Molecular Cell Biology

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

Research summary
Epigenetic regulation of phenotypes by propagation of prions in yeast

Key words
amyloid, chaperones, epigenetics, neurodegeneration, prion, yeast

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

Research summary
Systems-biology approach to study how cells build tissues with precise patterns and shapes in embryo development

Key words

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

Research summary
Regenerative and Gene Therapy for Wolfram Syndrome, a Prototype Endoplasmic Reticulum Disorder

Key words
Wolfram syndrome, Diabetes, Vision Loss, Hearing Loss, Neurodegeneration, Gene Therapy, Genetics, Endoplasmic Reticulum

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

Research summary
Our lab investigates how non-coding genetic variation controls developmental programs and contributes to human disease and evolutionary change. We focus on congenital structural anomalies, pregnancy complications, and bat wing development, combining mouse genetics, embryo genome engineering, and functional genomics approaches, including in vivo MPRAs, to functionally dissect regulatory elements.

Key words
Enhancers, non-coding regulatory variation, developmental genetics, evolution, GWAS, limb development, placental biology, craniofacial development, functional genomics, MPRA

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Immunology
Cancer Biology

Research summary
The bone microenvironment for cancer and infection

Key words
bone biology, osteoclast, cancer, metastasis, osteoporosis, microenvironment, osteoblast, osteomyelitis, infection

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

Research summary
Understanding DNA repair mechanisms that impact cancer etiology and responses to chemotherapies

Key words
DNA repair and replication; Genomic instability in cancers; Oncogenes; BRCA-mutation

Program affiliation
Cancer Biology
Molecular Cell Biology
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Research summary
DNA replication and repair, and the roles of these pathways on cancer initiation, progression and response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy

Key words
genome stability, DNA repair, DNA replication, chemotherapy response, cancer etiology

Program affiliation
Immunology
Neurosciences
Molecular Cell Biology

Research summary
The Walsh Lab is dedicated to defining the immunological landscape of the eye and how this process goes awry in uveitis. We utilize molecular and systems-level approaches to understand how local immune cells and systemic immunity collaborate to maintain ocular homeostasis or drive pathology, with a particular interest in the communication between the gut, eye, and brain.

Key words
Autoimmunity, CD4 T cell biology, Uveitis, CNS border immunology, Translational Research

Program affiliation
Molecular Cell Biology
Biochemistry Biophysics and Structural Biology
Cancer Biology
Neurosciences

Research summary
We study how the major microtubule organizing center of animal cells, the centrosome, is formed and regulated to enable cell division and signaling

Key words
Centrosomes, cilia, microtubules, cytoskeleton, organelles, subcellular organization, cell dynamics, mitosis, cell cycle, cell biology, biochemistry

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

Research summary
We use mouse genetics to study signaling networks that control eye development and homeostasis

Key words
lens, lacrimal gland, signaling, FGF, mTOR