Asahara, Hiroshi
is a molecular biologist and orthopedic surgeon who examines the precise mechanism of chromatin-dependent gene regulation, combining new findings in molecular and developmental biology with clinical research in the field of locomotive science to develop innovative new therapies for patients with arthritis, bone tumor and spinal cord injuries.
Ayad, Nagi G.
studies the cell biological basis of cell cycle exit and differentiation of neuronal precursors as it relates to cancer and nerve regeneration.
Baccala, Roberto
is studying mechanisms of T-cell homeostasis and associated defects in autoimmunity, focusing on developing new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.
Baldwin, Kristin K.
studies the sense of smell by genetically visualizing the neural circuits of the mouse olfactory system and uses mouse cloning and stem cell technology to investigate the molecular mechanisms that govern neural circuit formation and function throughout the nervous system.
Barbas III, Carlos F.
designs zinc finger protein-based transcription factors for the directed regulation of gene expression and gene discovery; programs complex reaction mechanisms into antibodies and uses them to treat cancer; develops new approaches to catalytic asymmetric synthesis; and uses phage display methods to evolve antibodies with the potential to become new immunotherapeutic and gene therapeutic approaches to diseases like breast and ovarian cancer, melanoma, and AIDS.
Bois, Philippe Roger Jean
works to determine the mechanisms that define and control recombinogenic regions in complex mammalian genomes.
Burris, Thomas P
research focuses on chemical biology of nuclear receptors, protein molecules that mediate hormone activity inside the cell that are potential drug targets for a number of diseases including prostate, breast and colon cancers, as well as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome and autoimmunity.
Chang, Geoffrey A.
is interested in the structural basis of the transport of substrate across the cell membrane by ion channels and transporters; he determines the structures of such integral membrane proteins through high-resolution x-ray crystallography.
Chun, Jerold Jun Ming
is interested in the study of lysophospholipid signaling in neural and systems biology, chromosomal aneuploidy in the nervous system, and disease related studies with a Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience approach.
Conkright, Michael D.
studies the molecular events that govern the conversion of the cyclic AMP signaling cascade into transcriptional activation of target gene using cell-based high-throughput technologies.
Cunningham, Bruce Arthur
studies the detailed properties of cell surface glycoproteins that play critical roles in neural development, particularly cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), which bind cells together and generate signals that determine a cell's developmental destiny.
Dickerson, Tobin Jarret
develops biochemical technologies for predicting and treating evolving disease such as influenza, hepatitis C, and cancer, high-throughput screening paradigms for protein-ligand agonists/antagonists, combating filarial parasites, and the modulation of botulinum neurotoxin.
Edelman, Gerald M.
examines several areas related to nervous system development and neural function, including cell-cell interactions during embyronic development, the role of cell adhesion molecules in neural plasticity, the molecular genetics of connectional defects in the nervous system, and transcriptional regulation and translational control in eukaryotic cells.
Elder, John H.
focuses on the molecular and biological characterization of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which causes an AIDS-like disease in the domestic cat and is similar to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); his goal is to develop drug treatments and vaccines that may be employed to treat viral infections in both humans and cats.
Fedor, Martha J.
investigates RNA enzymes using enzymological and biochemical methods to learn how RNAs assemble into functional structures and catalyze biological transformations.
Feeney, Ann J.
studies the epigenetic and genetic mechanisms that control the accessibility of antibody V, D, and J genes to undergo V(D)J recombination, determining why individual V genes rearrange with very different frequencies, and determining how the generation of the antibody repertoire and B cell tolerance mechanisms are misregulated in murine models of autoimmune disease
Felding-Habermann, Brunhilde
establishes unique models of brain metastasis from circulating tumor cells of breast cancer patients and analyzes their properties in vitro and in vivo, investigates genes and functional pathways that control metastatic activity.
Finn, M.G.
uses viruses as building blocks for biologically active structures, diagnostic agents, immunogenic platforms, and drug delivery vehicles; and also develops new bioconjugation methods, enzyme inhibitors, and functional materials using "click chemistry," and studies organic and organometallic reaction mechanisms.
Franc, Nathalie C
studies phagocytosis, the process by which dying cells are recognized and cleared during embryogenesis in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Her long-term goal is to compare its molecular mechanisms with that of phagocytosis of pathogens, such as bacteria.
Gallay, Philippe
looks at the glycoprotein attachment receptors on human cells that enhance the entry of HIV and works toward using those proteins as a guide for drug design.
Goodin, David B.
is focused on the rational engineering of metalloenzyme catalysts in order to better understand the chemical diversity of natural enzymes and to generate novel catalysts of potential utility.
