Research Interest: Cell Signaling
| Name | PhD Program | Research Interest | Publications |
|---|---|---|
| LeCluyse, Edward L WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Dr. Edward (Ed) LeCluyse is currently a Senior Research Investigator in the Institute for Chemical Safety Sciences at The Hamner Institutes of Health Sciences. Dr. LeCluyse leads a program initiative to identify and develop novel in vitro hepatic model systems to examine cellular responses to drugs and environmental chemicals that target known toxicity pathways. The focus of his research efforts has been to create more organotypic, physiologically-relevant in vitro models that integrate the architectural, cellular and hemodynamic complexities of the liver in vivo. |
| Mack, Christopher P. WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
My research goals are to identify the mechanisms by which environmental factors regulate smooth muscle cell phenotype and to define the transcriptional pathways that regulate SMC-specific gene expression. |
| Mackman, Nigel WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
The major focus of Mackman lab is the procoagulant protein tissue factor. This is the primary cellular initiator of blood coagulation. We study its role in hemostasis, thrombosis, inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury and tumor growth. We have generated a number of mouse models expressing different levels of both mouse and human tissue factor. These mice have been used to provide new insights into the role of tissue factor in hemostasis and thrombosis. In 2007, we developed a new assay to measure levels of microparticle tissue factor in plasma. We found that elevated levels of microparticle tissue factor are associated with venous thromboembolism in cancer patients. |
| Moody, Cary WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our lab focuses on the life cycle of cancer-associated human papillomaviruses (HPV); small DNA viruses that exhibit a strict tropism for the epithelium. Several studies in our lab focus on the interface of HPV with cellular DNA damage response (DDR) pathways and how HPV manipulates DNA repair pathways to facilitate viral replication. We are also interested in understanding how the viral life cycle is epigenetically regulated by the DDR as well as by other chromatin modifiers. Additionally, we are investigating how HPV regulates the innate immune response throughout the viral life cycle. |
| Moorman, Nat WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
How does a virus gain control over the host cell? My laboratory is interested in answering this question at the molecular level. By combining molecular biology and virology with new technologies (e.g. mass spectrometry, next generation sequencing), we investigate the mechanisms utilized by viruses to hijack infected cells. By understanding the specific function(s) of viral proteins during infection, we identify strategies used by viruses for deregulation of host cell processes. We use this information to characterize novel features of cell signaling pathways during infection, and to identify potential targets for anti-viral therapeutics. |
| Peifer, Mark WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Cell adhesion, cytoskeletal regulation and Wnt signaling in development and cancer |
| Reed, Jason WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Regulation of plant development: We use techniques of genetics, molecular biology, microscopy, physiology, and biochemistry to study how endogenous developmental programs and exogenous signals cooperate to determine plant form. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has numerous technical advantages that allow rapid experimental progress. We focus on how the plant hormone auxin acts in several different developmental contexts. Among questions of current interest are i) how auxin regulates patterning in embryos and ovules, ii) how light modifies auxin response, iii) how feedback loops affect kinetics or patterning of auxin response, iv) how flower opening and pollination are regulated, and v) whether natural variation in flower development affects rates of self-pollination vs. outcrossing. |
| Rogers, Steve WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
The research in our lab is centered on understanding the mechanisms and principles of movement at the cellular level. Cytoskeletal filaments – composed of actin and microtubules – serve as a structural scaffolding that gives cells the ability to divide, crawl, and change their shape. Our lab uses a combination of cell biological, biochemical, functional genomic, and high resolution imaging techniques to study cytoskeletal dynamics and how they contribute to cellular motion. |
| Sondek, John WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our laboratory studies signal transduction systems controlled by heterotrimeric G proteins as well as Ras-related GTPases using a variety of biophysical, biochemical and cellular techniques. Member of the Molecular & Cellular Biophysics Training Program. |
| Tamayo, Rita WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
Our lab studies the mechanisms facultative pathogens use to adapt to disparate and changing extracellular conditions. Our primary interest is in the ability of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, to persist in its native aquatic environment and also flourish in the host intestinal tract. We are addressing key questions about the role of cyclic diguanylate, a signaling molecule unique to and ubiquitous in bacteria, in the physiological adaptations of V. cholerae as it transits from the aquatic environment into a host. In addition, we are identifying and characterizing factors produced by V. cholerae during growth in a biofilm, a determinant of survival in aquatic environments, that contribute to virulence. I will be accepting rotation students beginning in the winter of 2009. |