Biochemistry
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaixiang Cao, PhD | Biochemistry | Elucidating mechanisms underlying stem cell differentiation and mammalian development with genetic, epigenetic, and genomic approaches | ||
| J. Alan Diehl, PhD | Biochemistry | Discovery of molecular mechanisms that contribute to uncontrolled cell proliferation and decreased cell death. The first area of focus is cell survival and lipid signaling pathways that are utilized during tumorigenesis. The second area of focus is on the elucidation of mechanisms whereby growth signaling pathways regulate the cell division. | ||
| Thomas Gerken, PhD | Biochemistry | Protein structure and dynamics; NMR techniques; molecular modeling of glycoproteins and mucins | ||
| Eckhard Jankowsky, PhD | Biochemistry | Nischay Rege | Sarah Venus, Soon Yi | Single-molecule enzymology (RNA helicases) & single molecule studies of ribonucleoprotein machinery (HCV replication and pre-mRNA splicing) |
| Hung-Ying Kao, PhD | Biochemistry |
Mechanisms of the transcriptional control by diverse signaling pathways; molecular basis of human diseases related to transcriptional regulation |
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| Focco van den Akker, PhD | Biochemistry | Nischay Rege | Structural biology; infectious diseases/antibiotic resistance; cardiovascular diseases; small-molecule therapeutics design; cell signaling |
Biomedical Engineering
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Bolu Ajiboye, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Morgan McGrath | Anisha Rastogi | Development and control of brain- computer- interface (BCI) technologies for restoring function to individuals who have experienced severely debilitating injuries to the nervous system, such as spinal cord injury and stroke |
| Jeffrey Capadona, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Sydney Song | Developing materials to assimilate within the neural tissue to facilitate molecular level connections with individual neurons | |
| Dominique Durand, PhD | Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Physiology & Biophysics | Max Freeberg, Kabilar Gunalan, Bryan Benson, Sydney Song | (Tom Ladas, Sheela Toprani, Daniel Levanthal, Bill Stacey) | Neural engineering, neural prostheses, magnetic and electric stimulation of the nervous system, electrophysiology of epilepsy, computational neuroscience. |
| Robert Kirsch, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Anisha Rastogi | Mechanics and control of human movement |
|
| Zheng-Rong Lu, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Peter Qiao | Drug delivery and molecular imaging; novel targeted imaging agents for molecular imaging; novel MRI contrast agents; image-guided therapy and drug delivery; polymeric drug delivery systems; multi-functional delivery systems for nucleic acids | |
| Dan Ma, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Fast MR acquisition and reconstruction, MR Fingerprinting, Quantitative MR imaging, Computational Modeling, Novel MR Imaging Technology for Neurological Diseases. | ||
| Anant Madabhushi, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Awuri Asuru, Jessica Scarborough | Quantitative image analysis; Multi-modal, multi-scale correlation of massive data sets for disease diagnostics, prognostics, theragnostics: cancer applications. | |
| Cameron McIntyre, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Kabilar Gunalan (Tom Foutz, Svjetlana Miocinovic) | Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of movement disorders and effective application of DBS to new clinical arenas | |
| Andrew Rollins, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Development and application of advanced optics and photonics technologies for imaging and characterization of biological samples, detection of early disease, and monitoring of therapy in human tissues; and investigating embryonic development | ||
| Anirban Sen Gupta, PhD | Biomedical Engineering, Pathology, Pathology/ Immunology | DaShawn Hickman, Michelle Cruz, Michaela Cooley | Our principal research focus is on mechanistic understanding of biological and pathological phenomena at the cellular, sub-cellular and biomolecular levels in hemostasis, thrombosis, thromboinflammation and cancer, and utilization of this knowledge to create bioinspired therapeutic and diagnostic technologies to interrogate, leverage, or treat these various phenomena | |
| Samuel Senyo, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | The Senyo group investigates cellular crosstalk in cardiovascular disease to understand disease progression such as in diabetes and to reverse or repair the injured heart. We model the cellular niche using tissue engineering principles and microfabrication. Dr. Senyo performs comparative studies using mammalian model systems, including human stem cells. | ||
| Horst von Recum, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Anna Czapar, Anna Henry, Evelyn Ojo | Novel platforms for the delivery of molecules and cells | |
| Satish Viswanath, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Developing medical image analysis and machine learning tools for imaging data, through spatial correlation and cross-linking against pathology or molecular data | ||
| David Wilson, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Christian Anderson, Charlie Wang, Brian Fort | (Roee Lazebnik) | Clinical and preclinical detection and characterization of cardiovascular disease, ophthalmological conditions, and cancer using biomedical image analysis and learning systems. Techniques used include segmentation, machine learning, registration, etc., as applied to multiple modalities (e.g., OCT, MRI, CT) |
| Xin Yu*, ScD | Biomedical Engineering | Christian Anderson | (Didi Goodnough, Charlie Wang) | * Not currently accepting MSTP students for rotation or PhD placement |
Cardiovascular Research Institute
