Faculty Research - Molecular Biology and Biological Chemistry
With more than 200 participating faculty, students have a variety of lab rotation choices in their first year of graduate study. Lab rotations are essential for identifying the appropriate thesis mentor and lab. In addition, lab rotations expose students to a wide variety of research emphasis areas and experimental techniques, and enable students to develop a network of research contacts.
FILTERS AND SORT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE BELOW TO HELP FIND INDIVIDUAL FACULTY AND RESEARCH LABS OF INTEREST.
Number of faculty: 202
| Name | Program | Department | Research | Research Emphases Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andersen, Josh | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Cell Signaling, Molecular Mechanisms, Kinase Regulation, Autophagy, Cell Survival, Cell Growth | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Immunobiology |
| Babst, Markus | MB, BC | School of Biological Sciences | Protein Trafficking | Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Balagurunathan, Kuby | BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Glycobiology, Glycomedicine, and Carbohydrate Biosynthesis, Chemical Biology of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Bandarian, Vahe | BC | Chemistry | biosynthesis, enzymes, modified transfer RNA base, queuosine, ubiquitous RNA modification | Chemical Biology |
| Barrios, Amy | BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Protein Phosphorylation, Chemical Probe Development, Metals in Medicine | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Barrows, Lou | BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Natural products drug discovery, anti-cancer and anti-infective agents | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Basham, Kaitlin | MB | Oncological Sciences | Cellular Senescence, Wnt Signaling, Adrenal Cancer, Mouse Models of Cancer, Developmental Biology | Cancer Biology |
| Bass, Brenda | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Double-Stranded RNA (dsRNA), RNA Editing, RNA Interference, DICER | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Beaudin, Anna | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Fetal Hematopoiesis, Blood Production, Immune Development, Developmental Origin of Disease | Immunobiology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Bernstein, Paul | MB, BC | Pharmacology & Toxicology | ||
| Bettini, Maria | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | T cell autoimmunity and metabolism | Immunobiology; Metabolism |
| Bettini, Matthew | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Autoimmunity, Central Tolerance, Thymic Development, Tolerance to Microbiota, Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) | Immunobiology; Metabolism |
| Bidone, Tamara | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Biophysics, Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Coarse-graining,Agent-based Modeling, Protein Structure-function Relationship | |
| Blair, David | MB, BC | School of Biological Sciences | Bacterial Motility | Chemical Biology |
| Bonkowsky, Josh | MB | Neurobiology | Function of Human Disease Genes in CNS Development | |
| Bortolato, Marco | BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Neurobiology, Drug Development for Impulse-Control and Neurodevelopmental Problems | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Bosch, Justin | MB | Human Genetics | Cell Signaling, Genetics, Development, Inter-organ Communication, Drosophila, CRISPR, Plasma Proteomics | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Genome Engineering; Metabolism; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Boudina, Sihem | MB | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | Obesity, Oxidative Stress, Insulin Resistance, Autophagy, Adipose Progenitors | Metabolism; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Brasch, Julia | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Synaptic organization, cell-cell adhesion, structural biology, electron cryo-tomography, cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography, Biophysics | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cell Biology |
| Brennan, KC | MB | Neurobiology | Optical and electrophysiological investigation of the basic mechanisms of migraine | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Brown, Jessica | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Pathogenesis, Fungal Genetics, Host-Pathogen Interaction | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Buck, Bethany | MB, BC | Chemistry | Structural Biology, Biophysics, and Cancer Epigenetics | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology |
| Buckley, Shannon | MB | Oncological Sciences | Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Ubiquitination, Proteomics | |
| Bulaj, Greg | BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Molecular-Behavioral Combination Therapies; Epilepsy; Cancer; Digital Health; Mobile Medical Apps | Chemical Biology |
| Cairns, Brad | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Chromatin Transcription, Genomics, Gene Expression | Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Camp, Nicola | MB | Human Genetics | Statistical Genetics & Genetic Epidemiology | |
