Program in Cell and Molecular Biology

Alphabetical listing of faculty

Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
You can skip quickly down this list by choosing one of the letters below: A B C D E F G H,I J K L M N O P,Q R S T,U V W,X Y Z
Alejandro Aballay	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Innate Immunity and Microbial Pathogenesis
Soman Abraham	Professor of Pathology	Mechanisms and consequences of the molecular interactions occurring between pathogenic bacteria and inflammatory cells.
Hubert Amrein	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Functional Analysis of Drosophila Chemosensory Receptor Proteins; Drosophila Courtship and Circadian Behavior
Nancy Andrews	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	A genetic approach to iron biology
Vadim Arshavsky	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Signal transduction in the visual signaling pathway. Cell biology of vertebrate rod and cone photoreceptors
George Augustine	George Barth Gellar Professor of Neurobiology	Neuronal signaling pathways; molecular mechanisms of synaptic exocytosis and plasticity.
Michel Bagnat	Assistant Professor, Cell Biology	How basic cellular processes define the shape, size and function of complex multicellular structures such as organs and change for beta and gamma
L. Ryan Baugh	Assistant Professor, Biology	Nutritional control of development
Michael Been	Professor of Biochemistry	Mechanism, structure and regulation of self-cleaving RNA
Lorena Beese	Professor of Biochemistry	Structure and mechanism of proteins and macromolecular assemblies central to DNA replication, DNA repair and cellular signaling
Amy Bejsovec	Associate Professor of Biology	Specification of cell fates during Drosophila development, the role of intercellular signaling in pattern formation and oncogenic processes.
Philip Benfey	Professor of Biology	Plant Developmental Genetics and Genomics
Vann Bennett	James B. Duke Professor of Cell Biology	Membrane-cytoskeletal interactions in mammalian brain and other tissues.
Darrell Bigner	Professor of Pathology	Neuropathology; viral oncology; chemical carcinogenesis.
Perry Blackshear	Professor of Biochemistry	Messenger RNA turnover in cytokine biosynthesis; protein kinase C and brain development.
Gerard Blobe	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Cancer biology, vascular biology, signal transduction, TGF-beta superfamily signaling, cellular trafficking, co-receptors
Nicolas Buchler	Assistant Professor of Biology and Physics	Molecular mechanisms and the evolution of switches and oscillators in gene networks; systems biology; comparative genomics
Nicole Calakos	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular basis of synaptic plasticity; presynaptic function; basal ganglia function and pathology.
Blanche Capel	Professor of Cell Biology	Sex determination; ovary and testis organogenesis; germ cell biology; vascular development.
Maria Cardenas-Corona	Associate Research Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Mechanisms of Signaling by the targets of rapamycin: the TOR kinases.
Marc Caron	Professor of Cell Biology	Molecular mechanisms of hormone and neurotransmitter actions and regulation of cellular responsiveness.
Patrick Casey	James B. Duke Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Cellular signalling mediated through GTP-binding proteins; lipid modifications of proteins.
Meng Chen	Assistant Professor of Biology	Light signal transduction in plants
Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Genomic approaches to analyze the lactic acidosis response in cancer and erythroycte microRNA in human anemia disorders
Jörn Coers	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Understanding the interplay between pathogens and innate immune responses of the mammalian host.
Christopher Counter	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Molecular mechanisms of cell immortalization and transformation
Gregory Crawford	Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomics	Genome-wide identification and characterization of gene regulatory elements
Bryan Cullen	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Role of microRNAs in oncogenic herpesvirus latency
Michael B. Datto	Assistant Professor of Pathology	Mechanisms of cell type specific and context dependent TGF-β Signal Transduction.
Gayathri Devi	Assistant Professor of Pathology	Cancer Biology: regulation of apoptosis in therapeutic resistance, tumor-immune microenvironment, growth factor receptors, genomics
Fred Dietrich	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Genetics and Genomics of fungal pathogens and of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Bruce Donald	Professor of Computer Science	Computational methods in biological macromolecular NMR; enzyme design in the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase pathway
Xinnian Dong	Professor of Biology	Response of plants to pathogens; molecular and genetic investigation of the signal transduction pathways activating plant defense genes.
Michael Ehlers	Associate Professor of Neurobiology	Protein trafficking and turnover in neuronal dendrites; Cell biology of the postsynaptic membrane; Molecular regulation of excitatory synaptic transmission.
