Rachael Barry

Curriculum Vitae

PDF: CV 2024

 

RACHAEL M. BARRY, Ph.D.

rmbarry@uci.edu | 949-824-7998 | McGaugh Hall, Room 2232

University of California, Irvine

 

EXPERIENCE

University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA

Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

School of Biological Sciences

Assistant Teaching Professor, September 2019 – Present

Co-director, Microbiology & Immunology Major, January 2021 – Present

EDUCATION

  • Princeton University, Ph.D., Molecular Biology, August 2015
  • New York University, B.A., Biology, May 2010

GUEST LECTURING/ OTHER EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE      

  • San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
    • Guest Lecturer, BIOL 549: Microbial Genetics and Physiology, Fall 2018
    • Guest Lecturer, CHEM 365: Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology I, Spring 2019
    • Course Redesign, BIOL 203L: Principles of Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, 2018-2019
  • University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA
    • Lecturer and Mentor, 3D Electron Microscopy Boot Camp, September 12-14, 2018
    • Guest Lecturer, BIOM 272/274: Seminars in Genetics/Seminars in Molecular Cell Biology, April 2017
  • Sapling Learning/Macmillan Learning, Austin, TX (remote)
    • Freelance Consultant, Higher Education Content Development, June 2016 – September 2019
    • Courses: Biochemistry, Anatomy and Physiology
  • Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
    • Assistant in Instruction, February 2012 – June 2014
    • MOL350 – Laboratory in Molecular Biology (Spring 2012, 2013)
    • MOL345/CHEM345 –Biochemistry (Fall 2012)
    • MOL506 – Cell and Developmental Biology (Spring 2014)
  • Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, New York, NY
    • Pre-college Teacher, October 2007 – May 2010
    • Courses: SAT, PSAT, SHSAT
  • America Reads, New York, NY
    • Literacy Tutor/Teaching Assistant, January 2007 – March 2008
    • Courses: Environmental Science, Biology (NYC Public Schools)

AWARDS AND HONORS

  • Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2024 (UC Irvine, School of Biological Sciences)
  • Faculty Fellowship for Digital Learning Excellence, 2023-2024 (UC Irvine)

FUNDING

  • Hispanic-Serving Institutions Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Award, 2024-2027 (National Science Foundation)
    • “Promoting Student Success by Designing and Evaluating Evidence-Based Interventions for Biology Office Hours.”
  • Roberta Williams Laboratory Teaching Initiative Grant, 2020 (Association for Biology Laboratory Education)
    • “Antibiotic Sensitivity and Metabolism: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Module.”
  • San Diego IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017 – 2019 (UC San Diego)
    • A competitive fellowship to fund postdoctoral scholars at UC, San Diego. The Institutions Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program is a postdoctoral training program to prepare fellows for positions in academia. K12GM068524 (awarded to Dr. JoAnn Trejo, UC San Diego).
  • Myhrvold-Havranek Innovative Thinking Fellowship Award, 2014 – 2015 (Princeton)
    • Awarded to one Princeton student to acknowledge exceptional originality and promise in Mathematics, Physics, or Molecular Biology. Awarded for “A new enzymatic control paradigm: the function, mechanism, and logic of CTP synthetase regulation by large-scale polymerization.”

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

  • Post-doctoral Research, October 2015 – August 2019
    • Professor Andres Leschziner, University of California, San Diego
    • Cryo-electron microscopy structural determination of chromatin assembly at high resolution. 
  • Thesis Research, June 2011 – August 2015
    • Professor Zemer Gitai, Princeton University
    • The mechanism and function of CTP synthetase polymerization in E. coli.
  • Undergraduate Research, May 2008 – May 2010
    • Professor Christine Rushlow, New York University
    • Investigation of the maternal to zygotic genetic control transition in Drosophila melanogaster.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Au, V., Bru, J., Barry, R. “A CURE for antibiotic resistance: Using metabolite supplementation to increase antibiotic efficacy.” Advances in Biology Laboratory Education. Available online 1 July 2024. 10.37590/able.v44.art1.
  • Barry, R.M. Bohlson, S., Mahavongtrakul, M. “Development of Dry Lab Curriculum for High Enrollment Introductory Biology Courses.” Advances in Biology Laboratory Education. Available online 27 June 2023, 10.37590/able.v43.art20.
  • Barry, R.M. “Increasing undergraduate knowledge about journal peer review using outside reading and in-class discussion.” Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education. Available online 16 March, 2023, 10.1128/jmbe.00156-22.
  • Lynch, E.M., Hicks, D.R., Shepherd, M., Endrizzi, J.A, Maker, A., Hansen, J.M., Barry, R.M., Gitai, Z., Baldwin, E.P., Kollman, J.M. “Human CTP synthase filament structure reveals the active enzyme conformation.” Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. Available online 1 May 2017, 10.1038/nsmb.3407.
  • Habrian, C., Chandrasekhara, A., Shahrvini, B., Hua, B., Jesinghaus, R., Lee, J., Barry, R.M., Gitai, Z., Kollman, J., Baldwin, E. “Inhibition of E. coli CTP synthetase by NADH and other nicotinamides, and their mutual interactions with CTP and GTP.” Biochemistry, Available online 29 August 2016, 10.1021/acs.biochem.6b00383.
  • Barry, R.M., Bitbol, A., Lorestani, A., Charles, E., Habrian, C., Hansen, J., Li, H., Baldwin, E., Wingreen, N., Kollman, J., Gitai, Z. “Large-scale filament formation inhibits the activity of CTP synthase.” eLife, Available online 16 July, 2014, 10.7554/eLife.03638.
  • Barry, R.M. and Gitai, Z. “Self-assembling enzymes and the origins of the cytoskeleton.” Current Opinion in Microbiology, Available online 18 October 2011, ISSN 1369-5274, 10.1016/j.mib.2011.09.015.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

