Karla Fuller

Dr. Karla Smith Fuller is a proud alumna of Texas Southern University in Houston, TX, where she received her B.S. in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Mathematics. Dr. Fuller received her Ph.D. in cellular, molecular and Developmental Biology with a concentration in Cancer Genetics from Purdue University, and a post-doc at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Fuller is a founding faculty member at Stella and Charles Guttman Community College (City University of New York) where she has earned the rank of Professor of Biology. In addition to being the first faculty member hired to create a new community college that uses evidence-based best practices in higher education to increase graduation and retention rates. Dr. Fuller has served as Science Program coordinator, Chair of the Science and Mathematics Department, has authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed academic journals and presents her research often at national and international conferences. In recent years, Dr. Fuller has received the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Mentorship at Guttman Community College, The American Association of Community Colleges Faculty Innovation Award and The NISOD National Award for Excellence (Community and Technical Colleges). She is currently serving as Interim Dean of Academic Affairs at Guttman Community College.

Dr. Fuller’s research focus is on design and implementation of strategies that improve undergraduate science education, particularly for students underrepresented in the sciences (ie. women, Black and Latino students and students of low-socioeconomic status, largely through support via funding from the NSF-IUSE program. Dr. Fuller’s research goal is to broaden access to STEM careers through curricular undergraduate research experiences in all of her classes using a project-based learning model. In support of that, she also runs a research program for undergraduates at her institution in genomic data science using open resource cloud computing. It is her hope to build a replicable research model for other low-resourced institutions to train a new generation of scientists in these highly sought-after skills. 

Current and recent funding:

Principal Investigator. National Human Genome Research Institute (NIH), “Developing an Innovative Genomic Data Science Curriculum: Interdisciplinary Modules for Undergraduate Education, $133,563, 2024-2027

Principal Investigator. NSF EAGER, “Developing Sector-specific Cybersecurity Training Programs: What are the Benefits to Students and Employers?”, $201,171, 2023-2025

Principal Investigator. CUNY Research Foundation/Andrew Mellon Foundation (CUNY BRESI), “It Takes a Village: Creating an Interdisciplinary Pedagogies in Bioinformatics through Student-Led Initiatives, $15,000, 2022-2023

Co-Principal Investigator. NSF-IUSE, “Vision and Change in Undergraduate General Biology Courses”, $836,111, 2021–present 

Co-Principal Investigator. NSF-IUSE (EHR) Award ID: HRD-1963465, “Testing the Impact of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Streamline Transfer Support on STEM Success for Underrepresented Students”, “$500,000, 2020-present

Principal Investigator. SSMN-Sloan Foundation, “Generating loss-of-function deletion mutants in zebrafish using CRISPR/Cas9”, $10,000,2020-2022

and Book chapters (if applicable)

Selected publications and presentations:

PUBLICATIONS 

• Alcazar, R., Alvarez, M., Arnold, R., Ayalew, M., Best, L. G., Campbell, M. C., Fuller, K.S.… & Xie, X. (2022). Diversifying the genomic data science research community. Genome Research, 32(7), 1231-1241. 
• Fuller, K. S. (2021, August 9). You Are What You Eat — Exploring the Microbiome Through Inquiry-Based Labs. Microbiome Lesson Plans. https://www.genome.gov/careers-training/Professional-Development-Programs/NHGRI-Short-Course-in-Genomics/Microbiome-Lesson-Plans. 
• Fuller, K.S., Rivera, C.T. (2021) A culturally responsive curricular revision to improve engagement and learning in an undergraduate microbiology lab course. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 3501. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.577852 
• Fuller, K.S. (2017). Beyond Reflection: Using ePortfolio for Formative Assessment to Improve Student Engagement in Non-Majors Introductory Science. The American Biology Teacher, 79(6), 442-449. doi:10.1525/abt.2017.79.6.442. 
• Fuller, K.S. (2017, February 23). Using ePortfolio Image Galleries as Digital Storyboards to Visualize Scientific Concepts. The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, retrieved from: https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/using-eportfolio-image-galleries-as-digital-storyboards-to-visualize-scientific-concepts/ 

INVITED TALKS, WORKSHOPS & SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES 