Sharyn Endow	Professor of Cell Biology	Microtubule motor proteins involved in spindle function; chromosome movement in meiosis and mitosis.
Harold Erickson	Professor of Cell Biology	Protein self assembly; cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix
Cagla Eroglu	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Synapse formation in the CNS: Role of astrocytes in synapse formation
Guoping Feng	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular mechanisms regulating synapse formation; synaptic and circuitry basis of behavior and its implications in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Paulo Ferreira	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Molecular, genetic and cellular basis of neurodystrophies and allied systemic disorders; dynamic assembly of protein complexes in signaling and trafficking pathways.
Mariano Garcia-Blanco	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Role of alternative splicing in cell transformation and metastasis
Arno Greenleaf	Professor of Biochemistry	Enzymology of gene expression: 1) CTD kinase and RNA polymerase II hyperphosphorylation; 2) PhosphoCTD-associating proteins and organization of nuclear functions.
Matthias Gromeier	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Translation regulation, experimental cancer treatments, virology
Steve Haase	Assistant Professor of Biology	Genetic, genomic, molecular, and cellular approaches to understanding cell cycle regulation in yeast. Cyclin dependent kinase control of centrosome duplication.
Laura Hale	Associate Professor of Pathology	Pathogenesis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease; mucosal immunology, including oral vaccines
Barton Haynes	Professor of Immunology	Vaccine development for viral diseases
You-Wen He	Associate Professor of Immunology	T lymphocyte development and apoptosis. Innate immune response. T lymphocyte memory formation.
Joseph Heitman	Chair and James B. Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Signaling cascades regulating filamentous growth and virulence of yeast and pathogenic fungi. Genetic analysis of immunosuppressive drug action.
Homme Hellinga	Professor of Biochemistry	Combined theoretical and experimental approaches to protein and drug design; molecular simulation; protein engineering.
Michael Hershfield	Professor of Biochemistry	Genetic and biochemical studies of inherited diseases of purine metabolism.
Brigid Hogan	Professor of Cell Biology	Mammalian development and organogenesis; primordial germ cells and stem cells.
Tao-shih Hsieh	Professor of Biochemistry	Chromosome structure and function; structure, function, and mechanism of DNA topoisomerase.
Yong-Hui Jiang	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Genetic and epigenetic analysis of genomic imprinting and neurodevelopmental disorders in human and mouse models
Randy Jirtle	Professor of Pathology	Epigenetic basis of human disease.
Jack Keene	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	RNA-binding proteins and noncoding RNAs dynamically coordinating posttranscriptional gene expression.
Daniel Kiehart	Professor of Biology	Biophysical approaches to cellular, molecular and developmental biology
John Klingensmith	Associate Professor of Cell Biology	Molecular genetics of mammalian development and birth defects.
Motonari Kondo	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Commitment of hematopoietic stem cells, lymphocyte development, cytokine receptor signaling.
Sally Kornbluth	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Regulation of apoptosis and control of mitotic entry.
Michael Krangel	Professor of Immunology	V(D)J recombination; chromatin structure; developmental regulation of T cell receptor genes.
Virginia Kraus	Associate Professor of Pathology	Molecular pathogenesis of arthritis; genetics of osteoarthritis; metalloproteinases.
William Kraus	Professor of Cell Biology	Skeletal muscle gene regulation in exercise physiology and disease. In vivo (human and animals) and in vitro work. Myoblast transfer therapy.
Ken Kreuzer	Professor of Biochemistry	DNA replication and repair in cancer
Meta Kuehn	Associate Professor of Biochemistry	Biochemical and genetic analysis of secretory outer membrane vesicles produced by pathogenic bacteria.
Cynthia Kuhn	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Estrogen and gender effects on dopamine neuron function. Adolescence and addiction
Chay T. Kuo	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Function and application of postnatal neural stem cells in health and disease.
Madan Kwatra	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Signal transduction through G Protein-coupled receptors; aging.
Terry Lechler	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Development and morphogenesis of the skin and the intestine.
Seok-Yong Lee	Assistant Professor of Biochemistry	Structure-function studies of integral membrane proteins responsible for ion transport using X-ray crystallography, biophysics and electrophysiology.
Robert Lefkowitz	James B. Duke Professor of Neurobiology	Elucidation of the molecular properties and regulatory mechanisms controlling the function of G protein-coupled receptors.
Daniel Lew	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Cell cycle control and the control of cell polarity.
