Translational Medicine | Research Interests

Name	Email	PhD Program
Smeekens, Johanna WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Toxicology RESEARCH INTEREST Immunology, Toxicology, Translational Medicine	Our research focuses on investigating factors that contribute to the development of food allergy, with an emphasis on how we can manipulate these factors towards preventative and therapeutic strategies. Specifically, we aim to understand the role of environmental exposures, particularly early in life, in non-oral sensitization to foods that lead to allergy. We are also especially interested in testing novel therapeutics for food allergy that can induce tolerance, after allergy is already established. We utilize a combination of human samples and mouse models to address these goals.
Xi, Gang WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Cell Biology & Physiology RESEARCH INTEREST Autoimmune Disorders, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Cell Signaling, Diabetes, Physiology, Signal Transduction, Translational Medicine	My research focuses on signal transduction, proteins posttranslational modification, and protein/protein interaction under varieties of stress/disease conditions. One of my major research areas is vascular smooth muscle signal transduction under hyperglycemic and oxidative stress conditions. Most recently, regulation of vascular smooth muscle cells phenotypic switch under hyperglycemic/uremic conditions was funded by NIH. In addition, I investigate autoantigens that are responsible for autoimmune diseases, such as MCD/FSGS, which make the precise diagnosis and individualized treatment plan possible.
Lee, Craig WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pharmaceutical Sciences RESEARCH INTEREST Cardiovascular Disease, Genetics, Metabolism, Pharmacology, Translational Medicine	Craig Lee, Pharm.D, Ph.D. is a professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET). A key aspect of DPET’s mission is to optimize drug therapy through translating experimental and clinical pharmacology discoveries into precision medicine and accelerating application of these discoveries to improve patient care. Dr. Lee is trained as a clinical/translational pharmaceutical scientist with expertise in cytochrome P450 metabolism, cardiovascular experimental therapeutics, and precision medicine/pharmacogenomics. He is an active member of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute and UNC Program for Precision Medicine in Healthcare, and has an adjunct faculty appointment in the UNC School of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology. The overall objective of Dr. Lee’s research program is to improve the understanding of the central mechanisms underlying inter-individual variability in drug response as a means to develop novel therapeutic strategies that will improve public health. A major scientific focus of the Lee laboratory is the metabolism of drugs and eicosanoids by the cytochromes P450 enzyme system. The major therapeutic area of application of their research is cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The Lee laboratory seeks to identify and elucidate the key factors that exacerbate inter-individual variability in the metabolism of and response to drugs currently on the market, and determine whether implementation of genomic and biomarker-guided drug selection and dosing strategies can reduce this variability in metabolism and response and improve patient outcomes. The Lee laboratory also seeks to develop a thorough understanding of how cytochrome P450-derived eicosanoids (bioactive lipid mediators of arachidonic acid) regulate hepatic and extra-hepatic inflammatory responses, and determine whether modulation of this pathway will serve as an effective anti-inflammatory and end-organ protective therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Using genomics and biomarkers, the lab seeks to translate their preclinical discoveries into humans and determine which subsets of the population may be most likely to respond to the therapeutic strategies under evaluation in the laboratory. The Lee laboratory is a highly collaborative and translational research program that integrates mechanistically-driven rodent and cell-based preclinical models with observational and interventional clinical studies. They have received funding from the National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association, authored over 100 manuscripts and over 100 abstracts in the areas of cytochromes P450, eicosanoid and drug metabolism, pharmacogenomics, and experimental therapeutics. Dr. Lee has served as the major research advisor for over 40 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and professional students.
Bartelt, Luther WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Antibiotics/Antivirals, Bacteriology, Immunology, Metabolism, Microbiome, Model Organisms, Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, Translational Medicine, Virology	Our lab performs translational investigations of nutritional and microbiota determinants of host-pathogen interactions. We use gnotobiotic techniques (eg. germ free) mice to investigate complex microbe-microbe interactions in the context of host malnutrition, a common but poorly understood global health problem. Specific pathogens we model include Giardia (a ubiquitous parasite with unclear mechanisms of pathogenesis) and other intestinal parasites and multi drug resistant Enterobacterales (eg. Klebsiella). We work with several collaborators to translate findings in experimental models to outcomes in human cohorts. Emerging projects include determinants of host immune responses to mucosal viral infections and vaccines (eg. Polio and SARS-CoV-2).
