Faculty
Theresa Alenghat, PhD, Assistant Professor
Molecular mechanisms that mediate intestinal homeostasis and the host-microbiota relationship [Visit the Alenghat Lab]
Paul Andreassen, PhD, Associate Professor
Fanconi anemia and breast cancer susceptibility proteins in DNA damage responses and genetic stability [Visit the
Andreassen Lab]
Bruce Aronow, PhD, Professor
Integrative bioinformatics and genomics relevant to human health and disease [Visit the
Aronow / Jegga Lab]
Lindsey Barske, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Barske Lab]
Artem Barski, PhD, Assistant Professor
Epigenomics of immunological memory [Visit the Barski Lab]
Elisa Boscolo, PhD, Assistant Professor
The Boscolo laboratory currently investigates vascular anomalies affecting children, such as venous malformations. The lab is devising different murine models of vascular anomalies. The goal of this research is to discover effective molecular therapies for these disfiguring diseases. Research Area: Cardiovascular Biology [Visit the Boscolo Lab]
Samantha Brugmann, PhD, Assistant Professor
The Brugmann Lab studies craniofacial development and disease. [Visit the
Brugmann Lab]
Kenneth Campbell, PhD, Professor
Cellular and molecular control of vertebrate forebrain development [Visit
Developmental Biology]
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 Ligero, PhD, Assistant Professor
The Cebrian lab studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive kidney organogenesis and renal disease.
Steven A. Crone, PhD, Assistant Professor
The Crone laboratory studies how neural circuits controlling motor behaviors are affected by disease and injury. Our goal is to develop strategies targeting neural circuits capable of improving motor function and the quality of life of patients suffering from developmental defects, neurodegenerative disease or injury. [Visit the
Crone Lab]
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]
Biplab DasGupta, PhD, Assistant Professor
Neural stem cells, cancer stem cells, brain cancer and brain development [Visit the
Dasgupta Lab]
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]
Sudhansu K. Dey, PhD, Professor, Director Division of Reproductive Sciences
Molecular and genetic aspects of embryo implantation in mouse models [Visit the
Dey Lab]
Marie-Dominique Filippi, PhD, Associate Professor
Molecular mechanism of hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and regeneration; molecular mechanism of neutrophil tissue infiltration and associated inflammation. [Visit the Filippi Lab]
Brian Gebelein, PhD, Associate Professor
Patterning of the nervous and digestive systems during development [Visit the
Gebelein Lab]
Lee Grimes, PhD, Professor
Hematopoiesis, molecular biology, and molecular oncology including mouse modeling of hematopoiesis, myelopoiesis and leukemia. [Visit the
Grimes Lab]
Christina Gross, PhD, Assistant Professor
Identification and analysis of shared molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders such as Fragile X syndrome, epilepsy and autism, and their use for the development of therapeutic strategies. [Visit the Gross Lab]
Mingxia Gu, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor
Ziyuan Guo, PhD, Assistant Professor
Rashmi Hegde, PhD, Professor
The Hegde laboratory studies molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis in development, cancer and retinal diseases, and is involved in structure- and mechanism-based drug development [Visit the
Hegde Lab]
Gurjit Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, Professor
Genetics and the pathogenesis of atopic disorders [Visit the Hershey Lab]
David Hildeman, PhD, Professor
Molecular biology of antigen-specific T cells, including mechanisms involved in cell signaling, apoptosis, and sex-based differences in autoimmunity and the T cell response to viral infections [Visit the Hildeman Lab]
Stacey S. Huppert, PhD, Associate Professor
Intercellular signaling pathways that regulate the patterning of liver architecture during development and regeneration. [Visit the
Huppert Lab]
Vivian Hwa, PhD, Associate Professor
Genetic and cellular basis of severe pre- and post-natal growth failure in children who often present co-morbidities (immunodeficiencies, insulin insensitivity). [Visit the Hwa Lab]
Makiko Iwafuchi, PhD, Assistant Professor
We aspire to reveal chromatin regulatory principles underlying dramatic cell fate changing events that occur in embryonic development, tissue repair, and diseases pathogenesis, and ultimately to utilize this knowledge to precisely engineer cell fates. We currently focus on how different families of pioneer transcription factors establish cell-type-specific chromatin landscape, combining in vitro hPSC differentiation systems with genomics. [Visit the Iwafuchi Lab]
Michael P. Jankowski, PhD, Assistant Professor
Our lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms of sensory neuron plasticity after peripheral injuries and focuses on peripheral mechanisms of ischemic myalgia, and the developmental sensitization of sensory afferents. Using a multidisciplinary experimental approach, our studies will hopefully lead to the development of new treatments for chronic pediatric pain. [Visit the
Jankowski Lab]
Rulang Jiang, PhD, Professor
Understanding the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of major birth defects [Visit the
Jiang Lab]