| Cao, Erhu | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Ion channels, receptors, structural biology, cryo-EM, and renal disease | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology |
| Capecchi, Mario | MB | Human Genetics | Mammalian Development, Human Pathology from Cancer to Neuropschiatric Disorders | |
| Carey, Allison | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Mycobacteria, Tuberculosis, Microbial Genomics, Antibiotic Resistance, Virulence | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Caron, Sophie | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Drosophila Melanogaster, Mushroom Body, Multisensory Integration, Sensory Systems, Connectomics, Learning and Memory | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Cazalla, Demian | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Functions and Mechanisms of Non-Coding RNAs | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Chaix, Amandine | MB | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | Physiology, Metabolism, Nutrition, Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF), Circadian clock, Aging | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism |
| Chaudhuri, Dipayan | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Mitochondria, heart failure, ion channels, calcium channels, mitochondrial diseases, voltage-clamp electrophysiology, metabolism, calcium imaging, mitochondrial calcium uniporter | Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Cheatham, Thomas | BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Biomolecular Simulation, Computational Chemistry | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Chen, Mingnan | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Peptides, Host Immune Systems Peptide Materials | Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism |
| Chow, Clement | MB | Human Genetics | Genetic variation, ER stress, Disease modifiers | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Metabolism; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Dale, Colin | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Microbiology and molecular evolution, insects and endosymbionts | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Davis, Darrell | MB, BC | Medicinal Chemistry | RNA Structure/Function | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| DePaula-Silva, Ana Beatriz (Bia) | MB, BC | Pharmacology & Toxicology | Neurovirology, Neurobiology, Neuroinflammation, CNS Viral Infection, Mouse Models, Seizures, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Immune Response | Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Diehl, Katharine | MB, BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Chromatin and Histone Modifications, Epigenetics and Metabolism, Protein Chemistry, Metabolite Sensors | Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism |
| Dorsky, Rich | MB | Neurobiology | Developmental Neurobiology | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Douglass, Adam | MB | Neurobiology | Neuronal Function, optical methods | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Drakos, Stavros | MB | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | Heart Failure, Metabolism, Translational Research, Cardiomyocytes, Molecular Mechanisms | |
| Drummond, Micah | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Aging, Muscle, Inflammation, Exercise, Nutrition, Metabolism, Translational Research | Metabolism |
| Ducker, Greg | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Cancer Metabolism, Mass Spectrometry, Antimetabolites, Chemical Biology, Mitochondria, Tetrahydrofolates | Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Edgar, Bruce | MB | Oncological Sciences | Cell Growth, Cell Cycle, Regeneration, Drosophila, Stem Cells, Organoids | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Eilbeck, Karen | MB | Human Genetics | Bioinformatics Research | |
| Elde, Nels | MB | Human Genetics | Evolutionary Cell Biology, Virology, Microbiology, Genetics, Genome Science, Experimental Evolution | Cell Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Elf, Shannon | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Calcium Signaling, ER Stress, Cellular Metabolism | Cancer Biology; Metabolism |
| English, Justin | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Directed evolution, protein engineering, molecular tool development, synthetic biology, pharmacogenomics, G-protein coupled receptors, cell signaling, neuroscience | Cell Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Genome Engineering |
| Evason, Kimberley | MB | Oncological Sciences | Liver, Cancer, Zebrafish, WNT/B-catenin | Cancer Biology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Evavold, Brian | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | T cell antigen recognition | Immunobiology; Metabolism |
| Fairfax, Keke | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | B cells, macrophages, schistosomiasis, maternal infection, pathogenesis | Metabolism |
| Franklin, Sarah | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Chromatin, Chromatin Remodeling Epigenetics, Proteomics | Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Franzini, Raphael | BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Drug Development, Chemical Probes, Imaging Agents | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism |
| Funai, Katsu | MB, BC | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | Lipids, Mitochondria, Bioenergetics, Metabolic Disease | Cell Biology; Metabolism |
