The Department of Physiology welcomes two new faculty members from the Lyman Briggs College
Michigan State University Department of Physiology is proud to welcome Dr. Shahnaz Masani and Dr. Jennifer Doherty as new faculty members! They join the department from the Lyman Briggs College and are the last of six new faculty members starting this fall.
Get to know their background, area of expertise, and favorite karaoke song!
Dr. Shahnaz Masani grew up in Mumbai, India where she did her undergraduate studies in life sciences from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She received her master’s degree in zoology from Pune University before coming to Michigan State University to do her Ph.D. in genetics.
What area of research do you specialize in?
My research focuses on increasing equity and inclusion in the undergraduate classroom.
From designing customizable class structures that empower students to take ownership
of their learning, to designing a module on race and genetics for my introductory
biology class; my goal is to design a classroom where all students can succeed.
What was your previous role before accepting this new role?
I was a teaching professor at Lyman Briggs College MSU.
What courses will you be teaching this upcoming school year at MSU?
I will be teaching LB144 (Introductory Organismal Biology).
What are you most excited about joining the Department of Physiology?
I am looking forward to working with the wonderful faculty, advisors, staff members
and students (and being back in the Biomedical & Physical Sciences building where
I did my Ph.D. is also pretty great).
What are your goals for this upcoming school year?
My goals are to get to know people in the physiology department and to set up my research
program, which I hope will also allow me to get to know at least some undergraduate
students from the physiology department.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
I don’t really have a song, but it would have to be something by the Backstreet Boys
or Spice Girls since that would allow me to live my 90s pop group fantasy while also
drawing other people into the embarrassment.
Dr. Jennifer Doherty is originally from New Jersey but moved to the the northeastern part of Oregon when she was 8-years-old. She currently lives in the Okemos area with her husband, son, mother, and two cats!
What area of research do you specialize in?
I am a discipline-based education researcher. Physiology is a discipline with many
diverse phenomena that can be challenging for students to understand. I study how
students learn to use the principles of physiology (e.g., Poiseuille's law) to reason
mechanistically across seemingly unrelated physiological systems (e.g., cardiac, respiratory,
lymph). These systems have structures uniquely named for that system but all follow
the same physiological principles. By focusing on the core principles of physiology,
we can help students transfer their knowledge into novel scenarios.
What was your previous role before accepting this new role?
I was a teaching professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington.
What courses will you be teaching this upcoming school year at MSU?
LB145 Biology II, which I am going to frame as an introduction to physiology and LB348
Research in Biology.
What are you most excited about joining the Department of Physiology?
I am excited to join the MSU Physiology community and learn from so many people dedicated
to researching, teaching, and learning physiology.
What are your goals for this upcoming school year?
In addition to getting my research program up and running, I am looking forward to
building collaborations with folks interested in physiology teaching across MSU and
at nearby institutions like Lansing Community College.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
I will just sit in the back and listen! Hopefully to [Journey’s] ‘Don't Stop Believin'’.