Tanya V. Kalin, MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Molecular biology of cancer, tumor microenvironment and metastasis. Chemotherapeutic drug development. [Visit the
Kalin Lab]
Vladimir V. Kalinichenko, MD, PhD, Professor
Transcriptional regulation of epithelial and endothelial cell functions during lung embryonic development and lung carcinogenesis. [Visit the Kalinichenko Lab]
Kenneth Kaufman, PhD, Professor
Utilization of next generation DNA sequencing data to identify variants that cause disease. We are particularly interested in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. [Visit
CAGE]
Rafi Kopan, PhD, Professor
The generation of different cell types and specialized organs. [Visit the
Kopan Lab]
Leah Kottyan, PhD, Assistant Professor
The Kottyan lab is focused on identifying the mechanisms that underlie specific genetic associations with immune associated human diseases. We are especially focused on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) and the chronic food allergic disease eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Research Areas: Genetics, Genomics & Bioinformatics, Immunology [Visit the Kottyan Lab]
Richard Lang, PhD, Professor
Eye development with an emphasis on lens induction and vascular patterning [Visit the
Lang Lab]
Tim Le Cras, PhD, Associate Professor
Chronic lung diseases: Asthma, Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Pulmonary fibrosis, Pulmonary hypertension [Visit the
Le Cras Lab]
Hee Woong Lim, PhD, Assistant Professor
Yaping Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Liu Lab]
Qing Richard Lu, PhD, Professor
Transcriptional and epigenetic control of glial development and brain tumor initiation [Visit the Lu Lab]
Daniel Lucas, PhD, Assistant Professor
We study how hematopoietic and stromal cells crosstalk which each other to regulate blood cell output in respond to demand (infection, hemorrhage, development, etc.). [Visit the Lucas Lab]
Satish K. Madala, PhD, Assistant Professor
My laboratory conducts research in pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. Students working in my laboratory can expect to learn and use a multidisciplinary approach in involving biochemical and physiologic techniques to determine cellular and molecular mechanisms of lung remodeling diseases. [Visit the
Madala Lab]
Cat A. Makarewich, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Makarewich Lab]
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]
Emily R. Miraldi, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Miraldi Lab]
Jeffery D. Molkentin, PhD, Professor
Transcriptional control of cardiac development and the molecular signaling pathways involved in cardiac hypertrophy [Visit the
Molkentin Lab]
Masato Nakafuku, MD, PhD, Professor
Molecular control of neural stem cells in development and regeneration of mammalian central nervous system [Visit the
Nakafuku Lab]
Takahisa Nakamura, PhD, Assistant Professor
Functional analysis of small RNAs and their binding proteins in integrative organ crosstalk in metabolic diseases. [Visit
Endocrinology]
Satoshi Namekawa, PhD, Assistant Professor
The long-term goal of my research is to understand the mechanisms and evolution of epigenetic events during mammalian reproduction. We study epigenetic regulation of sex chromosomes during meiosis and the regulatory mechanisms in germline stem cells. [Visit the Namekawa Lab]
A. P. Naren, PhD, Professor
Macromolecular Complexes of CFTR in Cystic Fibrosis and Secretory Diarrhea [Visit
Pulmonary Medicine]
Ertugrul Ozbudak, PhD, Associate Professor
The Ozbudak laboratory studies how gene regulatory circuits and signaling pathways controlling pattern formation and cell fate determination in tissues and organs during embryonic development. [Visit the Ozbudak Lab]
Dao Pan, PhD, Associate Professor
Combining translational and basic research on virus-mediated, in vivo and ex vivo, gene transfer into stem cells or hepatocytes, as well as their potential application for gene therapy of patients with inherited or acquired diseases. [Visit the
Pan Lab]
Joo-Seop Park, PhD, Assistant Professor
Gene regulatory networks underlying organogenesis and disease, Kidney development. [Visit
the Park Lab]
Anne-Karina Perl, PhD, Associate Professor
We are using mouse models, in vitro organoids and human primary tissue to study alveolarization and alveolar regeneration. We are particularly interested in the plasticity of alveolar fibroblasts, and the fibroblast epithelial interaction that occur in lung development, lung fibrosis and lung regeneration. Research Areas: Organogenesis, Pulmonary Biology, Stem Cell Biology [Visit the Perl Lab]
Steven Potter, PhD, Professor
Studies of homeobox genes that control mammalian development using gene targeting and transgenic mice [Visit the
Potter Lab]
Mattia Quattrocelli, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Quattrocelli Lab]
Nancy Ratner, PhD, Professor
The Ratner lab studies how nerve development is subverted in cancer. We aim to identify targets for therapy in the inherited cancer predisposition syndromes neurofibromatosis type 1 and type 2. [Visit the
Ratner Lab]
Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, Professor
Eosinophil biology, chemokine receptor signaling pathways [Visit the
Rothenberg Lab]
Juan Sanchez-Gurmaches, PhD, Professor
The Sanchez-Gurmaches lab works on understanding the developmental, signaling, and metabolic mechanisms that control adipocyte growth and functions and their contribution to metabolic disease.