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mukesh Jain, MD | Physiology & Biophysics, Pathology | Anna Henry, Hana Russo, Jennings Luu, Michaela Cooley, Erik Koritzinsky | Nelson Hsieh, David Sweet, Liyan Fan | Transcriptional mechanisms governing cellular differentiation and function |
| Ganapati Mahabaleshwar, PhD | Pathology | Molecular role of novel transcriptional regulators in the pathogenesis of human chronic and acute inflammatory disease conditions |
Center for Clinical Investigation
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satya Sahoo, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | (Biomedical Informatics and Brain Connectivity in Neurological Disorders) We study the underlying mechanisms of neurological disorders such as Epilepsy and Movement Disorder (PD) using computational and mathematical models of brain structural and functional networks as they evolve during disease progression. We are also interested in understanding how clinical events in neurological disorders affect higher order brain functions such as consciousness state and memory. In addition to theoretical models, we have developed Big Data analytic techniques such as Apache Spark libraries to process and analyze large scale data. |
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| James Spilsbury*, PhD, MPH | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Clinical Translational Science | * Not currently accepting MSTP students for rotation or PhD placement |
Center for Global Health & Diseases
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Kazura, MD | Pathology/ Immunology | Emily Hannon | Immunoregulatory mechanisms of pathogenesis; acquired resistance to infection; malaria |
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| Christopher L King, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Gloria Tavera | T cell differentiation, Malaria Schistosomiasis, Filariasis Neonatal immunity, IgE regulation Mechanisms of acquired immunity |
Center for Proteomics & Bioinformatics
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Chance, PhD | Genetics, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, Pathology/ Immunology | Dan Jindal | Awuri Asuru (Danica Wiredja) | Systems Biology, Protein Structure/Function, Cancer, Diabetes |
| John Tilton, MD | Molecular Virology | NanoPOD platform for in vivo delivery of protein and RNA therapeutics; HIV-related research using nanoscale flow cytometry to understand viral heterogeneity and its impact on disease; unraveling the mechanisms through which extracellular vesicles fuse with host cells and deliver internal cargos |
Center for RNA Molecular Biology
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kristian Baker, PhD | Biochemistry, Genetics & Genome Sciences | Joel Sax | Mechanisms of nonsense-medated mRNA decay; Mechanisms of mRNA quality control; translation regulation; post transcriptional gene expression | |
| Donny Licatalosi, PhD | Biochemistry, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Susie Suh, Xinrui Zhang | Understanding how different RBPs regulate gene expression during mouse spermatogenesis, using genetic, bioinformatic, biochemical, and high throughput methods |
Chemistry
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blanton Tolbert, PhD | Molecular Virology | Erin Cohn | Understanding the molecular mechanisms RNA viruses use to express their genomes |
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Alberts, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Bryan Benson | Morgan McGrath | How the brain controls skilled movements, how changes in brain function affect movement performance; Parkinson's disease, stroke, and concussion; improving movement and cognitive performance; concussion and mild dramatic brain injury |
| Cornelia Bergmann, PhD | Immune responses to viral infections in the central nervous system | |||
| Charis Eng, MD, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Pathology/ Molecular and Cellular Basis of Disease, Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Ryan Gimple | (Emily Nizialek) | Cancer genomic medicine translational research; characterization of disease risks in inherited predisposition to cancer; intracytoplasmic trafficking of PTEN and oxidative stress in cancer |
| Robert Fairchild, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Alex Tong, Claire Mazahery, Otis Pinkard | (Tarek El Sawy, Chuck Su, Austin Schenk, Josh Rosenblum, David Yao) | T-lymphocyte tolerance, transplantation immunology; T-cell mediated responses in the skin |
| Emina Huang, MD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology |
The development of cancer in the face of chronic inflammation |
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| Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD | Cell Biology, Pathology, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Awuri Asuru | Marc Ferrell (Arundhait Undurti, Bob Koeth) | Inflammation biology, atherosclerosis, gut floraHDL structure/function, internal medicine, preventive cardiology. A long term goal of the Hazen laboratory is to understand mechanisms through which inflammation contributes to diseases like atherosclerosis and other chronic degenerative diseases. A major area of interest: the role of intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic diseases, and the pharmacological targeting of metaorganismal pathways in its treatment and prevention. A second research program: the role of nitric oxide and reactive oxidant pathways in inflammatory diseases in vivo, with emphasis on cardiovascular diseases. A final area: HDL structure and function. All research projects rely on multidisciplinary approaches that focus on structural, biochemical, genetic and analytical methods to identify specific reactions/products or pathways, their mechanisms of formation, and involvement in diseases. Research efforts in each program span from bench-to-bedside, including basic/genetic, cellular, animal model, and human clinical investigations |
