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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Siobhan Sutcliffe, PhD, ScM, MHS

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Infectious causes of cancer and chronic diseases

Key words

Joshua Swamidass, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

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

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

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

Aydan Szeto, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
We investigate how the immune system maintains balance during healthy homeostasis, and when this balance is thrown off, how the dysregulated activities of the same immune cells cause immune diseases such as asthma, allergy and autoimmunity. We focus on type 2 lymphocytes, namely ILC2s and Th2 cells, and apply high-throughput CRISPR screens to identify novel regulators of type 2 immune responses. We are a multidisciplinary laboratory combining molecular, in vitro and in vivo approaches to understand the underlying mechanisms of immune cell function in homeostasis and allergic diseases. By advancing our basic understanding of how immune cells develop and function, we aim to develop novel approaches to restoring immune balance and promoting tissue and organismal health.

Key words
type 2 immunity, innate lymphoid cells, ILC2, Th2, allergy, asthma, CRISPR screen, computational, transcriptomic, epigenetic, tissue immunity, mucosal immunity, neuroimmune

Paul Taghert, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary
Circadian physiology and behavior

Key words
circadian rhythm, neuropeptide, GPCR, 2nd messengers, Drosophila

Laneshia Tague, MD, MSCI

Assistant Professor

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

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

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
The biological regulation of skeletal matrix quality

Key words

Yinjie Tang, PhD

Professor

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

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

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

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

Samuel Taylor, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Small‑molecule strategies to reprogram leukemia cells and improve therapy response

Key words
Leukemia, Transcription factors, PU.1, Pharmacology, chemoprotection, hematopoiesis

Samuel Taylor, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Developmental, Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics & Genomics

Research summary

Key words

Juan Sebastian Tello, PhD

Assistant Scientist

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

Associate Professor

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

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

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

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

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