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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Robert Mercer, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology and Physiology

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Molecular and cell biology of ion pumps and transporters in plasma membrane; cell polarity

Key words
cell membrane, development, Na K-ATPase, excitable tissue, cell volume

Gretchen Meyer, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary
Understanding how changes at the molecular and cellular level in skeletal muscle affect muscle structure and function

Key words

Craig Micchelli, PhD

Associate Professor

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

Research summary
The biology of stem cells

Key words
cancer, Drosophila, regeneration, stem cells

Jeffrey Milbrandt, MD, PhD

James S. McDonnell Professor

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

Research summary
Axonal degeneration, regulation of myelination, neuronal energetics and mitochondrial function in neuropathy and neurodegenerative disease

Key words
functional genomics, metabolism, mitochondria, diabetic neuropathy, neurodegeneration, transcriptional networks, Alzheimer’s disease, Schwann cell

Mark Miller, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Lymphoid tissue dynamics and antigen-presentation during infection, cancer and autoimmunity

Key words
imaging, inflammation, pathogenesis, mathematical modeling, multi-photon microscopy

Timothy Miller, MD, PhD

David Clayson Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Mechanisms of neurodegeneration and targeted therapies for neurodegenerative diseases

Key words
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), SOD1, TDP-43, C9ORF72, miRNA, Tau, Dementia, Neurodegeneration, Antisense oligonucleotides

Jeffrey Millman, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Differentiation to and maturation of pancreatic insulin-producing β cells from human pluripotent stem cells capable of rapidly reversing diabetes

Key words
stem cell biology, regeneration, developmental biology, microscopy, single-cell RNA-sequencing, differentiation, tissue engineering, diabetes, organoids, transplantation, therapy

Miguel Minaya, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Dr. Minaya’s research lies at the intersection of stem cell modeling and genomics, elucidating molecular mechanisms of tauopathies, including frontotemporal dementia with tau pathology (FTD-tau) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). He engineers CRISPR-modified iPSCs from ancestrally diverse donors to model pathogenic MAPT mutations, integrating these with postmortem human brain transcriptomics and animal models.

Key words
Tauopathies; Stem Cell Modeling; Functional Genomics

Jeffrey Miner, PhD

Eduardo and Judith Slatopolsky Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Human genetic kidney disease: Insights through mouse models

Key words
cell adhesion, extracellular matrix, integrin biology, kidney, actin cytoskeleton

Robi Mitra, PhD

Alvin Goldfarb Professor of Computational Biology

Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Technology development for functional genomics and systems biology

Key words
functional genomics, systems biology, technology development, bioinformatics

Makedonka Mitreva, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Next-generation experimental, multi-omic and computational approaches to empower the study of infectious diseases and the human microbiome

Key words
Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Helminth Genomics, Human Metagenomics

Kevin Moeller, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Developing new methods for peptide mimetic, natural product synthesis, and the construction of addressable molecular arrays

Key words
biosensors, electrochemistry, medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis, reactive intermediates

Mayssa Mokalled, PhD

Associate Professor

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

Research summary
Mechanisms of neural regeneration using zebrafish and mouse model systems

Key words

Daniel Moran, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Neurophysiology of volitional arm movements and its application to neuroprosthetics

Key words
neurobiology, neuroprosthetics, motor control, brain computer interfaces

Josh Morgan, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Use advanced cellular imaging techniques to investigate how neurons organize themselves into image processing circuits

Key words
connectomics, vision, retina, LGN, synapse, electron microscopy, circuit

S. Celeste Morley, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Cell biology of the immune system — understanding how cytoskeletal control of cell motility and adhesion impacts host immunity to infection

Key words
actin cytoskeleton, L-plastin, T cell, B cell, lymphocyte motility, pneumococcal pneumonia,

Jose Moron-Concepcion, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying opiate dependence

Key words
opioids, addiction, pain, molecular mechanisms, animal models

Aubrey Morrison, MBBS

Professor Emeritus of Medicine

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
RNA-binding proteins in mRNA stability and cancer biology

Key words
signal transduction, inflammation, RNA9

Nima Mosammaparast, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Understanding how RNA modifications influence transcription, signaling, and genomic integrity

Key words
RNA modifications, cancer , transcription, DNA repair

Jessica Mozersky, PhD, MBE

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary

Key words
bioethics, research ethics, genetics, neuroimaging, social science, qualitative

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