| Justin Lathia, PhD |
Pathology/ Cancer Biology |
Adam Lauko | Our main focus is how stem cell programs drive tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. To achieve this goal, we have active projects in cell adhesion mechanisms, cell-cell communication, and the interaction between tumor cell and the immune system. We also are developing new methods to track the stem cell state in real time and single-cell cell-fate decisions. We work mainly in malignant brain tumors and have leveraged the lessons learned in these tumors to other tumor types including breast and ovarian. | |
| Xiaoxia Li, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Leo Kim, Joseph Rathkey, Susie Suh, Brendan Barton, Muta Abiff, Vanessa Salazar | Willie Miller-Little (Brad Martin, Ling Wu) | Signal transduction in innate and adaptive immunity |
| Laura Nagy, PhD | Cell Biology, Nutrition, Pathology/ Molecular and Cellular Basis of Disease | Innate immune contributions to alcohol and non-alcoholic induced liver injury, mechanisms of hepatocyte cell death, adipose-gut-liver interactions in alcoholic liver disease, genetic contributions to ALD | ||
| Jacob Scott, MD, DPhil | Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Eshan King | Jessica Scarborough, Davis Weaver | * Not currently accepting MSTP students for rotation or PhD placement |
| Ganes Sen, PhD | Biochemistry, Molecular Virology, Pathology/ Immunology | Nelson Hsieh | (Lenette Lu, Chris Elco) | Molecular Virology, Mechanism of Interferon Action, Recombinant DNA Technology, Genetic Regulation of Hypertension |
| Nima Sharifi, MD | Pharmacology | Metabolic and molecular mechanisms of resistance to hormonal therapy in advanced prostate cancer | ||
| Jonathan Smith, PhD | Pathology | Cell/molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics/genomics studies of three areas related to cardiovascular disease: atherosclerosis reverse cholesterol transport, and atrial fibrillation | ||
| Jennifer Yu, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Understanding mechanisms underlying key Glioma stem cell (GSC) tumorigenic properties; uncovering potential therapeutic targets |
Computer Science and Engineering
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mehmet Koyutürk, PhD | Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Danica Wiredja, Stevephen Hung | Bioinformatics and computational biology, network biology, analysis of high-throughput biological data |
Family Medicine and Community Health
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kurt Stange, MD, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Clinical Translational Science | Uriel Kim | The generalist function, primary care practice, practice-based research, cancer prevention and early detection, multi-method research, health promotion, disability prevention, preventive service delivery in primary medical care |
General Medical Sciences (Oncology)
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Barnholtz-Sloan, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Peter Liao | Cancer genetic/ molecular epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, systems biology, brain tumors | |
| Seth Field, MD PhD | Pathology/Cancer Biology | Cell biology of cancer, including elucidation of fundamental mechanisms of membrane trafficking at atomic and molecular resolution; discovery of signal transduction pathways that regulate the secretory pathway; and their contribution to oncogenic transformation. We have an ongoing program to develop small molecule inhibitors of Golgi vesicle budding to produce leads for novel cancer therapeutics. Many of our findings are also relevant to understanding viral and metabolic diseases. | ||
| William Schiemann, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology, Pharmacology | Alex Gooding, Nathaniel Robinson | The primary goal of our research is to solve the "TGF-β Paradox" and its relationship to the initiation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which couples TGF-β to breast cancer metastasis, and to the selection, expansion, and chemoresistance of breast cancer stem cells. |
Genetics & Genome Sciences
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Adams, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Pharmacology | Joel Sax, Yi-Fan Chen, Hannah Kondolf | Zita Hubler | High-throughput screening and other chemical biology approaches to identify and optimize new drug candidates in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and other diseases |
| Ann Harris, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Anniya Gu | Tissue-specific and temporal regulation of gene expression; analysis of cis-regulatory elements and the role of 3D chromatin structure and modifications in regulating transcription; functional genomics of epithelial cells with a focus on cystic fibrosis | |
| Peter Harte, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Epigenetic regulation of chromatin structure and transcription, histone modifying enzymes, Polycomb silencing, genetic control of lifespan and aging | ||
| Thomas LaFramboise, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Andrea Cohen, Evelyn Ojo, Danica Wiredja, Kathleen Plona, Andrew Morton | Developing and applying computational tools to identify molecular variants, both inherited and somatic, that contribute to cancer and related diseases in humans | |
| Yan Li, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Anniya Gu | Single cell genomics and functions of non-coding cis-regulatory elements (such as enhancers) in development and complex diseases, especially related to diabetic conditions | |
| Hua Lou, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Alternative RNA processing and its role in cancer development | ||
