Disease-Based Research Focus

BMB Faculty are focused on understanding the basic mechanisms of disease research in the following areas:

Click to view a specific area:

Cancer

Daniel D. Billadeau, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Immunology

Proteins and molecular pathways of pancreatic cancer

Fergus Couch, Ph.D.
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer with a specific focus on familial/inherited forms of these diseases

Stephen Ekker, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Identification of genes and translocated proteins to understand cancer development

Robert B. Jenkins, Ph.D.
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Genetic aspects of human brain tumors, and prostate cancer

David Katzmann, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Protein sorting and receptor downregulation

Edward Leof, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)

Kun Ling, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cell adhesion and migration

Jim Maher, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Nucleic acid structure and recognition

Mark A. McNiven, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cytoskeletal-membrane dynamics

Georges Mer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Study of ubiquitin ligases and transcription factors in DNA repair

Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Tumor angiogenesis and vascular biology

Larry Pease, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Immunology

Cancer immunology and immunotherapy

Jeffrey Salisbury, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Role of the protein centrin in cancer

Thomas Spelsberg, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Breast cancer

Donald Tindall, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Urology

Androgens and prostate cancer

Raul Urrutia, Ph.D.
Professor, Biophysics and Medicine
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Molecular mechanisms of pancreatic morphogenesis and cancer

Jan van Deursen, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Pediatrics

Transcriptional coactivators in normal and neoplastic growth

Charles Y. Young, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Urology

Prostate Cancer

Zhiguo Zhang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Epigenetic silencing and epigenetic cause of cancer

 

Click to view a specific area:

Cardiovascular disease/angiogenesis

H. R. Bergen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

BNP/ANP isoforms in treatment of chronic heart failure

Frank V. Brozovich, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Medicine and Physiology

Cardiovascular contractility and signaling

Thomas P. Burghardt, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Mutations in beta-cardiac myosin

Stephen Ekker, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Zebrafish genetics: assignment of genes and gene sets critical in vertebrate patterning and organogenesis

Edward Leof, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine

Transforming growth factor-ß and its downstream pathways that contribute to cellular processes in cancer, fibrotic disorders, immune modulation, and wound healing

Kun Ling, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cell adhesion and migration

Daniel J. McCormick, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

BNP/ANP isoforms in treatment of chronic heart failure

Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Tumor angiogenesis and vascular biology

Robert Simari, M.D.
Professor of Medicine

To investigate and treat cardiovascular disease through modulation of gene expression

Xiaolei Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine

Zebrafish genetics

 

Click to view a specific area:

Tissue degenerative diseases

Peter Harris, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine

Polycystic Kidney Disease

Jinghua Hu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine

Cilia biogenesis and function

Grazia Isaya, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Pediatrics

Mitochondrial genetics

Nicholas F. LaRusso, M.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine

Cholangiocytes

Ed Leof, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine

Transforming growth factor β and its role in the cell cycle and cancer

Merry Jo Oursler, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cell biology of bone

Joseph F. Poduslo, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Neurology

Molecular neurobiology

Marina Ramirez-Alvarado, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Protein misfolding

Thomas Spelsberg, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Molecular analysis of human diseases

Jennifer Westendorf, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Orthopedics

Osteoblast biology and transcriptional regulation

 

Click to view a specific area:

Aging

Cynthia McMurray, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Pharmacology

DNA instability in human disease

Merry Jo Oursler, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cell biology of bone

Jan van Deursen, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Pediatrics

Molecular basis of human cancer and cellular senescence

 

Click to view a specific area:

Bio/nano technologies

Zelko Bajzer, Ph.D.
Professor of Biophysics
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Biomathematics Resource

H. Robert Bergen, III, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Proteomics research and mass spectrometry

Stephen Ekker, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Zebrafish Core Facility

Mark Federspiel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Gene and Virus Therapy Program

Slobodan Macura, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Analytical NMR Facility

Daniel McCormick, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Proteomics and Peptide Synthesis Core

Georges Mer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

NMR spectroscopy and x-ray crystallography of protein complexes

Jan van Deursen, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Pediatrics

Transgenic and Gene Targeted Mouse Shared Resource

Eric Wieben, Ph.D.
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Advanced Genomics Technology Center