BIO:
Dr. Lisa K. Lyford is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, earning a B.S. in Biochemistry with minors in Chemistry and Music Performance. After advanced study and research in Microbiology and Immunology, she earned her doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999, and continued at UNC as a postdoctoral associate. Her doctoral research focused on the electrophysiological properties of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. She was also a postdoctoral teaching associate at North Carolina State University in the Biotechnology Education Facility, where she taught combined graduate / undergraduate courses in Mutagenesis and in Biotechnology. Dr. Lyford joined the biology faculty at the University of the Cumberlands in August, 2005. She was recognized as an Honor Professor by the Student Government Association in 2015 and 2017. She is the faculty advisor for the UC Pre-health club.
Dr. Lyford is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Microbiology, the National Association for Biology Teachers, the Association for Biology Laboratory Education, and the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions.
Courses Taught:
BIOL 114 Introduction to Cellular Biology Laboratory
BIOL 134 Introduction to Cellular Biology
BIOL 345 Microbiology
BIOL 441 Immunology
BIOL 346 Biochemistry
BIOL 495 Senior Seminar
Publications:
Lyford, L.K., Sproul, A.D., Eddins, D., McLaughlin, J.T., and Rosenberg, R.L. (2003) Agonist induced conformational changes in the extracellular domain of alpha7 nicotinic ACh receptors. Molec. Pharmacol. 64:650-658.
Lyford, L.K. and Rosenberg, R.L. “Reconstitution in planar lipid bilayers of ion channels synthesized in ovo and in vitro.” In: Planar Lipid Bilayers (BLMs) and Their Applications. Tien, H.T. and Ottova, A., editors. Elsevier, 2003. (Invited book chapter)
Eddins, D., Sproul, A.D., Lyford, L.K., McLaughlin, J.T., and Rosenberg, R.L. (2002) Glutamate 172, essential for modulation of L247T alpha7 ACh receptors by Ca2+, lines the extracellular vestibule. Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiol.) 283:C1454-1460.
Lyford, L.K., Lee, J.W., and Rosenberg, R.L. (2002) Low affinity Ca2+ and Ba2+ binding sites in the pore of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1559:69-78.
Eddins, D., Lyford, L.K., Lee, J.W., Desai, S.A., and Rosenberg, R.L. (2002) Permeant but not impermeant divalent cations enhance the activation of non-desensitizing alpha7 nicotinic receptors. Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiol.) 282:C796-804.
Lyford, L.K. and Rosenberg, R.L. (1999) Cell-free expression and functional reconstitution of homo-oligomeric alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors into planar lipid bilayers. J. Biol. Chem. 274:25675-25681.