Faculty

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

Research summary
Axonal degeneration, regulation of myelination, neuronal energetics and mitochondrial function in neuropathy and neurodegenerative disease

Key words
functional genomics, metabolism, mitochondria, diabetic neuropathy, neurodegeneration, transcriptional networks, Alzheimer’s disease, Schwann cell

Program affiliation
Immunology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis

Research summary
Lymphoid tissue dynamics and antigen-presentation during infection, cancer and autoimmunity

Key words
imaging, inflammation, pathogenesis, mathematical modeling, multi-photon microscopy

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Mechanisms of neurodegeneration and targeted therapies for neurodegenerative diseases

Key words
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), SOD1, TDP-43, C9ORF72, miRNA, Tau, Dementia, Neurodegeneration, Antisense oligonucleotides

Program affiliation
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
Differentiation to and maturation of pancreatic insulin-producing β cells from human pluripotent stem cells capable of rapidly reversing diabetes

Key words
stem cell biology, regeneration, developmental biology, microscopy, single-cell RNA-sequencing, differentiation, tissue engineering, diabetes, organoids, transplantation, therapy

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Dr. Minaya’s research lies at the intersection of stem cell modeling and genomics, elucidating molecular mechanisms of tauopathies, including frontotemporal dementia with tau pathology (FTD-tau) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). He engineers CRISPR-modified iPSCs from ancestrally diverse donors to model pathogenic MAPT mutations, integrating these with postmortem human brain transcriptomics and animal models.

Key words
Tauopathies; Stem Cell Modeling; Functional Genomics

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Human genetic kidney disease: Insights through mouse models

Key words
cell adhesion, extracellular matrix, integrin biology, kidney, actin cytoskeleton

Program affiliation
Computational and Systems Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
Technology development for functional genomics and systems biology

Key words
functional genomics, systems biology, technology development, bioinformatics

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

Research summary
Next-generation experimental, multi-omic and computational approaches to empower the study of infectious diseases and the human microbiome

Key words
Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Helminth Genomics, Human Metagenomics

Program affiliation
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology

Research summary
Developing new methods for peptide mimetic, natural product synthesis, and the construction of addressable molecular arrays

Key words
biosensors, electrochemistry, medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis, reactive intermediates

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

Research summary
Mechanisms of neural regeneration using zebrafish and mouse model systems

Key words