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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Rohit Pappu, PhD

Gene K Beare Distinguished Professor

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

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

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

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

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

Philip Payne, PhD, FACMI

Janet and Bernard Becker Professor

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

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

Associate Professor

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

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

Toby Pennington, DPhil

David and Dorothy Kemper Professor

Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Research summary

Key words

Susan Perlman, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary

Key words

David Perlmutter, MD

Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor

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

Joel Perlmutter, MD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Pharmacology, physiology and pathophysiology of basal ganglia and movement disorders

Key words
pathogenesis, neuroimaging, physiology, neurobiology, movement disorders, Parkinson disease, dystonia

Stephen Persaud, MD,PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Cancer Biology

Research summary
Optimizing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as definitive therapy for non-malignant blood diseases

Key words
sickle cell disease, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, antibody-based immunotherapy, conditioning, JAK inhibitors, gene editing

Steven Petersen, PhD

Professor Emeritus

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Behavioral and fMRI studies of attention and cognitive development

Key words
attention, language, development, behavior, imaging

Christine Pham, MD

G & EM Magness Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Immunity and autoimmunity in inflammatory diseases; nanotherapy in the treatment of inflammatory diseases

Key words
autoimmunity, inflammation, innate immunity, nanotechnology, protease

Benjamin Philip, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
The interaction between hand dominance, brain lateralization, and rehabilitation following unilateral impairment such as stroke, amputation, or nerve injury

Key words

Jennifer Philips, MD, PhD

Theodore and Bertha Bryan Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Immunology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Immune Evasion by Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Key words
tuberculosis, host-pathogen interactions, innate immunity, autophagy, lipid metabolism, phagosome maturation, antigen presentation, macrophage

Jennifer Phillips-Cremins, PhD

BJC Investigator and James S. McDonnell Professor

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

Research summary
The Cremins lab integrates molecular and computational biology to elucidate how the genome’s structure-function relationship influences synaptic plasticity and neurophysiology during memory encoding and consolidation and how this goes awry in intractable neurological disorders.

Key words
chromatin, neuroepigenetics, 3D genome, synaptic plasticity, Alzheimer’s, repeat expansion disorders, chromatin-synapse communication, neural connectome, organoids

Marco Pignatelli, MD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Understanding the synaptic mechanisms by which emotional experiences lead to maladaptive plasticity and the impact of neurotherapeutic drugs on those maladaptive synaptic neuroadaptations

Key words
synaptic plasticity, Optogenetics, cell-type specific pharmacology, patch clamp electrophysiology, rapid-acting antidepressants, motivated behavior, drug addiction and affective disorders

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