| Gagnon, James | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Developmental Biology, Genetics, Genomics | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Genome Engineering; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Garzon, Ramiro | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | ||
| Gertz, Jay | MB | Oncological Sciences | Transcription Factors, Gene Regulation, Cancer, Genomics, CRISPR | Cancer Biology |
| Ghandehari, Hamid | MB, BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Goel, Shreya | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Molecular Imaging, Nanomedicine, Bioengineering, Biophysical Microenvironment | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Golkowski, Martin | MB, BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Mass Spectrometry, Proteomics, Chemical Biology, Epigenomics, Protein Kinases, Cell Signaling, Drug Discovery, Protein-protein Interactions | |
| Grainger, David | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Biomaterials and Drug Delivery, Materials in Medicine, Nanomaterials Toxicity, Diagnostics, Cell Therapy | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism |
| Graves, Barbara | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Transcriptional Regulation, Transcription Mechanisms, Protein Biochemistry, autoinhibition and specificity of ETS transcription factors | Chemical Biology |
| Gregg, Chris | MB | Neurobiology | Neuroscience, genomics, genetics, autism, addiction, behavior, epigenetics | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Grossmann, Allie | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | RAS family of small GTPases, vesicular trafficking, oncogenic signaling, tumorigenesis, tumor progression, metastasis | Cancer Biology; Immunobiology |
| Grunwald, David | MB | Human Genetics | Stem cells, tissue specification, and disease modeling in the zebrafish | Genome Engineering; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Guo, Hongchao | MB, BC | Human Genetics | Stem Cell Differentiation, Cardiovascular Disease, Genetics, Epigenetics, Heart Development & Regeneration | Cell Biology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Haecker, Hans | MB, BC | Microbiology and Immunology | Innate Immunity and Inflammation | Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Hale, Scott | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | T cell Biology, Immunological Memory, Anti-viral Immunity, Helper T cells, Memory T cells, Epigenetics, DNA Methylation | Immunobiology |
| Hammer, Gianna | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | ||
| Hammond, Ming | BC | Chemistry | Biosensors, RNA, Fluorescence Imaging, Bacterial and Immune Cell Signaling | Chemical Biology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Harasymowicz, Natalia | MB | Nutrition & Integrative Physiology | ||
| Herron, James | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Structural Immunology, Vaccines, Biosensors | |
| Heys, Jim | MB | Neurobiology | Learning and Memory, Synaptic Plasticity, Optical Methods | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Hicks, Kevin | MB | Nutrition & Integrative Physiology | ||
| Hilgendorf, Keren | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer, Signaling, Stem Cells, Primary Cilium, Adipose Tissue | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Metabolism; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Hill, Chris | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Protein Structure & Function | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Hollien, Julie | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress | Cell Biology |
| Holmen, Sheri | MB | Oncological Sciences | Tumor Initiation and Progression | Cancer Biology |
| Hong, TingTing | MB, BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Cardiomyocyte, Transverse tubules, Microdomain, Heart Failure, Calcium signaling, Ion Channels, Extracellular Vesicles | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism |
| Horvath, Martin | MB, BC | School of Biological Sciences | Structural Biology, Biochemistry, DNA repair, Eye Health | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Genome Engineering |
| Howard, Mike | MB | Human Genetics | Decoding the Genome | |
| Huang, Eric | MB | Oncological Sciences | Brain tumor; cancer metabolism; epigenetic and genetic alterations; hypoxia; tumor progression | Cancer Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Metabolism |
| Hughes, Adam | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Organelle communication and disease, cell biology, organelle quality control, and nutrient sensing | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Hughes, Kelly | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Biological Process in Bacteria | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Genome Engineering; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Iwasa, Janet | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Molecular Animation, Multimedia, Visualization, Education, Cell Biology, Biochemistry | Cell Biology; Chemical Biology |
| Johnson, Jarrod | MB, BC | Microbiology and Immunology | Virology, Innate Immunity, Gene Delivery, Restriction Factors | Immunobiology |
| Jones, Kevin | MB | Oncological Sciences | Mouse Genetic Model, Epigenetics, Pediatric Cancer, Soft-tissue Sarcoma, Translocation | Cancer Biology |
