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.
Eva-Maria Strauch, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: evas@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Key words
protein design, protein engineering, influenza, RSV, machine learning , vaccines, antivirals
Joshua Swamidass, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: swamidass@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Research summary
We computationally model drug metabolism to predict drug toxicity and to assist pathologists in assessing histology images.
Key words
deep learning, metabolism, pathology, image analysis, machine learning, bioinformatics, biostatistics, chemical informatics, drug and target discovery, drug design
Stephen Sykes, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: s.m.sykes@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
Identify and define those molecular features that drive leukemogenesis and then use that information to develop rational therapeutic strategies for improving outcomes in acute leukemia
Key words
leukemia, metabolism, therapy resistance, stem cells
Chad Sylvester, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: chad.sylvester@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Research summary
Characterizing functional brain network development in children with and without anxiety disorders, with the long-term goal of using this information to devise novel, mechanism-based treatments for pediatric anxiety disorders.
Key words
Laneshia Tague, MD, MSCI
Assistant Professor
- Email: ltague@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Research summary
Our research focuses on employing multi-omics strategies to elucidate mechanisms of immune tolerance, identify novel targets for immunosuppression and develop precision approaches to immunosuppression management in advanced lung disease and lung transplantation.
Key words
immunology, genetics, T cell, neutrophil, transplant, pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics, immunogenetics, immunogenomics, clonal hematopoiesis, senescence, immune aging
Rui Tang, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: ruit@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Immunology
Molecular Cell Biology
Neurosciences
Research summary
Cancer-Stroma interactions in metastasis
Key words
cancer metastasis; tumor microenvironment, cancer immunology, CRISPR screen, quantitative biology
Simon Tang, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: simon.tang@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Research summary
The biological regulation of skeletal matrix quality
Key words
Yinjie Tang, PhD
Professor
- Email: yinjie.tang@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Research summary
Metabolism analysis and metabolic engineering of environmental microorganisms for biofuel/chemical production
Key words
Metabolic flux analysis, bioenergy, metabolic engineering, algal bioprocess, bioremediation, kinetic modeling
Phillip Tarr, MD
Melvin E. Carnahan Professor
- Email: tarr@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Research summary
Pathogenic interactions between microbes and the gut
Key words
bacteriology, evolution, genome analysis, inflammation, microbial pathogenesis
Gaia Tavoni, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: gaia.tavoni@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Computational and Systems Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Research summary
Applying concepts and methods from statistical physics and mathematics to the study of the brain
Key words
theoretical and computational neuroscience, statistical physics
John-Stephen Taylor, PhD
Professor
- Email: taylor@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Research summary
Structure-activity relationships in UV mutagenesis; nucleic acid-based chemotherapeutic and imaging agents
Key words
cancer, drug delivery, imaging, mutagenesis, nanotechnology, telomere
Steven Teitelbaum, MD
Messing Professor
- Email: teitelbs@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Research summary
Molecular mechanisms of osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption
Key words
bone biology, integrin biology, signal transduction, tumor necrosis factor, RANK ligand
Juan Sebastian Tello, PhD
Assistant Scientist
- Email: jtello@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Research summary
Study of biodiversity, particularly on macroecology, metacommunity ecology, biogeography and spatial ecology
Key words
Biodiversity, community ecology, macroecology, metacommunities, metapopulations, spatial ecology,null models, computer simulation models
Thorold Theunissen, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: t.theunissen@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Immunology
Research summary
Naive pluripotency, trophoblast development, and stem-cell-based embryo models
Key words
Eric Thompson, MD
Professor
- Email: t.eric@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Neurosciences
Research summary
The mission of the Thompson Lab is to discover and target molecular drivers of leptomeningeal dissemination of malignant pediatric brain tumors and develop peptide vaccines targeting CMV antigens expressed in brain tumors.
Key words
pediatric brain tumor, medulloblastoma, vaccine, immunotherapy, leptomeningeal dissemination
Michael Thompson, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: thompsonmd@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Research summary
Understanding the impact of parental obesity on offspring liver disease and the mechanisms that mediate the development of chronic diseases in adulthood
Key words
Daniel Thorek, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: thorekd@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Research summary
We develop and evaluate theranostic agents, dual modality diagnostic and therapeutic agents for disease applications. We considers questions of drug development, disease characterization and biological responses with a focus on near term translational relevance.
Key words
cancer, therapy, radiology, radiation oncology, theranostics
Kurt Thoroughman, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: thoroughman@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
General
Research summary
Psychophysical and computational investigation of human motor control and learning
Key words
mathematical modeling, neurobiology, behavior