Contact: Phil Hearn
Nara Gavini
The new head of biological sciences at Mississippi State hopes to guide his department to international research recognition and improve physical facilities during his tenure in the post.
Nara Gavini succeeded Don Downer, the longtime MSU faculty veteran who recently left administration to return to teaching.
"My goal is to put the image of the department of biological sciences at the international level in specific areas of research," Gavini said. "The university administration is in full support of developing the department, as well as the renovation of [83-year-old] Harned Hall.
"I believe a department like biological sciences should play a central role in bridging other science departments on the campus," he added.
Philip Oldham, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences that includes biological sciences, said he is "delighted to have someone of Dr. Gavini's scholarly background, professional experience and energetic personality to lead this strategically critical academic department.
"The biological sciences are now at the forefront of scientific discovery and poised to realize significant advances for improving the human condition within this generation," Oldham said.
A professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University 1993-2004, Gavini directed that institution's Center for Biomolecular Sciences for a year before joining the MSU faculty. He was a postdoctoral research associate and assistant research biochemist from 1990-93 at the University of California, Irvine.
"We're delighted to see Dr. Gavini come to Mississippi State University," said Vice President for Research Colin Scanes. "He brings tremendous research experience and a vision for biological sciences."
Gavini's individual research--funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation--focuses on the conversion of abundant atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, with the help of an enzyme called nitrogenase, in order that it can be used for organic growth.
"We are trying to design a very simple nitrogenase that can function in the plant system," he explained. "In fact, it has been a worldwide aim to engineer plants with the genes encoding the nitrogenase enzyme so as to generate plants that could fix nitrogen on their own.
"This would be an important transformation for plants since they would not have to be dependent on chemical fertilizers for fixed nitrogen (combined forms) and this could improve their growth and yield," Gavini added.
A native of Hydrabad, India, the new department head earned a doctorate in biochemistry from the Russell Grimwade School of Biochemistry in 1989 from the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Earlier, he received master's degrees in molecular biology and cytogenetics, respectively, from Jawaharlal Nehru and Kakatiya universities in India. His bachelor's in chemistry and biology was awarded by Osmania University, also in India.
Gavini currently is a Waksman Foundation for Microbiology Lecturer for the American Society of Microbiology and serves as the society's secretary-treasurer. A member of numerous professional organizations, an experienced teacher and author of a long list of published scholarly works, he also won the President's Award for Collaborative Research and Creative Work while at Bowling Green State University.