Qi-Jing Li	Assistant Professor of Immunology	MicroRNAs in immunoregulation
Wolfgang Liedtke	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular mechanisms of neuro-sensory transduction in response to osmotic and mechanical stimuli.
Elwood Linney	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Retinoic acid receptors as part of an embryonic repressive system; and sensitivity of the embryonic nervous system to chemicals that affect neuronal signaling
Donald Lo	Associate Professor of Neurobiology	Translation of basic neuroscience research into the identification new drug candidates and targets for neuropsychiatric diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, stroke, and glaucoma.
Micah Luftig	Assistant Professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Mechanisms of innate tumor suppressor responses to DNA tumor viruses
David MacAlpine	Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Genomic approaches to understanding how the molecular architecture of the chromosome regulates DNA replication.
Douglas Marchuk	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Molecular genetics and cell biology of inherited human disease, with particular emphasis on the cardiovascular system.
Jeffrey Marks	Associate Professor of Pathology	Investigation of the etiology and progression of breast and ovarian cancer.
Hiroaki Matsunami	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Molecular mechanisms underlying odorant and pheromone recognition in mammals
David McClay	Arthur S. Pearse Professor of Biology	Germ layer specification, gene regulatory networks, adhesion at gastrulation, and patterning cues during morphogenesis.
John McCusker	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Genetic and molecular analysis of fungal pathogenesis.
Donald McDonnell	Glaxo Wellcome Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	The progesterone, estrogen and androgen receptor signaling pathways are complex and provide a wealth of opportunities for new drug discovery.
Thomas McIntosh	Professor of Cell Biology	Membrane structure; membrane rafts
James McNamara	Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular mechanisms of epileptogenesis.
Anthony Means	Nanaline H. Duke Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Intracellular signaling pathways that affect cell cycle progression; calcium receptor functions.
Deborah M. Muoio	Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology	Mechanisms of metabolic regulation and metabolic disease. Impact of diet and exercise on skeletal muscle physiology. Interactions between mitochondrial bioenergetics and insulin action.
Richard Mooney	Associate Professor of Neurobiology	Neural mechanisms of learning and memory, especially the regulation at the cellular level for learned vocalizations in songbirds.
Joseph Nevins	James B. Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Mechanisms of action of DNA tumor virus oncoproteins
Christopher Nicchitta	Associate Professor of Cell Biology	Protein and mRNA trafficking. Chaperone immunobiology.
Terrence Oas	Associate Professor of Biochemistry	Mechanisms of protein folding and other conformational changes
Edward Patz	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Development of new molecular diagnostics including protein biomarkers and molecular imaging approaches.
Zhen-Ming Pei	Assistant Professor of Biology	Calcium and nitric oxide signaling in Arabidopsis.
Ann Marie Pendergast	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Role of the Abl tyrosine kinase in cell growth and transformation
Thomas Petes	Minner Geller Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Genetic regulation of genome stability in yeast; meiotic recombination
David Pickup	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Interplay of host innate immune responses and viruses
Geoffrey S. Pitt	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Ion channels, channelopathies, calcium regulation, and membrane excitability
Salvatore Pizzo	Professor of Pathology	Fibrinolysis; antigen presentation; proteinase inhibitors.
Kenneth Poss	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Modeling disease and regeneration in zebrafish.
Christian Raetz	George B. Geller Professor of Biochemistry	Membrane biochemistry; molecular genetics and bioinformatics of lipid synthesis; structure, biosynthesis and function of bacterial endotoxins; structural lipidomics.
Jeffrey Rathmell	Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Molecular and metabolic mechanisms of lymphocyte growth and apoptosis.
Tannishtha Reya	Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-renewal and Commitment.
David Richardson	Professor of Biochemistry	Structural Bioinformatics: concepts & computer tools to visualize, analyze, and correct protein & RNA structures
Jane Richardson	Professor of Biochemistry	3D structural bioinformatics of protein and RNA: structures, interactions, motions, & design; techniques for improving model accuracy
Sue Robertson	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Regulation of genome stability in yeast; homologous recombination and mutagenesis.
Howard Rockman	Professor of Cell Biology	Molecular mechanisms of hypertrophy and heart failure using transgenic and gene targeted mouse models.
Laura Rusche	Assistant Professor of Biochemistry	Contributions of Sir2 deacetylases to chromatin structure, transcriptional repression, and genome stability
Marcella Sarzotti-Kelsoe	Associate Research Professor of Immunology	T and B cell reconstitution in SCIDs after bone marrow transplantation. Tolerance, immunodeficiency, immunity to HIV in mother-child pairs.
