Professors Chris Gissendanner and Sharon Meyer both received $100,000 endowed professorships.

Gissendanner was named University of Louisiana System Foundation and Willis-Knighton Health System Professor of Biology. 

Meyer was named UL System Foundation and Willis-Knighton Health System Professor of Toxicology.

Willis-Knighton contributed $120,000 to the professorships and the UL System foundation gave $80,000. 

Both organizations required the recipients to work in STEM programs.

Gissendanner’s research focuses on using bacterial viruses called bacteriophages as an alternative therapy for treating infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Gissendanner is Associate Director of the ULM School of Sciences and Professor of Biology in the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences. 

Gissendanner holds a Doctorate in Cellular Biology from the University of Georgia. He joined ULM in 2004.

“Receiving this professorship is an honor, and it will have a significant impact on the progress of my research. It will also have an important role in helping support the undergraduate and graduate students that work in my lab,” Gissendanner said.

Meyer’s two research areas are health treatments derived from the echinacea plant, and ensuring north Louisiana’s drinking water is free from contamination from chemicals leftover from munitions storage.

“My results should have significant implications for protecting Louisiana residents from drinking water contamination by munitions, such as those used at the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant at Minden,” Meyer explained.

Meyer, a professor at the School of Basic Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Sciences in the College of Pharmacy, joined ULM in 2000. She earned her doctorate in physiology from Cornell University.