Program in Cell and Molecular Biology

Faculty listed by department

Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
You can skip quickly down this list by choosing a department name below: Biochemistry, Biology, Cell Biology, Computer Science, Immunology, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Neurobiology, NSOE, Pathology, Pharmacology
Biochemistry
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
Perry Blackshear	Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry	Protein phosphorylation and biosynthesis in the action of hormones and cell growth.
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.
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.
Tao-shih Hsieh	Professor of Biochemistry	Chromosome structure and function; structure, function, and mechanism of DNA topoisomerase.
Ken Kreuzer	Professor of Biochemistry	DNA replication and repair in cancer
Meta Kuehn	Associate Professor of Biochemistry	Biochemical and genetic analysis of secretory membrane vesicles produced by pathogenic bacteria.
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 Biochemistry	Elucidation of the molecular properties and regulatory mechanisms controlling the function of G protein-coupled receptors.
Terrence Oas	Associate Professor of Biochemistry	Mechanisms of protein folding and other conformational changes
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.
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
Laura Rusche	Assistant Professor of Biochemistry	Contributions of Sir2 deacetylases to chromatin structure, transcriptional repression, and genome stability
Leonard Spicer	Professor of Biochemistry	Structure-function studies of proteins using high field NMR techniques; physical biochemistry
Pei Zhou	Assistant Professor of Biochemistry	Protein interactions in neuro-degenerative disease; molecular recognition and conformation switch during the assembly of PGC-1 transcription complex.
Biology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
L. Ryan Baugh	Assistant Professor, Biology	Nutritional control of development
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.
Nicolas Buchler	Assistant Professor of Biology	Molecular mechanisms and the evolution of switches and oscillators in gene networks; systems biology; comparative genomics
Meng Chen	Assistant Professor of Biology	Light signal transduction in plants
Xinnian Dong	Professor of Biology	Response of plants to pathogens; molecularand genetic investigation of the signal transduction pathways activating plant defense genes.
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.
Daniel Kiehart	Professor of Biology	Biophysical approaches to cellular, molecular and developmental biology
David McClay	Arthur S. Pearse Professor of Biology	Germ layer specification, gene regulatory networks, adhesion at gastrulation, and patterning cues during morphogenesis.
Zhen-Ming Pei	Assistant Professor of Biology	Calcium and nitric oxide signaling in Arabidopsis.
Amy Schmid	Assistant Professor of Biology	Systems biology of archaea: understanding regulatory network responses to environmental extremes
David Sherwood	Assistant Professor of Biology	Genetic and molecular analysis of cell-invasion in C. elegans
Tai-ping Sun	Professor of Biology	Molecular genetics of plant growth hormones; environmental and developmental regulation of gibberellin biosynthesis and signal transduction.
Rytas Vilgalys	Professor of Biology	Phylogenetic biology and natural history of fungi, including molecular phylogeny and population genetics of medically important species.
Cell Biology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
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
Vann Bennett	James B. Duke Professor of Cell Biology	Membrane-cytoskeletal interactions in mammalian brain and other tissues.
Blanche Capel	Associate Professor of Cell Biology	Sex determination; ovary and testis organogenesis; germ cell biology; vascular development.
Marc Caron	Professor of Cell Biology	Molecular mechanisms of hormone and neurotransmitter actions and regulation of cellular responsiveness.
Sharyn Endow	Professor of Cell Biology	Microtubule motor proteins involoved 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
Brigid Hogan	Professor of Cell Biology	Mammalian development and organogenesis; primordial germ cells and stem cells.
John Klingensmith	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Molecular genetics of mammalian development and birth defects.
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.
Chay T. Kuo	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Function and application of postnatal neural stem cells in health and disease.
Terry Lechler	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Development and morphogenesis of the skin and the intestine.
Thomas McIntosh	Professor of Cell Biology	Membrane structure; membrane rafts
Christopher Nicchitta	Associate Professor of Cell Biology	Protein and mRNA trafficking. Chaperone immunobiology.
