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.

Mentorship badge

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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Christina Gurnett, MD, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Gene discovery, variant interpretation using high-throughput functional assays

Key words
genetics, genomics, sequencing, exome, development, muscle, arthrogryposis, limb, scoliosis, clubfoot

David Gutmann, MD, PhD

Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor

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

Research summary
Leveraging neurogenetic disorders to study normal brain development, cancer, and autism

Key words
pediatric brain cancer, brain development, neuroimmunology, cancer neuroscience, autism, hiPSC engineering, genetically engineered mice

Carmen Halabi, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

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

Research summary
Understanding how the extracellular matrix (ECM) contributes to normal arterial development and how its disruptionleads to abnormal vascular development and disease

Key words
Vascular biology, extracellular matrix, elastin, aneurysms, hypertension

Kathleen Hall, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
We study RNA folding and RNA binding to proteins

Key words
RNA, NMR, RNA:protein interactions, fluorescence, thermodynamics

Dennis Hallahan, MD

Professor and Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
The mechanisms of cell death in normal tissues during cancer therapy

Key words
cancer, cell death, drug delivery, radiation, signal transduction

Gabriel Haller, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Computational and Systems Biology
Neurosciences

Research summary
Genetic underpinnings of neurological/neurosurgical disorders

Key words
rare variants, Chiari I malformation, human genetics, neurosurgery, Deep Mutation Scanning, Mutagenesis, Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

Claudia Han, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
The Han lab investigates microglia and brain macrophage phenotypes in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative contexts through the lens of epigenomics and transcriptomics. 

Key words
microglia, neurodevelopment, epigenetics, transcriptomics, neurodegeneration

Edward Han, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Learning-related hippocampal network activation

Key words
Learning, memory, behavior, virtual reality, in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, in vivo electrophysiology, systems neuroscience

Scott Handley, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Immunology

Research summary

Key words

Richard Harbison, MD, MS

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary
Studying effects of dysregulated nutrients in the tumor microenvironment on anti-tumor immunity.

Key words
immunometabolism, tumor immunology, polyamine transport

Simon Haroutounian, PhD, MSc

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Dr. Haroutounian studies neuropathic pain with a focus on determining individual predictors of treatment response to analgesic pharmacotherapy.

Key words

Robbie Hart, PhD

Director, William L. Brown Center

Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
The ecology and ethnobotany of mountain ecosystems

Key words
ecology, ethnobotany, ethnobiology, phenology, plant science

Jeffrey Haspel, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

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

Research summary
Understand the impact of time as a biological variable in the development of critical illness such as sepsis, respiratory failure and chronic inflammatory lung disease

Key words

Xueyan He, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Immunology

Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Advancing knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for colorectal tumor progression, with a specific focus on Stress and its influence on the Tumor Microenvironment.

Key words
Tumor Microenvironment, Stress

Denise Head, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Cognitive neuroscience of aging

Key words
aging, Alzheimer’s disease, cognition, imaging, structure-function relations

Andrew Heath, DPhil

Spencer T. Olin Professor of Psychology

Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Genetic studies of alcoholism, smoking and drug dependence, depression, suicidality and anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and methodological research in genetic epidemiology

Key words
substance abuse, development, modeling, psychiatry, quantitative genetics

Jennifer Heemstra, PhD

Charles Allen Thomas Professor and Chair

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Utilization of nucleic acid molecular recognition and self-assembly to generate functional architectures for biosensing and bioimaging

Key words
Chemical Biology, Molecular Recognition, Biomolecular Assembly, Nucleic Acids, Biosensors, Cellular Imaging, RNA Editing, Biomaterials

Jason Held, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Cancer Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Redox biochemistry in cell signaling and disease, Proteomics

Key words
proteomics, post-translational modification, cysteine, redox, mass spectrometry, oxidation

Jeffrey Henderson, MD, PhD

Professor

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

Research summary
Biochemical interactions between humans and bacteria in health and disease

Key words
bacterial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, iron, mass spectrometry, medicinal chemistry, metabolomics

Keith Hengen, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
We take a “big data” approach to understanding the self-organization of neurons and networks in behaving animals.

Key words
Homeostatic plasticity, behavior, neurodegeneration, self-organization, emergence, learning, computational, computation, modeling

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