Dr. Mike Lehman - The Brain’s role in Reproductive Function
Dr. Mike Lehman’s research has focused on how the brain controls fundamental aspects
of reproduction, including the neural and hormonal mechanisms that regulate reproduction,
stress, metabolism, and seasonal physiology. He is widely recognized for his discovery
and characterization of KNDy neurons (co-expressing kisspeptin, neurokinin B, and
dynorphin) in the hypothalamus and for demonstrating their central role in generating
and regulating pulsatile GnRH and LH secretion—the fundamental driver of reproductive
function. His work has shown how these neurons integrate steroid hormone feedback
and environmental cues, including photoperiod and circadian timing signals, to coordinate
reproductive hormone release. Importantly, this foundational basic research on KNDy
circuitry has translated into the development of novel therapeutic approaches for
a range of human reproductive disorders,. By bridging fundamental neuroendocrine mechanisms
with clinical application, his research has significantly advanced both mechanistic
understanding and treatment strategies in reproductive medicine.
Heavy traffic and smoke billowing from factories is what most people associate with
carbon gases and climate change, but soils hold more carbon than all plant life on
Earth.
NMT's Dr. Ben Duval is hoping to understand how plant roots and microbes in the soil
help store that carbon belowground. Along with graduate students, Duval is studying
what triggers native New Mexican pinon and juniper trees to make seeds in our dry
ecosystems, a process that requires plants to put some of their carbon into roots.
Soil bacteria and fungi chemically change the carbon, and play an important role in
keeping it in the ground. Duval is also working on a Department of Energy funded project
that will measure how much carbon gets into the soil from crop roots, and if the amount
of carbon that stays belowground depends on a farmer's decisions about how and when
to use fertilizer and irrigation.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of the fragility of human systems
in the face of infectious disease. Although global pandemics often shine the spotlight
on the threats posed by bacteria and viruses, fungi have caused substantial mortality
in amphibians (chytridiomycosis), mammals (white-nose syndrome), and reptiles (snake
fungal disease). Fungal pandemics have resulted from the introduction of non-native
fungi to naive hosts or from genetic mutations or hybridization events that increase
virulence or resistance to antifungal treatments.
Dr Paris Salazar Hamm has addressed this threat to global health by interrogating
the likely sources of fungal pathogens capable of causing zoonotic disease in humans:
the microbiomes of wild animals that are increasingly in contact with human populations.
Fungal diseases kill more than 1.5 million each year and impact over a billion people
globally. Her research program will combine zoonotic disease surveillance, epidemiological
datasets, and pathogen genomics to elucidate evolutionary drivers of emergence and
adaptation to human hosts and track transmission events over spatial and temporal
scales.
Josh Jahner is an evolutionary biologist with a passion for understanding the ecological
factors that generate and maintain genetic variation across natural and modified landscapes.
His current research asks how management strategies have affected population genetic
structure and hybridization among three subspecies of bighorn sheep (California, Desert,
Rocky Mt.) found throughout western North America (largely funded by the Nevada Department
of Wildlife). In addition, He is actively working with a number of other study systems,
including Colias butterflies, American woodcock, and Great Basin plants.
New Mexico Tech microbiologist Dr. Tom Kieft, his graduate students, and staff from
the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) have begun a research project
to help the National Park Service solve a problem at Carlsbad Cavern. Artificial lightning,
which is essential for visitors to enjoy the natural wonders of the cave, has the
unintended consequence of promoting the growth of algae and cyanobacteria, termed
"lampenflora."
The Park Service has recently installed new LED lights to save energy and to lessen
the algal problem by using wavelengths of light that are less favorable to algae.
Working under a grant from the Park Service, Kieft is monitoring the formation of
photosynthetic biofilms for two years at multiple sites in the famous Big Room at
the Cavern. They are also using high-throughput DNA sequencing to thoroughly characterize
the microbes within the biofilms. Information gained through this study should help
the Park Service to preserve the beautiful cavern features in a pristine state.
Faculty Research
Dr Mike Lehman
The Brain’s role in Reproductive Function
Dr. Mike Lehman’s research has focused on how the brain controls fundamental aspects
of reproduction, including the neural and hormonal mechanisms that regulate reproduction,
stress, metabolism, and seasonal physiology. He is widely recognized for his discovery
and characterization of KNDy neurons (co-expressing kisspeptin, neurokinin B, and
dynorphin) in the hypothalamus and for demonstrating their central role in generating
and regulating pulsatile GnRH and LH secretion—the fundamental driver of reproductive
function. His work has shown how these neurons integrate steroid hormone feedback
and environmental cues, including photoperiod and circadian timing signals, to coordinate
reproductive hormone release. Importantly, this foundational basic research on KNDy
circuitry has translated into the development of novel therapeutic approaches for
a range of human reproductive disorders,. By bridging fundamental neuroendocrine mechanisms
with clinical application, his research has significantly advanced both mechanistic
understanding and treatment strategies in reproductive medicine.
