Akiko
Okusu
aokusu@oeb.harvard.edu
Education:
1996 - Ph.D. candidate, Harvard University, Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Cambridge, MA.
1996 - Guest student, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA.
1996 B.A. Magna Cum Laude, (Honors) Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.
1992 Fukuoka Futaba High School, Fukuoka, Japan.
Publications:Reynolds, P. and Okusu, A. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships among families of Scaphopoda (Mollusca). 126: 131-154. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Weeks, B., Nomizu, M., Otaka, A., Weston, C., Okusu, A., Tamamura, H., Yamamoto, N., Fujii, N. 1995. The synthetic [TYR5,12, LYS7]-polyphemusin II peptide (T22) binds to the CD4 cell surface molecule. 215: 626-631. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.
Weeks, B., Nomizu, M., Otaka, A., Weston, C., Okusu, A., Tamamura, H., Matsumoto, A., Yamamoto, N., Fujii, N. 1994. Lymphocytes and promonocytes attach to the synthetic [TYR5,12, LYS7]-polyphemusin II peptide. 202: 470-475. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.
Papers presented:Okusu, A. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of the Aplacophora and the Polyplacophora (Mollusca): a molecular analysis using the nuclear coding gene elongation factor - 1 alpha. Abstracts, World Congress of Malacology, Washington, D.C. R. Bieler & P. M. Mikkelsen, eds. Unitas Malacologica.
Okusu, A. and McHugh, D. 1997. Phylogenetic relationships of the Aplacophora and the Polyplacophora (Mollusca): preliminary analyses based on DNA sequences from a highly conserved nuclear coding gene. 35 (5): 696(A). American Zoologist.
Awards, Scholarships, and Fellowships:
- 2000-2002 NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant: Systematic Biology (#0073312)
- 1998 Putnam Grant, Harvard University
- 1996-1998 The James H. Glass Fellowship, Hamilton College
- 1996-1997 The Elihu Root Fellowship in Science, Hamilton College
- 1994-1996 The Herbert and Nancy Salkin Scholarship, Hamilton College
- 1993-1995 Dean's List, Hamilton College
Research Interests:
- Aplacophoran Development and Embryology
- Evolution of Metazoan Bauplan
- Molecular Systematics of Aplacophora and Mollusca
Teaching experience:
- 1998 Teaching Fellow, Harvard University: Ecology and Evolution of Marine Invertebrates.
- 1997 Teaching Fellow, Harvard University: Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.
- 1994-1996 Teaching Assistant, Hamilton College: General Biology.
Honorary-society memberships:
- 1996 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Hamilton College Chapter
- 1996 Phi Beta Kappa, Epsilon of New York, Hamilton College
Professional affiliations:
- Sigma Xi
- American Malacological Union
- Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology
- American Microscopical Society