| Jorgensen, Erik | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Genetics of Neurotransmission, Synapse formation and modulation | Genome Engineering; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Judson-Torres, Robert | MB | Oncological Sciences | Melanocytes, Melanoma, Plasticity, Chemoprevention, Holography, Tumor Initiating Cells, microRNA, Transcriptomics | Cancer Biology |
| Jurynec, Mick | MB | Human Genetics | Osteoarthritis, Genetics, Animal Models, Genomics, Drug Discovery | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Genome Engineering; Immunobiology |
| Karasov, Talia | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Host-pathogen evolution, microbial genetics, plant immunity, population genetics | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Kardon, Gabrielle | MB | Human Genetics | Musculoskeletal Development, Regeneration | Cell Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Kay, Michael | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Protein Design, Viral Entry, Synthetic Biology, and Chemical Protein Synthesis | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Kinsey, Conan | MB | Oncological Sciences | ||
| Koh, Mei | MB, BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Solid Tumor Hypoxia, Kidney Cancer, Liver Cancer, HIF-1 and HIF-2 | Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Kopecek, Henry | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Biorecognition & Drug Delivery | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Kramer, Jessica | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Polymer Chemistry, Protein Engineering, Bioconjugation Techniques | Chemical Biology |
| Kwan, Kristen | MB | Human Genetics | Zebrafish, Eye Development and Morphogenesis | Cell Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Lamb, Tracey | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Malaria Immunopathogenesis | |
| Leffler, Ellen | MB | Human Genetics | Genomics, evolution, population genetics, non-human primates, malaria | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Leibold, Betty | MB | Oncological Sciences | Iron Metabolism, Diabetes, Mitosis | Metabolism |
| Lesniewski, Lisa | MB | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | Aging, Obesity, Adipose, Artery, Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, Metabolism | Metabolism |
| Letsou, Anthea | MB | Human Genetics | Embryonic Development, Neurometabolic Disease, Neurodegenerative Disease, Drosophila | |
| Leung, Daniel | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Microbiome, MAIT Cells, Cholera, Oral Vaccines, Diarrheal Diseases, Data Science | Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Lim, Carol | MB, BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Cancer Therapeutics, Gene Therapy, Peptide Therapy, Ovarian Cancer, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Link, Nichole | MB | Neurobiology | Drosophila Models of Human Disease, Microcephaly, Mechanisms of Virus-Induced Disease, Neuronal Stem Cells, Neurodevelopment, Neurodegeneration | Cell Biology; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Liu, Yang | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Nucleic Acids, Gene Editing, Biotechnologies, Single-molecule Biophysics, Cell Dynamics, Immunity | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Genome Engineering |
| Lo, Wan-Lin | MB, BC | Microbiology and Immunology | T cells; T cell ligand discrimination; T cell development; Self tolerance | Immunobiology |
| Looper, Ryan | BC | Chemistry | Small Molecule Interactions in Biological Systems | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Lu, Yue | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Systems Biology, Extracellular Vesicles, Omics, Nanoengineering, Microfluidics | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Maricq, Villu | MB | Neurobiology | Mechanisms and Development of Synaptic Function, Gluamate receptors and neural circuits | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Marth, Gabor | MB | Human Genetics | DNA Sequence Analysis Software | |
| McMahon, Martin | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Translational Cancer Research, Mouse Models, Melanoma, Lung Cancer, Thyroid cancer, RAF Kinase, PI3 Kinase, Experimental Therapeutics | Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Mendoza, Michelle | MB | Oncological Sciences | Cell Migration, Invasion, RAS, ERK, Lung Cancer, Signaling, Tumor Mechanics | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology |
| Miller, Matthew | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Chromosome Segregation, Cell Division, Microtubules, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics | Cell Biology; Chemical Biology |
| Mills, Fergil | MB | Neurobiology | ||
| Minteer, Shelley | BC | Chemistry | Bioelectrocatalysis, metabolic pathways | Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Mulvey, Matthew | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Bacterial Pathogenesis, Innate Immunity, Antibiotics, Antibiotic Resistance, Urinary Tract Infection, Sepsis, Virulence Factors, Genetics, Cell Biology, Zebrafish, Infection | Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Murtaugh, Charles | MB | Human Genetics | Pancreas Development, Pancreatic Cancer, Regeneration | Cancer Biology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Myers, Ben | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Signaling across the Membrane in Development and Cancer: Hedgehog, Wnt, Primary Cilium, Membrane Proteins / Lipids, G protein-coupled receptors | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Nagy, Gabe | BC | Chemistry | Bioanalytical Separations, Mass Spectrometry, Carbohydrates | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology |
