Rate My Professor Thomas Abbott

Thomas Abbott is an Associate Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology within the Biology faculty at the University of Connecticut. Promoted to this rank in 2022, he specializes in Structural Biology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics. Previously affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Connecticut Health Center, Abbott contributes to the academic community through extensive teaching and advising roles. He instructs foundational courses such as BIOL 1107 Principles of Biology I, MCB 3417 The Molecular Genetics of Inherited Human Disease, and MCB 3895 Special Topics in Molecular and Cell Biology. His pedagogical approach emphasizes molecular and cell biology, physiology, neurobiology, and human molecular genetics, utilizing textbooks like An Introduction to Human Molecular Genetics: Mechanisms of Inherited Disease.

Abbott serves as the Faculty Coordinator for Biology in the University of Connecticut's Early College Experience (ECE) program, where he has organized numerous professional development workshops for certified instructors since 2019. These sessions cover curriculum design, pedagogy, computational protein modeling, hands-on laboratory techniques such as colorimetric assays, and topics including biomineralization, forest ecology, socioecology, and insects. He is also the advisor for the UConn Pre-Dental Society and has been recognized for his mentoring excellence. In 2018, he received the Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor Faculty Award from UConn Advising. Additionally, he earned the Faculty Coordinator Award for Excellence in Curriculum and Adjunct Faculty Development from UConn ECE. Abbott co-authored the publication 'Nonenzymatic domains of Kalirin7 contribute to spine morphogenesis in Xenopus laevis' in Molecular Biology of the Cell in 2013. His work supports undergraduate research, honors theses, and tutoring programs in introductory biology.