Julia Sewall (J. M.)
Julia Massimelli Sewall
Julia is the Director of the Master studies at the Faculty of Science and Engineering. She currectly directs the MSc Systems Biology, MSc Imaging Engineering and MSc Biobased Materials.
Dr. Massimelli Sewall is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University. She serves as Programme Director responsible for the development and evaluation of the MSc Biobased Materials, MSc Imaging Engineering and MSc Systems Biology portfolios as well as development of new Master Programmes in the Faculty. She guards, measures and implements constructive alignment of intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment, and prepares programmes for accreditation and/or re-accreditation. She also participates in cooperation activities between Maastricht University and academic and industrial partners.
Dr. Massimelli Sewall obtained her BS in Microbiology in 2002 and her PhD in Biology in 2008 at Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Argentina, with research focused in bacterial enzymes and gene regulation. After her PhD, she pursued postdoctoral training in the area of posttranscriptional gene regulation, RNA Biology and Cancer virology at the National Cancer Institute (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Upon completion of her postdoctoral training, she joined the Keck Science Department of the Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology where she gained experience teaching a broad range of courses at all levels of the undergrad curriculum. She later joined the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California, Irvine as Assistant Teaching professor with an emphasis on curriculum development and educational research. At UC she acted as co-Director of UCI Master in Biotechology and led the development of cohesive and aligned microbiology curriculum as well as initiatives set forth to transform large laboratory courses into Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE).
Dr. Massimelli Sewall’s research focuses in microbiology, microbiome and development and validation of education instruments and tools.
Academic Distinctions
2019 Small World Initiative’s “Do Something About Antibiotics” Challenge National Institutes of health outreach/awareness award (as mentor).
2018 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, UC Irvine.
2018 Small World Initiative’s “Do Something About Antibiotics” Challenge National Institutes of health outreach/awareness award (as mentor).
2018 Innovative Learning Technology Initiative (ILTI) RFP 5 grant
2015 Biology Scholars Program, Assessment Residency selection and travel award.
2015 American Society for Microbiology-National science Fundation (ASM-NSF) Leaders Inspiring Networks and Knowledge (LINK) seed grant award
2014 ASM-NSF Leaders Inspiring Networks and Knowledge (LINK) travel award.
2014 ASMCUE 2014 Early-career Travel Award.
2013 Selected for the 2013-2014 American Society for Microbiology Science Teaching Fellows program.
B.S., Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto (Rio Cuarto, Cordoba, Argentina), 2002, Microbiology
PhD, Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto (Rio Cuarto, Cordoba, Argentina), 2008, Biology
Postdoctoral training in Virology (2008-2011). Tumor virus RNA Biology laboratory, HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Advisor: Dr. Zhi-Ming (Thomas) Zheng. Post-transcriptional regulation of ORF57 RNA targets in Kaposi Sarcoma-associated Herpes virus (KSHV).
Visiting Assistant Professor (2011-2014), Joint Science Department, Claremont Mckenna Pitzer and Scripps Colleges, Claremont, California, USA.
Assistant Teaching Professor (LPSOE) (2014-2018), Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, UC Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
