Academic Club Advisor

My name is Dr. Lewis Obermiller and I am currently the academic advisor of the Pre-Med Club at MCC. I received my B.S. in Cellular Biology from East Carolina University (ECU) in 1992, my M.S. in Molecular Biology from ECU in 1996 and my Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology and biochemistry (MCB) from Arizona State University in 1999. I worked on breast cancer genetics at the Genome Institute of Singapore and the National Cancer Institute as a visiting professor from 1999-2000 and on cardiovascular disease and diabetes at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center from 1999-2002. I began teaching at Mesa in the Fall of 2002 and was appointed as director of the Biotechnology Program that same semester. In 2004, I received a $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to incorporate functional genomics into the biotechnology classroom at MCC. At the end of the three year grant, in 2007, I stepped down as director of the biotechnology program to pursue other interests, including undergraduate research and distance learning. I still currently perform functional genomics and other research at the Red Mountain Campus. I also teach biology for majors, molecular and cellular biology, and biotechnology courses on both campuses and teach Genetics (Bio340) at ASU in the summer.