| Helen Miranda, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous molecular events involved in spinal bulbar muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models | ||
| Peter Scacheri, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Steve Chirieleison, Stevephen Hung, Ellen Hong | Andrew Morton (Andrea Cohen, James Morrow) | Investigation of the epigenetic code in human health and disease |
| Ashleigh Schaffer, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Soon Yi, Erin Cohn | Understanding the unique functions of ubiquitously expressed proteins in human brain development and pediatric neurological disease | |
| Paul Tesar, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Sarah Taylor, Kevin Allan | Matt Ellitt, Kevin Allan (Tyler Miller, Zach Nevin) | Stem cell pluripotency and differentiation; developmental neurobiology; developmental genetics |
| Zhenghe John Wang, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Pathology/Cancer | George Luo | Identifying novel genetic alterations, such as somatic mutations, gene amplifications and deletions, which alter critical gene functions involved in development of colon and gastric cancers | |
| Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Avery Sears, Michael Babinchak, Zita Hubler, Kathleen Plona | Understanding genetic and biochemical pathways important for the development and function of the mammalian central nervous system, using mouse models |
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Umut Gurkan, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Will Wulftange | Micro-and nano-scale technologies, biomanufacturing, cell mechanics, and microfluidics |
Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Maiseyeu, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Our research team develops nanotechnology tools to better understand cardiometabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. We engineer, make, and test new imaging probes, drug delivery vehicles, and sensors that help diagnose and treat these conditions. | ||
| Aaron Proweller, MD, PhD | Cell Biology | Alex Gooding, Colin Stomberski | Molecular pathways regulating vascular development and morphogenesis including the role of Notch signaling in patterning, maturation and contractile function of the arterial vasculature | |
| Diana Ramírez-Bergeron, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Pathology | Anna Henry Borton | Adaptive responses to changes in oxygen tension and the effect on blood cells and vessels; influence of hypoxic responses on the generation of cardiovascular stem/progenitor cells and their differentiation into various cardiovascular cell lineages; hypoxia and bone marrow stem cell niches | |
| Jonathan Stamler, MD | Biochemistry | Steve Chirieleison, Zack Grimmett | Colin Stomberski | Our focus is on molecular, cellular and physiological aspects of nitric oxide biology, with a major emphasis on the functions of nitric oxide in cellular signaling that are mediated by the ubiquitous post-translational modification of proteins S-nitrosylation, and the role of dysregulated S-nitrosylation in human disease, from heart failure to Alzheimers disease and cancer. |
Medicine (Gastroenterology and Hepatology)
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabio Cominelli, MD, PhD | Pathology | Adrian Gomez- Nguyen | Crohn's Disease, General GI, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Ulcerative Colitis |
Medicine (Hematology and Oncology)
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afshin Dowlati, MD | Biochemistry | Interested in the biology and clinical management of thoracic malignancies, with particular emphasis on translational aspects of drug development. Major focus on small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which comprises ~15% of all lung cancers. | ||
| Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Genetics & Genome Sciences, Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Alexandra McMillan, Michal Jandzinski | (Josh Friedman, Ryan Fecteau) | Colon cancer genetics |
| Shigemi Matsuyama, DVM, PhD | Pharmacology, Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Alex Tong | Cancer Cell Biology, Cell Death Regulation, Cell Penetrating Peptide | |
| Reshmi Parameswaran, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology, Cancer Biology | Yorleny Vicioso | Novel therapeutic approaches for cancer; activating natural killer cells for adoptive therapy of pediatric cancers; developing therapeutic tools combining immunology with glycobiology; exploiting the cancer cell-specific immune receptors and glycan expression patterns | |
| Stanton Gerson, MD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Kevin Allan | (Lachelle Weeks) | Transgenic mice and carcinogenesis, retroviral gene therapy, DNA repair, hematopoietic stem cells |
Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Bonomo, MD | Pharmacology, Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Pathology/ Immunology | Emma Schroder, Nick Venetos | (Jodi Thomson, Sarah Drawz, Marisa Winkler) | Structure-function studies of beta-lactamases; enzymological factors that permit evolution of beta-lactamases in the clinic; development of immunological tools to study beta-lactamase expression in enteric bacilli; application of molecular diagnostics to the rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases; testing and development of novel beta-lactams and beta-lactamase inhibitors |
| W. Henry Boom, MD | Pathology/ Immunology, Molecular Biology & Microbiology | (Mursalin Anis, Erika Noss) | T cell biology, tuberculosis, immune evasion, pulmonary host defense, antigen processing, anti-microbial immunity, basic and translational TB research | |
| David Canaday, MD | Pathology/ Immunology | Heather Clark, Gloria Tavera | Immunology of infectious diseases; study of HIV-TB interaction; cellular interactions resulting in loss of control of M. tuberculosis; understanding immune defects that develop with aging | |
