Programs

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Structure and function of surfactant protein D (SP-D)

Key words
biochemistry, carbohydrate, gene expression, immunology, lipids

Program affiliation
Human and Statistical Genetics
Neurosciences
Biomedical Informatics and Data Science
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Computational and Systems Biology

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

Program affiliation
General

Research summary
Molecular basis of bioelectricity and related diseases in nervous and cardiovascular systems; ion channel function and modulation; discovery of drugs that target ion channels

Key words
allosteric regulation, calcium, drug mechanisms, epilepsy, ion channel, structure-function analysis

Program affiliation
Neurosciences

Research summary
Non-invasive optical measurements for both functional- and molecular- biological imaging

Key words

Program affiliation
Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Immunology
Developmental Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology

Research summary
To address the central mandate of gene therapy we engineer adenovirus tropism to allow the achievement of effective gene delivery

Key words
Adenovirus, virotherapy, virus, cancer, gene therapy, vaccine

Program affiliation
Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Neurosciences
Computational and Systems Biology

Research summary
The Albanus lab studies the molecular genomics of aging. Age is the strongest risk factor for neurodegeneration and many chronic diseases, yet some people reach extreme ages, or carry high-risk genetic variants, without developing them. We want to understand what separates these individuals from everyone else. Which genetic variants and molecular pathways mediate age-related disease risk, and which compensatory mechanisms protect against it? To answer these questions, we generate and analyze single-cell and spatial multi-omic data from human postmortem brain tissue, spanning cognitively healthy “super-agers”, young donors, and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, and from genetically diverse mouse models. Our research is highly collaborative, and PhD students are encouraged to pursue new directions (e.g. in collaboration with other groups, we also apply spatial multi-omics to precision oncology). Students can pursue primarily computational projects or combine computational analysis with experimental validation in iPSC-derived and mouse systems.

Key words
Genomics, Aging, Neurodegeneration, Cerebrovascular dysfunction, Genetic risk, Genetic resilience, Longevity

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

Research summary
My lab aims to establish the fundamental principles of intracellular physical chemistry and electrochemical functions of macromolecular complexes, and design synthetic proteins as therapeutics for condensate-dependent diseases.

Key words
molecular biology; physical chemistry; biochemistry; biophysics; synthetic biology; electrochemistry; phase transition; condensates

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

Research summary
My research aims to understand the lung vascular homeostasis and the pathogenesis of pulmonary diseases using novel animal models, integrated pharmacological approaches, genome editing and single cell RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics.

Key words
cardiovascular, lung, vascular, single cell, spatial transcriptomic

Program affiliation
Neurosciences
Cancer Biology
Immunology

Research summary
The primary research goal of our laboratory is to uncover novel ways to alter the pediatric brain tumor microenvironment to enhance the efficacy of existing treatments and make treatments safer for children.

Key words
brain tumors, cancer, neurology, immunology, imaging

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

Research summary
(1) Dynamics, ecology, and evolution of antibiotic resistance, (2) Engineering enhanced probiotics to treat GI disorders, (3) Engineering microbial biofuel catalysts

Key words
anibiotic resistance, synthetic biology, bioenergy, human microbiome, metagenomics, microbial ecology and biodiversity