Leadership and Faculty
Meet the Development, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Graduate Program Faculty
Our faculty are not only teachers but also scholars that bring the latest advances forward. They are deeply committed to training the next generation of researchers, educators, and advocates.
Research Interests
Fanconi anemia; breast cancer susceptibility; genetic variants; genome instability; DNA damage responses; replication stress; relationship of DNA...
Research Interests
Allergic diseases; the mechanisms by which protease–protease inhibitor imbalance promotes barrier breaches and loss of immunologic tolerance in...
Yuriy Baglaenko, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immunology: understanding dynamic gene regulation in B and T cells; genetics: defining causal variation in autoimmune disorders; genomics: expanding...
Research Interests
Craniofacial development; genetic engineering
Research Interests
Epigenetics; epigenomics; immunology; T cell memory
Research Interests
Vascular anomalies; endothelial cell biology; mTOR signaling.
Research Interests
Craniofacial development
Research Interests
Developmental neurobiology; transcriptional control of neural cell subtype specification; neuronal circuit formation
Cristina Cebrian, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
lung development; single-cell genomics; mouse genetics; 3D imaging; artificial intelligence
Zhiyuan "ZY" Chen, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Developmental biology; reproductive sciences; epigenetics
Amélie Collins, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Developmental hematopoiesis; hematopoietic stem cells; immunology; maternal-fetal crosstalk
Steven A. Crone, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Neurosurgery
Research Interests
Neural circuits that control breathing; airway protection; spinal cord injury; neurodegenerative disease; sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)
Research Interests
Epilepsy; autism; neurodevelopmental disease
Research Interests
Prostaglandin-nuclear receptor-angiogenic signaling axis during embryo implantation with special emphasis to cPLA2α-Cox2-PPARδ-Vegf...
Diego Fernandez, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Ophthalmology
Research Interests
Neuroscience sensory and circadian biology; environmentally-induced disorders
Marie-Dominique Filippi, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Developmental genetics; Transcriptional regulation; Modeling disease alleles in mice, Drosophila, and human stem cells.
Research Interests
Acute myelogenous leukemia; T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; severe congenital neutropenia; hematopoiesis; myelopoiesis; lineage decision;...
Christina Gross, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Molecular neuroscience, fragile X syndrome
Research Interests
Systems immunology; vaccinology; microbiome-immune system interaction
Gurjit "Neeru" Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Molecular factors that control the decision between tolerance and immunity within T lymphocytes; staphylococcal enterotoxins, recombinant vaccinia...
Stacey S. Huppert, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Hepatic cell plasticity, development and regeneration; reprogramming; three-dimensional hepatic architecture; Notch signaling; hepatobiliary disease
Research Interests
Cardiovascular diseases; laminopathies; progeria; chromosome organization; transcriptional regulation; nuclear envelope
Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Chromatin regulation; pioneer transcription factors; cell programming and reprogramming
Research Interests
Neuroscience; pain research; sensory neuron biology
Research Interests
Genetic basis and developmental mechanisms of congenital craniofacial malformations; tendon development, homeostasis, and heterotopic ossification
Courtney L. Jones, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Acute myeloid leukemia; leukemia stem cells; cancer metabolism
Research Interests
Genetics; bio-informatics
Research Interests
Genetic basis of lupus; genetic basis of eosinophilic esophagitis; immunological mechanisms mediating genetic association with disease
Research Interests
The OPN3, OPN4 and OPN5 light sensing pathways in development, homeostasis and disease
Research Interests
Pathogenesis of vascular anomalies; vascular malformations; kaposiform lymphangiomatosis; capillary lymphatic venous malformations; pulmonary...
Research Interests
Regulatory genomics; enhancer; transcription; metabolism; pharmacogenomics; machine learning
Research Interests
Neoplastic stem cells; malignant glioma; pediatric brain tumors such as medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and diffuse midline gliomas (DMG / DIPG); tumor...
