Ginny Morriss, PhD
Associate Professor
Office: 329 Jepson Science Center
Email: gmorriss@umw.edu
Phone: 540-654-1413
Ginny Morriss is a Geneticist and studies genetic diseases of skeletal muscle. She received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of New Mexico in 2012. She then worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. She previously taught General Genetics and Embryology at the University of Houston-Downtown.
Dr. Morriss’ research focuses on the genetic disease Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1). Research topics in the Morriss lab vary so students can gain a wide range of research skills. Some lines of research in the lab focus on how genetic modifiers of disease can influence the severity of structural and functional phenotypes associated with skeletal muscle in a Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) model of DM1. We also complete some of the above studies in tissue culture models, utilizing transient transfection models in both mouse and human myotube cultures and use an array of molecular techniques to answer questions. Another area of research involves understanding how exercise training can influence the severity of the DM1 phenotype. Still, some other students are looking beyond skeletal muscle and looking into how other organ systems are affected by DM1 in both flies and in human tissue cultures. Finally, a project is ongoing to determine now skeletal myotubes communicate with and influence the development and stability of vascular networks.
Courses:
- BIOL 121: Biological Concepts
- BIOL 125: Phage Hunters I
- BIOL 260: Biostatistics and Research Design
- BIOL 340: Cellular Biology
- BIOL 341: General Genetics
- BIOL 406: Histology
- BIOL 431: Research in RNA Technology
- BIOL 451: Senior Seminar