Meet the Members of the Molecular and Developmental Biology Graduate Program

Paul R. Andreassen, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Fanconi anemia; breast cancer susceptibility; genetic variants; genome instability; DNA damage responses; replication stress; relationship of DNA...

Nurit Azouz, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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...

Lindsey Barske, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Craniofacial development; genetic engineering

Artem Barski, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Epigenetics; epigenomics; immunology; T cell memory

Elisa Boscolo, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

Jichao Chen, PhD, MHS

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
lung development; single-cell genomics; mouse genetics; 3D imaging; artificial intelligence

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)

Steve C. Danzer, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Anesthesia
Research Interests
Epilepsy; autism; neurodevelopmental disease

Hitesh S. Deshmukh, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Sudhansu K. Dey, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

Brian Gebelein, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Developmental genetics; Transcriptional regulation; Modeling disease alleles in mice, Drosophila, and human stem cells.

H. Leighton "Lee" Grimes, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

Ziyuan Guo, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Thomas Hagan, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Systems immunology; vaccinology; microbiome-immune system interaction

David A. Hildeman, 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

Kohta Ikegami, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

Rulang Jiang, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

Kenneth M. Kaufman, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Genetics; bio-informatics

Leah C. Kottyan, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Genetic basis of lupus; genetic basis of eosinophilic esophagitis; immunological mechanisms mediating genetic association with disease

Richard A. Lang, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Ophthalmology
Research Interests
The OPN3, OPN4 and OPN5 light sensing pathways in development, homeostasis and disease

Timothy D. Le Cras, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Pathogenesis of vascular anomalies; vascular malformations; kaposiform lymphangiomatosis; capillary lymphatic venous malformations; pulmonary...

Hee Woong Lim, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Regulatory genomics; enhancer; transcription; metabolism; pharmacogenomics; machine learning

Shijie Liu, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Qing Richard Lu, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Neoplastic stem cells; malignant glioma; pediatric brain tumors such as medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and diffuse midline gliomas (DMG / DIPG); tumor...

Daniel Lucas, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Bone marrow; hematopoiesis; imaging; immunology

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

Emily R. Miraldi, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Systems biology; computational immunology; immuno-engineering; network inference

Sean R. Moore, MD, MS

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Structure and function of the gastrointestinal tract in the context of childhood nutrition, growth, immunity, and host-microbe interactions
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

Nancy Ratner, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

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

Soona Shin, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Department of Surgery
Research Interests
Liver cancer; tumor initiation; cell-cell communication; hepatic progenitor cells

Xiaofei Sun, PhD

Associate 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.

Jason Tchieu, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Autism spectrum disorders; neurodevelopmental disorders; human pluripotent stem cells; directed differentiation; astrocytes; oligodendrocytes;...

Bruce C. Trapnell, MS, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Alveolar macrophage function; molecular techniques using gene knockout, transgenic and conditional gene expression mouse models and non-human...

Ty D. Troutman, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

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

James M. Wells, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Understanding the development of the pancreas, and gastrointestinal organs; generating 3-dimensional human tissues from pluripotent stem cells and...

Susanne Wells, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Cancer susceptibility; development and progression; squamous cell carcinoma; proton therapy; pluripotent stem cells and organ regeneration

Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Lung development

Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Xufeng Xue, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Stem cell biology; organoids; neural development; tissue morphogenesis; bioengineering; microfluidics

Chunyue Yin, PhD

Assistant Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
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

Yi Zheng, PhD

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...

Aaron M. Zorn, PhD

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
Research Interests
Development of the digestive and respiratory systems. Learn more about CuSTOM.