MD/PhD Research Faculty and Interest Areas
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology and Physiology
- Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
- Neurosciences
- Pathology
- Toxicology and Pharmacology
Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology
William Anderson, PhD
Bioconjugate chemistry, biosensors, membrane bound enzyme arrays, biomedical
education.
Marco Bisoffi,
PhD
Mechanisms of cancer metastasis, androgen independence in prostate cancer,
telomere biology.
Robert H. Glew, PhD
Maternal/child health problems in sub-Saharan Africa, fatty acid metabolism,
sickle cell anemia.
Jeffrey K.
Griffith, PhD
Telomere biology, genetic polymorphisms and chromosome structure in cancer.
Gary Grotendorst, PhD
Biology of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) as a regulator of cell
proliferation and differentiation.
Chien-An Andy Hu, PhD
Programmed cell death (apoptosis and autophagy) in cancer and human genetic
disease, molecular enzymology of proline metabolism.
Adriana Kajon, PhD
Molecular biology and evolution of respiratory adenoviruses.
Charlotte
Mobarak, PhD
Applications of proteomics to cancer research, cancer marker discovery.
Tudor Oprea, MD/PhD
Drug discovery, cheminformatics, molecular modeling, virtual screening.
Robert A.
Orlando, PhD
Obesity and cardiovascular disease, LDL receptor family, proteoglycans,
Alzheimer's disease.
Karlett J. Parra, Ph.D.
Metabolic/nutritional control of proton transport/cellular pH by V-type ATPase
pumps, V-ATPase molecular motors structure/function/regulation.
Laurel Sillerud,
PhD
Prostate cancer, metabolic regulation in tumors, biomedical NMR, cancer
metastasis.
Yohannes Tesfaigzi, PhD
Mechanisms underlying the proper regulation of cell numbers in airway epithelia
following inflammatory injury and their relation to chronic diseases and cancers
of the lung.
David L. Vanderjagt, PhD
Structure-based drug design, molecular modeling, cancer research, diabetes
research.
Dorothy Vanderjagt, PhD
Maternal/child health in sub-Saharan Africa, nutrition assessment, sickle cell
anemia, body composition.
Cell Biology and Physiology
David Bear, PhD
Regulation of mRNA biosynthesis and transport in muscular dystrophies and muscle
cell cancers; novel electron microscopy techniques to study gene expression.
Oscar Bizzozero, PhD
Molecular mechanisms of tissue injury in multiple sclerosis and other
demyelinating disorders
Matthew Campen, PhD
How the cardiovascular system may become impaired as a result of insults to the
respiratory system.
Dusanka Deretic, PhD
Biosynthesis, sorting and post-Golgi trafficking of rhodopsin to the rod outer
segments (ROS).
Vojo Deretic, PhD
Our latest interest is the process of Autophagy, an exciting new cell
homeostatic process that maintains the cellular interior (organelles and
cytosolic components) in a functional state, but sometimes can go awry and cause
cell death.
Laura Gonzalez Bosc, PhD
Transcriptional regulation of vascular smooth muscle phenotype.
Rebecca Hartley, PhD
Post-transcriptional regulation of the cell cycle in cancer and embryogenesis.
Helen Hathaway, PhD
Mammary gland development and breast cancer.
Nancy Kanagy, PhD
Study of the mechanisms leading to altered vascular smooth muscle and
endothelial cell physiology in animal models of hypertension and sleep apnea.
Paul McGuire, PhD
The role of extracellular proteinases and growth factors in the regulation of
ocular angiogenesis and vascular permeability.
Eric Prossnitz, PhD
The Prossnitz lab focuses on cellular signaling mechanisms initiated by G
protein-coupled receptors.
Tom Resta, PhD
Mechanisms of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension.
Ben Walker, PhD
Our laboratory studies the physiology of the cardiovascular system. Of
special interest are the effects of impaired oxygenation (hypoxia) on
vascular regulation both in the systemic and pulmonary circulations.
Molecular Genetics and
Microbiology
Steve Belinsky, PhD
Role of gene promoter hypermethylation lung cancer and use as a biomarker for
early detection.
Bryce Chackerian, PhD
Interactions between virus particles and the immune system.
Jeremy Edwards, PhD
Spatial temporal modeling, epidermal growth factor receptor, functional genomics
technologies, sequencing.
Carolyn Mold, PhD
Acute phase proteins particularly C-reactive protein in the regulation of
inflammation and autoimmunity through interactions with Fc receptors and
induction of cytokines.
Scott Ness, PhD
Stem cells, oncogenes, signaling and the regulation of transcription,
differentiation and cell cycle.
Mary Ann Osley, PhD
Histone modifications and the regulation of gene expression and DNA damage
repair.
Michelle Ozbun, PhD
Human papillomaviruses, animal papillomaviruses, cervical cancer, skin cancer,
epithelial biology, cancer biology, virology.
David Peabody, PhD
RNA-protein interactions, translational regulation, virus assembly.
Robert L. Rubin, PhD
The main focus of the laboratory is on systemic autoimmunity and how
environmental factors such as drugs and toxicants influence development of
autoreactive T cells.
Stephanie Ruby, PhD
RNA splicing, snRNPs, DEAD-box proteins, spliceosome, DNA-damage response,
cancer biology, genomics.
