Molecular and Developmental Biology Graduate Program
Stem Cell Biology

Stem Cell Biology

Research in this area focuses on identifying and manipulating stem cells to replace tissues damaged by disease and injury.Research in this area focuses on identifying and manipulating stem cells to replace tissues damaged by disease and injury. It is estimated that many diseases could ultimately be treated with stem cell-based therapies. 

Scientists here investigate new ways to use adult and embryonic stem cells to promote regeneration and to generate tissues for transplantation to cure childhood disease. The Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation has initiated a seven-year expansion project that includes a new state-of-the-art research building and a commitment to hire new faculty members that study stem cell biology.

Faculty

 

 Theresa Alenghat, PhD. Theresa Alenghat, PhD, Assistant Professor
Molecular mechanisms that mediate intestinal homeostasis and the host-microbiota relationship. [Visit the Alenghat Lab]
cancelas-jose-thumbnail Jose A. Cancelas Perez, MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of norm and cancer hematopoietic stem cells. [Visit the Cancelas Lab]
Cristina Cebrian Cristina Cebrian Ligero, PhD, Assistant Professor
The Cebrian lab studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive kidney organogenesis and renal disease.
Steve Danzer, PhD. Steve Danzer, PhD, Associate Professor
My laboratory focuses on elucidating the mechanisms by which epilepsy develops, with the ultimate goal of developing novel therapies to prevent or treat the disease. We are currently conducting studies on the roles of the mTOR signaling pathway and adult generated neurons in epilepsy. [Visit the Danzer Lab]
Tony De Falco, PhD. Tony De Falco, PhD, Assistant Professor
The De Falco lab is interested in uncovering the mechanisms underlying the differentiation of the fetal gonad, focusing on how myeloid cells (such as macrophages) and vasculature promote tissue remodeling during organogenesis. Additionally, we are investigating the roles of myeloid cells in regulating spermatogonial stem cell differentiation in the adult testis. [Visit the De Falco Lab]
Lee Grimes, PhD. Lee Grimes, PhD, Professor
Hematopoiesis, molecular biology, and molecular oncology including mouse modeling of hematopoiesis, myelopoiesis and leukemia. [Visit the Grimes Lab]
Stacey S. Huppert, PhD. Stacey S. Huppert, PhD, Associate Professor
Intercellular signaling pathways that regulate the patterning of liver architecture during development and regeneration. [Visit the Huppert Lab]
Rafi Kopan, PhD. Rafi Kopan, PhD, Professor
The generation of different cell types and specialized organs. [Visit the Kopan Lab]
Qing Richard Lu, PhD. Qing Richard Lu, PhD, Professor
Transcriptional and epigenetic control of glial development and brain tumor initiation. [Visit the Lu Lab]
Doug Millay, PhD. Doug Millay, PhD, Assistant Professor
We are interested in the mechanisms of cell-cell fusion, using skeletal muscle development and regeneration as a model system. [Visit the Millay Lab]

James C. Mulloy, PhD.
James C. Mulloy, PhD, Professor
Molecular mechanisms involved in leukemia induction and maintenance; mouse modeling of leukemia using primary human blood stem cells. [Visit the Mulloy Lab]

Ertugrul Ozbudak, PhD, Associate Professor
Gene regulatory circuits and signaling pathways controlling pattern formation and cell fate determination in tissues and organs during embryonic development. [Visit the Ozbudak Lab]
Joo-Seop Park, PhD. Joo-Seop Park, PhD, Assistant Professor
Gene regulatory networks regulating stem/progenitor cells in development and disease. [Visit Urology]
  Soona Shin, PhD, Assistant Professor
Molecular mechanisms of childhood liver cancer with a focus on hepatic stem/progenitor cells. [Visit the Shin Lab]
 Takanori Takebe, MD. Takanori Takebe, MD, Assistant Professor
Developing a complex organoid (or organ bud) model using human pluripotent stem cells by studying endoderm organogenesis and promoting applications towards modern human development, disease model and therapeutic transplantation. [Visit Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition]
Jim Wells, PhD. Jim Wells, PhD, Professor
Endoderm organogenesis and promoting the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into therapeutic endoderm derivatives. [Visit the Wells Lab]
Susanne Wells, PhD. Susanne Wells, PhD, Professor
Papilloma virus and cervical cancer. [Visit the Susanne Wells Lab]
Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD. Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD, Professor
Organ morphogenesis, gene regulation, cell differentiation, respiratory disease. [Visit the Whitsett Lab]
Chunyue Yin, PhD. Chunyue Yin, PhD, Assistant Professor
The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying liver development and disease pathogenesis using the zebrafish model organism. [Visit the Yin Lab]
Amanda Zacharias Amanda Zacharias, PhD, Assistant Professor
Our lab studies how gene expression is regulated by signaling pathways during embryonic development. We use Wnt signaling in the nematode worm, C. elegans, as a model system and utilize a novel time-lapse imaging approach. [Visit Zacharias Lab]
Yi Zheng, PhD. Yi Zheng, PhD, Professor
Molecular mechanisms of Rho GTPase signal transduction. Development of novel therapeutic reagents to inhibit Rho pathways related to human pathological conditions. [Visit Zheng Lab]
Aaron Zorn, PhD. Aaron Zorn, PhD, Professor
Molecular mechanisms of endoderm organ development. [Visit the Zorn Lab]