Kenneth Poss	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Modeling disease and regeneration in zebrafish.
Howard Rockman	Professor of Cell Biology	Molecular mechanisms of hypertrophy and heart failure using transgenic and gene targeted mouse models.
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.
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.
Daniel Tracey	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Isolation of genes required for sensory processing: touch detection (mechanotransduction), heat detection (thermotransduction), processing of RNA in neuronal dendrites, animal behavior, nociception.
Fan Wang	Assistant Professor of Cell Biology	Neural circuit development in mouse somatic sensory system.
Jo Rae Wright	Professor of Cell Biology	Pulmonary physiology; surfactant biochemistry
Computer Science
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
Bruce Donald	Professor of Computer Science	Computational methods in biological macromolecular NMR; enzyme design in the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase pathway
Immunology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
Barton Haynes	Professor of Immunology	Vaccine development for viral diseases
You-Wen He	Assistant Professor of Immunology	T lymphocyte development and apoptosis. Innate immune response. T lymphocyte memory formation.
Motonari Kondo	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Commitment of hematopoietic stem cells, lymphocyte development, cytokine receptor signaling.
Qi-Jing Li	Assistant Professor of Immunology	MicroRNAs in immunoregulation
Michael Krangel	Professor of Immunology	V(D)J recombination; chromatin structure; developmental regulation of T cell receptor genes.
Marcella Sarzotti-Kelsoe	Assistant Research Professor of Immunology	T and B cell reconstitution in SCIDs after bone marrow transplantation. Tolerance, immunodeficiency, immunity to HIV in mother-child pairs.
Mari Shinohara	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Pattern recognition receptor (PRR) signaling in innate immunity; fungal infections; autoimmune diseases; dendritic cells
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.
Shyam Unniraman	Assistant Professor of Immunology	Repair choices during somatic hypermutation, class switch recombination and 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.
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
Yuan Zhuang	Associate Professor of Immunology	Transcriptional regulation of lymphocyte differentiation and development. Animal models for autoimmune diseases.
Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
Alejandro Aballay	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Innate Immunity and Microbial Pathogenesis.
Hubert Amrein	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Functional Analysis of Drosophila Chemosensory Receptor Proteins; Drosophila Courtship and Circadian Behavior
Maria Cardenas-Corona	Associate Research Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Mechanisms of Signaling by the targets of rapamycin: the TOR kinases.
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.
Bryan Cullen	Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Role of microRNAs in oncogenic herpesvirus latency
Fred Dietrich	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Genetics and Genomics of fungal pathogens and of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
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 and Microbiology	Role of alternative splicing in cell transformation and metastasis
Matthias Gromeier	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Translation regulation, experimental cancer treatments, virology
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.
Jack Keene	Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	RNA-binding proteins and noncoding RNAs dynamically coordinating posttranscriptional gene expression.
Elwood Linney	Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Retinoic acid receptors as part of an embryonic repressive system; and sensitivity of the embryonic nervous system to chemicals that affect neuronal signaling
Micah Luftig	Assistant Professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Mechanisms of innate tumor suppressor responses to DNA tumor viruses
Douglas Marchuk	Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Molecular genetics and cell biology of inherited human disease, with particular emphasis on the cardiovascular system.
Hiroaki Matsunami	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Molecular mechanisms underlying odorant and pheromone recognition in mammals
John McCusker	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Genetic and molecular analysis of fungal pathogenesis.
Joseph Nevins	James B. Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Mechanisms of action of DNA tumor virus oncoproteins
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 and Microbiology	Interplay of host innate immune responses and viruses
Sue Robertson	Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Regulation of genome stability in yeast; homologous recombination and mutagenesis.
Patrick C. Seed	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology	Elucidating the Molecular Pathogenesis of Urinary Tract Infections.
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.
Bruce Sullenger	Professor of Molecular Genetics and 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.
Raphael Valdivia	Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology	Endosome dynamics and microbial pathgenesis.