| Atul Chopra, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Brendan Boylan, Brian Kim | Energy homeostasis and metabolic disease | |
| Carlos Subauste, MD | Pathology/ Immunology | Immunology, autophagy in host-pathogen interactions, Toxoplasma gondii, selective blockade of CD40 signaling to control inflammatory disorders (microvascular complications of diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease). |
Molecular Biology & Microbiology
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Susann Brady-Kalnay, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Neurosciences, Cell Biology, Pathology/ Cancer Biology | (Adam Burgoyne, Julia Rosdahl) | * Not currently accepting MSTP students for rotation or PhD placement | |
| Jonathan Karn, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology | Control of Gene Expression in HIV | ||
| Alan Levine, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Cell Biology, Molecular Virology, Pharmacology, Pathology/Immunology | James Ignatz-Hoover, Ryan Stultz | Claire Mazahery (Robin Jump, Brenda Rivera-Reyes, Charlotte Chung, Andrew Schade) | Role of the microbiome, T lymphocyte, and epithelial cell in intestine immunity |
| Liem Nguyen, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology | Host-mycobacterial interactions; virulence factors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; antibiotic resistance and cell biology of mycobacteria | ||
| O'Connor, Christine | Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Molecular Virology |
Our lab is interested in understanding the host-pathogen interactions during latency and reactivation of the cytomegalovirus (CMV), as well as the host and viral factors involved in these phases of infection, in order to CMV-induced morbidity and mortality |
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| Arne Rietsch, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology | Josie Trichka | EmmaM Schroder | Primary virulence factor of P. aeruginosa, a type III secretion system; understanding how this nanomachine works, as well as how the injected effector proteins prevent clearance of the bacterium by the patient’s immune system |
| Jacek Skowronski, MD, PhD | Molecular Biology & Microbiology | Abner Murray | Identifying cellular co-factors of HIV/SIV-encoded proteins and selected cellular proteins that can block HIV replication |
Neurosciences
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heather Broihier, PhD | Neurosciences | Dan Jindal | Developmental neurobiology; Molecular mechanisms of synaptic development and plasticity | |
| Evan Deneris, PhD | Neurosciences | (Meredith Whitney) | Molecular genetics of the brain serotonergic transmitter system | |
| Lin Mei, MD, PhD | Neurosciences | Mechanisms of synapse formation, neurotransmission, and synaptic plasticity
|
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| Pola Philippidou, PhD | Neurosciences | Alicia Vagnozzi | Molecular mechanisms of neural circuit assembly during development, genetic control of phrenic motor neuron identity; synaptic specificity in respiratory circuits; Hox genes | |
| Jerry Silver, PhD | Neurosciences | Paul Cheng-Hathaway, Sydney Song, Elliot Choi | (Teresa Evans, Michael Fitch) | Role of glial cells in development and regeneration of neural circuits, nerve regeneration, glia, axon guidance |
| Ben Strowbridge, PhD | Neurosciences | (Phil Larimer, Robert Hyde, Elisa Chiang, Ramani Balu) | Synaptic Physiology, hippocampus, olfactory bulb, Computational Neuroscience | |
| Qian Sun, PhD | Neurosciences |
Our lab studies the function of the hippocampal circuit, a brain area that is vital for memory formation and is strongly linked to many neuropsychiatric disorders, such as PTSD, depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. We use a variety of in vitro and in vivo techniques – including electrophysiology, neuronal tracing, optogenetics and chemogenetics, immunohistochemistry, and mouse behavior – to address the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying hippocampal information processing and its relevance to behaviors. |
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| Masashi Tabuchi, PhD | Neurosciences |
Electrical signals in neurons underlie the computations made by the brain, and these signals act at biophysical and neural circuit levels to generate behavior. The broad goal of my lab is to elucidate how internal states persist in time and identify the molecular mechanisms which shape the neural processing underlying these processes. By illuminating the cellular and synaptic basis of sleep and protein hunger, we expect to gain key insights into the principles of neural codes underlying persistent internal drive of the brain and to provide a framework to understand how these factors ultimately contribute to our health. |
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| Wen-Cheng Xiong, PhD | Neurosciences | Molecular mechanisms underlying neural development, neuro-degeneration, and bone homeostasis | ||
| Peng Zhang, PhD | Neurosciences |
Neurexins are essential for synaptic function and are among the list of high-risk genes for neuropsychiatric disorders especially autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and intellectual disabilities. Using primary neuron cultures and transgenic mouse models, we aim to understand how activity of neurexins can be regulated to shape the synapse development and brain function. Hence, our research not only expands basic knowledge of synapse development, but also provides insights on synaptic pathologies seen in psychiatric diseases. |
