The veterinary and microbiological sciences department will gain four new assistant professors, including Sheela Ramamoorthy, Nathan Fisher, and Teresa and Peter Bergholz.
Ramamoorthy started Aug. 16 and Fisher started Aug. 20. Teresa Bergholz started Oct. 1 and her husband, Peter, starts Nov. 12.
Ramamoorthy has a 60 percent research and 40 percent teaching appointment. Her research will focus on microbial pathogenesis.
Prior to coming to NDSU, she was an assistant professor of virology at the University of Georgia's Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory and a clinician in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Preventive Medicine at Iowa State University, where she managed the serology section of the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. She also was a postdoctoral associate in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.
Ramamoorthy earned a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Madras Veterinary College in India, a master's degree in microbiology and molecular genetics from Oklahoma State University, and a doctorate in biomedical and veterinary sciences from Virginia Tech.
Fisher has a 40 percent research and 60 percent teaching appointment. He will focus his research on infectious diseases and public health.
Prior to coming to NDSU, he was a principal investigator in bacteriology at the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center in Frederick, Md. Before that, he was a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and served as chief of microbiology/deputy chief of laboratory services for Operation New Dawn, the U.S. armed forces' involvement in the war in Iraq.
He also was principal investigator for bacteriology with the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease in Frederick and served as adjunct faculty in the Microbiology, Mathematics and Science Division of Hagerstown Community College in Maryland.
Fisher earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Centre College in Danville, Ky., and a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from the University of Michigan Medical School.
Teresa Bergholz has a 60 percent research and 40 percent teaching appointment. Her research will focus on foodborne disease pathogenesis.
Prior to coming to NDSU, she was a research associate in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. She earned bachelor’s degrees in microbiology and food science and a doctorate in food science at Michigan State University.
Peter Bergholz has a special, nontenure track appointment in food safety and environmental microbiology, with 60 percent teaching in the School of Food Systems to support the food safety program and 40 percent research in the veterinary and microbiological sciences department. He'll focus his research on food safety and environmental microbiology.
Prior to coming to NDSU, he was a research associate in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. Before that, Bergholz was a laboratory technician at the University of South Carolina. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina and doctorate in microbiology and molecular genetics from Michigan State University. He also participated in a National Science Foundation training course in integrative biology and adaptation of Antarctic marine organisms.
"We are very excited and pleased to have such highly qualified faculty join the department," said Charlene Wolf-Hall, department head.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.