SDSU Bridges

Paul Paolini is a professor of Biology and the Director of the SDSU Bridges to the Future program. He received his Bachelors degree in Physics and a Masters degree in Biophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. His research interests are in heart physiology, multimedia projects and in student training programs. His interest in the physiology of the heart led him to direct the “HeartFlight!” project, an interactive museum exhibit done in collaboration with the American Heart Association, California Affiliate. Dr. Paolini is also co-PI of the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program and an Associate Director of the Computational Science Research Center. He is also director of the PIERS Research Lab, which has been supported in the past by the Rees-Stealy Research Foundation, a non-profit research facility geared towards conducting applied biomedical research. The focus of the laboratory’s research is on the cell and molecular biology and physiology of the heart and on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Patrick M. McDonough, Ph.D., received his Ph.D. degree from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD) in 1984 for his dissertation research on bubble nucleation in animals induced by simulated dives. Following his dissertation research, Dr. McDonough received postdoctoral training in Cardiovascular Pharmacology with Dr. Joan Heller Brown (UCSD School of Medicine, Division of Pharmacology) from 1984 to 1989. In 1990, Dr. McDonough joined the staff of the Department of Biology, San Diego State University as an Adjunct Research Professor where he performed studies in cardiac cell biology and gene expression in collaboration with Drs. Christopher C. Glembotski, Roger Sabbadini, and Wolfgang Dillmann (UCSD). From 2000 to 2003 Dr. McDonough collaborated extensively with Dr. Dillmann at UCSD, studying the contractile physiology of transgenic mice. Since 2003, Dr. McDonough has collaborated with Dr. Paul Paolini (SDSU) as Laboratory Director for the NIH Bridges to the Future training program (the PIERS Laboratory), providing instruction in the theory and practice of biomedical research to underserved minority students.

Cathie Atkins is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Sciences and a Professor of Psychology. She is also director of the Minority Access to Research Careers program and the co-PI of the SDSU Bridges to the Future program. Since obtaining a Ph.D. from University of California, Riverside, in the area of social and personality psychology, Dr. Atkins has focused her research efforts on the application of social learning theory and behavioral epidemiology to problems in health care.

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