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| Richard Zigmond, PhD | Neurosciences | Xinrui Zhang, Willie Miller-Little | Aaron Talsma | Study of the plasticity in the adult nervous system. We are interested in the ways in which the chemistry of the adult nervous system can change and the functional consequences of such changes. We focus particularly on alterations that occur in response to neural damage whether produced by trauma or disease, with particular interest in neuro-immune interactions that occur in response to injury, using molecular, biochemical, immunological, histochemical, and cell culture approaches |
Nutrition
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Manor, PhD | Nutrition, Pharmacology, Pathology, Cancer Biology | Kirkland Wilson | * Not currently accepting MSTP students for rotation or PhD placement
|
Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Park, PhD | Pharmacology | Mechanism of action of rhodopsin and other G protein-coupled receptors | ||
| Irina Pikuleva, PhD | Pharmacology | Jennings Luu | The two major areas of research in this laboratory are studies of cholesterol maintenance in the retina and brain. The ultimate goal of these studies is to delineate the importance of cholesterol-related pathways for retinal and brain functions and whether pharmacologic modulation of these pathways could lead to disease-modifying treatments for retinal and brain disorders. There is an on-going clinical trial at UH now, which is based on the findings obtained as a result of our research |
Orthopedics
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Triolo, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Bryan Benson, Peter Liao | Max Freeberg | Rehabilitation engineering, neural control of motion, lower-extremity neuroprostheses, orthopaedic biomechanics, and prosthetic/orthotic design |
Otolaryngology
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian McDermott, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences, Neurosciences, Biology | Jiayang Li, Kathleen Plona, Jeanette Wat | Sensory Neurobiology, Hearing and Deafness, Zebrafish Genetics, Mechanotransduction, Synapse development, Translational Neuroscience | |
| Qing Zheng, MD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Genes, molecular pathways and drug discovery involved in disease processes in mouse models of human deafness, including Otitis Media (OM) and Usher syndrome |
Pathology
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Abbott, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology, Pathology/Cancer Biology | Michelle Cruz, Otis Pinkard | Bowen Zhou, Joseph Rathkey, Hannah Kondolf (Steven Chirieleison) | Inflammatory diseases and innate immune signaling pathways |
| Stanley Adoro, PhD |
Pathology/Cancer Biology, Pathology/ Immunology
|
Hematopoiesis, hematopoietic stem cells, acute myeloid leukemia, T-cell homeostasis, and autoimmunity | ||
| Brian Cobb, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Ling Wu, Heather Clark, Claire Mazahery | Antigen processing and presentation of carbohydrate antigens | |
| Clifford Harding, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Leo Kim, Claire Mazahery, David Sweet | (Alyssa Johnsen, Michael Drage, Rose Chu-Beck, Steve Potter, Aaron Tobian, Tom Richardson, Nicole Pecora, Daimon Simmons) | Immunology, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, antigen processing, function of antigen presenting cells and T cells, Toll-like receptors, vaccine adjuvants, Cell Biology, phagocytosis, endocytosis, subcellular fractionation, Infectious Disease, mycobacteria, tuberculosis |
| Stanley Huang, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Alex Lesser | Understanding the interplay between cellular signaling and metabolic regulation that dictates immune cell activation during inflammation | |
| Mark Jackson, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology | (Courtney Bartel) | Genetic events that contribute to breast hyperplasia | |
| Qingzhong Kong, PhD | Pathology | Prion diseases, functions of cellular prion protein in biology and diseases, muscle stem cells, and gene therapy | ||
| Allison Kraus, PhD | Pathology/ Molecular and Cellular Basis of Disease | Misfolded proteins and self-propagating protein seeds of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and prion diseases. | ||
| Kenneth Matreyek, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Understanding how protein sequence variants contribute to disease, and discovering rationally engineered proteins able to fight them. Development and deployment of new multiplex genetic biotechnologies capable of assessing the impacts of protein sequence changes, focusing on genes that modulate immunity or predispose individuals to autoimmunity. | ||
| M. Edward Medof, MD, PhD |
Pathology | Intrinsic cell surface regulators: the decay-accelerating factor (DAF or CD55), membrane cofactor protein (MCP or CD46), and membrane inhibitor of reactive lysis (MIRL or CD59) | ||
| Vincent Monnier, MD | Pathology, Biochemistry | Molecular mechanisms of protein aging, oxidative stress, complications of diabetes and aging, cataractogenesis, microbial enzyme technology | ||
| Andrew Pieper, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Molecular and Cellular Basis of Disease, Neurosciences | Discovery and development of new therapeutic opportunities in neurodegeneration | ||
| Parameswaran Ramakrishnan, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology | Brendan Barton, Willie Miller-Little | Autoimmune diabetes, chronic inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease, Leukemia, O-GlcNAcylation, Cell signaling and identification of novel therapeutic targets | |
| Jiri Safar, MD | Pathology | Prion, Alzheimer, and other neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding; Prion, amyloid, and tau strains; molecular basis and structural biology of neurodegeneration; translational medicine of age-related dementias. | ||
| Thaddeus Stappenbeck, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Immunology |
