Hello class,
Welcome to Global Perspectives of Infectious Disease! I'm excited to get to know each of you a bit better this semester. To begin, I'll share a bit about myself here.
I finished my undergraduate degree in Microbiology at the University of South Florida, in Tampa, FL. At that point, I knew I wanted to do research on HIV-1. The topic fascinated me and I wanted to contribute to the collective knowledge of the field. So, I moved here to Birmingham, AL in 1999 and enrolled in the Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate program at UAB. My graduate mentor was Dr. Casey Morrow, who was working on the basic virology of the virus (his research did not involve patients or drug testing). My project was to design and build several mutant viruses in the lab to see how our mutations would affect the replication of the virus in cell culture. I enjoyed the research, but missed the social aspect of "lab life." So, when I graduated in 2005 with a Ph.D. in Microbiology, I decided to begin teaching at the college-level.
I have taught Allied Health Science courses such as Biology, Microbiology, Anatomy and Genetics at various Universities including: JeffState Community College, Samford University, APUS (online university) and Highlands College. At BSC, I have taught Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology lab. In the Spring, I will be teaching Genetics and Organismal Biology Lab.
I live in Hoover, AL with my husband, Brady and three sons: Bryce, Braden and Tanner. With three children, we stay active with sports activities like baseball, flag football, basketball, lacrosse and golf! There is never a dull moment!
The part about this class that I'm looking forward to is helping to show you how everything on this Earth is connected and to find solutions to problems such as infectious diseases, you must have the big, global picture!
Wishing you the best this semester,
Dr. Rigdon