Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty
Program Director
Associate Professor
Faculty
Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms of membrane fusion; role of lipids in membrane trafficking; membrane vesiculation of dynamin
Professor
Research Interests: The intersection between human signal-transduction and bacterial pathogenesis; use of biochemical and cell biological analysis to define molecular mechanisms of microbial infectious disease
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Signal transduction, Mitochondria function, Cell growth and proliferation, Cancer metabolism
Professor
Research Interests: Cell-cell fusion, actin cytoskeletal dynamics, muscle development and regeneration
Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and epigenetic control; chromatin remodeling and histone tail modification; sumoylation and ubiquitination; functional interplay between oncoproteins and tumor suppressor proteins; general transcription factors and cofactors
Professor
Research Interests: Protein kinase cascades; MAP kinases; signal-transduction mechanisms
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Germ cells, immunology, parasite biology, pathogenesis, regeneration, stem cells
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Cell migration, survival, stress responses, cancer
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Uncover mechanisms that modulate the cellular response to DSBs
Professor
Research Interests: Regulation of HMG-CoA reductase and sterol metabolism
Assistant Professor
Research Interests:
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Mitochondria, cristae biogenesis, organelles, membrane organization, inter-organelle contacts
Professor
Research Interests: Intracellular sorting of newly synthesized proteins; organelle biogenesis and membrane structure and function; the yeast peroxisome as a model of organellar assembly
Professor
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms and how they control metabolism
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of membrane sculpting; formation and dynamics of inter-organelle membrane contact sites (MCSs) in human health and disease
Professor
Research Interests: Molecular signaling processes in cardiac hypertrophy and failure; mechanisms of structural, functional, and electrophysiological remodeling, using genetic and surgical mice models
Professor
Research Interests: Hepatic steatosis; lipid metabolism
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Cytokine receptor; signal transduction; hematopoiesis; structure-function analysis of protein; cancer
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Renal metabolism; inflammation and sepsis; acute kidney injury
Assocoate Professor
Research Interests: Cancer Cachexia, Obesity, Adipocyte biology
Professor
Research Interests: Physiology of nuclear receptors
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Structural and biochemical characterization of cholesterol biosynthesis, transport and signaling
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Spatial and temporal regulation of cellular signaling events; mechanisms and physiological roles of store-operated calcium signaling
Assistant Professor
Research Interests:Wound healing, tissue repair and regeneration, innate immunity, inflammation and cancer
Assistant Professor
Research Interests:Mechanobiology, ion channels, immune cells, human genetics, disease, cell communication
Professor
Research Interests: Parturition (the process of labor); cervical ripening; male and female reproductive biology
Professor
Research Interests: Post-transcriptional gene regulation and signaling in the immune and nervous system
Professor
Research Interests: Mechanism of nuclear hormone receptor action; role of retinoids in cancer; transcriptional regulation of lipid metabolism
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Regulation of cell-cell adhesion during tubule and glomerular formation and in polycystic kidney disease
Professor
Research Interests: Ubiquitylation, Protein quality control, Gene expression, stem cells, cancer, neurodegeneration
Professor
Research Interests: Molecular genetics of human cancer; growth factors and signal transduction in human tumors
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Molecular mechanical force field development; virtual screenings for drug lead identification; Molecular dynamics simulations of protein folding and drug delivery; and rational protein design
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Transcriptional mechanisms that orchestrate formation and function of the cardiac conduction system
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Immunogenic Cell Death, Necroptosis Signaling, Anti-tumor Immunity, Immunotherapy
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Epidermal remodeling during wound healing, Molecular basis of skin architecture
Professor
Research Interests: Three-dimensional structures and functions of organelles and macromolecular complexes, with special emphasis on cytoskeletal assemblies and molecular motors
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Uncovering insights into GPCR signal transduction and its physiological function in various metabolic disease models
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Developmental Biology, Cancer Biology, RNA Regulatory Programs and Transcriptional and Post-transcriptional Feedback Loops
Professor
Research Interests: Evolution of signaling pathways, gene regulation, growth control, signal transduction, tumor suppressor, genes and oncogenes
Professor
Research Interests: Metabolism, tyrosine kinase signaling, vascular biology, kidney biology, aging
Professor
Research Interests: Organelle biogenesis, lipid droplets, peroxisomes, lipid trafficking, membrane contact sites