  • Barry, R. “Write and Review Like a Scientist: A Hands-On Module for Learning About Journal Publishing and Peer Review.” July 2024. Oral presentation at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting. Minneapolis, MN.
  • Barry, R., Williams, A. “Using Computational Tools to Visualize SARS-CoV-2 Genome Variation.” June 2024. Workshop at the Association for Biology Laboratory Education Conference. College Park, MD.
  • Barry, R. “Write and Review Like a Scientist: A Hands-On Module for Learning About Journal Publishing and Peer Review.” June 2024. Oral presentation at the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research in STEM Conference. El Paso, TX.
  • Barry, R. “Classmates to Colleagues: Training Scientists Through Course-Based Research Projects.” May 2024. Oral presentation at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Chemistry SciTrek Seminar Series. Santa Barbara, CA.
  • Barry, R., Au, V., Bhargava, S., Liu, Y., Seto, N. “Development of the STEM Office Hours Observation Protocol: An Instrument to Characterize Student and Instructor Behaviors in Biology Office Hours.” July 2023. Oral presentation at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting. Minneapolis, MN.
  • Hernandez, A., Baker, D., Barry, R., Berry, C., Esparza, D., Johnson, S., Mathur, V., Sartin, C., Thomas, A., Townsend, H., Olimpo, J. “Strategies for Effectively Integrating Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Education into Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs).” July 2023. Roundtable presentation at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research National Meeting. Minneapolis, MN.
  • Barry, R., Au, V., Bru, J.  “A CURE for Antibiotic Resistance: Using Metabolite Supplementation to Increase Antibiotic Efficacy.” June 2023. Workshop at the Association for Biology Laboratory Education Conference. San Diego, CA.
  • Gonzalez, L., Hsu, J., Woods, V., Barry, R., Lewis, J., Durden, L. “Perspectives on Barriers to Office Hours Engagement.” June 2023. Panel at the Sloane Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses Annual Meeting. Ann Arbor, MI.
  • Barry, R. “Student Use of Instructor Office Hours: Participating, Spectating, or Missing Out.” January 2023. Oral presentation at the Hawaii International Conference on Education. Honolulu, HI.
  • Barry, R., Bru, J. “Antibiotic Sensitivity and Metabolism.” July 2022. Oral presentation at the American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators. Remote.
  • Barry, R., Bohlson, S., Mahavongtrakul, M. “Development of dry lab curriculum for high enrollment introductory biology courses.” June 2022. Workshop at the Association for Biology Laboratory Education Conference. Victoria, BC, Canada.
  • Barry, R., Lukin, K., Bohlson, S. “Bringing clinical immunology into the classroom: Engaging premed and medical students and reinforcing the basics.” July 2021. Invited webinar. Society of Leukocyte Biology Immunology Educators Series. Remote.
  • Barry, R.M., J. Fei, J. Kadonaga, A. Leschziner. “Visualizing chromatin assembly at high resolution: cryo-electron microscopy of the prenucleosome complex.” July 2019. Poster presentation at the IRACDA National Conference. Ann Arbor, MI.
    • Outstanding Poster Award
  • Barry, R.M., A. Bitbol, A. Lorestani, E. J. Charles, C. H. Habrian, J. M. Hansen, H. Li, E. P. Baldwin, N. S. Wingreen, J. M. Kollman, Z. Gitai. “Product-stimulated polymerization inhibits the enzymatic activity of CTP synthetase.” August 2014. Poster presentation at the Plant and Microbial Cytoskeleton Gordon Research Conference. Andover, NH.
    • Outstanding Poster Award.
  • Barry, R.M., A. Bitbol, A. Lorestani, E. J. Charles, C. H. Habrian, J. M. Hansen, H. Li, E. P. Baldwin, N. S. Wingreen, J. M. Kollman, Z. Gitai. “Product-stimulated polymerization inhibits the enzymatic activity of CTP synthetase.” December 2013. Oral presentation at the Zing Bacterial Cell Biology Conference. Xcaret, QR, Mexico.
    • Selected talk, travel grant.
  • Barry, R. M., J. M. Kollman, and Z. Gitai. “CTP synthase filaments: enzymatic regulation by polymerization.” September 2012. Poster presentation at the Princeton Molecular Biology Retreat. Princeton, NJ.
    • Best Graduate Student Poster Award.