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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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

Daved Fremont, PhD

Professor

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

Research summary
Mechanisms of host immunity and viral evasion

Key words
immunology, virology, structural biology, viral immune evasion, cytokine receptors, signaling, protein trafficking

Carl Frieden, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Protein structure/function relationships

Key words
apoE lipoproteins,, intrinsically disordered proteins, amyloid-beta, Alzheimer’s Disease, bacterial infection, curli proteins

James Friend, PhD

Stephen F. & Camilla T. Brauer Distinguished Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Neurosciences

Research summary

Key words

Stephanie Fritz, MD, MSCI

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Asking and answering critical questions to guide clinical practice and ameliorate childhood suffering due to staphylococcal disease

Key words
Staphylococcus aureus; antibiotic resistance; epidemiology; infection treatment and prevention; genomic determinants of disease; host immune response

Antonina Frolova, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Improve obstetric outcomes for women and their neonates by understanding and targeting mechanisms of dysfunctional uterine contractility

Key words

Ziao Fu, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Dr. Fu’s research focuses on the structural and functional analysis of SPFH family proteins. Using cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography, the Fu Lab studies membrane proteins in their native environments to explore their role in cellular signaling and disease

Key words
cryoem structure Ion channel membrane protein cryoet

Harrison Gabel, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Exploration of functions for neuron-specific regulators of gene expression, leveraging genes and mechanisms implicated in human neurologic disease to point us toward critical pathways in the brain.

Key words
Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment, Rett syndrome, non-CpG DNA methylation, Transcription, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Neurodevelopmental disease

Eric Galburt, PhD

Professor

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

Research summary
Biophysical studies of transcription initiation in Eukaryotes and Mycobacterial tuberculosis

Key words
biophysics, kinetics, optical and magnetic trapping, transcription, fluorescence

Gilbert Gallardo, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate reactive astrocytes and their neurotoxicity in
neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, by utilizing a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology, cellular models of inflammation and mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases.

Key words

Roberto Galletto, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Mechanistic studies of DNA motor proteins; single Molecule Biochemistry

Key words

Mathieu Garand, PhD

Instructor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
My research investigates neonatal immune responses after surgery and their connection to congenital heart disease. Clinical trial to study immune responses in pediatric pulmonary valve transplant recipients, both living and cryopreserved.

Key words
congenital heart disease, viral infection, immune responses, transcriptomic, biomarkers, immunophenotyping

Benjamin Garcia, PhD

Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Quantitative proteomics for understanding protein and proteome modifications

Key words

Aimilia Gastounioti, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Cancer Biology

Research summary
Translational research in the intersection of computational breast imaging, artificial intelligence, and informatics towards improving breast cancer screening

Key words
breast cancer, computational imaging analytics, machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, big data, data science, precision medicine

Malia Gehan, PhD

Adjunct Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Research summary

Key words

Stefanie Geisler, MD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Elucidating and understanding molecular mechanisms of axonal degeneration and regeneration in neuropathies

Key words

Guy Genin, PhD

Harold & Kathleen Faught Professor

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Research summary
Interfaces and adhesions in physiology and nature

Key words
mechanics, physics, interfaces, adhesion, mechanobiology, strain mapping, viscoelasticity

Robert Gereau, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of chronic pain, preclinical and translational research

Key words
pain, optogenetics, ion channel, synaptic transmission, signal transduction, electrophysiology, in vivo imaging, genetics