• BioEd Summit: Crafting Student-Centric Curricula with NCBI Resources. Invited participant. NCBI, National Human Genome Research Institute-NIH. August 2024.  
• “Interactions in General Education Life Science Courses (IGELS): Introducing the LifeSkills Guide for Undergraduate Faculty”. Pre-conference workshop, National Association of Biology Teachers Annual Professional Development Conference, November 2023 
• Kim, J, Sole, M and Fuller, K (October 2023). Invited talk. “Empowering STEM Women with a growth mindset.” Queensborough Community College Women in Science Club. Virtual event 
• Fuller, K. (January 2023). Keynote Speaker. CUNY Faculty Development Conference. 
• Fuller, K., (March 2022). Mom is Always Right – Affirming Cultural Knowledge through Science. American Society of Microbiology Texas Branch Spring Annual Meeting  
• Jenkins, K., Holmberg, T.J., and Fuller, K. (August 2021). Improving General Education Courses with SENCER (Workshop). SENCER Summer Institute 2021 
• Fuller, K., Finesurrey, S. and Amy Beth (upcoming). OER Biology Training. (Content contributor). Guttman Community College 
• Fuller, K.S. (January 2021). Improving STEM Success through Engagement: Early Lessons from a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Project at Guttman Community College, CUNY. Workshop. American Association for Colleges & Universities Virtual Annual Meeting 
• Fuller, K.S. (December 2020). Competency of Quantity: Standards-Based Assessment in an Undergraduate Biology Course. Assessment for Achievement Professional Development, Guttman Community College. New York, NY. 
• Fuller, K.S. (Summer 2020). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Curricular Revision. Professional Development Series. Guttman Community College, New York, NY. 
• Fuller, K.S. (August 2020). You are What you Eat: Exploring the Microbiome through Inquiry-Based Labs. National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD. 
• Fuller, K.S. (August 2020). Using Technology Effectively: Labs in a Time of Distance Learning. Community Conversations National Association of Biology Teachers – Introductory Biology Task Force. Virtual. 
• Fuller, K.S. (November 2017). Experimenting with Summative Assessment in an Exam-Free Undergraduate Biology Course. Workshop. National Association of Biology Teacher Annual Professional Development Meeting, St. Louis, MO.  

PRESENTATIONS (*indicates students) 

• Fuller, K.S. and Hoshaw, J. (2022)  Active Learning Pedagogies for Engagement. IGELS Workshop. National Association of Biology Teachers Pre-Conference Workshop.  
• Sole, M., Fuller, K., and Kim, J. (January 2021) Storytelling in STEM: How Narratives and Data Analysis Teach Real-World Skills. Poster. Mid-Atlantic SENCER Center for Innovation Conference. 

• Fuller, K.S. (January 2021). Improving STEM Success through Engagement: Early Lessons from a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Project at Guttman Community College, CUNY. Workshop. American Association for Colleges & Universities Virtual Annual Meeting 
• Fuller, K.S. ( August 2020). You Are What You Eat . National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD. 
• Fuller, K.S. (October 2019). Using an Historical Non-fiction Book to Learn About Microorganisms in an Introductory Microbiology Course. C2 Summit for Pedagogical Advancements in STEM, Raritan Valley Community College, NJ 
• Fuller, K.S. and Seth, N. (July 2019). Removing the Remediation Barrier: Lessons from the field. NJCU Community College Showcase: Promoting Equity & Student Success, Jersey City, NJ 
• Blevins, G.*, Ordaz, Cruz.*, Fuller, K.S. (February 2019). Mom’s Always Right: Testing the Antibacterial Properties of Home Remedies. American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting Student Poster Symposium. Washington, D.C.,  
• Fuller, K.S. (January 2019). Student-centered Learning and Civic Engagement Pedagogies for Science Faculty. LaGuardia Community College Natural Sciences Experiential Education Conference~ 
• Bah, A.*, Fuller, K.S. (July 2018). Using ELISA to Determine Phosphorylation of p27 in MB-486 Breast Cancer Cell Line. Student poster presented at the CUNY Research Scholars Symposium. New York, NY.  
• Fuller, K.S. (August 2017). #ScienceisReal. Engaging Learners in the 21st Century Annual Meeting. Mercer County Community College, Princeton Junction, NJ. 
• Watanabe, M., Wolfe, K., Milman, Y. and Fuller, K. S. (July 2017). Project for Relevant and Improved Mathematics Education (PRIME): Curriculum Alignment and Streamlining of the General Education Quantitative Requirement. American Association of State Colleges and Universities Academic Affairs Summer Meeting, Baltimore, MD. 
• Hernandez, A.*, Fuller, K.S. (July 2017). Using a microbial evolution and growth arena (MEGA)–plate to visualize evolving microbial resistance. Student poster presented at the CUNY Research Scholars Symposium. New York, NY.   

OER CURRICULUM 

• “A Tale of Two Diabetes.” 2024. https://github.com/NCBI-Codeathons/bioed-2024-team-uchida/ 
• “You Are What You Eat – Exploring the Microbiome Through Inquiry-Based Labs.” 2022. https://www.genome.gov/careers-training/Professional-Development-Programs/NHGRI-Short-Course-in-Genomics/Microbiome-Lesson-Plans 

Member: National Association of Biology Teachers