Michael G. Sherenian, MD, MS, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Sherenian Lab]
Soona Shin, PhD, Assistant Professor
Molecular mechanisms of childhood liver cancer with a focus on hepatic stem/progenitor cells. [Visit the Shin Lab]
Rolf Stottmann, PhD, Assistant Professor
Mouse models of human congenital defects; development of the brain and face. [Visit the
Stottmann Lab]
Saulius Sumanas, PhD, Assistant Professor
Molecular mechanisms of the embryonic vasculature formation [Visit the
Sumanas Lab]
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]
Jason Tchieu, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the Tchieu Lab]
Bruce Trapnell, MS, MD, Professor
Dr. Trapnell is a physician-scientist with a long-standing focus on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and therapy of rare lung diseases, the role of GM-CSF in lung homeostasis and defense, and human gene therapy. His laboratory follows a paradigm of translational, pathway-based diagnostic and therapeutic development. Experimental approaches utilize mouse- and non-human primate disease models, molecular and cell biology methodologies, natural history trials, and both investigator- and commercially-sponsored human treatment trials.[Visit Pulmonary Biology]
Kelli L. VanDussen, PhD, Assistant Professor
[Visit the VanDussen Lab]
Charles Vorhees, PhD, Professor
Prenatal origins of neurocognitive and behavioral disorders: How developmental exposure to drugs, environmental agents, chronic stress, and genetic alterations adversely affect brain development and behavior. [Visit the
Vorhees Lab]
Ronald R. Waclaw, MS, PhD, Assistant Professor
Development of forebrain progenitor cells that contribute to the postnatal "neurogenic" niche in the subventricular zone [Visit
Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology]
Stephen N. Waggoner, PhD, Assistant Professor
We are interested in host and viral factors that control disease pathogenesis by regulating development of long-lived immunological memory, generation of potent immune effector cells, and functional repression of immune function during chronic infection. [Visit the
Waggoner Lab]
Joshua Waxman, PhD, Assistant Professor
My lab is interested in the molecular and genetic mechanisms of organogenesis, with a focus on cardiovascular development. [Visit the
Waxman Lab]
Matt Weirauch, PhD, Assistant Professor
My lab uses computational and experimental approaches to study gene regulation, and gene mis-regulation in disease. [Visit the Weirauch Lab]
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, Professor
Papilloma virus and cervical cancer [Visit the
Susanne Wells Lab]
Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD, Professor
Organ morphogenesis, gene regulation, cell differentiation, respiratory disease [Visit the
Whitsett Lab]
Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Our research aims to elucidate the molecular basis of lung development and disease with specific focus on identifying critical biologic functions of the Rb/p16, p53 and Dicer/miRNA pathways in pulmonary progenitor/stem cell growth in the context of organogenesis, repair after injury and disease pathogenesis to identify novel targets with diagnostic and therapeutic utility. [Visit
Pathology]
Michael Williams, PhD, Associate Professor
Interaction of stress-induced hormones and drugs of abuse on adult learning and memory abilities; physiological responses to later stressors; behavioral and physiological consequences of drug reexposure. [Visit the
Michael Williams Lab]
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]
Kimberly Yolton, PhD, Associate Professor
Exposures and experiences that may divert infants or children off the typical trajectory of development [Visit the Yolton Lab]
Katherine Yutzey, PhD, Professor
Morphogenesis of the heart and transcriptional regulatory networks involved in cardiac determination and differentiation; congenital heart disease [Visit the
Yutzey Lab]
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 the Zacharias Lab]
William J. Zacharias, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor
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 the Zheng Lab]
Aaron Zorn, PhD, Professor
Molecular mechanisms of endoderm organ development [Visit the
Zorn Lab]
