Biology Faculty Profiles
Latanya Hammonds-Odie, Ph.D. 
Email: lhammond@spelman.edu
Title: Assistant Professor
Spelman: 1999
Degree(s) | Year Awarded:
Spelman College, B.S., 1989
University of Alabama
at Birmingham, M.S., 1993
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Ph.D., 1996
Course(s) Taught:
Bio 471 – Cell and Molecular Biology
Bio 475 – Methods in Modern Biology
Bio 486 – Molecular Mechanisms of Signal Transduction
Selected Publication(s):
“Initiation and Maintenance of NGF-Stimulated Neurite Outgrowth Requires Activation of a Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase,” T.R. Jackson, I.J. Blader, L. Hammonds-Odie, C.R Burga, F. Cooke, P.T. Hawkins, A.G. Wolf, K.A. Heldman and A.B. Theibert, "Journal of Cell Science," 109:289-300, 1996.
“Identification and Cloning of Centaurin a: A Novel Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate Binding Protein from Rat Brain,” L.P. Hammonds-Odie, T.R. Jackson, A.A. Profit, I.J. Blader, CW. Turck, G.D. Prestwich and A.B. Theibert, "Journal of Biological Chemistry," 271: 18859-18868, 1996.
“The Purification and Assay of Inositol Polyphosphate-binding Proteins,” by A.B. Theibert, G.D. Prestwich, T.R. Jackson and L.P. Hammonds-Odie in "Signalling by Inositol Lipids and Inositol Phosphates: A Practical Approach," S. Shears, ed., IRL/Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 117-150.
“A Primary Culture of Guinea Pig Gallbladder Epithelial Cells that is Responsive to Secretagogues,” P.J. Gunter-Smith, O. Abdulkadir, L. Hammonds-Odie, M. Scanlon and R. Terrell, "American Journal of Physiology: Liver and Gastrointestinal Physiology," 279: G866-G874, 2000.
"SHP-2 Mediates Target-Regulated Axonal Termination and NGF-Dependent Neurite Growth in Sympathetic Neurons," B. Chen, L. Hammonds-Odie, J. Perron, B.A. Masters, J.L. Bixby, Developmental Biology, 252: 170-187, 2002.
Current Grant Support:
Minority Biomedical Research Support-Support of Continuous Research Excellence Program
Pilot Project (GM008241), 2005-2008. Project entitled: “Molecular Control of Zebrafish
Gallbladder Organogenesis.”
Related Interests/Organizations:
- Associate Director, Atlanta University Center-wide Minority Access to Research careers-Undergraduate Student Training and Research (MARC-U*STAR) Program, Spring 2003-Present
- Member, Atlanta Metropolitan Chapter of National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers (NOBBChE), 2000-Present
- American Society for Cell Biology Minority Affairs Committee Linkage Fellow, 2004-Present
- American Society for Cell Biology Member, 2004-present
- American Physiological Society Member, 2001-Present
Research Interests:
The endoderm is induced at gastrulation and migrates inward to line the future inner surface of the embryo forming the gastrointestinal tract. Endodermal-mesodermal interactions are critical for morphogenesis of the embryonic gut into the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine and accessory digestive organs. Transcription factors that control liver and pancreas development from the endoderm have been extensively studied. By contrast, the developmental program that controls the organogenesis of the gallbladder has received little attention. The goal of my research is to identify genes expressed at early stages of gallbladder development to understand the program that controls gallbladder organogenesis.