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Biochemistry; biophysics; cell signaling, kinases, pseudokinases; host-pathogen interaction; co-evolution; immunology; structural biology
Professor
Research Interests: Epithelial cell biology, cornea, ocular surface, dry eye, Sjogren’s syndrome, diabetes, exosomes, corneal neuropathy, infectious disease
Professor
Research Interests: Internal medicine; control of muscle remodeling during development and disease; circadian control of cardiac function and the role of RCAN1 (Down Syndrome Critical Region 1), a regulator of the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin
Professor
Research Interests: Identification and physiological characterization of novel secretory proteins that serve as potential links between the adipocyte and the processes of whole body energy homeostasis; inflammation and cancer; beta cell biology
Assistant Professor
Research Interests:Cytoskeleton, Actin, Microtubules, Developmental Biology, Evolution, Fertility, Cancer, Structural Biology
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Biogenesis of the Golgi apparatus
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Gene therapy, Rare neurodevelopmental disorders, Rett syndrome (RTT), Regulatory elements
Professor
Research Interests: Sensory transduction in Drosophila melanogaster
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Se!O, AMPylation, mitochondria, selenoproteins, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, selenocysteine
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Kinases in the secretory pathway and the extracellular space; secreted protein and peptide hormone phosphorylation; CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing
Professor
Research Interests: Vascular biology; oxidant biochemistry; signal transduction; acute lung injury
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Heart failure, Atrial fibrillation
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Forward genetics, mucosal immunology; host-microbe interactions; innate immunity; vesicle trafficking
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Membrane protein trafficking and function; autophagy and its developmental roles; organelle biogenesis and communication
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: The function of molecular factor and transcription regulation in skeletal disease and bone cancer
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Proteolytic mechanisms in cell fate, signaling and gene expression. Roles of caspases, E3 ubiquitin ligases and MAPK signaling in development and stress responses.
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Cellular and molecular pathogenesis of leishmaniasis and other parasitic infections; host-pathogen interactions; development of novel antiparasitics
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Understand oocyte ageing, embryogenesis and cancer onset by use of live-cell microscopy, nano-rheology and synthetic biology
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Harnessing stem cell derived interspecies chimeras for studying developmental biology in an evolutionary context, probing species’ specific traits, and uncovering molecular basis of species barriers
Professor
Research Interests: Geranylgeranylation and HCV replication; regulation of geranylgeranyl lipid homeostasis; regulated intramembrane proteolysis
Professor
Research Interests: Biochemistry of signal transduction, gene regulation, and membrane protein complexes; molecular and cellular mechanisms of neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and neurodegeneration
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Mechanism of Bi-d\Directional Communication between Sympathetic Neurons and Adipocytes, Role of Mitochondria in Adipose Thermogenesis and Neurogenesis, Novel Pathways Regulating Adipose Thermogenesis
Associate Members
These faculty members do not accept graduate students. They participate in teaching, co-mentoring, exam and dissertation committees, and all other program responsibilities.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Diabetes, obesity, metabolic imaging, and tracer techniques
Professor
Research Interests: Gene regulation, molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic transcription, chromatin modifying and remodeling enzymes
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Cholesterol and fat metabolism
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of heart disease, cellular pathways involved in cardiac growth, function and response to stress
Professor
Research Interests: Genetics and biochemistry of lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism; cell-surface receptor function; regulation of gene expression
Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Breast cancer, targeted therapy, drug resistance, precision medicine, kinase signaling, oncogenes
Vice Provost & Sr. Assoc Dean Faculty Affairs & Initiatives
Research Interests: Adipose tissue, obesity, iron, macrophages, T cell memory, weight cycling
Professor
Research Interests: Human cancer gene therapy; signaling defects in urogenital cancers
Professor
Research Interests: Informational carbohydrates in the endoplasmic reticulum: roles in protein folding, stress responses, and human disease
Professor
Research Interests: Light microscope imaging of structure and function in living cells and tissues
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Cell biology, microscopy, computer-based image analysis and quantification
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Bile acids, cholesterol; diabetes; lipidomics; LXR, FXR, PXR, beta-cell, islet
Associate Professor
Research Interests: G protein-mediated signaling
Professor
Research Interests: Mechanisms for signal transduction through the actin cytoskeleton