DBBS mentors and educators are key to our training mission. Those who serve as primary mentors are DBBS Program Members, and others who participate in the educational mission are General Members. Learn about DBBS Faculty Membership »

To provide a supportive learning environment for our trainees, many DBBS-affiliated faculty have completed eight or more hours of CIMER-based mentorship training with a trained facilitator, as indicated below with a profile badge.

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Find faculty of interest by entering a name, program or expertise keyword in the search bar; selecting a PhD program from the drop-down menu; or selecting the last name initial from the A-Z filter.

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Joanna Abraham, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Improving collaborative practices in healthcare using principles and techniques from informatics to promote patient safety, quality and care continuity

Key words
Communication, Decision support, mental health, telemedicine

Yousef Abu-Amer, PhD

J. Albert Key Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary
Investigating molecular mechanisms underlying inflammation-induced degenerative skeletal diseases including joint degeneration, inflammatory arthritis and osteolysis

Key words
Musculoskeletal, inflammatory osteolysis, degenerative, bone biology, Signal transduction, NF-kB, Osteoclast, Bone Metabolism, Joint

Nada Abumrad, PhD

Robert C. Atkins Professor of Obesity Research in Medicine

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Fatty acids regulate energy balance and tissue renewal. Dysfunction of this regulation causes disease

Key words
fatty acid, transport, disease risk

Joseph Ackerman, PhD

William Greenleaf Eliot Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging of intact functioning biological systems

Key words
biophysics, cancer, imaging, mathematical modeling, neurobiology

Sarah Ackerman, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Understanding how glia shape developmental and pathological plasticity

Key words
astrocytes, plasticity, circuits, development, myelination

Hema Adhikari, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Cancer Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary

Key words

Ramesh Agarwal, PhD

William Palm Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Modeling and simulations of systems and devices involving fluid flow

Key words
Computational Fluid Dynamics, fluid flow, stenosis, cardiovascular modeling, fluid mechanical modeling

Arpana Agrawal, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics

Research summary
Genetic and environment studies of addictions

Key words

Gustav Akk, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Function and modulation of transmitter-gated ion channels

Key words
GABA, ion channel, neurophysiology, nicotinic receptor, pharmacology, structure-function relations

Ream Al-Hasani, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Understanding the endogenous opioid systems to defeat addiction, ameliorate affective disorders, and relieve chronic pain.

Key words

Matthew Albrecht, PhD

Assistant Curator of Conservation Biology

Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Ecology and conservation of rare plants

Key words
plant conservation; reintroduction biology; plant population dynamics; rare plant ecology; restoration ecology; seed and seedling ecology; ex situ conservation

Jennifer Alexander-Brett, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Respiratory immunobiology, with particular interest in cytokine pathways associated with lung epithelial progenitors

Key words

Gaya Amarasinghe, PhD

Alumni Endowed Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Molecular mechanisms at the host-pathogen interface

Key words
biochemistry, structural biology, signaling, virology, host pathogen interactions, immunology

Farners Amargant I Riera, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Developmental, Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary
The Riera Lab uses a multidisciplinary approach to investigate how biochemical and biomechanical signaling from the ovary regulates folliculogenesis and oocyte quality, and whether these mechanisms are altered in reproductive-associated diseases such as PCOS and aging.

Key words
Female reproduction, mechanobiology, ovary, folliculogenesis, reproductive aging, oocyte quality

Hongyu An, DSc

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Develop novel imaging methods to deepen our understanding on pathophysiology and improve clinical diagnosis and patient management

Key words

Beau Ances, MD, PhD

Daniel J. Brennan Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Characterization of Dementia (HIV associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and Alzheimer`s Disease (AD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging

Key words
Alzheimer’s disease, blood flow, brain mapping, dementia, HIV, MRI

Alison Antes, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Study of ethical, social, and professional issues that affect patients, researchers, and health care providers

Key words

Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD

Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor

Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Neurosciences

Research summary
Innate immunity and immune effector mechanisms in the retina; oxidative stress and cell death; models of developmental angiogenesis and neovascularization; inflammation and photoreceptor survival; macular degeneration

Key words
aging, Angiogenesis, macular degeneration, diabetes, innate immunity, macrophage, retinal degeneration, vascular biology

Maxim Artyomov, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Computational and Systems Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Systems immunology using high-throughput next-generation sequencing in conjunction with mathematical and statistical modeling approaches rooted in statistical physics

Key words
systems immunology, systems biology, computational biology, RNA-seq

Ghazaleh Ashrafi, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Uncovering novel regulators of glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolism at the synapse and their role in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease

Key words