Important Links: How to Apply to the Graduate School
Please visit the NIU Graduate School for more information.
There are two graduate programs in the department, leading to master's or Ph.D. degree in the Biological Sciences. Students interested in obtaining a Master of Science degree may select from two options: thesis and non-thesis, or two specializations (Human Anatomical Sciences or Bioinformatics). Students interested in obtaining a Ph.D. degree may apply to our doctoral program.
Rhykka Connelly (B.S. 2000; Ph.D. 2006) is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Rhykka began her research career as an undergraduate at Northern Illinois University, working on a departmental honors project investigating the possible involvement of nitric oxide in pancreatic signal transduction. From that initial exposure, she has grown to become a recognized expert in the roles of nitric oxide and superoxide derivatives in cell biology. Rhykka’s dissertation research at NIU (K. Gasser lab) demonstrated that pancreatic acinar cells produced nitric oxide through the action of NOS(III) and that nitric oxide in turn induced the production of cGMP. Rhykka also demonstrated that nitric oxide stimulated the assembly of dynamic multi-protein signaling complexes and subsequently secretion of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. While at NIU, Rhykka received numerous awards, including a University Dissertation Completion Award; graduate research grants from the department, the Center for Biochemical and Biophysical Studies, and Sigma Xi; a University Fellowship; and the Phi Sigma Graduate Research Award. In addition to her research activities, she served as a graduate teaching assistant in human physiology and recombinant DNA labs. Immediately upon completing her Ph.D., Rhykka took her experience and knowledge of nitric oxide signal transduction to the University of Texas Medical Branch as a postdoctoral fellow. There, she is a member of multi-disciplinary team that merges laboratory research with clinical practice. The group investigates the molecular triggers of inflammation and the development of novel therapeutic approaches to reduce acute burn-induced lung injury. They focus on nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species that promote apoptosis and necrosis in lung epithelia. Among other assets, her research group employs the world’s only large animal model to study lung injury and organ system failure. This merger of laboratory cell biologists with clinical burn specialists allows promising results to gain direct and accelerated transfer to patients in the affiliated Shriner’s Burn Hospital for Children. Rhykka has traveled extensively and presented the results of her research at the Seventh World Congress on Trauma, Shock, and Inflammation in Munich, Germany, the Angiotensin Gordon Conference in Aussois, France, and the Fourth International Nitric Oxide Conference in Monterey, California. She has published her work in such journals as Nitric Oxide, Journal of Cell Biology, and Critical Care Medicine. Rhykka’s scientific career has been a steady climb since her first steps into a laboratory in 1998. We look forward to watching that success continue for many years to come.