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.
Roberto Civitelli, MD
Professor
- Email: civitellir@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Cancer Biology
Research summary
Connexins, cadherins in bone cell interactions with cancer and energy metabolism
Key words
bone biology, cell adhesion, signal transduction, gap junctions, cadherin
Regina Clemens, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: clemensra@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Cell Biology
Research summary
The mechanisms regulating calcium-dependent neutrophil activation
Key words
Barak Cohen, PhD
Alvin Goldfarb Distinguished Professor of Computational Biology
- Email: cohen@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Computational and Systems Biology
Research summary
Genomic analyses of regulatory networks, Non-coding disease variants
Key words
Genomics, Genetic Variation, High-Throughput Technologies, Single-Cell Regulatory Genomics, Computational Biology
Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH
Niess-Gain Professor
- Email: colditzg@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Cancer Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Causes and prevention of breast cancer, premalignant lesions, risk stratification
Key words
breast cancer, cancer, genetic epidemiology, hormones, obesity, obesity and malnutrition
Marco Colonna, MD
Robert Rock Belliveau MD Professor
- Email: mcolonna@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Neurosciences
Research summary
Innate immune responses in infections, autoimmunity and tumors
Key words
immunology, inflammation, dendritic cells, lymphocytes, receptors, virus, gut, mucosa
Mark Conradi, PhD
Professor Emeritus
- Email: msc@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
General
Research summary
Use hyperpolarized helium-3 and xenon-129 diffusion MRI to characterize lung microstructure
Key words
helium-3, NMR, MRI, hyperpolarized, gas MRI, lungs, emphysema, COPD
John Cooper, MD, PhD
Professor
Program affiliation
General
Research summary
Molecular mechanisms of cell motility and cytoskeleton assembly
Key words
cell motility, cytoskeleton, actin, intermediate filament, microtubules, septin, cell migration
Jonathan Cooper, PhD
Professor
- Email: cooperjd@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Research summary
Disease mechanisms and treatments for inherited childhood neurodegeneration
Key words
Batten Disease, Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, NCL, Lysosomal Storage Disease, pathogenesis, pre-clinical therapies, enzyme replacement, gene therapy
Megan Cooper, MD, PhD
Anthony R. French, MD, PhD, Professor
- Email: cooper_m@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Human and Statistical Genetics
Research summary
The Cooper laboratory is focused on investigating the molecular and immunologic basis of inborn errors of immunity. We are particularly interested in understanding novel genetic causes of these diseases in children with immune dysregulation syndromes.
Key words
inborn errors of immunity, genetics, primary immunodeficiency STAT3, TLR8, Pediatrics
Bryan Copits, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: bcopits@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
We study how different types of neurons encoding somatosensory modalities are assembled into functional circuits in both humans and model organisms.
Key words
pain, optogenetics, imaging, electrophysiology
Joseph Corbo, MD, PhD
Professor
- Email: jcorbo@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Neurosciences
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Research summary
(1) transcriptional networks in the retina; (2) the mechanistic basis of color vision; (3) the cis-regulatory basis of human uniqueness and neuropsychiatric disease
Key words
neurobiology, genomics, transcriptional networks, systems biology, photoreceptors, brain, neuropsychiatric disease, disease, cis-regulation
Richard Cote, MD
Professor and Head of the Department of Pathology and Immunology
- Email: rcote@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Immunology
Cancer Biology
Research summary
Pathways of tumor progression and response to therapy, particularly in bladder and prostate cancer, cancer metastasis research through analysis of lymph node and bone marrow occult metastases
Key words
Douglas Covey, PhD
Professor
- Email: dcovey@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Neurosciences
Research summary
Medicinal chemistry of steroids
Key words
cholesterol, ion channel, medicinal chemistry, neurobiology, pharmacology, steroids
Kevin Cox Jr, PhD
Assistant Professor
- Email: coxkevin@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Research summary
Our research centers around studying spatial biology, or the spatial organization of genes, in plant systems. We investigate this through two research areas; plant-microbe interactions and duckweed biology.
Key words
plant biology; transcriptomics; spatial biology; imaging; molecular biology
Meaghan Creed, PhD
Associate Professor
- Email: meaghan.creed@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Research summary
Leveraging synaptic physiology to treat addiction and affective symptoms of pain
Key words
electrophysiology, deep brain stimulation, dopamine, basal ganglia, reward and aversion, addiction, genetics, pharmacology, optogenetics, pain
Sharon Cresci, MD
Associate Professor
- Email: scresci@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
Genetic variation in the variable response to pharmacologic treatment (i.e. Pharmacogenomics) of cardiovascular disease; specifically individuals with both diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.
Key words
cardiovascular disease, diabetes melitus, genotype, genetic variation
Erika Crouch, PhD, MD
Professor
- Email: crouch@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
General
Research summary
Structure and function of surfactant protein D (SP-D)
Key words
biochemistry, carbohydrate, gene expression, immunology, lipids
Carlos Cruchaga, PhD
Barbara Burton & Reuben Morriss III Professor
- Email: cruchagac@wustl.edu
Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics
Neurosciences
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Research summary
The goal of my lab is to understand the biology of neurodegeneration by using high-dimensional omic data and functional genomic approaches.
Key words
Neurodegeneration, Alzheimer, genetics, genomics, proteomics, system biology, molecular phenotyping, functional genomics