Rate My Professor Annika Bokor

Dr. Annika Bokor is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry, School of Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Otago, where she has been actively involved in teaching since completing her PhD in 2010. Her doctoral thesis, "Analysis of fungal inteins," was completed at the University of Otago between 2005 and 2010. Bokor teaches first-year health sciences papers, including CELS191 and BIOC192, for which she serves as the course coordinator. Her commitment to excellence in teaching has earned her multiple accolades. In 2016, she won the Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) Top Teacher award, selected from a record 370 nominations. She received the same honor in 2017. Additionally, in 2014, she was recognized as the Distinguished Teaching Fellow/Professional Practice Fellow (PPF) Science recipient at the Otago School of Medical Sciences (OSMS) Awards. Bokor also contributes to student residential life as a College Fellow at Hayward College.

Bokor's research specializes in molecular biology, focusing on inteins, homing endonucleases, PRP8 inteins in fungal species such as the genus Botrytis and other ascomycetes, protein splicing, and molecular genetics. She has 22 publications with 61 citations. Key works include "Sexual mating of Botrytis cinerea illustrates PRP8 intein HEG activity" (2010), which examines intein homing endonuclease gene activity during fungal mating; "PRP8 inteins in species of the genus Botrytis and other ascomycetes" (2012), exploring the evolutionary history and distribution of these inteins; "Preceding hydrophobic and β-branched amino acids attenuate splicing by the CnePRP8 intein" (2007); and "Chimeric rabies SADB19-VSVg-pseudotyped lentiviral vectors mediate long-range retrograde transduction from the mouse spinal cord" (2015). Beyond academia, she engages in outreach activities, delivering biochemistry demonstrations to primary school children using jelly and kiwifruit to illustrate protein production, supporting Silver Science workshops for seniors, and coordinating displays at the University of Otago Science Expo with student volunteers.