collaborative Research Award (Summer 2017, 2018, 2020*) *cancelled due to COVID-19
- Bennett Graduate Summer Fellowship (2010 and 2011)
- School of Biological Sciences Teaching Award, Honorable Mention (2008, 2009, nominated 2010)
- Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) Scholarship (2002)
Publications
Bayline RJ, Morrison ME, Illig, KR, Martinez-Acosta VG, Becker LA, Favero CB, McFarlane HG, Chase LA, Banks SML, Griffin GD, Robinson S, Rose JK, Tong MT, Basu AC, Chan JP. 2020. Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. JUNE. 18(2): E4-E5. PMID: 32848524Peer Reviewed:
Banks SML, Medeiros AT, Sousa R, Lafer EM, Morgan JR. 2021. Chaperone proteins as ameliorators of α-synuclein-induced synaptic pathologies: Insight into Parkinson’s Disease. Neural Regeneration Research. 16(6): 1198-1199. https://doi.org/10.4103/1673-5374.300431
Banks SML*, Medeiros AT*, McQuillan M, Busch DJ, Ibarraran-Viniegra AS, Sousa R, Lafer EM, Morgan JR. 2020. Hsc70 Ameliorates the Vesicle Recycling Defects Caused by Excess α-Synuclein at Synapses. eNeuro. 7(1): 1-18. *Authors contributed equally to this work. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0448-19.2020
Fogerson SM, van Brummen AJ, Busch DJ, Allen SR Roychaudhuri R, Banks SML, Klärner F-G, Schrader T, Bitan G, Morgan JR. 2016. Reducing synuclein accumulation improves neuronal survival after spinal cord injury. Experimental Neurology. Apr; 278: 105-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2016.02.004
Busch DJ, Oliphint PA, Walsh RB, Banks SML, Woods WS, George JM, Morgan JR. 2014. Acute elevation of synuclein protein inhibits synaptic vesicle recycling. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 25:3926-3941. https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.e14-02-0708
Banks SML*, Cho B*, Eun SH*, Lee J*, Windler S*, Xie X*, Bilder D, Fischer JA. 2011. The functions of Auxilin and Rab11 in Drosophila suggest that the fundamental role of ligand endocytosis in Notch signaling cells is not recycling. PLOS One. 6(3): e18259. *Authors contributed equally to this work. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018259
Eun SH, Banks SML, Fischer JA. 2008. Auxilin is essential for Delta signaling. Development. Mar. 135(6): 1089-95. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.009530
Kracklauer MP, Banks SML, Xie X, Wu Y, Fischer JA. 2007. Drosophila klaroid encodes a SUN domain protein required for Klarsicht localization to the nuclear envelope and nuclear migration in the eye. Fly. Mar-Apr; 1(2): 75-85. https://doi.org/10.4161/fly.4254