The Stappenbeck lab is interested in discovering host and environmental factors that impact inflammation and wound repair at mucosal surfaces, with the focal point often being the intestinal epithelial barrier. They use combinations of studies using human cells and tissues as well as mouse and in vitro models to approach these problems. |
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| Alan Tartakoff, PhD | Pathology | Kathleen Plona, Bowen Zhou | (Serendipity Rinonos, Jerold Turner) | * Not currently accepting MSTP students for rotation or PhD placement |
| David Wald, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology, Pathology/ Immunology | Ryan Gimple | Evelyn Ojo, (James Ignatz- Hoover) | Identification and development of novel therapeutic strategies for cancer with a particular focus on Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and colon cancer. Preclinical and clinical studies of novel cell therapies for cancer including CAR-T cells and NK cell therapies |
| Xinglong Wang, PhD | Pathology | Mechanism(s) underlying neuronal death in various major neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal dementia, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Frontotemporal dementia | ||
| T. Sam Xiao, PhD | Pathology | Structural and biochemical studies of important immune receptors; understanding and modulating their functions for diagnostic and therapeutic applications | ||
| Lan Zhou, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Peter Qiao, Yorleny Vicioso | Notch-dependent regulation of hematopoietic stem cell proliferation, differentiation, and niche location; leukemia microenvironment regulation; Notch signaling in solid tumor progression; fucosylated glycans in hematopoiesis and cancer biology | |
| Xiongwei Zhu, PhD | Neuroscience, Pathology | Aaron Talsma, Muta Abiff | Sirui Jiang | Neurodegenerative mechanisms underlying Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative diseases |
Pediatrics
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Drumm, PhD | Genetics & Genome Sciences | Kathleen Plona | How variants in the genome influence the course of disease for CF patients and how the CF genome adapts to the disease | |
| Alex Huang, MD, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology, Immunology | Ryan Stultz, Derek Wong, Ellen Hong | Bryan Benson, Muta Abiff, (Dixon Dorand, Alex Tong) | Tumor immunology; Intravital two-photon laser scanning microscopy; T cell and chemokine receptor biology; cellular trafficking, migration and interaction in inflammation, cancer and autoimmunity |
| John Letterio, MD | Biochemistry | Brendan Barton | George Luo | Discovery of the critical roles of TGF-ß in hematopoietic and immune cell function |
Pharmacology
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Dealwis, PhD | Pharmacology | The main focus of my lab involves understanding the structural organization requirements by multiple protein assemblies to facilitate biological function, and to rationally design small molecule inhibitors as drugs against target molecules responsible for disease states. Our approach is to use a multidisciplinary cycle to study the structure-function relationship of proteins and drug design. Currently our lab is designing small molecule drugs against cancer and in the past we have develop therapeutic agents against Alzheimer’s disease. Biophysical tools such as x-ray; neutron crystallography, molecular modeling, CD, MS, fluorescence spectroscopy and ultracentrifugation are the techniques used in our lab. |
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| Maria Hatzoglou, PhD | Nutrition, Pharmacology | Syrena Bracey | Arginine metabolism, gene regulation, viral receptors and gene therapy | |
| Ruth Keri, PhD | Pharmacology, Pathology/Cancer Biology | Syrena Bracey | Bryan Webb, Katrina Piemonte (Jonathan Mosley, Marjorie Montanez-Wiscovich) | Hormonal control of mammary gland development and construction of transgenic mouse models of breast cancer; functional genomics of mammary gland development and cancer |
| Jason Mears, PhD | Pathology, Pharmacology | Sirui Jiang | Molecular machinery associated with mitochondrial division in yeast and mammalian cells; understanding the relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and disease | |
| Marvin Nieman, PhD | Pharmacology, Cell Biology | Platelet signaling in thrombosis and cancer. | ||
| Phoebe Stewart, PhD | Pharmacology | Applying cryo-EM structural methods to a variety of biological complexes including viruses, viral/host factor complexes, engineered adenovirus-based vaccines, membrane proteins and nanoparticles | ||
| Derek Taylor, PhD | Pharmacology | Sirui Jiang, Raza Haider | Computational Biology, Macromolecular Structure Determination, Drug Design. My laboratory defines the molecular mechanisms associated with disease and develops new strategies and therapies for cancer treatment | |
| Edward Yu, PhD | Pharmacology | Molecular mechanisms of bacterial efflux transporters that mediate antimicrobial resistance |
Physiology & Biophysics
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Boron, MD, PhD | Biochemistry, Physiology & Biophysics | Regulation of intracellular pH, molecular mechanism and physiological role of bicarbonate transporters and of gas channels | ||
| Matthias Buck, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics | Molecular Biophysics of small GTPase-protein interactions in neuronal, cardiovascular, and cancer cell signaling; molecular biology, NMR and X-ray spectroscopy, and thermodynamic measurements to determine the basic mechanisms by which proteins transmit signals in cells | ||
| Sudha Chakrapani, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics, Neurosciences | Role of structure and dynamics in the functioning of ion channels | ||
