Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Using a variety of molecular, genetic and imaging tools in diverse model systems such as mammalian cells, yeast, fruit flies, mice, and rats, faculty in this focus area carry out both basic and pre-clinical research aimed at understanding human health and disease. Students gain expertise in the latest microscopy techniques, cell based assays, the use of gene manipulation technologies including CRISPR/Cas9, classic genetic techniques, as well as the latest proteomics, genomics and epigenomics tools. Diseases studied in this focus area include cancer, heart disorders, developmental anomalies, fibrotic disorders, spinal injuries, viral infections, epilepsy, hearing, sleep and neurological disorders.
Faculty Research Interests
*** Indicates faculty currently recruiting graduate students
- Michelle Arbeitman Ph.D. ***
Sex differences in development and behavior. - Pradeep Bhide Ph.D.
Developmental neurological and psychiatric conditions including ADHD and early-onset generalized dystonia. - Stephen Chelko Ph.D. *** Cardiac genetic disorders and Sudden Cardiac Death
- Akash Gunjan Ph.D.
Role of histones in genome stability and cancer. - Jerome Irianto Ph.D. ***
Cancer mechanogenomics, role of physical stresses on cancer genomic instability. - Mohamed Kabbaj Ph.D. ***
Epigenetics of social behaviors and neurobiology of sex differences in anxiety and depression. - Sanjay S Kumar Ph.D.
Synaptic physiology underlying cortical function and epilepsy. - Choogon Lee Ph.D. ***
Molecular basis for circadian rhythms. - Cathy W Levenson Ph.D.
Stem cells in Traumatic Brain Injury; reducing damage and improving outcomes. - Timothy Megraw Ph.D. ***
The functions of centrosomes and cilia in cell division, development and disease. - Jarrod Mousa Ph.D. ***
Structural immunology for viral and bacterial vaccine development and monoclonal antibody discovery
- Jose R Pinto Ph.D. ***
Cardiac and skeletal muscle regulation and inherited diseases. Molecular basis of striated muscle contraction. - Gregg Stanwood Ph.D.
The developmental basis of mental health disorders. - Branko Stefanovic Ph.D.
Molecular mechanisms of liver fibrosis. - Patrick Stover Ph.D.
The biochemical, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that underlie the relationships between nutrition, food fortification and human pathologies. - Zucai Suo. Ph.D. ***
Multi-disciplinary research in DNA replication and damage repair, gene editing, and drug discovery. - Robert J Tomko Jr. Ph.D.
Multidisciplinary analyses of biomedically important molecular machines; ubiquitin signaling; drug discovery. - Yanchang Wang Ph.D.
Chromosome segregation regulation and the response to the expression of misfolded protein. - Yuan Wang Ph.D.
Development and plasticity of neuronal circuits and their pathology in neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration. - Yue Julia Wang Ph.D. ***
Single-cell transcriptomic profiling of pancreatic endocrine cells in normal, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.