Gottesfeld, Joel M.
is concerned with protein-DNA interactions involved in the transcriptional regulation in animal cells and the development of small molecule inhibitors and activators of gene expression.
Harris, Jennifer Leslie
Havran, Wendy L.
studies a unique subset of T lymphocytes, called "gamma-delta" T cells, which reside in epithelial tissues, are derived from fetal precursors, express a tissue-specific, invariant antigen receptor, and are involved in tissue repair as well as epithelial inflammatory diseases such as asthma and ulcerative colitis.
Hedlund, Peter B.
works on identifying and characterizing new molecular targets for the
treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, especially depression.
Hoch, James A.
investigates developmentally programmed gene expression and signal transduction in cellular differentiation.
Izard, Tina
studies the structural dynamics of signaling mediators of adhesion junctions.
Janda, Kim D.
Investigates biological catalysts, development of methods for the detection of and protection against chemical/biological warfare agents, combinatorial chemical libraries, synthesis and evaluation of enzyme inhibitors, solid-phase organic synthesis, quorum sensing within bacterial systems, lead discovery and detection strategies for tropical diseases, antibody/peptide phage display libraries, cell-penetrating peptides as therapeutic delivery vehicles, and the application of immunopharmacotherapy in the treatment of drug addiction, cancer and obesity.
Joyce, Gerald F.
studies the test-tube evolution of RNA and DNA enzymes, both to explore their potential biomedical applications and to examine their possible role in the early history of life on Earth.
Kodadek, Thomas
focuses his research in the area of chemical biology, deciphering the roles of the proteasome in transcription and understanding the mechanism of action of the hormone orexin.
Kono, Dwight H.
is investigating the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus and mercury-induced autoimmunity as well as seeking to identify new potential therapeutic targets through novel approaches; his main interest is to define both predisposing genes and genes critical for disease development.
Kralli, Anastasia
focuses on the mechanism of action of nuclear receptor coactivators that modulate transcriptional responses to small lipophilic hormones and confer specificity to hormone signaling.
Lazzerini Denchi, Eros
focuses on the mechanisms that protect chromosome ends and their deregulation in human pathologies such as cancer and aging
Lee, Jiing-Dwan
applies conditional knockout models to understand the mechanisms of action of the intracellular signaling pathways that are critical for the progression of tumors in humans in order to find molecular targets for cancer prevention and intervention.
Lesley, Scott A.
applies high throughput approaches to evaluate protein structural and functional diversity.
Luo, Junli
focuses on mechanistic and translational research in molecular signaling that connects epigenetic factors with genetic events during tumor genesis, progression and metastasis
MacRae, Ian John
combines structural biology, biochemistry and cell biology to understand mechanisms of gene regulation by RNA interference.
Mauro, Vincent Peter
studies the regulation of gene expression at the level of protein synthesis, focusing on elements that affect translation initiation, including elements contained within mRNAs, such as internal ribosomal entry sites (IRESes), and elements contained within ribosomes, such as ribosomal RNA.
Mc Gowan, Clare H.
examines the molecular mechanisms and players that regulate the human cell cycle, focusing on DNA damage checkpoints and DNA repair enzymes like Mus81, which resolves strands of duplex DNA that become crossed during replication.
Millar, David P.
uses single-molecule fluorescence and time-resolved laser spectroscopy to study the dynamics of enzyme-DNA interactions and the folding of catalytic RNA molecules.
Miller, Courtney Anne
is working to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of memory disorders by targeting the epigenetic and synaptic contributors.
Morris, Kevin Vance
is interested in understanding the mechanism of long antisense non-coding RNA mediated transcriptional regulation in human cells in order to develop small antisense non-coding RNA based approaches to regulate HIV-1 and human cancer.
Mowen, Kerri A.
investigates the molecular events which control T helper cell and mast cell function, specifically studying a role for the posttranslational modification of arginine methylation by isolating novel substrates, determining the effects of arginine methylation on substrate function, and creating mice deficient in the enzymes that regulate arginine methylation.
Mueller, Ulrich
focuses on the genes and the gene mutations that contribute to the pathology of Usher syndrome, other human diseases related to mechanosensory perception, and central nervous system diseases
Nemazee, David
studies "receptor editing," a novel immunological tolerance mechanism in which developing B lymphocytes that carry autoreactive cell surface antibody are stimulated to "reprogram" their immunoglobulin genes by further rounds of DNA recombination.
Ollmann Saphire, Erica Ollmann
combines x-ray crystallography, biochemistry, and immunology to analyse proteins that play key roles in the pathogenesis of Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers; structures of these proteins provide templates for vaccine design and enable rapid responses to newly emerging forms of the viruses.
Otomo, Takanori
studies structure and function of proteins involved in the autophagic pathway.
