Charles Ide

Dr. Charles Ide is an emeritus professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University.

Ide's research focuses on how the environment influences gene activity in health and disease. Specific projects examine how industrial contaminants and pesticides found in the Great Lakes Basin alter ecosystem health. A special project focuses on determining the molecular and cellular basis of Multiple System Atrophy (Atypical Parkinson's disease), a human disease often linked to pesticide exposure that involves Parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia and autonomic dysfunction. Research, in collaboration with the New York Brain Bank at Columbia University and with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, uses RNA and protein analysis methods to discover biomarkers that define the underpinnings of pathogenesis and differentiate disease types.

Students in Ide's laboratory:

• Marla Fisher, Ph.D
• Mike Helmus, M.S.