D r. Farida Olden, assistant professor in the College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems, is leading the KSU Land Grant Program's initiative to develop capabilities in the field of genomics and establish a cutting-edge AgBio genomics laboratory.
Dr. Olden aims to expand the honeybee research program to study the repercussions of environmental stressors, such as diseases and pesticides, on the honeybee. As a pollinator, honeybees perform a vital ecosystem service, however, this beneficial insect has been facing an alarming trend of population decline over the last decade. For this reason, Dr. Olden has a keen interest in investigating the impact of environmental stressors on the honeybee, especially a the molecular level. she is also interested in honeybee nutrition as a means to quell the effect of environmental insults. For all living beings, nutritive diets are crucial for an optimal homeostasis, such that nutrition deficiency could negatively impact the development of suitable immune and stress responses. This correlation between fitness and nutrition has led to the advent of Nutrigenomics Science that investigates nutrition effects on the organism, using high-throughput genomics tools. Two of Dr. Olden's current projects pertain to the field of nutrigenomics: honeybee transcriptome profiling under differential diet quality—in the presence of fungal infection—and pesticide contamination.
One of the approaches she implements is RNA-seq, a remarkable emerging new technology for transcriptome profiling. In the framework of Dr. Olden's research,
she is also interested in honeybee nutrition as a means to quell the effect of environmental insults. For all living beings, nutritive diets are crucial for an optimal homeostasis, such that nutrition deficiency could negatively impact the development of suitable immune and stress responses. This correlation between fitness and nutrition has led to the advent of Nutrigenomics Science that investigates nutrition effects on the organism, using high-throughput genomics tools. Two of Dr. Olden's current projects pertain to the field of nutrigenomics: honeybee transcriptome profiling under differential diet quality—in the presence of fungal infection—and pesticide contamination.
Dr. Olden works closely with the University of Kentucky, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Honey Bee Research Center, and Kentucky beekeepers on her research.
AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
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