Dr. Mautusi Mitra's Research Lab

After 4 weeks, when I went to check my biology office mailbox, I found two small envelopes delivered by the UWG Institute for Faculty Excellence on behalf of my two former class students. I am sharing what I found when I opened the envelopes. I guess when the going gets tough, these unexpected little gifts can cheer one up and make their day. These gifts remind me why I chose my current profession over working in a biotech company.

Congratulations to my former research student, Mr. Chavar Sinclair, who has been accepted at the Osteopathic Medical School and will be attending the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Georgia campus, beginning summer 2026. In 2014, Chavar graduated from UWG with a Biology major degree. He never gave up his dream of joining Medical School. We admire him for his perseverance and hardwork. Go Chavar.

Spring 2026 graduation: Congratulations to Ms. Arpita Nath Sarker who graduated from our research lab with a MS in Biology (thesis-track) on 15th May 2026. We wish her the best in her future career endeavors.

Pre- graduation lunch at Thai Basil, Villa Rica on 5th May, with our thesis- track graduate student, Ms. Arpita Sarker. Arpita is going to graduate from UWG with a MS in Biology on 15th May.

On April 24th, Dr. James 'Earl' Perry College of Mathematics, Computing, and Sciences celebrated the research work of 11 students supervised by faculty mentors from different programs in the Perry College. These projects were supported by Perry project funding. All student presentations were awesome. Four Perry project students earned a specialized graduation cords as these students participated in the Experiential Learning Digital Badging Program. In addition to the College community members, the event was attended by Dr. Jon Preston (UWG, Provost), Mr. Rusty West (the donor whose generous contributions made possible the naming of the Science College in honor of the late Dr. James "Earl" Perry, a beloved professor who worked there for over two decades), Dr. James Perry’s son and his wife. Here are some glimpses from the 2026 Perry Project celebration.

Happy Earth Day (April 22nd 2026) from Dr. James 'Earl' Perry College of Mathematics, Computing, and Sciences. Our research lab hosted a table showcasing plastic-degrading bacteria that degrade two types of plastic: PLA and BHET. We had UWG campus folks and Carrollton organizations participate in the Earth Day event. Here are some glimpses from the Earth day.

Dr. Mitra was thrilled to see the enthusiastic faces of tomorrow’s STEM workforce hailing from the Dr. James 'Earl' Perry College of Mathematics, Computing, and Sciences at the UWG Scholars Day held today (April 21st 2026) at the Campus Center Ballroom at the UWG Carrollton campus. Here are some of the bright, smiling faces of Perry College's future STEM professionals.

Our Biology graduate student Ms. Arpita Nath Sarker presented a poster centered on a component of her graduate thesis research at the 39th Association of Official Analytical Collaboration (AOAC) International southern section conference held at the Atlanta Marriott Northeast/Emory Area from March 31st - April 1st 2026. I was fortunate to have been invited as a speaker in the Microbiology session to give a 25 minute-talk on the identification and characterization of a novel heavy-metal tolerant Microbacterium species capable of xenobiotics degradation. Here are some glimpses from the 39th AOAC 2026 conference.

I am pleased to introduce Mr. Theodore Yang AKA Theo Yang. He was a Bio major at UWG (2015-2017) and in 2017 he transferred to UGA. He was a student in my BIOL 3134 (Cell & Molecular Biology) class at UWG. Because he had to support his family for a while, he could not apply to Medical schools in 2019. He never gave up on his dreams. In 2022 spring, Theo got accepted in the MD program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I received a surprise gift from him in 2022: a Medical College of Wisconsin hoodie and a thank you card. Last week he informed me that he has been recently matched into Detroit medical Center’s Orthopaedic Surgery residency program. Theo has joined the “unofficial Mitra research lab’s career mentor group”. He has offered to help current UWG students interested in pursuing a Medical career his help and guidance. We wish Theo the very best in his future endeavors. Go Theo!

Today (3-23-26) our graduate research student (thesis- track), Ms. Arpita Nath Sarker, successfully defended her thesis. She gave a great presentation although she confided to me later that she was very nervous during her seminar. Her seminar was centered on characterization of a new Microbacterium sp. strain Clip185 and development of a stringent, cost-effective minimal medium that can be used for screening vitamin B auxotrophs that have xenobiotic degradation capabilities. A special thanks goes to her two thesis committee members: Dr. Melissa Johnson (Professor, Biology) and Dr. Ana Stanescu (Associate Professor, Computer Science) for their valuable feedback to improve the quality of Arpita's thesis. Here are some glimpses from Arpita's defense.