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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Patricia I. Dickson, MD

Centennial Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Neurosciences

Research summary
Developing therapies and studying the impact of lysosomal storage disorders in animal models and in trials

Key words

Sabine Dietmann, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Developing integrative multi-omics and machine learning techniques for single-cell data sets in developmental biology and medicine

Key words
Bioinformatics, Multi-omics, Genomics, Epigenetics, Machine learning

Li Ding, PhD

David English Smith Distinguished Professor

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

Research summary
Cancer Proteogenomics and Cancer Models

Key words

Siyuan Ding, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Immunology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Understanding how rotavirus (RV), an important enteric viral pathogen, interacts with the host innate immune system in the small intestine

Key words

Breno S. Diniz, MD, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Computational and Systems Biology
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Research summary
Our research program is dedicated to advance the understanding of healthy brain aging, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders using multi-omic approaches.

Key words
aging, major depression, proteomics, multi-omics, precision medicine, clinical trials, cellular senescence

Naomi Dirckx, PhD

Assistant Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary

Key words

Abhinav Diwan, MD, FACC, FAHA

Charlie W. Shaeffer, MD, Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Transcriptional regulation of lysosome machinery under stress

Key words
Lysosomes, Ischemia-reperfusion, cell death, autophagy, transcriptional regulation, metabolism

Ram Dixit, PhD

George and Charmaine Mallinckrodt Professor and Biology Department Chair

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

Research summary
Molecular mechanisms of cytoskeleton organization and function

Key words
cytoskeleton, molecular motors, cell morphogenesis, cell wall biogenesis, plant biology

Ian G. Dobbins, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Interaction of Episodic Memory and Decision-Making Using fMRI and behavioral methods

Key words

Tamara L. Doering, MD, PhD

Alumni Endowed Professor

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

Research summary
Biology and pathogenesis of the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans

Key words
biochemistry, biosynthetic pathways, cell biology, eukaryotic pathogen, gene regulation, genomic variants, glycobiology, host-pathogen interactions, microbial pathogenesis, pathogenic fungi, sterol transport, yeast

Anita Donlic, PhD

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Cells are not just bags of molecules – they organize their biochemistry in space, often using dynamic compartments called biomolecular condensates. Our lab is asking fundamental questions about the role of condensates in biology, such as: how do condensate environments influence RNA recognition and metabolism? How do they alter the activity of therapeutics? And how do they contribute to oncogenic cell states? We do this using interdisciplinary approaches spanning chemical biology, quantitative cell microscopy, in vitro biophysics, and machine learning. We hope to ultimately uncover how subcellular organization shapes cellular function and how these principles can be harnessed therapeutically.

Key words
condensates, RNA, chemical biology, therapeutics, microscopy, cancer

Nico U.F. Dosenbach, MD, PhD

David M. and Tracy S. Holtzman Professor

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Functional network plasticity in development and brain injury

Key words
functional networks, plasticity, brain injury, development, perinatal stroke, MRI, resting state

Joseph D. Dougherty, PhD

Professor

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

Research summary
Human Psychiatric Genetics, Mouse Models, Cell Type Specific Gene Expression Profiling, Translation, Astrocytes.

Key words
autism, gene expression profiling, genetics, genomics, mouse models, neurobiology, astrocytes, translation regulation

Lizzy Draganova

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Our lab investigates how human herpesviruses replicate and assemble into new particles using interdisciplinary tools in virology, chemistry, and biophysics.

Key words
herpesvirus, assembly, capsid, biophysics, virology, biochemistry

Bettina F. Drake, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor

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

Research summary
Identifying preventive strategies to reduce cancer disparities

Key words

James DuBois, DSc, PhD

Steven J Bander Professor of Medical Ethics and Professionalism

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
We conduct social science research on ethical and social issues in medicine and biomedical research.

Key words
research ethics, bioethics, research integrity, qualitative research, surveys

Jennifer Gries Duncan, MD

Professor

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
My research focus is on the impact of obesity and diabetes on mitochondrial biogenesis and function.

Key words
obesity, diabetes, mitochondrial metabolism, nutrition

Susan K. Dutcher, PhD

Professor

Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Molecular Cell Biology
Human and Statistical Genetics
Plant and Microbial Biosciences

Research summary
The lab investigates the assembly and function of basal bodies/centrioles and cilia using genetics, biochemistry, microscopy, and computational biology in Chlamydomonas as well as human tissue culture cells. The key questions that we address are: 1.) how are these microtubule-based structures assembled, and 2.) how do they function and influence cellular biology, development, and human health. Our interest in basal bodies/cilia led us to use bioinformatics and comparative genomics.

Key words
centrioles, cilia, signal transduction, cytoskeleton, lung disease

Gammon M. Earhart, PhD, PT

Professor and Associate Dean for Physical Therapy

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Movement and Neurodegenerative Disease

Key words
gait, balance, Parkinson disease, motor control, movement, neurodegeneration, neuroimaging, neurorehabilitation

Brian T. Edelson, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Immune cell development and function

Key words
dendritic cells, macrophages, hematopoiesis, infection, inflammation, innate immunity, autoimmunity, multiple sclerosis

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