Around the University, Dr. Mark Dalman, Associate Professor in KSUCPM’s Division of Pre-Clinical Sciences, has made a name for himself through his dedication to building upon the curriculum of our future doctors.
About Mark Dalman, PhD:
Dr. Dalman attended Miami University (of Ohio), double majored in Zoology and Environmental Science while also receiving a highly competitive USS (Undergraduate Summer Scholars) Award to conduct research on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. He would later attend University of Akron for his Masters working on the same island conducting climate change research on a small pond, Clear Pond. After his Masters, he conducted his PhD, in a newly developed degree breaking down traditional academia walls, Integrative Bioscience. His research focused on the developing zebrafish embryo (a vertebrate model system) and leptin, a protein involved in obesity, in humans at the intersection of molecular biology and Computer Science. In 2014, he became a Golden Flash, completing his Postdoc at Kent State University in the field of Molecular Epidemiology under the tutelage of internationally known Professor Dr. Tara Smith.
Throughout his career and education, Dr. Dalman has authored and co-authored 17 publications, many conference posters and continually mentored an impressive roster of students ranging from high school to Postdoc.
Dalman tops the recent headlines with award winning research that will further the studies of his students at KSUCPM. We’re so proud to have Dr. Dalman as a member of the KSUCPM family and can’t wait to learn from whatever he does next!
Dalman Receives Healthy Communities Research Initiative Launch Pad Award
Dalman was one of three faculty awarded the 2022 Healthy Communities Research Initiative Launch Pad award. Dalman is also joined by Dr. Helen Piontkivska, an associate professor in biology at Kent Main Campus. The premise of the grant was to identify the genetic underpinnings of fungal infections of the foot from participants in Northeast Ohio and associated impact on COVID outcomes through SNP genotyping individuals.
The pilot study aims to test the overarching hypothesis that the presence of specific pathogenic fungi within patients' mycobiome will be associated with particular genetic variants in genes involved in the immune response. To identify variants that contribute to susceptibility, Dalman and Piontkivska will examine the association between mycobiome composition and genetic variants in patients with fungal onychomycoses and evaluate the co-colonization impact of firmicute bacteria, such as S. aureus/ S. epidermidis presence. Identifying relationships between immune genetic variants and specific fungal compositions will lead to the development of biomarkers to inform treatment strategies and provide mechanistic insights into the complex etiology of chronic fungal infections and potential targets for novel therapeutic approaches.
Through a competitive request for proposals, the Healthy Communities Research Institute awards seed grants to promising research projects proposed by interdisciplinary teams across the Kent State University community. These grants are intended to support early research efforts in acquiring preliminary data upon which the team can build further research and propose more robust projects.