NAI Congratulates New Minority Institution Research Support Selectee: Michael Ceballos

The Minority Institution Research Support (MIRS) Program is pleased to announce the selection of Michael Ceballos of Salish Kootenai College (Pablo, Montana) to participate in a faculty sabbatical in virology with Ken Stedman of Portland State University, co-chair of the NAI Virus Focus Group and Forest Rohwer, of San Diego State University. The MIRS program, funded by NAI, provides opportunities for researchers, from qualified minority serving institutions, to initiate joint partnerships with researchers in the field of astrobiology.

Ceballos is an instructor of chemistry, physics and biology and the Director of the Molecular Biology Research Laboratory at Salish Kootenai College, a tribal College in western Montana. He also maintains a faculty position in the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Montana (UM) under UM’s National Science Foundation EPSCoR program. Ceballos’ research this summer will focus on examining viral genomes to elucidate viral protein structure-function interactions, and relate these data to viral ecology and evolution. Ceballos has established the first basic science research laboratory in molecular biology and biochemistry at a tribal college in the US. Congratulations Michael. [Source: NAI Newsletter]