| George Dubyak, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics, Pharmacology, Pathology/ Immunology | Brian Fort | (Hana Russo, Phil Verhoef, Andrew Blum, Michael Katsnelson, Michelle Kahlenberg, Ben Humphreys) | Inflammatory and apoptotic signal transduction; Signaling by receptors for extracellular ATP in innate immunity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer |
| Xin Qi, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics | Nicholas Venetos, Lucie Ahn | Regulation of mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases; development of therapeutic approach for the treatment of diseases; cellular and molecular mechanism on mitochondrial quality control and immunometabolism; brain lipid metabolism in neurodegenerative disease | |
| Corey Smith, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics | Regulation of the sympatho-adrenal stress response | ||
| Julian Stelzer, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics | Jiayang Li | Cardiac contractility, heart failure, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, cardiac muscle diseases, cardiac gene therapy, small molecule drug delivery, computational modeling of heart function | |
| Witold Surewicz, PhD | Physiology & Biophysics, Pathology | Michael Babinchak, Raza Haider | Molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein misfolding and aggregation; The role of liquid-liquid phase separation in neurodegenerative diseases |
Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Bush, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, Genetics & Genome Sciences | Genomics research on Alzheimer’s disease | ||
| Dana Crawford, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Applying genetic variation data to large-scale epidemiologic and clinical cohorts to better understand human genotype-phenotype associations, with an emphasis on diverse populations | ||
| Darcy Freedman, PhD, MPH | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Uriel Kim | Substantive Topic Areas of Interest: Food Access Interventions (e.g., farmers’ markets, community gardens, food policy); Community-engagement and Civic Participation; Public Health Literacy; Primary Prevention of Chronic Disease (e.g., Obesity, diabetes, cancer); Nutrition and Food Security | |
| Jonathan Haines, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genetics & Genome Sciences | Zita Hubler, Michael McHenry | Genomic and computational approaches to understand the pathophysiology of human disease | |
| Sudha Iyengar, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genetics & Genome Sciences, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Andrea Cohen, Pam Marcott | (Laura Kopplin) | Genetics of complex diseases in humans (ocular genetics/epidemiology, renal genetics, speech sound disorder/epidemiology, genetic methods) |
| Nora Nock, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics | Using various "-omics" and neuroimaging approaches to better understand the genetic, environmental, behavioral and neural determinants of obesity and cancer; innovative lifestyle interventions in overweight and obese cancer survivors | ||
| Fredrick Schumacher, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Deciphering the inherited genetic architecture of complex traits, particularly cancers of the prostate, colon and breast; studies using quantitative and population sciences, particularly molecular and genetic epidemiology, to elucidate the genetic architecture of complex phenotypes | ||
| Catherine Stein, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Systems Biology & Bioinformatics, Clinical and Translational Science | Michael McHenry | Genetic and environmental susceptibility to tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, and multivariate methods for analyzing complex diseases | |
| Daniel Tisch, PhD, MPH | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis, malaria, and schistosomiasis. Meta-analysis and mathematical modeling of parasite control strategies. Evaluation of integrated parasite control programs | ||
| Scott Williams, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genetics & Genome Sciences | Gloria Tavera | Distribution of genetic variation among human populations and the role that differences in patterns of variation play in disparity of disease among populations; diversity among African and African descent populations; multiple diseases that are either more common in these populations, such as hypertension and preterm birth, or less common, such as gastric cancer | |
| Xiaofeng Zhu, PhD | Epidemiology & Biostatistics | Genetic mapping studies of hypertension, obesity; development of statistical methods for association studies avoiding the effect of population stratification; admixture mapping; bioinformatics |
Radiology
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agata A Exner, PhD | Biomedical Engineering, Pathology/ Cancer Biology | Michael Glidden | Michaela Cooley (Ravi Patel) | Minimally invasive methods of cancer treatment including: ultrasound-modulated, image-guided drug delivery, thermosensitizers for focused hyperthermia, and vasomodulation for improved local ablation and treatment follow-up |
| Christopher Flask, PhD | Biomedical Engineering | Christian Anderson | Quantitative MRI Assessments of Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetic Nephropathy, Sickle Cell Disease, Pyelonephritis, Polycystic Kidney Disease, and Non-Alcoholic fatty Liver Disease |
Rammelkamp Center for Research, MetroHealth Hospital
| Mentors | PhD Programs | MSTP Student Rotations | MSTP Students (and alumni) | Research Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bing-Cheng Wang, PhD | Pathology/ Cancer Biology, Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics | Courtney Bartel | Molecular mechanisms of tumor initiation and maligant progression of prostate cancer and brain tumor, Tumor immunotherapy, Structure-function relationship of receptort tyrosine kianses, Development of small molecule therapeutics for metastatic cancer |