| O'Connell, Ryan | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Noncoding RNAs, Inflammation, Cancer, Extracellular Vesicles, Microbiota and Metabolism | Cancer Biology; Immunobiology; Metabolism; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Odelberg, Shannon | MB | Neurobiology | Cellular Plasticity and Regeneration | Cancer Biology; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Olivera, Toto | MB, BC | School of Biological Sciences | Conotoxins, Molecular Neuroscience | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Osterhout, Jessica | MB | Neurobiology | Sickness Symptoms, Immune-brain Communication, Neural Circuits Controlling Sickness Behavior | |
| Owen, Shawn | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Biotherapeutics, Biomaterials for cell-based therapy | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Park, Sungjin | MB | Neurobiology | Cell Signaling, Neuron-Glial Interaction, GPI-anchored Proteins, extracellular matrix organization | Cell Biology; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Pavlova, Natasha | MB | Oncological Sciences | Cancer Metabolism, Tumor Microenvironment, Nutrient Sensing, Amino Acids, tRNA Charging, Regulation of Protein Expression, Cell Fate Determination | Cell Biology |
| Peterson, Randy | MB, BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Zebrafish, phenotypic screening, behavior, neuropharmacology, disease models, genome editing, therapeutics | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Genome Engineering; Metabolism; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Pezzolesi, Marcus | MB | Human Genetics | Diabetes, Diabetic Nephropathy, Chronic Kidney Disease, Genetics, Next-generation Sequencing, microRNAs | Metabolism |
| Phadnis, Nitin | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Speciation, genetic conflict segregation distortion, chromosome mechanics | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Pornillos, Owen | MB, BC | Biochemistry | HIV Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Virus-host Interactions, Innate Anti-viral Defenses | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Potts, Wayne | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Immunogenetics, Host-parasite Coevolution | Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Puri, Aaron | BC | Chemistry | Chemical ecology, drug discovery, microbiome, natural products, microbiology, biosynthesis, secondary metabolites | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Quinlan, Aaron | MB | Human Genetics | Genomics, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Human Genetics, Cancer Genomics, Rare Disease Genetics, Ovarian Cancer | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Reeves, Melissa | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Tumor Immunology, Tumor Heterogeneity, T cells, Tumor Evolution | |
| Reilly, Chris | BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Pulmonary Toxicology, Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, Drug Discovery | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Roberts, Andrew | BC | Chemistry | Chemical protein synthesis, peptides, organocatalysis, catalysis, natural products | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Rodan, Aylin | MB | Human Genetics | Ion Transport, Kinase, Drosophila, Kidney, Osmoregulation, Blood Pressure, Salt Sensitivity, Potassium, Sodium, Metabolism | Metabolism |
| Rog, Ofer | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Chromosome Biology, Meiosis, Synaptonemal Complex, C. elegans, Yeast, Microscopy | Cell Biology; Genome Engineering |
| Roh-Johnson, Minna | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Cell Migration, Tumor Microenvironment, Cytoskeleton, Zebrafish, Mouse, Dictyostelium, Immunology, Breast Cancer, Melanoma | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Rondina, Matthew | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Inflammation, RNA expression, proteins, megakaryocytes and platelet regulation | Metabolism; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Rose, Gary | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Neural Mechanisms of Behavior | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Round, June | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Host-Commensal Bacterial Interactions | Immunobiology; Metabolism; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Roy, Koushik | MB, BC | Microbiology and Immunology | Transcriptional Regulation, Cell Signaling, Adaptive Immunity, B Cell Biology, Immunological Memory, B Cell Cancer, Vaccine development, Systems Biology | |
| Rutter, Jared | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Cancer Metabolism, Diabetes & Obesity, Metabolic Signaling | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Safavi-Hemami, Helena | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Natural Products, Drug Discovery, Venom, Peptides, Evolution, Computational Peptide Discovery, Neuropeptides, Hormones, Signaling Systems, GPCRs, Membrane Proteins, Ion Channels, Metabolism, Insulin, Diabetes, Pain | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Saffarian, Saveez | BC | School of Biological Sciences | Enveloped Virus Budding | Chemical Biology |
