Rate My Professor Dobroslawa Bialonska

Dobroslawa Bialonska, Ph.D., serves as Associate Professor of Environmental Microbiology in the Department of Biology at the University of North Georgia. Originally from Poland, where she was born and raised, Dr. Bialonska obtained her M.S. in 1999 and Ph.D. in 2004 from Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She first came to the United States in 2003 as a graduate scholar conducting research at the School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, followed by a postdoctoral position there from February 2007 to July 2009. Subsequently, she held a postdoctoral associate role at Wesleyan University from March 2010 to August 2012, served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at St. Edward’s University from August 2012 to May 2013, and as Assistant Professor of Biology at Morningside College from August 2013 to August 2014 prior to her appointment at UNG.

Dr. Bialonska's expertise encompasses environmental microbiology, the human microbiome, antimicrobial therapy, and epidemiology. Her ongoing research projects include evaluating the antifungal activity of tryptophan derivatives from marine invertebrates against pathogenic yeasts such as Cryptococcus neoformans using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model; investigating quorum sensing inhibition in Chromobacterium violaceum by indole-3-carboxaldehydes and pyrrolobenzodiazepines; isolating and testing bioactive natural products from plants, fungi, and bacteria for antimicrobial and antioxidant effects; and analyzing microbial populations on patient-owned wheelchairs and therapeutic ball pits in collaboration with the Department of Physical Therapy. Key publications feature "Oesterle, M.E. et al. Are ball pits located in physical therapy clinical settings a source of pathogenic microorganisms?" (American Journal of Infection Control, accepted); "Annor-Gyamfi, J.K. et al. Synthesis and biological activity of fused tetracyclic Pyrrolo[2,1-c][1,4]benzodiazepines" (Heliyon, 2018); "Ranpura, H. et al. Finding and characterizing the complexes of drug like molecules with quadruplex DNA" (PLOS ONE, 2014); "Bialonska, D. and Zjawiony, J.K. Aplysinopsins - Marine Indole Alkaloids: Chemistry, Bioactivity and Ecological Significance" (Marine Drugs, 2009); and earlier works on pomegranate ellagitannins' effects on human gut bacteria (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2009). She instructs courses including BIOL 1101/L Biology: A Human Perspective, BIOL 2260K Microbiology for Allied Health Professionals, BIOL 4380K Environmental Microbiology, BIOL 4826 Human Microbiome, and BIOL 4826 Epidemiology.