Trainers Directory

Neurodegenerative diseases impart a devastating toll on patients and their caregivers, while costing hundreds of billions in lost wages and healthcare annually. Rare genetic mutations and common genetic polymorphisms interact in surprising ways with the environment to shape each person’s relative risk of developing disease. Our research leverages patient biomaterial, human pluripotent stem cells and animal models to discover disease relevant pathways to ultimately enable innovative therapeutic strategies.

Aaron Burberry's Biography 

Our laboratory specializes in mass spectrometry based proteomics and systems biology to study host immunity, the microbiome, and interactions in disease. A central focus of our research has been to study host and microbial factors at mucosal surfaces that underlie susceptibility to infectious disease and cancer. 

Adam Burgener's Biography 

I study bioinformatic and genomic analysis of complex diseases, such as late onset Alzheimer's Disease. 

William S. Bush's Biography 

We are interested in determining the disease phenotypes and molecular features of co-existing protein aggregates in comorbid neurodegenerative disorders, including prion disease, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. A major goal of these studies is to determine whether distinct prion strains modulate Aβ and tau neurodegeneration in cases with prion disease and AD. We are also examining the molecular properties of tau (including seeding properties) in individuals with prion disease and a history of traumatic brain injury. We employ sensitive diagnostic assays for the detection of minute amounts of pathogenic proteins (RT-QuIC) in addition to animal and cell models to understand the role of each pathogenic protein in multiproteinopathies.

Ignazio Cali's Biography 

I investigate the role of interferon signaling genes and the inflammasome in regulating innate and adaptive immune responses in human emerging infectious disease and chronic illness, including COVID-19 research. 

Mark Cameron's Biography 

We are interested in using a systems immunology approach to study host response to viral infection (HIV, SARS-CoV, influenza), vaccination (SARS-CoV, influenza, varicella zoster virus), autoimmunity (psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, POTS, Sjögren's syndrome), cardiovascular disease and cancer (melanoma, colorectal) in order to identify novel therapeutic targets and to inform personalized medicine.

Cheryl Cameron's Biography 

My research is in the immunology of aging and vaccines with a focus on influenza and shingles vaccination. Specifically, I study COVID-19 in older populations and HIV/TB pathogensis.

Our lab is interested in understanding how epigenetic events, including histone modifications, DNA modifications, and nucleosome positioning, impact cell fate. 

Kaixiang Cao's Biography 

I study receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, human adenoviruses, and protein sorting. 

Cathleen R. Carlin's Biography

My lab focuses on how human T cells and macrophages interact and respond during early infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We use fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) of human memory T cells from individuals with latent Mtb infection (LTBI) to identify CD4+ T cells that recognize Mtb-infected macrophages, followed by single-cell transcriptomics, surface receptor profiling, and T cell antigen receptor (TCR) sequencing. This platform allows us to compare the functions of individual TCR clonotypes in response to Mtb-infected macrophages to define T cell functions and antigen specificities that can inform the design of protective TB vaccines.  

Stephen Carpenter's Biography