Biography
I believe in Education as a mission in our society. The objective is not only having students to learn the content of each course, but also helping them to develop life-long learning skills and critical thinking. These are very important qualities to prepare students for their future professions and to become the best possible human beings who are involved in the progress of our society. In today’s world educators can no longer be just dispensers of knowledge. Educators should, of course have knowledge and skills, but also possess other very important qualities such as being an adviser, an encourager, a stimulator, a mentor, a resource, a researcher and a patient person. I believe that these are some of the qualities needed to become an outstanding educator.
Educators are no longer just “Sage on the stage”. They should be sensitive to the needs and interests of students, and to the demands of the work market. Educators should be able to communicate effectively with their students in order to share experiences with the goal of continuously improving their pedagogical approaches.
I always try to meet my students’ needs regardless of their previous knowledge, background and learning abilities. I often receive new ideas from my students’ feedback and comments, which means that the more I teach the more I learn. It is a life-long process. I always keep in mind that a good educator should also inspire students in their future professions and in their everyday life as young adults ready to make their contribution for the best possible future of our society.
The teaching materials should always be presented in a variety of ways. The three principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which borrowed the term of universal design from architects and designers, illustrates the importance of presenting class materials in multiple ways to promote accessibility and engagement at different levels in order to tap into learners’ interests in an appropriate manner, so it will motivate students to learn and ultimately to became self-learners. I believe that a small percentage of students are motivated no matter what, but for the majority of the students there are other ways to improve motivation and open doors on professional opportunities that they would have ever thought before. I think that the learning process in adults can be made more effective, if new material can retrieve previous background knowledge and if life experiences can be related to the abstract concepts of a lecture.
Courses Taught
Number | Name | Level |
|---|---|---|
BIOL 3204 | Cell Structure and Function | Undergraduate |
SCTC 1001 | CST First-Year Seminar | Undergraduate |
SCTC 1001 | CST First Year Seminar | Undergraduate |
Selected Publications
Featured
Rossi, S., Sevignani, C., Nnadi, S.C., Siracusa, L.D., & Calin, G.A. (2008). Cancer-associated genomic regions (CAGRs) and noncoding RNAs: bioinformatics and therapeutic implications. Mamm Genome, 19(7-8), 526-540. United States. 10.1007/s00335-008-9119-8
Sevignani, C., Calin, G.A., Nnadi, S.C., Shimizu, M., Davuluri, R.V., Hyslop, T., Demant, P., Croce, C.M., & Siracusa, L.D. (2007). MicroRNA genes are frequently located near mouse cancer susceptibility loci. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 104(19), 8017-8022. United States. 10.1073/pnas.0702177104
Sevignani, C., Calin, G.A., Siracusa, L.D., & Croce, C.M. (2006). Mammalian microRNAs: a small world for fine-tuning gene expression. Mamm Genome, 17(3), 189-202. United States. 10.1007/s00335-005-0066-3
Liu, C., Calin, G.A., Meloon, B., Gamliel, N., Sevignani, C., Ferracin, M., Dumitru, C.D., Shimizu, M., Zupo, S., Dono, M., Alder, H., Bullrich, F., Negrini, M., & Croce, C.M. (2004). An oligonucleotide microchip for genome-wide microRNA profiling in human and mouse tissues. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 101(26), 9740-9744. United States. 10.1073/pnas.0403293101
Thomas-Tikhonenko, A., Viard-Leveugle, I., Dews, M., Wehrli, P., Sevignani, C., Yu, D., Ricci, S., el-Deiry, W., Aronow, B., Kaya, G., Saurat, J., & French, L.E. (2004). Myc-transformed epithelial cells down-regulate clusterin, which inhibits their growth in vitro and carcinogenesis in vivo. Cancer Res, 64(9), 3126-3136. United States. 10.1158/0008-5472.can-03-1953
Calin, G.A., Sevignani, C., Dumitru, C.D., Hyslop, T., Noch, E., Yendamuri, S., Shimizu, M., Rattan, S., Bullrich, F., Negrini, M., & Croce, C.M. (2004). Human microRNA genes are frequently located at fragile sites and genomic regions involved in cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 101(9), 2999-3004. United States. 10.1073/pnas.0307323101
Sevignani, C., Calin, G.A., Cesari, R., Sarti, M., Ishii, H., Yendamuri, S., Vecchione, A., Trapasso, F., & Croce, C.M. (2003). Restoration of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) expression induces apoptosis and suppresses tumorigenicity in breast cancer cell lines. Cancer Res, 63(6), 1183-1187. United States. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12649173.
Hunter, C., Yu, D., Gee, M., Ngo, C., Sevignani, C., Goldschmidt, M., Golovkina, T., Evans, S., Lee, W., & Thomas-Tikhonenko, A. (2001). Cutting edge: systemic inhibition of angiogenesis underlies resistance to tumors during acute toxoplasmosis. J Immunol, 166(10), 5878-5881. England. 10.4049/jimmunol.166.10.5878
Janz, A., Sevignani, C., Kenyon, K., Ngo, C., & Thomas-Tikhonenko, A. (2000). Activation of the myc oncoprotein leads to increased turnover of thrombospondin-1 mRNA. Nucleic Acids Res, 28(11), 2268-2275. England. 10.1093/nar/28.11.2268
Sevignani, C., Cranston, A., Iozzo, R., Fishel, R., & Calabretta, B. (1999). Spontaneous and mutagen-induced transformation of primary cultures of Msh2-/- p53-/- colonocytes. Cancer Res, 59(23), 5882-5886. United States. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10606228.
Sevignani, C., Wlodarski, P., Kirillova, J., Mercer, W., Danielson, K., Iozzo, R., & Calabretta, B. (1998). Tumorigenic conversion of p53-deficient colon epithelial cells by an activated Ki-ras gene. J Clin Invest, 101(8), 1572-1580. United States. 10.1172/JCI919
Pincelli, C., Sevignani, C., Manfredini, R., Grande, A., Fantini, F., Bracci-Laudiero, L., Aloe, L., Ferrari, S., Cossarizza, A., & Giannetti, A. (1994). Expression and function of nerve growth factor and nerve growth factor receptor on cultured keratinocytes. J Invest Dermatol, 103(1), 13-18. United States. 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12388914
Fantini, F., Baraldi, A., Sevignani, C., Spattini, A., Pincelli, C., & Giannetti, A. (1992). Cutaneous innervation in chronic renal failure patients. An immunohistochemical study. Acta Derm Venereol, 72(2), 102-105. Sweden. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1350391.
Fantini, F., Pincelli, C., Sevignani, C., Baraldi, A., & Giannetti, A. (1991). Langerhans cells can express neuron-specific enolase immunoreactivity. Arch Dermatol Res, 283(1), 10-12. 10.1007/BF01207243
Rivasi, F., Aloysio, G.D., Fano, R., Boselli, F., & Sevignani, C. (1990). Use of avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) technique for the localization of human papillomavirus antigens on semithin sections from cytologic samples embedded for electron microscopy. Cervix and the Lower Female Genital Tract, 8(3), 349-354.