Dr. Michael Ibba

Dr. Michael Ibba has served as Dean of Schmid College since 2020. Before joining Chapman, he was the Chair of the Microbiology Department and Associate Director of the Infectious Disease Institute at The Ohio State University, where he taught for 19 years.

Dr. Ibba's contributions to the fields of biochemistry and microbiology are extensive, with over 200 research articles published and three active research grants. His work has been recognized with several prestigious awards and distinctions. Notably, in 2019, he was honored with the Distinguished Scholar Award at The Ohio State University, and in 2017 and 2020, he received the Faculty Award for Diversity Enhancement in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He serves as Chair of the National Science Foundation Federal Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences (BIO-AC). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

Education

Imperial College, University of London, Bachelor of Science
University of Manchester, Ph.D.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Methionyl-tRNA synthetase synthetic and proofreading activities are determinants of antibiotic persistence. Wood WN, Rubio MA, Leiva LE, Phillips GJ, Ibba M. Front Microbiol. 2024 Mar 27;15:1384552.

What is microbial dormancy? McDonald MD, Owusu-Ansah C, Ellenbogen JB, Malone ZD, Ricketts MP, Frolking SE, Ernakovich JG, Ibba M, Bagby SC, Weissman JL. Trends Microbiol. 2024 Feb;32(2):142-150

The Pros of changing tRNA identity. Ibba M. J Biol Chem. 2023 Aug;299(8):104974

At the Crossroad of Nucleotide Dynamics and Protein Synthesis in Bacteria. Leiva LE, Zegarra V, Bange G, Ibba M. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2023 Mar 21;87(1):e0004422.

Oxidative stress strongly restricts the effect of codon choice on the efficiency of protein synthesis in Escherichia coli. Leiva LE, Elgamal S, Leidel SA, Orellana O, Ibba M, Katz A.Front Microbiol. 2022 Nov 29;13:1042675

New paradigm for teaching scientific writing in STEM. Lang S, Ibba M, Musier-Forsyth K.Trends Biochem Sci. 2022 Aug;47(8):631-634. 

Escherichia coli alanyl-tRNA synthetase maintains proofreading activity and translational accuracy under oxidative stress. Kavoor A, Kelly P, Ibba M.J Biol Chem. 2022 Mar;298(3):101601.

Characterizing the amino acid activation center of the naturally editing-deficient aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase PheRS in Mycoplasma mobile. Han NC, Kavoor A, Ibba M.FEBS Lett. 2022 Apr;596(7):947-957.

Oxidation alters the architecture of the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase editing domain to confer hyperaccuracy. Srinivas P, Steiner RE, Pavelich IJ, Guerrero-Ferreira R, Juneja P, Ibba M, Dunham CM.Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Nov 18;49(20):11800-11809. 

Role of a cryptic tRNA gene operon in survival under translational stress. Santamaría-Gómez J, Rubio MÁ, López-Igual R, Romero-Losada AB, Delgado-Chaves FM, Bru-Martínez R, Romero-Campero FJ, Herrero A, Ibba M, Ochoa de Alda JAG, Luque I.Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Sep 7;49(15):8757-8776. 

Deacylated tRNA Accumulation Is a Trigger for Bacterial Antibiotic Persistence Independent of the Stringent Response. Wood WN, Mohler K, Rinehart J, Ibba M.mBio. 2021 Jun 29;12(3):e0113221.