Research Interests
Bone marrow; hematopoiesis; imaging; immunology
Cat A. Makarewich, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Kyle McCracken, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Kidney development; stem cell differentiation and organoids; tissue engineering and morphogenesis; kidney pathophysiology
Alexander G. Miethke, MD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Immune mediated liver injury, specifically the role of regulatory T cells in biliary atresia and primary sclerosing cholangitis; genetic basis for...
Maria M. Mikedis, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Reproductive sciences; spermatogenesis; germ cell biology; developmental biology
Douglas Millay , PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Emily R. Miraldi, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Systems biology; computational immunology; immuno-engineering; network inference
Research Interests
Structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract in the context of childhood nutrition, growth, immunity, and host-microbe interactions
Takahisa Nakamura, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Viral vector-mediated gene therapy; stem cell therapy; neurological lysosomal storage diseases; neuroinflammation, BBB remodeling and immunotherapy...
Chandrashekhar Pasare, DVM, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Innate immunity; toll-like receptor signaling; dendritic cell biology; innate control of adaptive immunity; regulation of inflammation
Research Interests
Lung organoids; lung development and regeneration; fibroblast function in development, regeneration and fibrosis; bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD);...
Mattia Quattrocelli, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Muscle and heart physiology; pharmacology; epigenetics; metabolism
Research Interests
Genetic mutations in tumor suppressor genes; development and tumorigenesis of the nervous system; peripheral NF1, NF2
J. Elliott Robinson, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Neurofibromatosis type 1; systems neuroscience; gene therapy; electrophysiology
Research Interests
Eosinophils; chemokines
Nathan Salomonis, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Bioinformatics; genomics; cancer genomics; single-cell RNA-Seq analysis; alternative splicing; pathway analysis; pathway visualization; pathway...
Juan Sanchez Gurmaches, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Adipocytes; brown and white fat; animal models; adipocyte development and heterogeneity; insulin signaling; animal models
Meredith P. Schuh, MD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Liver cancer; tumor initiation; cell-cell communication; hepatic progenitor cells
Jeffrey D. Steimle, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Female reproductive biology; endocannabinoid signaling in reproduction
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Organoid; organogenesis; stem cell biology; transplantation; drug development
Visit the Takebe Research Lab.
Research Interests
Autism spectrum disorders; neurodevelopmental disorders; human pluripotent stem cells; directed differentiation; astrocytes; oligodendrocytes;...
Research Interests
Alveolar macrophage function; molecular techniques using gene knockout, transgenic and conditional gene expression mouse models and non-human...
Research Interests
Disease; gene regulation; immunology; innate immunity; macrophages; myeloid cells
Kelli L. VanDussen, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Intestinal epithelium; inflammatory bowel disease; primary cell culture; basic research; translational research
Ronald R. Waclaw, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Forebrain progenitor cell differentiation; “RASopathy” genes
Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Viral immunology; natural killer cells; immunoregulation; vaccines; autoimmunity; immune dysfunction in aging.
Joshua S. Waxman, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Cardiac development; heart regeneration; congenital heart defects; molecular signaling pathways; transcription factors; retinoid acid signaling;...
Research Interests
Gene regulation Bioinformatics Functional Genomics
Research Interests
Understanding the development of the pancreas, and gastrointestinal organs; generating 3-dimensional human tissues from pluripotent stem cells and...
Research Interests
Cancer susceptibility; development and progression; squamous cell carcinoma; proton therapy; pluripotent stem cells and organ regeneration
Research Interests
Lung development
Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD
Professor, UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Interests
Stem cell biology; organoids; neural development; tissue morphogenesis; bioengineering; microfluidics
Research Interests
Liver biology; cholestasis; molecular genetics of pediatric liver diseases
Amanda L. Zacharias, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Embryonic metabolism; morphogenesis; Caenorhabditis elegans
William J. Zacharias, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Using transgenic and gene targeted mouse models to study the physiological and pathological roles of Rho GTPases and their regulators in...
Research Interests
Development of the digestive and respiratory systems. Learn more about CuSTOM.
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