MacMillan, a professor in the Department of Biology, studies how temperature impacts animal physiology by building models of how stress directly alters tissue function. He will lead a research team looking to uncover how microRNAs (small noncoding RNAs) program the physiology of fruit flies to modify their cold tolerance. This work will also help discover new ways to control winter survival in a mosquito species that spread diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever and the Zika virus.