Paegel, Brian M
studies the controlled synthesis and engineering of phospholipid vesicles and emulsions, microfluidic circuit design, and directed evolution of membrane-associated transporters, pores, and receptors.
Paulson, James C.
studies carbohydrate recognition and the molecular biology of carbohydrate binding proteins, like CD22, which mediate key aspects of cell signaling in the immune system.
Petrie, Howard T.
focuses on the production of specialized blood cells called T lymphocytes, which are central mediators of the immune response. Understanding this is central in developing treatments for immunodeficiencies resulting from environmental exposure (such as HIV/AIDS) or aging.
Reed, Steven I.
focuses on the regulation of cell cycle progression through cyclin-dependent kinases and related proteins, particularly the role of regulated proteolysis in cell cycle control and how defects in the proteolytic machinery can promote carcinogenesis.
Roberto, Marisa
uses in vitro electrophysiological techniques to understand the effects of abused drugs and neuropeptides on neuronal function and synaptic transmission.
Romesberg, Floyd Eric
seeks to understand and evolve novel protein function by expanding the genetic code, to understand the molecular basis of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis, and to use femtosecond laser pulses to probe protein dynamics.
Russell, Paul R.
studies DNA damage response mechanisms that are relevant to the prevention and treatment of cancer; investigates how cells tolerate exposure to environmental toxins.
Saez, Enrique
is interested in two broad themes related to the regulation of energy balance in mammals.
Sauer, Karsten
We combine broad functional genomics approaches with traditional, hypothesis-driven research to identify and functionally characterize novel genes with important roles in lymphocyte development and function. A particular focus of the lab are signal transduction mechanisms downstream of the T cell receptor.
Schmid, Sandra L.
is defining the molecular mechanisms of receptor-mediated endocytosis, which involves the concentration of receptor-ligand complexes into clathrin coated pits, their internalization via coated vesicles, and the regulation of these events by GTPases and kinases.
Siuzdak, Gary E.
is interested in the design and application of mass spectrometry technology including pulsed laser desorption/ionization from silicon surfaces, understanding virus structure/activity, and metabolite profiling.
Stowers, Lisa
studies the ligands, neurons, and brain nuclei that initiate social behavior using molecular genetics and genomics; her work is determining the rules that generate the information coding of neuronal networks.
Sun, Peiqing
seeks to delineate the signal transduction pathways mediating cellular responses to oncogenic mutations, and to systematically search for genetic alterations that contribute to specific cancer-associated phenotypes by screening cDNA expression libraries and siRNA libraries.
Szurmant, Hendrik
is interested in the molecular mechanisms that govern signal
detection and signal transduction in Gram-positive bacteria
applying a combination of computational, structural, biochemical
and genetic approaches.
Tellinghuisen, Timothy Lee
focuses on understanding the assembly, composition, and activities of the RNA replication machinery of the hepatitis c virus
Thomas, Elizabeth Anne
investigates the molecular neurobiology of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Huntington's disease, so that they can be better diagnosed and treated.
Torbett, Bruce E.
studies transcriptional regulation of myeloid development and function, develops and tests novel techniques for delivering genes to cells to provide protection against HIV or cancer; he also investigates how the structural changes in HIV protease contribute to biochemical functions that confer protease inhibitor resistance.
Weissmann, Charles
elucidates the structure of prions, the mechanism of their replication and the processes by which they enter cells and are released from them.
Whitton, J. Lindsay L.
studies antiviral immunity mediated by the recognition of viral peptides by host cells, the basis of immunization with plasmid DNA vaccines, and the role of the immune system in viral pathogenesis during coxsackievirus infections.
Wittenberg, Curt
studies the role of cell cycle regulated transcription and proteolysis in cell cycle regulation via cyclin dependent protein kinases.
Wright, Peter E.
uses high-resolution, multi-dimensional, hetero-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to study protein dynamics, folding, and recognition, particularly of structures of protein-DNA and protein-protein complexes involved in the regulation of transcription.
Wuthrich, Kurt
develops advanced techniques in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and applies them in protein structural biology and structural genomics projects.
Xiao, Changchun
studies the functions of microRNA control and its underlying molecular mechanisms in the mammalian immune system, under health and disease conditions.
Yang, Xiang-Lei
is elucidating the functional diversity of mammalian aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in signal transduction pathways involving angiogenesis, neurogenesis, inflammation and apoptosis, and how the different functions of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are activated and regulated.
Zwick, Michael Bruce
dissects the molecular requirements of neutralization of HIV by antibodies, particularly those against the envelope glycoprotein, gp41; develops strategies for selecting HIV neutralizing antibodies and HIV envelope glycoprotein variants, to inform vaccine design.