Amy Schmid	Assistant Professor of Biology	Systems biology of archaea: understanding regulatory network responses to environmental extremes
Patrick C. Seed	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Elucidating the Molecular Pathogenesis of Urinary Tract Infections.
Greg Sempowski	Associate Professor of Pathology	Mechanisms that regulate T cell production and peripheral homeostasis. Development of novel therapeutics to improve T cell immune recovery and function in the aged.
David Sherwood	Assistant Professor of Biology	Genetic and molecular analysis of cell-invasion in C. elegans
Mari Shinohara	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Pattern recognition receptor (PRR) signaling in innate immunity; fungal infections; autoimmune diseases; dendritic cells
Theodore Slotkin	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Developmental neurobiology, neuropharmacology and neurotoxicology.
Scott Soderling	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Signaling mechanisms that regulate cell migration, neurite outgrowth, synapse formation, animal behavior; roles of Rho GTPase Activating Proteins in signaling to the actin cytoskeleton.
Leonard Spicer	Professor of Biochemistry	Structure-function studies of proteins using high field NMR techniques; physical biochemistry
Herman Staats	Professor of Pathology	Mucosal Immunology; vaccines
Joseph W. St. Geme	Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Molecular and cellular determinants of bacterial pathogenesis, bacterial adherence and invasion, bacterial protein secretion, Haemophilus and Kingella pathogenicity, vaccine development.
Barry Stripp	Professor of Cell Biology	Basic and translational studies defining endogenous epithelial stem/progenitor cells of airways and their contribution to tissue repair and remodeling.
Bruce Sullenger	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	RNA Therapeutics
Beth Sullivan	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Epigenetic/epigenomic mechanisms of chromosome structure and function, centromere and heterochromatin organization, and genome stability.
Tai-ping Sun	Professor of Biology	Molecular genetics of plant growth hormones; environmental and developmental regulation of gibberellin biosynthesis and signal transduction.
Gregory A. Taylor	Assistant Research Professor of Immunology	Innate immune mechanisms regulating resistance to intracellular bacteria and protozoa
Thomas Tedder	Alter Geller Professor of Immunology	Structure and function of human leukocyte adhesion molecules; B lymphocyte activation.
Dennis Thiele	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Molecular biology and genetics of iron and copper in growth and development; stress gene expression in diseases of protein folding.
Daniel Tracey	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Isolation of genes required for sensory processing: mechanotransduction, thermotransduction, processing of RNA in neuronal dendrites, animal behavior, nociception.
Shyam Unniraman	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Repair choices during somatic hypermutation, class switch recombination and tumorigenesis
Raphael Valdivia	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Endosome dynamics and microbial pathgenesis.
Rytas Vilgalys	Professor of Biology	Phylogenetic biology and natural history of fungi, including molecular phylogeny and population genetics of medically important species.
Fan Wang	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Neural circuit development in mouse somatic sensory system.
Xiao-Fan Wang	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	TGF-ß signaling mechanisms and animal model systems; Tumor angiogenesis and metastasis; DNA damage checkpoint.
Robert Wechsler-Reya	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Role of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Neural Development and Cancer.
Anne E. West	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Activity-dependent Synapse Development
Jo Rae Wright	Professor of Cell Biology	Pulmonary physiology; surfactant biochemistry
Hai Yan	Assistant Professor of Pathology	Cancer Genomics and singaling pathways that control tumorigenesis
Yiping Yang	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Innate immunity to viruses, Immune suppression by regulatory T cells and Formation of long-lived memory T cells.
Tso-Pang Yao	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Functional dissection of the role of protein acetylation and deacetylation in signal transduction pathways, particularly in the context of cancer formation.
John York	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Inositol phosphate cellular signaling; fly development; lithium pharmacology
Weiguo Zhang	Associate Professor of Immunology	Antigen receptor-mediated signaling; Lymphocyte development; Mast cell function
Xiaoping Zhong	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Immune cell signaling; T cell development and tolerance; Innate immunity
Pei Zhou	Assistant Professor of Biochemistry	Biomolecular NMR; Protein Interactions; Molecular Recognition; Conformation variability.
Yuan Zhuang	Associate Professor of Immunology	Transcriptional regulation of lymphocyte differentiation and development. Animal models for autoimmune diseases.
You can skip quickly up this list by choosing one of the letters below: A B C D E F G H,I J K L M N O P,Q R S T,U V W,X Y Z