Darryl L. Hadsell, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Lab Leader
For most of my life, I have had an interest in the area of lactation biology. As a young child I grew up in the town of Fair Haven. Fair Haven was a small town near the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey. Although Fair Haven afforded me many opportunities for outdoor activities, among the most fascinating adventures I had were during trips that my family would take to my grandfather’s dairy farm in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This commercial dairy farm managed 100 registered Holsteins and produced about 6,000 lbs of milk each day. It was here that there were many practical lessons learned pertaining to crop production, nutrition, animal health, and genetics. After graduating high school I chose to study Dairy Science and South Dakota State University. I obtained both a BS and MS at SDSU and while there he did research on the nutritional properties of chickpeas as a supplement to supporting milk production in dairy cows. I then obtained a Ph.D. in Animal Science at The Pennsylvania State University where I researched the role of insulin-like growth factors in regulating mammary cell function during lactation. In 1991 I moved to Houston to work as a Post Doctoral Fellow as Baylor College of Medicine. During this time, I used recombinant DNA technology to create transgene constructs that would target the expression of insulin-like growth factor I to the lactating mammary glands of mice. This work produced a model system that would allow for many years of follow up work when I became a member of the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Beginning the late 2000s, my work turned to the use of high-throughput OMIC technology to understand the role of the mammary cell mitochondria to milk production. This was followed by a broader foray into genomics. My work since, has focused on understanding how natural variations in the DNA sequence of the maternal genome influences milk production and composition. In my time away from work I enjoy cycling, hiking, hunting, fishing, cooking, and reading. I also enjoy the opportunities my wife, LouAnn, and I have to spend time with our children, who are now grown and have careers of their own
Marissa Cook, B.S.
Research Technician II
Having recently graduated with a BS in Biology from Baylor University, my career interests include bioinformatics and data science. I enjoy learning to use various programming languages including R, Linux, and SQL. My interest in these subjects have originated from participating in a bioinformatics and genomics research fellowship with Pine Biotech, my coursework at Baylor, and my current work as a research technician. Most recently, I have leisurely started the Google Data Analytics Certificate Program to learn more about the process and field of data analytics, strengthening my technical skills for a firm foundation in data analysis, SQL, and R. In my free time, I devote myself to creating personal projects using these skills. Outside of academia and work, I enjoy reading various literature including fantasy, science, self-help and medical fiction. A couple of my current favorite authors are Sarah J Mass and Ali Hazelwood.