Rowe-Conlon, Sarah WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Antibiotics/Antivirals, Bacteriology, Diabetes, Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery, Pathogenesis & Infection, Pharmacology, Translational Medicine	My lab studies recalcitrant bacterial infections and antibiotic treatment failure. Focusing on bacteremia and wound infection, we utilize a range of in vitro, tissue culture and mouse models to understand the precise nature of treatment failure and exploit this knowledge to modulate antibiotic activity in the host environment. My long-term goal is to bring improved therapeutic strategies to the bedside.
Hwang, Janice EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Cell Biology & Physiology RESEARCH INTEREST Aging/Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Human Subjects Research, Medical Imaging, Metabolism, Neurobiology, Physiology, Translational Medicine	My group is interested in understanding the effects of obesity and diabetes on the brain, particularly related to cerebral function and energetics. We conduct physiology based, mechanistic human and rodent studies to investigate fundamental questions such as how does the brain sense various nutrients (sugar, fat, etc), how does metabolic disease, sleep, aging impact brain function and metabolism? Using classic human metabolic techniques including hyperinsulinemic and hyper/hypoglycemic clamps coupled with advanced neuroimaging modalities including 1H and 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy, functional MRI, and PET-CT imaging, my group has shown that glucose transport capacity into the human brain can be modified by factors such as obesity and insulin resistance as well as hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia and glycemic variability. We also have interests in using novel human imaging modalities to understand how obesity and diabetes impact neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.
Livraghi-Butrico, Alessandra WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Microbiology & Immunology RESEARCH INTEREST Pathogenesis & Infection, Pulmonary Research, Respiratory Physiology & Infections, Translational Medicine	The Livraghi-Butrico lab is focused on exploring the key determinants of effective airway mucus clearance in health, as well as the consequences of its derangement in muco-obstructive lung diseases. Our lab leverages the unparalleled functional integration offered by in vivo animal models to test mechanistic hypotheses and vet therapeutic options for pre-clinical development.
Frankowski, Kevin WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pharmaceutical Sciences RESEARCH INTEREST Chemical Biology, Drug Discovery, Translational Medicine	We are inspired by the diversity and complexity found in natural products and use their architecture as both a platform for developing chemical methods and as scaffolds for new molecular tools in chemical biology. We have employed our chemical synthesis skill set to solve emerging challenges facing modern medicine. This has led to ongoing collaborative projects in metastatic cancer, hepatitis C antivirals, dopamine signaling and sigma receptor ligands. Of particular interest is the development of next generation anti-metastasis agents to our recent phase I clinical candidate, metarrestin.
Perry, Jillian WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pharmaceutical Sciences RESEARCH INTEREST Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Immunology, Nanomedicine, Translational Medicine	Our lab is broadly interested in utilizing high resolution 3D printing to develop novel drug delivery carriers for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Current research interests lay in manufacturing biodegradable porous hydrogel scaffold implants for cell/drug delivery for the treatment of recurrent brain cancer. We are actively investigating biomaterial properties for passive cell/drug loading into scaffolds as well as developing materials and methods to support conjugation strategies for actuated release mechanisms.
Fedoriw, Yuri WEBSITE EMAIL PUBLICATIONS	PHD PROGRAM Pathobiology & Translational Science RESEARCH INTEREST Cancer Biology, Immunology, Pathology, Translational Medicine	Our research interests focus on the immunologic and genetic mechanisms of lymphomagenesis, particularly in the setting of HIV infection. While hematologic malignancies and lymphoproliferative disorders in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) arise under intrinsic and extrinsic pressures very different from those in the United States, comprehensive analyses of these diseases have not been performed. We use advanced sequencing, immunophenotypic and cellular analyses to address gaps in our understanding of lymphomagenesis and tumor microenvironment in the context of HIV-associated immune dysregulation, with the goal of translation to clinical care and future clinical trials.

Research Interest: Translational Medicine