He attended graduate school in the Biology Department of Princeton University, receiving a Masters Degree and a Ph.D. He did postdoctoral work in Biology at the University of Oregon, in Biophysics at The Johns Hopkins University, and in Biology at the Developmental Biology Center at the University of California at Irvine. In 1982, he joined the faculty of Tulane University where he spent 16 years teaching, doing research, and serving as an administrator.

Dr. Ide's research, carried out in frogs, mice, and tissue culture, focuses on the following issues:

• How cytokines, such as the interleukin-1 system molecules (IL-1beta, IL-1alpha, IL-1receptor antagonist, IL-1 type 1 receptor, IL-1type 2 receptor, and the IL-1 converting enzyme) regulate neural circuit formation during early brain development.
• How IL-1beta enhances regeneration and repair in the perinatal mammalian nervous system, and how IL-1receptor antagonist exacerbates damage by blocking the IL-1type1 receptor.
• How environmental contaminants, such as pesticides, alter normal frog development by acting as endocrine disruptors.
• How cytokines serve as neural biomarkers of exposure and damage related to exposure to heavy metals and/or hydrocarbon contaminants in frogs.
• How biomarkers coupled with predictive models can be used to assess risks associated with the presence of pollutants in aquatic ecosystems.

Dr. Ide has received external support for his research from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, corporate sources, and the State of Louisiana.

As an administrator at Tulane University, Dr. Ide served as the following:

• Chair of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
• Co-director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience
• Deputy Director and Interim Director of the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research.
• Director of the Tulane/Xavier Dept. of Energy-Environmental Management ("Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments") Program
• Principal Investigator and Project Director for the State of Louisiana's Dept. of Energy Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOE/EPSCOR) program.

The DOE/EPSCOR program not only includes carrying out basic and applied research in environmental science and materials science, but also includes Human Resource Development (HRD) activities managed by Southern University, a Louisiana Historically Black University (HBCU). HRD activities include placing undergraduate students in DOE National Labs, teacher training, and the production of a new energy related science curriculum for grades K-12.

At Western Michigan University, Dr. Ide directs the Environmental Research Center and is a Professor of Biological Sciences. He has been designated as director of the new Environmental Institute, an umbrella that will coordinate the activities of the Environmental Research Center and the Environmental Studies Program. He is enthusiastic about being a part of the continuing growth of the WMU Environmental Program. He will work with faculty, students, and the administration to construct an encompassing program that is responsive to local and state environmental needs, yet, produces solutions to environmental problems that are of concern to people worldwide.

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