Faculty

Program affiliation
Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Research summary
Understanding patterns and mechanisms of long-term ecosystem dynamics under changing climatic conditions

Key words
ecosystem ecology, quaternary paleoecology, climatic change and biotic response, soil and sediment biogeochemistry

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Corneal epithelial wound healing, neovascularization and stromal dystrophies

Key words
amyloid, epithelial cells, protein folding, siRNA, stem cells, vision

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary
Our lab deciphers how fruit flies learn, memorize, and make decisions using state-of-the-art optical imaging techniques

Key words
Voltage imaging, computational modeling, learning system, memory processing, Drosophila melanogaster

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Molecular biology of Sindbis virus; antiviral drug design; monocyte differentiation

Key words
RNA, virology, genome analysis, evolution, antiviral targeting

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Neurosciences
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Glutamate receptors, synaptic transmission and stem cell differentiation

Key words
stem cells, differentiation, synapse biology, receptor, ion channel

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
I seek to improve global cardiovascular health across the spectrum of disease prevention through rigorous research, including the development, adaptation, and implementation of evidence-based interventions, practices, and policies into routine practice at scale.

Key words
global cardiovascular health, dissemination and implementation science, trials, health systems, policy

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary
Cilia functions in islet cell crosstalk, beta cells in diabetes, live-cell microscopy

Key words
islet, primary cilia, imaging

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

Research summary
Interdisciplinary approach combining genetics, genomics, biochemistry, structural biology, high-resolution imaging, animal models, clinical studies and combinatorial chemistry to determine key aspects of bacterial pathogenesis and apply our knowledge to development of new therapeutics.

Key words
antibiotic-sparing therapeutics, host-pathogen interactions, bacterial pathogenesis, drug and vaccine development, multi-drug resistant E. coli, MRSA, Enterococcus, Acinetobacter, Klebsiella, urinary tract infections (UTI)

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

Research summary
Define cell hierarchies in kidney injury and repair and thereby identify the critical cell types in kidney repair and fibrosis

Key words
Stem cells, regenerative medicine, scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, spatial transcriptomics, fibrosis, gene editing, iPS cells

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Sex differences, virulence factors, and novel therapeutics in E. coli urinary tract infections

Key words
bacterial pathogenesis, Escherichia coli, host-pathogen interactions, innate immunity, novel therapeutics, urinary tract infection, kidney, pyelonephritis, sex differences