Members
Faculty Members
| Maurizio Bocchetta, PhD | Mechanisms of malignant transformation caused by oncogenic DNA viruses, interaction of the major Simian Virus 40 (SV40) oncogenes with cellular proteins, pathogenesis of mesothelioma |
| Eun-Kyoung Breuer, PhD | Identification and characterization of genes that initiate, promote or sustain genomic instability; also uncovering the clear link between the complexity of the DNA damage response and the risk of cancer. |
| Lioubov Brueggemann, PhD | To characterize the expression and function of ion channels in smooth muscle cells and to discern their involvement in signal transduction and in diseases of the vasculature and airways. |
| Kenneth Byron, PhD | Calcium signaling and ion channel regulation in vasoconstrictor signal transduction. |
| Edward Campbell, PhD | Understanding the mechanisms by which endogenous cellular proteins, termed restriction factors, negatively affect the replication of retroviruses. |
| Mashkoor Choudhry, PhD | Investigating the mechanism by which burn, trauma and alcohol exposure impairs intestinal immunity and epithelial barrier function. |
| Neil Clipstone, PhD | The role of the calcineurin/NFAT-signaling pathway in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation |
| Michael Collins, PhD | Brain neurodegeneration and/or neuroprotection mechanisms, with emphasis on chronic alcohol (ethanol) exposure or intake. |
| Bruce Cuevas, PhD | Defining the signaling processes required for tumor progression, thereby identifying potential targets for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of tumor metastasis |
| Mitch Denning, PhD | Signaling pathways which regulate normal skin homeostasis to better understand how alterations in these signaling pathways contribute to malignancy |
| Pieter deTombe, PhD | Cardiovascular physiology, muscle contraction, cardiac energetics, ventricular-arterial coupling, cardiac pump function |
| Maureen Drakes, PhD | Immunobiology of dendritic cells in ovarian cancer. In the near future, I intend to investigate the ability of dendritic cells to induce ovarian cancer associated genes and to regulate signal transduction pathways in ovarian cancer. |
| Jawed Fareed, PhD | Areas of the pathophysiology of thrombotic and cardiovascular disorders and their pharmacologic management |
| Kimberly Foreman, PhD | Notch signaling in human malignancies, particularly breast cancer. |
| Xiaowu Gai, PhD | Human genetic variations and their associations with human disease. |
| Xianlong Gao, PhD | Mechanisms by which the cardiac-specific adenylyl cyclase is regulated, the regulation of G proteins, and more recently the regulation of Protein Kinase A (PKA) and p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK1) |
| Saverio Gentile, PhD | Understanding how modulation of ion channel activities can be affected by aberrant phosphorylation or Phosphorylopathy |
| Renzhi Han, PhD | Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of genetic diseases of skeletal and cardiac muscle such as muscular dystrophy and cardiomyopathy |
| Makio Iwashima, PhD | To elucidate the molecular and cellular characteristics of memory and regulatory T cells |
| Matthias Majetschak, MD, PhD | Intra- and extracellular functions of the ubiquitin proteasome system after injury and during inflammation |
| Adriano Marchese, PhD | The role of the E3 ubiquitin ligase AIP4 in the regulation of signaling and trafficking of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 |
| Gregory Mignery, PhD | Molecular cloning and the structure-functional characterization of the InsP3 receptor |
| Duarte Mota De Freitas, PhD | The application of multinuclear NMR and fluorescence techniques to the investigation of the biochemical basis of manic-depression and hypertension |
| Kuzhali (Kay) Muthu, PhD | Mechanisms of impaired erythropoiesis in post burn anemia of critical illness |
| Clodio Osipo, PhD | Elucidating the role of the IGF-1 signaling pathway in breast tumors that do and not respond to trastuzumab (Herceptin); Investigating crosstalk between HER2/neu, IGF-1R, and Notch in breast cancer; Identifying novel therapeutic targets in breast cancer for the deveetreatment modalities; and Improving approved therapies for breast cancer by identifying combination approaches |
| Tarun Patel, PhD | Mechanism of Action of Sprouty Proteins as well as Protein Kinase A/Ribosomal S6 Kinase interactions in Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases |
| Ajay Rana, PhD | Role of MAP kinases and phosphatases in cell growth, migration, metastasis, and cell death and survival pathways |
| Basabi Rana, PhD |
1) Molecular mechanism how Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor (PPAR) gamma ligands regulate cancer cell growth and apoptosis; and 2) Molecular mechanism how the gastrointestinal (GI) peptide hormone gastrin regulates GI cancer pathways. |
| Seth Robia, PhD | To understand how the heart muscle responds to the varying demands of exercise and rest, and how it becomes disordered in disease states |
| Sakthivel Sadayappan, PhD | The structural and regulatory functions of cardiac myosin binding protein-C to delineate the role(s) of cMyBP-C function in the heart |
| Richard Schultz, PhD |
To understand how drugs that modulate the ras oncogene downstream pathways can selectively modify these pathways to decrease tumor cell proliferation or cause tumor cells to initiate apoptotic cell death. |
| Takeshi Shimamura, PhD | Studies of signaling pathways in non-small cell lung cancer and small-cell lung cancer undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). |
| William Simmons, PhD | Determining which proteases in lung and heart are resposible for degrading the strong hypotensive hormone, bradykinin, thus destroying the ability of this hormone to lower blood pressure and protect the heart from damage during a heart attack |
| Christopher Wiethoff, PhD | Mechanistic Studies of Nonenveloped Virus Cell Entry |
| Alan Wolfe, PhD | Signal transduction and gene expression |
| Aleksey Zima, PhD | Cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, Calcium signaling and Rryanodine receptor regulation |
Associate Members
| Todd Baker, MD | Research Fellow: Burn & Shock Trauma Institute |
| Subhasis Das, PhD |
Research Associate: |
| Christopher Davis, MD | Research Associate: Burn & Shock Trauma Institute |
| Geunhyoung Ha, PhD |
Research Associate: |
| Roma Olsauskas-Kuprys, PhD |
Research Associate: |
| Kyle Nordquist,PhD |
Research Associate: |
| Velusamy Rangasamy, PhD | Research Associate: Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics |
| Vikas Saini, MD, PhD | Research Associate: Burn & Shock Trauma Institute |
| Guatam Sondarva, PhD | Research Associate: Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics |
| Andrei Zlobin, PhD | Research Associate: Oncology Institute |