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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Mikhail Tikhonov, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Theoretical physics of ecology and evolution; quantitative modeling; analysis of sequencing data

Key words
Theoretical biophysics; Evolution; Microbiome; High-diversity ecology

Christopher Topp, PhD

Assistant Member

Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Computational and Systems Biology
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Understanding the genetic basis of root growth and environmental plasticity using phenomics

Key words
imaging; plant; genetics; computation; phenotyping; roots; plant x environment

Adetunji Toriola, MD, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Human and Statistical Genetics
Immunology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Genomics of breast cancer etiology to identify targetable pathways

Key words
Genomics, biomarkers, metabolic imbalance, mammographic density, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prevention,

Sandeep Tripathy, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology

Research summary
Receptor-mediated modulation of NK cell responses in vivo

Key words
innate immunity, NK cells, receptors, signal transduction, tolerance

Heather True-Krob, PhD

David English Smith Professor

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

Research summary
Epigenetic regulation of phenotypes by propagation of prions in yeast

Key words
amyloid, chaperones, epigenetics, neurodegeneration, prion, yeast

Tony Tsai, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary
Systems-biology approach to study how cells build tissues with precise patterns and shapes in embryo development

Key words

Tychele Turner, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Discovery and characterization of genetic etiological factors involved in neurodevelopmental disorders

Key words
genomics, genetics, autism, neurodevelopmental disorders, complex disease, noncoding, enhancers, whole-genome sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, single-nucleotide variation, insertions/deletions, copy number variation, structural variation

Aayushi Uberoi, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Immunology
Cancer Biology

Research summary
We want to understand how microbes interact with humans so that we can identify new strategies to improve health. Our research integrates ‘skinomics’, metagenomics and host-microbial genetics to address how microbes influence skin physiology.

Key words
microbiome, skin, dermatology, skin diseases, infection, skin cancer, wound healing, environmental exposures

James Umen, PhD

Associate Member

Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Cell growth, size control and evolution of sex in Volvocine algae

Key words
evolution, cell biology, developmental biology, size control, cell division, sexual dimorphism

Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD

Samuel E. Schechter Professor

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

Research summary
Regenerative and Gene Therapy for Wolfram Syndrome, a Prototype Endoplasmic Reticulum Disorder

Key words
Wolfram syndrome, Diabetes, Vision Loss, Hearing Loss, Neurodegeneration, Gene Therapy, Genetics, Endoplasmic Reticulum

Aki Ushiki, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary

Key words

Michael Vahey, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Biophysical mechanisms of infectious disease

Key words

Steven Van Dyken, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Cytokine-mediated tissue feedback loops that maintain homeostasis, and environmental factors that instigate inflammation and fibrosis.

Key words

David Van Essen, PhD

Alumni Endowed Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Cerebral cortex in humans and nonhuman primates: structure, function, connectivity, development, and evolution

Key words
neurobiology, vision, cerebral cortex, brain mapping, connectomics

Brian Van Tine, MD, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Understanding the metabolism of sarcomas for therapeutic development

Key words
Cancer, Metabolism, Human in mouse Cancer Models, New Therapies, Tumor Models, Metobolomics, Mouse Genetics

Deborah Veis, MD, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Immunology
Cancer Biology

Research summary
The bone microenvironment for cancer and infection

Key words
bone biology, osteoclast, cancer, metastasis, osteoporosis, microenvironment, osteoblast, osteomyelitis, infection

Aaron Ver Heul, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Neurosciences

Research summary
We work to improve human health by understanding allergies and itch. We tackle problems in a variety of ways from leveraging clinical samples to mouse models to molecular and biochemical assays.

Key words
itch, neuroimmunology, immunology, neuroscience, allergy, inflammation, mast cell

Priyanka Verma, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Understanding DNA repair mechanisms that impact cancer etiology and responses to chemotherapies

Key words
DNA repair and replication; Genomic instability in cancers; Oncogenes; BRCA-mutation

Richard Vierstra, PhD

George and Charmaine Mallinckrodt Professor

Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Defining how ubiquitin and other post-translational modifiers contribute to cellular regulation and turnover and how the phytochrome photoreceptor system controls plant and microbial development.

Key words

Alessandro Vindigni, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
DNA replication and repair, and the roles of these pathways on cancer initiation, progression and response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy

Key words
genome stability, DNA repair, DNA replication, chemotherapy response, cancer etiology

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