Training Faculty for Pharmacology and Systems Biology (PSB)

Program Directors: Francesco Ramirez, D.Sc. and Eric A. Sobie, Ph.D.
Steering Committee: Jeanne P. Hirsch, Ph.D., Ravi Iyengar, Ph.D., and Terry A. Krulwich, Ph.D.

Training Faculty

• Stuart A. Aaronson, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Oncological Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular genetics of cancers
  
• 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
  
• Fadi G. Akar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Institute and Center for Cardiovascular Health
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  
• Cristina M. Alberini, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular mechanisms of long-term memory
  
• Margaret H. Baron, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Induction and specification of mesoderm and endoderm in the embryo; development of the mammalian blood and vascular systems; stem cell biology; signaling between erythroid cells and other cell types within different developmental niches; enucleation of red blood cells; disorders of red blood cell development; transcriptional regulation of development and differentiation
  
• David H. Bechhofer, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Prokaryotic mRNA decay and stable RNA processing
  
• Robert D. Blitzer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Synaptic plasticity; regulation of protein synthesis in CNS neurons; analysis of signaling networks
  
• 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
  
• 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
  
• Arthur I. Cederbaum, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cytochrome P450 biochemistry and role of oxidative stress in alcohol-induced liver injury
  
• Benjamin K. Chen, M.D.,Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: HIV-1, virus-host interactions, assembly, membrane protein interactions, RNA-Gag interactions, functional cloning, mouse model for lentiviral infection
  
• Terry F. Davies, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Mechanisms in autoimmune disease with an emphasis on autoimmune thyroid disease
  
• Lakshmi A. Devi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: G-protein coupled receptor/signal transduction, opiate addiction and drug abuse mechanisms, neuropeptide biosynthesis and processing
  
• Maria A. Diverse-Pierluissi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: G protein-mediated modulation of neuronal calcium influx
  
• Dan Felsenfeld, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Regulation of adhesion receptor function in axon guidance and cell migration
  
• Marta Filizola, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Structural and Chemical Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Structure-function correlation in molecular recognition and signal-transduction through the development and application of computational methods
  
• Evan L. Flatow, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Orthopaedics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Markers of tumor stem cells and tumor cell signal transduction
  
• 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
  
• Janice L. Gabrilove, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Clinical Research
  
• Samuel E. Gandy, M.D., Professor, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• Saghi Ghaffari, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Gene and Cell Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular Mechanisms of Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Fate
  
• Basil G. Hanss, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Mechanisms of plasma membrane nucleic acid transport
  
• 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
  
• Yasmin Hurd, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Opioid neuropeptide, cannabinoid and dopamine neural systems in drug abuse
  
• Ravi Iyengar, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cellular signaling systems with emphasis on heterotrimeric G proteins
  
• 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
  
• Mary E. Klotman, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: Molecular pathogenesis and therapy of HIV
  
• Paul E. Klotman, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Clinical Research
  Research: HIV pathogenesis; HIV associated nephropathy; renal diseases; podoocan; sidekick
  
• Robert S. Krauss, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Cell Adhesion and Signal Transduction in Pattern Formation and Cell Differentiation During Development
  
• Terry Ann Krulwich, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Bacterial cation transport systems: antiporters that support bacterial resistance to toxic cations and anions; ion-translocating complexes that support extreme alkaliphily; transporters involved in Bacillus anthracis spore germination
  
• Djamel Lebeche, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• Ihor Lemischka, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Gene and Cell Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• 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.
  
• Zhongmin Ma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Phospholipid signaling in pancreatic beta-cell function, apoptosis, and regeneration; cell membrane homeostasis and cell cycle checkpoint regulation; molecular pathogenesis of infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy
  
• Avi Ma'ayan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Computational systems biology, bioinformatics, graph theory application to biological networks, software engineering and artificial intelligence application to systems biology
  
• 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
  
• Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular neurobiology of drug addiction and depression; transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in the brain.
  
• Natalia Nieto, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Liver Diseases)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Crosstalk between Kupffer cells and stellate cells and the fibrogenic response in the liver.
  
• Zhen-Qiang Pan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Oncological Sciences
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Ubiquitin signaling in cancer biology
  
• Francesco Ramirez, D.Sc., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Connective tissue in morphogenesis and diseased conditions; extracellular regulation of TGFb and BMP signaling; Marfan syndrome and scleroderma.
  
• Gwendalyn J. Randolph, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Gene and Cell Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Differentiation and migration of dendritic cells
  
• Michael J. Ross, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Nephrology)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: The pathogenesis of renal epithelial disease in HIV-associated nephropathy; the role of FAT10 in the pathogenesis of kidney disease.
  
• Scott J. Russo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  
• 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
  
• Stephen R.J. Salton, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Molecular neurobiology; neurotrophin signaling; novel neuropeptides and obesity; neural cell adhesion molecules
  
• Lisa M. Satlin, M.D., Professor, Department of Pediatrics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Mechanoregulation of epithelial ion channels and transporters in kidney in health and disease; ontogeny of renal ion channels
  
• Stuart C. Sealfon, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Systems biology of cellular signaling specificity in response to drugs or viruses
  
• Matthew Shapiro, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Memory and brain: how experience alters activity and changes circuit function
  
• Viviana Simon, M.D., PH.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: HIV pathogenesis and host-virus interactions
  
• Lawrence Sirovich, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Image analysis; Mathematical modeling of various biomedical problems, and in particular the mammalian visual system
  
• Eric Sobie, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Coupling of experiments and computational modeling to understand interactions between electrical and calcium signaling systems in ventricular myocytes
  
• Herb B. (Hui Bin) Sun, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research
  Research: Gene regulation and signal transduction of joint tissue homeostasis; mechanotransduction pathway and its potential use for disease prevention and treatment; effects of chemo-factors and mechano-factors on MSC renewal, commitment, and differentiation; role of MSCs in wound healing and tissue engineering
  
• Adrian T. Ting, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
  Type(s) of Research: Basic Science Research; Translational Research
  Research: Antiviral immune response; signal transduction in cell survival and cell death; molecular mechanisms of inflammation
  
• 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