Mason Posner, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology

320 Kettering Science Center

Department(s)

College

Biography

Joined Ashland University faculty in 1999 and teaches courses in Cell Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Vertebrate Biology, Marine Biology, and Molecular Biology, as well as a professional development course for science majors. His teaching was recognized with Ashland University’s Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009.
Has mentored over 50 undergraduate research students using molecular biology techniques and the model zebrafish to identify and characterize genes involved in the development of the eye lens and how the lens stays transparent to avoid cataracts, the leading cause of human blindness worldwide.
Posner's research has been supported with over $1.3 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2001. He has published 18 peer-reviewed papers, most with student co-authors and several as collaborations with other Ashland faculty. In 2018 he received Ashland University’s Excellence in Scholarship Award.
Helped to bring the first Choose Ohio First scholarship program to Ashland University, which he still co-directs, bringing over $1.7 million in state funds to support scholarships in the natural sciences, mathematics, and computer science.
Actively peer-reviews manuscripts and grant applications, is an academic editor for the journal PeerJ, a review editor for Frontiers in Ophthalmology, and co-founded the Ohio Zebrafish Undergraduate research conference.

Education