Julie Wilder, PhD
Genetic regulation of inflammatory responses to allergens and infections agents,
and understanding the development and consequences of immune responses in the
lungs.
Neurosciences
Andrea Allan, PhD
Prenatal drug and environmental exposure models; neural control of cognition;
learning and memory.
Janet Benson, PhD/DABT
Toxicological evaluations of single compounds and complex mixtures of
occupational and environmental concern.
Kevin Caldwell, PhD
Signal transduction mechanisms underlying learning and memory.
John Connor, PhD
Ca2+ and related second control of normal and degenerative responses in brain
neurons.
Lee Anna Cunningham, PhD
Mechanisms of cell death, plasticity and repair in Parkinson's disease and
stroke.
L. Donald Partridge, PhD
Electophysiology and calcium imaging.
Nora Perrone-Bizzozero,
PhD
Gene expression control during brain development; synaptic plasticity and
neurodevelopmental disorders.
Linda Saland, PhD
The effects of ethanol on brain opiate receptor expression and function.
Daniel Savage, PhD
Impact of ethanol and other environmental stressors on brain development and
function.
C. William Shuttleworth,
PhD
Mechanisms underlying degenerative calcium signaling in central neurons.
C. Fernando Valenzuela,
MD/PhD
Regulation of synaptic transmission during development, and how teratogenic
drugs of abuse, such as alcohol, affect this process.
James Wallace, PhD
The role of neurotransmitters in regulating neural stem cell development and
differentiation.
Michael Wilson, PhD
Molecular mechanisms of neurotransmission and its impact on brain development
and behavioral maturation.
Xinyu Zhao, PhD
To understand molecular regulations of postnatal neurogenesis and neuronal
maturation for brain repair.
Pathology
Tione Buranda, PhD
Cellular biophysics and membrane structure.
Richard Larson, MD/PhD
Cell adhesion and ligand design in the application to disease diagnosis,
biosensor design and
imaging agent development.
Diane Lidke, PhD
Biophysical and live cell imaging approaches to study protein dynamics and
interactions during signal transduction.
Janet Oliver, PhD
IgE receptors of mast cells and basophils; spatio-temporal modeling of signal
transduction in allergy and leukemogenesis.
Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD
Stem cells, kidney cell biology and mechanisms of protein trafficking.
Thomas Williams, PhD
Genetics of the MHC in human and non-human primates.
Cheryl Willman, MD
Genomics and genetics of acute leukemia; genomics for molecular classification,
risk assessment, and target. identification
Bridget Wilson, PhD
Membrane microdomains, calcium signaling and modeling, signal transduction.
Toxicology and Pharmacology
Edward G. Barrett, PhD
Fetal and infant immune maturation.
Scott Burchiel, PhD
Immunotoxicity and carcinogenicity of environmental agents.
Yung-Sung Cheng, PhD
Aerosol drug delivery; the design and test of air sampling instruments;
deposition in the respiratory tract; air quality of ambient, occupational and
indoor environments; measurement of radon and radon progeny; inhalation
toxicology.
Kelly Dix, PhD/DABT
Preclinical drug development, xenobiotic metabolism and pharmacokinetics.
Linda Felton, PhD
Drug delivery systems and pharmaceutics.
Changjian Feng, PhD
Structure/function and reaction mechanism of nitric oxide synthase.
Donald Godwin, PhD
Development and testing of novel sunscreen formulations to prevent skin cancer.
Laurie Hudson, PhD
Signal transduction pathways regulating functional and phenotypic plasticity in
normal tissue and tumor metastasis.
Jim Liu, PhD
Free radical and oxidative stress in disease development, including
carcinogenesis and brain injury.
Yubin Miao, PhD
Novel radiolabeled peptides for cancer diagnosis and therapy using radiolabeled
alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (a-MSH) peptides for melanoma detection and
therapy.
Joe L. Mauderly, DVM
Health effects of air pollution.
Jacob McDonald, PhD
Implementation of analytical chemistry and aerosol science to address questions
of environmental relevance.
Steven Peterson,
PhD
Mechanisms of neuropathology in experimental models of seizures and epilepsy.
Matthew Reed, PhD/DABT
Toxicology of inhaled toxicants and chemical and biochemical toxicology.
JeanClare Seagrave, PhD
Mechanisms of health effects of inhaled materials including air pollution and
cigarette smoke.
Bobby Scott, PhD
Mechanisms-based modeling of low-dose radiation and chemical-induced stochastic
effects(mutations, apoptosis, neoplastic transformation).
Hugh D. C. Smyth, PhD
Drug delivery and pharmaceutics.
Mohan Sopori, PhD
The immunosuppresive and anti-inflammatory properties of nicotine are mediated
through its direct interaction with immune cells and indirectly through the
sympathetic autonomic nervous system.
Todd A. Thompson, PhD
Investigate the molecular pathways in breast and prostate cancer development,
prevention, and treatment.
Graham Timmins, PhD
Investigate the role of UV-induced radicals in melanoma; drug radicals in
antibiotic action.
Mary K. Walker, PhD
Study the molecular mechanisms of the Ah receptor in cardiovascular physiology
and disease.
