My current position is Team Leader of Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) at the US Army, Engineer Research and Development Center. My research interests span multiple disciplines within the biological sciences. Systems biology represents a unifying thread in my work. Systems biological approach provide the ability to functionally connect observations from multiple levels of biological organization including the integration of molecular-level (especially genomic) signaling to key metabolic and physiological functions that underlie fundamental phenomena in individuals and populations. As of May 2016, my work has resulted in 36 peer reviewed publications and a variety of national awards.I find biological research to be intensely interesting, challenging and rewarding as a professional endeavor and as a life pursuit. It has afforded me the opportunity to work closely with amazingly talented people brought together with the common goal of discovering and learning how life (biology) works. It is very gratifying to contribute to this scientific community of practice. The following publications provide some highlights of recent work:Gust KA, Stanley JK, Wilbanks MS, Mayo ML, Chappell P, Jordan SM, Moores LC, Kennedy AJ, Barker ND (2017) The Increased Toxicity of UV-Degraded Nitroguanidine and IMX-101 to Zebrafish Larvae: Evidence Implicating Oxidative Stress. Aquat Toxicol. 190:228-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.07.004.Gust KA, Kennedy AJ, Melby N, Wilbanks MS, Laird J, Meeks B, Muller EB, Nisbet RM, Perkins EJ (2016) Daphnia magna’s Sense of Competition: Intraspecific Interactions (ISI) Alter Life History Strategies and Increase Metals Toxicity. Ecotoxicology. 25(6):1126-35.Gust KA, Collier ZA, Mayo M, Stanley JK, Gong P, Chappell (2015) The current limitations of toxicity characterization in life cycle assessment – can adverse outcome pathways serve as a new foundation? Integr Environ Assess Manag. DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1708.Gust KA, Nanduri B, Rawat A, Wilbanks MS, Ang CY, Johnson DR, Pendarvis K, Chen X, Quinn Jr. MJ, Johnson MS, Burgess SC, Perkins EJ (2015) Systems Toxicology Identifies Mechanistic Impacts of 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2A-DNT) Exposure in Northern Bobwhite. BMC Genomics. 16:587. doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1798-4.Ananthasubramaniam B, McCauley E, Gust KA, Kennedy AJ, Muller EB, Perkins EJ, Nisbet RM (2015) Relating sub-organismal processes to ecotoxicological and population end points using a bioenergetic model. Ecol Applications. 25:1691–1710. https://dx.doi.org/10.1890/14-0498.1.Gust KA, Najar FZ, Habib T, Lotufo GR, Piggot AM, Fouke BW, Laird JG, Wilbanks MS, Rawat A, Indest KJ, Roe BA, Perkins EJ. (2014) Coral-Zooxanthellae Meta-Transcriptomics Reveals Integrated Response to Pollutant Stress. BMC Genomics. 15:591. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-591.Wilbanks MS, Gust KA, Atwa S, Sunesara I, Johnson DS, Ang CY, Meyer SA, Perkins EJ (2014) Validation of a genomics-based hypothetical adverse outcome pathway: 2,4-dinitrotoluene perturbs PPAR signaling impairing energy metabolism and decreasing exercise endurance, Toxicol Sci.141(1):44-58. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfu104.