Dr. Tom Kieft
Illuminating Lampenflora
New Mexico Tech microbiologist Dr. Tom Kieft, his graduate students, and staff from
the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) have begun a research project to help the National Park Service solve a problem
at Carlsbad Cavern. Artificial lightning, which is essential for visitors to enjoy
the natural wonders of the cave, has the unintended consequence of promoting the growth
of algae and cyanobacteria, termed "lampenflora."
The Park Service has recently installed new LED lights to save energy and to lessen
the algal problem by using wavelengths of light that are less favorable to algae.
Working under a grant from the Park Service, Kieft is monitoring the formation of
photosynthetic biofilms for two years at multiple sites in the famous Big Room at
the Cavern. They are also using high-throughput DNA sequencing to thoroughly characterize
the microbes within the biofilms. Information gained through this study should help
the Park Service to preserve the beautiful cavern features in a pristine state.
Dr. Snezna Rogelj
Booster Shots for Old Antibiotics
Antibiotics have been saving lives for the past 60 years, but their widespread use
has resulted in evolution of highly drug-resistant bacteria. Multi-drug resistant
bacteria are now a global threat as fatality rates in some cases approach 50%. For
example, about 30,000 people a year in the US die from infections with Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) while MRSA hospitalization stays double.
Dr. Snezna Rogelj , Chemistry research professor Liliya Frolova and their team at
New Mexico Tech invented a set of drugs that re-invigorate standard antibiotics. Their
drugs restore the activity of seven diverse classes of antibiotics against a wide
variety of drug-resistant and drug-sensitive bacteria, including MRSA, VRE and CRE.
In combination, such drug-resistant bacteria are once again susceptible to low doses
of well tested, clinically proven and widely prescribed antibiotics.
Dr. Benjamin Duval
Climate Change Hits Belowground
Heavy traffic and smoke billowing from factories is what most people associate with
carbon gases and climate change, but soils hold more carbon than all plant life on
Earth.
NMT's Dr. Ben Duval is hoping to understand how plant roots and microbes in the soil
help store that carbon belowground. Along with graduate students, Duval is studying
what triggers native New Mexican pinon and juniper trees to make seeds in our dry
ecosystems, a process that requires plants to put some of their carbon into roots.
Soil bacteria and fungi chemically change the carbon, and play an important role in
keeping it in the ground. Duval is also working on a Department of Energy funded project
that will measure how much carbon gets into the soil from crop roots, and if the amount
of carbon that stays belowground depends on a farmer's decisions about how and when
to use fertilizer and irrigation.
Josh Jahner is an evolutionary biologist with a passion for understanding the ecological
factors that generate and maintain genetic variation across natural and modified landscapes.
His current research asks how management strategies have affected population genetic
structure and hybridization among three subspecies of bighorn sheep (California, Desert,
Rocky Mt.) found throughout western North America (largely funded by the Nevada Department
of Wildlife). In addition, He is actively working with a number of other study systems,
including Colias butterflies, American woodcock, and Great Basin plants.
Dr. Paris Salazar-Hamm
The Increasing Threat of Fungal Pathogens
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of the fragility of human systems
in the face of infectious disease. Although global pandemics often shine the spotlight
on the threats posed by bacteria and viruses, fungi have caused substantial mortality
in amphibians (chytridiomycosis), mammals (white-nose syndrome), and reptiles (snake
fungal disease). Fungal pandemics have resulted from the introduction of non-native
fungi to naive hosts or from genetic mutations or hybridization events that increase
virulence or resistance to antifungal treatments.
Dr Paris Salazar Hamm has addressed this threat to global health by interrogating
the likely sources of fungal pathogens capable of causing zoonotic disease in humans:
the microbiomes of wild animals that are increasingly in contact with human populations.
Fungal diseases kill more than 1.5 million each year and impact over a billion people
globally. Her research program will combine zoonotic disease surveillance, epidemiological
datasets, and pathogen genomics to elucidate evolutionary drivers of emergence and
adaptation to human hosts and track transmission events over spatial and temporal
scales.
