Rachel Woodruff has been promoted to Assistant Professor of Biology. Rachel joined the Brandeis faculty almost three years ago as an Instructor in Biology. During this time, Rachel has taught several Biology courses for undergraduate and Master’s students and recently guided Biology students as an Undergraduate Advising Head.
James Morris, Associate Professor, recently detailed Rachel’s importance to the Brandeis community:
“Rachel teaches courses for biology majors and non-majors. She regularly teaches Biology 14a-Genetics and Genomics, which is part of the introductory biology sequence. This course is taken by many first and second-year students. In addition, she teaches upper-level courses focusing on DNA damage and repair, as well as cancer, drawing on her research experience on DNA damage in bacteria and yeast. These classes include Biology 150b DNA Research and Mechanisms and Biology 172b Growth Control and Cancer. These seminar-style classes include opportunities to read and interpret scientific papers. She also teaches Biology 101b Molecular Biotechnology for advanced undergraduate and Master’s students, introducing students to techniques in molecular biology and teaching students to write their own research proposals. Finally, she teaches BISC 9b Biology of Cancer for non-majors, introducing this important topic to students in an accessible and engaging way.”
