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.
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.
Dave Pagliarini, PhD
Hugo F. and Ina C. Urbauer Professor
- Email: pagliarini@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Computational and Systems Biology
Research summary
We seek to understand the cellular and biochemical underpinnings of mitochondrial dysfunction in human diseases. Our work integrates large-scale methodologies with traditional biochemistry and cell biology to investigate the modulation, adaptation, and basic metabolic function of mitochondria.
Key words
Mitochondria, Protein biochemistry, Genetic screening, Metabolism, Biosynthesis, Orphan protein function, Proteomics, Metabolomics, Kinases and phosphates, Metabolic disease, Systems biochemistry
Stephen Pak, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: stephen.pak@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
General
Research summary
High-throughput drug discovery using C. elegans models of protein aggregation disorders
Key words
Himadri Pakrasi, PhD
George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg Professor
- Email: pakrasi@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Systems and Synthetic Biology of photosynthetic organisms
Key words
Bioenergy, membrane proteins, photosynthesis, redox processes, systems biology, synthetic biology
Ben Palanca, MD, PhD, MSc
Associate Professor
- Email: palancab@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Research summary
Dr. Palanca has NIH-funded investigations on acute confusion after cardiac surgery and leveraging the anesthetic propofol to modulate sleep to treat depression and cognitive impairment.
Key words
Anesthesia, delirium, sleep, surgery, electroencephalography, imaging, fMRI, consciousness, cognition, encephalopathy, depression, antidepressant
Michael Paley, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: paleym@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Computational and Systems Biology
Neurosciences
Research summary
Mechanisms of inflammation in immune-privileged organs
Key words
Hua Pan, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: hpan@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Immunology
Research summary
https://sites.wustl.edu/panlab/
Key words
Onco-Nephrology, Cardio-Oncology, Cancer, MRI, Gene/drug delivery, Machine Learning
Sona Pandey, PhD
Assistant Member
- Email: sonapandey@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
To understand how plants perceive and respond to abiotic stress
Key words
heterotrimeric G-proteins, abscisic acid, G-proteins, molecular genetics, biochemistry, genomics, proteomics, protein-protein interactions
Thomas Papouin, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: thomas.papouin@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Research summary
Mechanisms or neuron-glia interactions in health and disease
Key words
Astrocytes, Synapses, Neuromodulation, Behavior, Electrophysiology,
Rohit Pappu, PhD
Gene K Beare Distinguished Professor
- Email: pappu@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
Biophysics of intrinsically disordered proteins
Key words
Huntington`s disease; Polyglutamine Aggregation; Intrinsically Disordered Proteins; Phase transitions in cell biology; Self-assembly; Transcriptional regulation; Small-scale Systems Biology & Interaction Networks;
Yikyung Park, MS/ScD
Associate Professor
- Email: yikyungpark@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Cancer Biology
Research summary
Key words
Nutrition, Cancer, Epidemiology, Risk prediction, Population health
Bhuvic Patel, MD
Assistant Professor
- Email: bhuvic.patel@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Cancer Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Research summary
Our lab employs cutting-edge molecular biology techniques to investigate the genetic, epigenetic, and cellular alterations driving the initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance of brain tumors.
Key words
brain tumors, systems biology, genetics, neurosurgery, neurooncology
Amit Pathak, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: pathaka@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
We combine experimental measurements and computational modeling to understand how single and grouped respond to physical heterogeneities present in their extracellular microenvironments.
Key words
Mechanobiology; tumor invasion; cell migration; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; cell-matrix interaction; cytoskeleton;
Gary Patti, PhD
Michael and Tana Powell Professor
- Email: gjpattij@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Research summary
To understand the metabolic crosstalk between cells and tissues in disease models such as cancer by using isotopes and metabolomics
Key words
metabolism, metabolomics, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, imaging, cancer, tumor microenvironment, isotope tracing
Slavica Pavlovic Djuranovic, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: spavlov@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Identifying new targets and possible therapies to treat malaria
Key words
malaria, mRNA surveillance, drug discovery
Philip Payne, PhD, FACMI
Janet and Bernard Becker Professor
- Email: prpayne@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Computational and Systems Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
Translational Bioinformatics, Clinical Research Informatics
Key words
Biomedical Informatics, Data Science, Data Analytics, Clinical Research, Translational Research
Jacqueline Payton, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: jpayton@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Cancer Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Research summary
Epigenomic aberrations in B cell lymphomas and their impact on gene regulation
Key words
epigenomics, cancer, lymphoma, histone, informatics, genomics, gene regulation
Rachel Penczykowski, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: rpenczykowski@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
The ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, with a focus on wild populations of herbaceous plant hosts and their powdery mildew pathogens.
Key words
host-parasite interactions, disease ecology, plant pathogens, urban ecology, climate change
Guangyong Peng, MD, PhD
Professor
- Email: pengg@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Cancer Biology
Neurosciences
Research summary
Understanding the role of immune system in the pathogenesis of cancer and age-related neurological disorders (Alzheimer’s disease), and then to develop effective strategies for manipulation of immune cell fate and function for disease prevention and immunotherapy.
Key words
Senescent T cells, Regulatory T cells (Tregs), Dendritic cells (DCs), Tumor microenvironment, Alzheimer’s disease, Cell metabolism, Toll-like receptors, Immunotherapy
Susan Perlman, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: perlmansusan@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Research summary
Key words
David Perlmutter, MD
Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor
- Email: perlmutterd@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Immunology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Pathobiology of liver disease from accumulation and proteotoxicity of misfolded proteins in α1-antitrypsin deficiency; role of autophagy in biology and treatment of disorders caused by misfolded proteins
Key words
α1-antitrypsin deficiency, protein secretion, protein degradation, autophagy, proteostasis, autophagy enhancer drugs