| Saijoh, Yukio | MB | Neurobiology | Left-Right Asymmetry, heart development | |
| Schiffman, Joshua | MB | Oncological Sciences | Copy Number, Genomics, Hereditary Cancer, Comparative Oncology | Cancer Biology |
| Schmidt, Eric | MB, BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Symbiosis, microbiome, metagenomics, synthetic biology, natural products chemistry, biosynthesis | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Shapiro, Mike | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Evolutionary Genetics, Genomics, and Developmental Biology | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Shcheglovitov, Alex | MB | Neurobiology | Development of human cerebral cortex, synapses, and neuronal networks in health and disease | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Shen, Peter | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Protein Homeostasis, Protein Structure, cryo-EM, Image Processing, Protein Quality Control, Proteopathy, Protein Complexes | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology |
| Shepherd, Jason | MB, BC | Neurobiology | Synaptic plasticity, memory and neurological disorders, Memory Formation | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Shiu, Yan-Ting | MB | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | ||
| Sieburth, Leslie | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Plant Developmental Genetics | |
| Sigala, Paul | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Malaria Parasite Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Heme and Iron Metabolism, Organelle Metabolism, Regulation, and Adaptation | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Metabolism; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Snyder, Eric | MB | Oncological Sciences | Lineage Plasticity in Cancer | Cancer Biology |
| Spike, Ben | MB | Oncological Sciences | Stem Cells, Tissue Development, Cellular Plasticity, Cellular Heterogeneity, Transcriptomics | Cancer Biology; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Stanfield, Gillian | MB | Human Genetics | Cell Division, Cell Migration, Cell Competition | |
| Starr, Tyler | MB, BC | Biochemistry | Protein evolution in viruses and immunity, SARS-CoV-2; HIV, Zoonosis, Molecular Evolution | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Stewart, Rodney | MB | Oncological Sciences | Zebrafish Cancer Models, Childhood Cancers, Brain Tumors, Embryology, Live-Imaging, Genetics, Genomics and Epigenetics | Cancer Biology; Cell Biology |
| Summers, Scott | MB, BC | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | Diabetes, Dyslipidemia, Metabolic Disease, Sphingolipids, Ceramide, Insulin Resistance and Beta Cell Failure | Chemical Biology; Metabolism |
| Sundquist, Wes | MB, BC | Biochemistry | HIV Assembly, Replication and Restriction; Cell Division | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Swaminathan, Sankar | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Virology, Immunology, epigenetics | Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Swanson, Jessica | BC | Chemistry | Multiscale simulations of biomolecular systems. Membrane permeation, lipid droplets, ATP hydrolysis, AAA+ ATPases, charge transport, channels and antiporters | Chemical Biology |
| Tan, Aik Choon | MB | Oncological Sciences | Translational Bioinformatics, Cancer Systems Biology, Cancer Data Science, Computational Immuno-Oncology, Precision Oncology | |
| Tantin, Dean | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Gene Regulation in T cells, in T cell memory and autoimmunity, in Stem Cells and in Cancer | Cancer Biology; Immunobiology; Metabolism; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Tavtigian, Sean | MB | Oncological Sciences | Genetic Cancer Susceptibility | Cancer Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Tian, Ning | MB | Neurobiology | Synaptic development, circuit assembly, synaptic plasticity, molecular control, retina | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Ullman, Katie | MB | Oncological Sciences | Cell Division, Nuclear Transport, Nuclear assembly, DNA damage, Cytokinesis | Cancer Biology |
| VanBrocklin, Matthew | MB | Oncological Sciences | Melanoma, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung, Molecular Targets | Cancer Biology |
| Varley, K-T | MB | Oncological Sciences | Genomics, Breast Cancer, Epigenetics, Gene Regulation, DNA methylation, Biomarkers, CRISPR, Ovarian Cancer, Cancer Immunotherapy, Cancer Immunology | Cancer Biology |
| Venero Galanternik, Marina | MB | Human Genetics | Meninges, zebrafish, developmental biology, meningeal cells, perivascular meningeal cells, lymphatic system, lymphatic vessels, meningeal layers, high-resolution microscopy | Cell Biology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Venosa, Alessandro | MB, BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Cell Biology, Lung inflammation, Lung fibrosis, Environmental Toxicology | Immunobiology |
| Vershinin, Michael | BC | School of Biological Sciences | Molecular Motors, Biophysics | Chemical Biology |
