Training Faculty for Genetics and Genomic Sciences (GGS)

Program Directors: Martin J. Walsh, Ph.D., Peter E. Warburton, Ph.D.
Steering Committee: James Bieker, Ph.D., George A. Diaz, M.D., Ph.D., Bruce D. Gelb, M.D., John A. Martignetti, M.D., Ph.D., Edward H. Schuchman, Ph.D., Robert J. Desnick, Ph.D., M.D.

Training Faculty

• Aneel Aggarwal, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: X-ray crystallography studies of DNA/RNA binding proteins
  
• Emily Bernstein, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Our focus is on epigenetic regulation of gene expression in multiple biological pathways including cancer and stem cell biology. This includes mechanisms that alter the chromatin template such as: histone modifications, histone variants, and non-coding RNAs.
  
• James J. Bieker, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Transcriptional regulation of red cell specific gene expression
  
• David F. Bishop, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Heme biosynthesis; biochemical and molecular genetics; enzymology, sequencing, genotyping and bioinformatics
  
• Erwin P. Bottinger, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: TGF-B/Smad signaling networks and transcriptomics/genomics; gene expression; genomics; proteomics; microarray; systems biology; nephrology; hypertension; diabetes mellitus; pathobiology
  
• Andrea D. Branch, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular biology, pathogenesis, and treatment of the hepatitis C virus (HCV); development and application of novel bioinformatics tools for detecting cryptic genes and regulatory elements, with a special emphasis on infectious RNAs
  
• Brian Brown, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Immunology; Immunological Tolerance; Infectious Disease; Inflammation; Antigen Presentation; Dendritic Cells; Autoimmunity; Diabetes; Molecular Biology; Gene Discovery; Gene Expressions; Gene Regulation; RNA; RNA Regulation; microRNA
  
• Joseph D. Buxbaum, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular and cellular basis of Alzheimer's disease, autism, and schizophrenia
  
• Ross Cagan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Drosophila disease and development models, cancer models including breast, lung, and thyroid, diabetes models including heart dysfunction, epithelial development including retinal patterning
  
• Hengjun Chao, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Gene therapy for hemophilia, Gene therapy for muscular dystrophy, Immune responses following AAV-based hemophilia gene transfer
  
• Jia Chen, Sc.D., Associate Professor, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular and genetic epidemiology; genetic susceptibility and gene-environment interactions in human diseases
  
• Robert J. Desnick, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Research: Human molecular genetics; genomics; gene therapy
  
• George A. Diaz, M.D.,Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular genetics of inherited metabolic disease and disease gene discovery
  
• Scott L. Friedman, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Role of KLF6 tumor suppressor gene in cancer pathogenesis; molecular regulation of hepatic fibrosis; Testing of novel antifibrotic therapies in preclinical models and human trials
  
• Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Microbiology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular Biology of RNA viruses
  
• Bruce D. Gelb, M.D., Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Genetics of congenital heart defects; Noonan syndrome and related disorders; Gain-of-function RAS signaling
  
• Jeanne P. Hirsch, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Signal transduction pathways mediated by heterotrimeric G proteins in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
  
• Yiannis A. Ioannou, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular genetics
  
• Karl J. Jepsen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: The genetic and mechanical basis of skeletal fragility; damage mechanics in bone; aging of skeletal tissues; clinical indicators of osteoporosis; systems biology
  
• Derek LeRoith, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Diseases, Department of Medicine (Endocrinology)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: The role of insulin and the insulin-like growth factors in pathological states including diabetes, growth, bone disorders and cancer.
  
• James J. Manfredi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular basis of p53 tumor suppressor activity
  
• John A. Martignetti, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Genomics, molecular biology, cancer genetics, gene discovery, hereditary cancers, cancer syndromes, tumor suppressor genes, linkage analysis
  
• Marek Mlodzik, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cell-cell interactions during epithelial and nervous system patterning: planar polarity establishment
  
• Goutham Narla, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Role of tumor suppressor and oncogenes in tumorigenesis and metastasis; genetics of chemotherapy resistance
  
• Matthew J. O'Connell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Regulation of the cell cycle; control over genomic stability and chromosome dynamics; the design of novel strategies for anti-cancer therapies
  
• Laurie Ozelius, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Genetics of Movement Disorders, Parkinson's Disease, Dystonia, Basal Ganglia, Brain, Linkage Analysis, Association Studies, Pentrance, Haplotype, Molecular Biology
  
• Takeshi Sakurai, M.D. Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: My research interest has been how nervous system develops at the molecular level, i.e., molecular mechanisms of wiring and synapse formation, and how alterations in these processes lead to neurological and pscyhiatric disorders
  
• Edward H. Schuchman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: The biology and treatment of lysosomal storage disorders; the role of lipid hydrolases in cell signaling
  
• Martin J. Walsh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Modulation of chromatin structure and function
  
• Rong Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Proteomics and biological mass spectrometry
  
• Peter E. Warburton, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Chromosome structure, centromeres, artificial chromosomes, epigenetics, gene therapy, repetitive DNA
  
• James G. Wetmur, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Microbiology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular epidemiology; technology development for genomics and proteomics
  
• Savio L. C. Woo, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Gene and Cell Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Gene Therapy for Cancer and Inherited Diseases
  
• Pin-Xian Xu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• Ming-Ming Zhou, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Structural biology of receptor signaling, histone-directed chromatin biology and gene regulation; Mechanism-based disease biology and drug discovery; Protein NMR spectroscopy, biochemistry, molecular and chemical biology