Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Peggy Biga

  • Chair - Professor - Biology
Portrait of Dr. Peggy Biga

Biography and education

Education
1993-1997 Bachelor of Science, Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX
1997-1999 Master of Science, Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX, Nutrition. Mentor: Brian J. May
1999-2003 Doctor of Philosophy, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, Nutritional Physiology
Dissertation: The effects of recombinant bovine somatotropin on growth-related genes in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Mentor: Gerald T. Schelling (d. 2001), Troy L. Ott
Postdoctoral Training
2004 - 2005 Research Associate, Great Lakes WATER Institute, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI; Mentor: Frederick ‘Rick’ Goetz
2003 - 2004 Postdoctoral Scientist Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA; Mentor: Frederick ‘Rick’ Goetz

Research Interests

  • Biga, Peggy R (Principal). Just Keep Gilling: Dietary and genetic strategies to improve hypoxia tolerance in rainbow trout., USDA, Federal, $650000. (Funded: June 1, 2025 - March 31, 2028). Grant.
  • Biga, Peggy R (Co-Principal). BII: Integration Initiative: Sex, Aging, Genomics, and Evolution (IISAGE)., NSF, Federal, $765000. (Funded: June 1, 2025 - August 31, 2026). Grant.
  • Fang, Y., Su, Y., Meisel, R., Walters, J. R., Gamble, T., Randolph, E. C., … Duan, J. (Ellie). (2026). Comparative transcriptomic analysis of embryonic stem cells across mammalian species. iScience, 29(1), 114542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.114542
  • Shi, M., Li, G., Araujo, H. M., Lee, A. S., Zhang, J., Lee, Y. L., … Duan, J. E. (2025). Sex-biased transcriptome in in vitro produced bovine early embryos. Cell & Bioscience, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13578-025-01459-x
  • Biga, P. R., Duan, J. E., Young, T. E., Marks, J. R., Bronikowski, A., Decena, L. P., … Riddle, N. C. (2025). Hallmarks of aging: A user’s guide for comparative biologists. Ageing Research Reviews, 104, 102616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2024.102616
  • Freij, K., Cleveland, B., & Biga, P. R. (2024). Remodeling of the epigenetic landscape in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, offspring in response to maternal choline intake. Comp Biochem Physiol Part D Genomics Proteomics ., 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbd.2024.101348
  • Reid, R. M., Turkmen, S., Cleveland, B. M., & Biga, P. R. (2024). Direct actions of growth hormone in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, skeletal muscle cells in vitro. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 297, 111725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.111725
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Inaugural Outstanding Chapter Award, Scholars Strategy Network. 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Humble Hero Award, City of Birmingham, Division of Youth Services. 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Altruism Award, UAB Department of Biology. 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Creativity is a Decision Prize, UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center. 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Stop Obesity Challenge Winner, Mid-South Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center for Health Disparities Research, UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center. 2015
View all awards
  1. Co-Chair

    Scholars Strategy Network

  2. Other

    International Society for Fish Endocrinology

  3. Member

    North American Society for Comparative Endocrinology - Awards Committee

  4. Chair

    Aquatic Animal Models for Human Disease Conference

  5. Chair

    American Fisheries Society, Physiology Section

  6. Coordinator / Organizer

    Aquatic Animal Models of Human Disease Conference