Dr. Michele Paradies

Hi!  I’m Dr. Michele Paradies – most of my students call me Dr. P.  I have a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology and Teratology (the study of birth defects) from Thomas Jefferson College of Graduate Studies in Philadelphia, PA.  My thesis project involved studying how neurons make connections with each other during embryonic and fetal development.  I also took several medical school courses, including medical histology, human gross anatomy (that included cadaver dissection), mammalian physiology and medical neuroscience.  I later taught in the medical school and in Jefferson’s College of Allied Health until I graduated.

My postdoctoral fellowship work at the University of Virginia involved transport of mRNA into the dendrites of neurons, which supports one theory on how neurons are able to alter their connections quickly enough to facilitate learning and formation of new memories.  During this time, I began teaching General Biology lecture and lab at the local community college.  After moving to this area, I was delighted to find an opening at OCCC and have been here ever since.  I teach both A&P I and II lecture and lab each semester.  I also teach Neurobiology lecture and lab in the fall.

My teaching life is dedicated to helping students to understand and appreciate the complexities of the human body and to encourage students to become as enthusiastic about their developing professional lives as I am about mine.