Faculty

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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Bahaa Elgendy, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary
Medicinal chemistry with a broad goal of drug design and organic synthesis

Key words

Ali Ellebedy, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Defining the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate memory B cell heterogeneity and fate.

Key words

Elliot Elson, PhD

Professor Emeritus

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Mechanical properties of reconstituted tissues; fluctuation spectroscopy of protein interactions

Key words
cytoskeleton, signal transduction, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, tissue engineering, cell/tissue mechanics

Sarah England, PhD

Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Molecular mechanisms underlying uterine function during pregnancy

Key words
women`s health, potassium channels, uterine, muscle excitability, pregnancy

Alex Evers, MD

Henry Mallinckrodt Professor and Head

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Molecular mechanisms of anesthetic action – Proteomics of GABAA receptors

Key words
Anesthetics, photolabeling, mass spectrometry, proteomics

Roberta Faccio, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Immunology
Cancer Biology

Research summary
interactions between bone and immune cells in inflammation and cancer

Key words
arthritis, inflammation, cancer, bone metastases, osteoclasts

Todd Fehniger, MD, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Cancer Biology

Research summary
My laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanisms regulating natural killer cell activation, novel methods to use NK cells as immunotherapy for cancer, and lymphoma genomics.

Key words
cancer, cytokine, immunology, innate immunity, NK cells, small noncoding RNAs, immunotherapy, lymphoma, genomics

Mario Feldman, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Research summary
Pathogenesis of multidrug resistant bacteria and biogenesis of bacterial vesicles in the human gut

Key words

Lijuan Feng

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Our lab studies how disease-associated histone mutations disrupt chromatin and epigenetic regulation, contributing to developmental disorders, brain inflammation, and cancer. We take a multidisciplinary approach that combines biochemical and genomic assays, molecular genetics, cell biology, and both Drosophila and mouse models to investigate how these mutations impair development and drive tumorigenesis. Current projects focus on neurodevelopmental disorders, cancer-associated histone mutations, chromatin–immune crosstalk, and the discovery of chromatin-associated factors. Through this work, we aim to uncover fundamental mechanisms of chromatin dysregulation and identify new therapeutic targets.

Key words
Chromatin, Epigenetics, Gene Regulation, Cancer, Developmental Disorders, Brain Inflammation

Thomas Ferguson, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
We are examining the role of the autophagy pathway in the function of the retina and its role in diseases of the eye

Key words
angiogenesis, apoptosis, autophagy, immunology, lymphocyte, tolerance, photoreceptors, vision,

Francesca Ferraro, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Immunology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
We use both mouse models and patient samples of acute myloid leukemia to understand leukemogenesis and to identify novel therapeutic targets.

Key words

David Fike, PhD

Glassberg/Greensfelder Distinguished Professor and Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences Department Chair

Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Microbial biogeochemistry and metabolic stable isotopic (C/N/S) fractionation

Key words
microbial biogeochemistry, stable isotope geochemistry, microbial mats, carbon cycling, sulfur cycling, Earth history

Brian Finck, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Identify novel target pathways for therapeutic treatment of obesity-related diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver disease

Key words
diabetes, fatty acid, insulin, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, mitochondria

Peter Fischer, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Medical helminthology, especially filariasis and other neglected tropical diseases caused by parasitic worms.

Key words
helminths, parasitology, tropical medicine,

James Fleckenstein, MD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Research summary
Molecular investigation of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC)

Key words
enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; microbial pathogenesis; vaccine development; diarrheal disease

Jennifer Foltz, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Immunology
Cancer Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
My research interests lie in integrating and applying novel computational biology techniques with mechanistic experimental immunology to understand drivers of response and resistance to NK cell therapies for cancer

Key words
natural killer cells, computational biology, single-cell sequencing, immunotherapy, nk cells

Tom Foutz, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary

Key words

Tom Franken, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Understanding how the primate brain processes sensory information to perceive the world as an organized collection of objects

Key words
primate, macaque, visual, auditory, cortex, electrophysiology, multiphoton imaging, optogenetics, perception, figure-ground, foreground, background, image segmentation, laminar circuit, cortical column, neuropixels, binocular disparity, depth, 3D

Doug Frantz, PhD

Professor

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

Research summary
Small molecule drug discovery inspired research across multiple therapeutic areas including chronic pain, oncology, and neurodegeneration.

Key words
drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, synthetic methods

Victoria Fraser, MD

Adolphus Busch Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine

Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Healthcare epidemiology, including the study of nosocomial infections, specifically surgical site infections, blood stream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia

Key words

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