| Vetter, Monica | MB | Neurobiology | Chromatin modifiers in development, Microglia in retinal development and disease | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Vierra, Nick | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Molecular Neuroscience, Membrane Contact Sites, Electrophysiology, Intracellular Signaling, Antibodies | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Wachowiak, Matt | MB | Neurobiology | Optical imaging, olfaction, neural circuits, odorant receptors, behavior | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Wang, Yuru | MB, BC | Medicinal Chemistry | Epitranscriptomics, RNA Modifications, RNA Editing, Pseudouridine, Inosine, Protein Evolution, Biomedicine, RNA Therapeutics | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Chemical Biology; Genome Engineering |
| Weis, Janis | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Genetic Regulation of Lyme Disease | Immunobiology; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Weller, Melodie | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Virology, Autoimmune Diseases, Oral Health, Infectious Disease, Infectious Disease Surveillance | Cell Biology |
| Welm, Alana | MB | Oncological Sciences | Metastasis of Breast Cancer | Cancer Biology |
| Welm, Bryan | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Breast Cancer/ Stem Cells | Cancer Biology; Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Werner, Michael | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Developmental (Phenotypic) Plasticity, Chromatin, Epigenetics, Gene Regulation | Cell Biology; Chemical Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Genome Engineering; Metabolism |
| Wilcox, Karen | BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Anticonvulsant Drugs, inflammation, epilepsy | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Williams, Matt | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | T cell Differentiation and Function in Response to Infections and Tumors, Immunologic Memory | Cell Biology; Immunobiology |
| Williams, Megan | MB | Neurobiology | Neurobiology, Molecular Mechanisms of Synapse Formation | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Winter, Jaclyn | BC | Pharmacology and Toxicology | Natural Product Biosynthesis, Drug Discovery, Synthetic Biology, Antibiotic Resistance | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D); Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Yandell, Mark | MB | Human Genetics | Bioinformatics and Comparative Genomics | |
| Yang, Jun | MB | Neurobiology | Photoreceptors, Hair Cells and Multi-Protein Complex, Treatment of Retinal Degeneration | Cell Biology; Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience; Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Yang, Tianxin | MB | Nutrition and Integrative Physiology | (Pro)renin receptor, the distal nephron, hypertension, kidney disease, diabetes | |
| Yoo, Chan Yul | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Plant Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, Photoreceptor-containing Nuclear Bodies (Photobodies), Organelle Communication, Genetics | Biomolecular Structure and Function; Cell Biology; Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics |
| Yoo, Heejin | MB | School of Biological Sciences | Plant Immunity, Plant Metabolism, Translational Regulation, Programmed Cell Death, Effector Triggered Immunity, Systemic Acquired Resistance, Salicylic Acid, Plant Volatiles | Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics; Immunobiology; Metabolism; Microbial Biology and Pathogenesis |
| Yost, Joe | MB | Neurobiology | Genes & Developmental Mechanisms | Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine |
| Young, Arabella | MB | Microbiology and Immunology | Cancer Immunotherapy, Immune-related Adverse Events, Tumor Microenvironment, Autoimmunity, Diabetes | Cell Biology |
| Yu, Michael (Seungju) | BC | Molecular Pharmaceutics | Drug delivery, Tissue engineering, Regenerative medicine, Biopolymers, Collagen, Peptide | Chemical Biology; Drug and Diagnostic Discovery and Development (4D) |
| Zelikowsky, Moriel | MB | Neurobiology | Stress, Social Isolation, PTSD, Neural Circuits of Emotion, Neuropeptides | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
| Zhang, Xiaoyang | MB, BC | Oncological Sciences | Cancer Genomics, 3D Genomics Genome/Epigenome Editing |
Research Emphasis Areas
One of the many strengths of the Bioscience PhD Programs are the cross-departmental Research Emphasis Areas. The research emphasis areas showcase a wide breadth of research excellence that the Bioscience PhD Programs and the University of Utah has to offer, as well as facilitate collaboration opportunities for students to become more engaged in specific research topics.
Other ways to find faculty in the Bioscience Programs research community and departments can be found here:
The Find a Researcher database contains listings of University of Utah faculty and graduate students who are research topic experts and potential research collaborators. You may search for people by entering names, research keywords, departments, international experience keywords and equipment.
University of Utah Find a Researcher
Highlights from some of our faculty can be found here:
Discovery and Innovation Digital Collection
Some of our faculty are featured in the annual Vitae event where they recognize research excellence across University of Utah Health.
Illustration By: Megan Okada