Profile

Dr. Griffin received a Bachelor of Science with honors in biochemistry and applied physics and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Carson-Newman University. He then earned a Doctor of Philosophy in biomedical science with a concentration in quantitative bioscience from East Tennessee State University. He joined the faculty at Mars Hill University in 2018. Since then, he has earned a Master of Arts in apologetics with honors from Luther Rice College and Seminary.

Dr. Griffin’s research interests include metabolism, protein structure, neurodegeneration, and infectious diseases. The courses he has taught at Mars Hill University include BIO 121 (Cells and Genetics), BIO 215 (Genetics), BIO 216 (Cell and Molecular Biology), BIO 329 (Special Topics, Molecular Pathology), and BIO 450 (Senior Seminar). When not teaching or researching, he likes to spend time with family, run, and study Christian theology and philosophy.

Publications:

Griffin JWD, Bradshaw P (2021) Residue interaction network analysis predicts a Val24-Ile31 interaction may be involved in preventing amyloid-beta (1-42) primary nucleation. Protein J. 40(2):175-183.

Griffin JWD (2020) SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 main protease residue interaction networks change when bound to inhibitor N3. J. Struct. Biol. 211(3):107575.

Griffin JWD, Bradshaw P (2019) Effects of high protein diet and liver disease in an in silico model of human ammonia metabolism. Theo. Bio. Med. Mod. 16.

Griffin JWD, Bradshaw P (2018) In silico prediction of novel residues involved in amyloid primary nucleation of human I56T and D67H lysozyme. BMC Struct. Bio. 18:9.

Griffin JWD, Liu Y, Bradshaw P, Wang KS (2018) In silico preliminary association of ammonia metabolism genes GLS, CPS1, and GLUL with risk of Alzheimer’s disease, major depressive disorder, and type 2 diabetes. J. Mol. Neurosci. 1-12.

Griffin JWD, Bradshaw PC (2017) Amino acid catabolism in Alzheimer’s disease brain: Friend or foe? Oxid. Med. Cell. Longev. 2017, 1–15.

Delic V, Griffin JWD, Zivkovic S, Zhang Y, Phan T-A, Gong H, Chaput D, Reynes C, Dinh VB, Cruz J, Cvitkovic E, Placides D, Frederic E, Mirzaei H, Stevens SM, Jinwal U, Lee DC, Bradshaw PC (2017) Individual amino acid supplementation can improve energy metabolism and decrease ROS production in neuronal cells overexpressing alpha-synuclein. NeuroMolecular Med. 1–23.

Ren JP, Zhao J, Dai J, Griffin JWD, Wang L, Wu XY, Morrison ZD, Li GY, El Gazzar M, Ning SB, Moorman JP, Yao ZQ (2016) Hepatitis C virus-induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells regulate T-cell differentiation and function via the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway. Immunology 148, 377–86.

Li GY, Zhou Y, Ying RS, Shi L, Cheng YQ, Ren JP, Griffin JWD, Jia ZS, Li CF, Moorman JP, Yao ZQ (2015) Hepatitis C virus-induced reduction in miR-181a impairs CD4(+) T-cell responses through overexpression of DUSP6. Hepatology 61, 1163–73.

Shi L, Wang JM, Ren JP, Cheng YQ, Ying RS, Wu XY, Lin SM, Griffin JWD, Li GY, Moorman JP, Yao ZQ (2014) KLRG1 impairs CD4+ T cell responses via p16ink4a and p27kip1 pathways: role in hepatitis B vaccine failure in individuals with hepatitis C virus infection. J. Immunol. 192, 649–57.

Griffin J, Moulton M, Elmezayen R, Moorman J (2014) Negative Immunomodulators – Blunting Immunostimulation and Facilitating Infection. In Immune Response Activation, Duc GHT, ed. InTech Open Access Publishing, pp. 105–120.