Neurobiology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
Vadim Arshavsky	Professor of Neurobiology	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.
Nicole Calakos	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular basis of synaptic plasticity; presynaptic function; basal ganglia function and pathology.
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.
Guoping Feng	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular mechanisms regulating the formation, stability and plasticity of synapses.
Yong-Hui Jiang	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Genetic and epigenetic analysis of genomic imprinting and neurodevelopmental disorders in human and mouse models
Wolfgang Liedtke	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular mechanisms of neuro-sensory transduction in response to osmotic and mechanical stimuli.
Donald Lo	Associate Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular approaches to retinoic acid and estrogen signaling during zebrafish embryonic development; 3D immaging of gene expression; environmental biosensing using embryos.
James McNamara	Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular mechanisms of epileptogenesis.
Richard Mooney	Associate Professor of Neurobiology	Neural mechanisms of learning and memory, especially the regulation at the cellular level for learned vocalizations in songbirds.
Anne E. West	Assistant Professor of Neurobiology	Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Activity-dependent Synapse Development
Pathology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
Soman Abraham	Professor of Pathology	Mechanisms and consequences of the molecular interactions occurring between pathogenic bacteria and inflammatory cells.
Darrell Bigner	Professor of Pathology	Neuropathology; viral oncology; chemical carcinogenesis.
Michael B. Datto	Assistant Professor of Pathology	Mechanisms of cell type specific and context dependent TGF-β Signal Transduction.
Gayathri Devi	Associate Professor of Pathology	Cancer Biology: regulation of apoptosis in therapeutic resistance, tumor-immune microenvironment, growth factor receptors, genomics
Laura Hale	Associate Professor of Pathology	Pathogenesis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease; mucosal immunology, including oral vaccines
Randy Jirtle	Professor of Pathology	Epigenetic basis of human disease.
Virginia Kraus	Associate Professor of Pathology	Molecular pathogenesis of arthritis; genetics of osteoarthritis; metalloproteinases.
Jeffrey Marks	Assistant Professor of Pathology	Investigation of the etiology and progression of breast and ovarian cancer.
Salvatore Pizzo	Professor of Pathology	Fibrinolysis; antigen presentation; proteinase inhibitors.
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.
Herman Staats	Professor of Pathology	Mucosal Immunology; vaccines
Hai Yan	Assistant Professor of Pathology	Cancer Genomics and singaling pathways that control tumorigenesis
Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Faculty Name	Primary Research Department	Brief Research Description
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
Gerard Blobe	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Cancer biology, vascular biology, signal transduction, TGF-beta superfamily signaling, cellular trafficking, co-receptors
Patrick Casey	James B. Duke Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Cellular signalling mediated through GTP-binding proteins; lipid modifications of proteins.
Christopher Counter	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Molecular mechanisms of cell immortalization and transformation
Sally Kornbluth	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Regulation of apoptosis and control of mitotic entry.
Cynthia Kuhn	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Estrogen and gender effects on dopamine neuron function. Adolescence and addiction
Madan Kwatra	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Signal transduction through G Protein-coupled receptors; aging.
Daniel Lew	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Cell cycle control and the control of cell polarity.
David MacAlpine	Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Genomic approaches to understanding how the molecular architecture of the chromosome regulates DNA replication.
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.
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.
Anthony Means	Nanaline H. Duke Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Intracellular signalling pathways that affect cell cycle progression; calcium receptor functions.
Edward Patz	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Development of new molecular diagnostics including protein biomarkers and molecular imaging approaches.
Ann Marie Pendergast	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Role of the Abl tyrosine kinase in cell growth and transformation
Geoffrey S. Pitt	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Ion channels, channelopathies, calcium regulation, and membrane excitability
Jeffrey Rathmell	Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Molecular and metabolic mechanisms of lymphocyte growth and apoptosis.
Tannishtha Reya	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-renewal and Commitment.
Theodore Slotkin	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Developmental neurobiology, neuropharmacology and neurotoxicology.
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.
Xiao-Fan Wang	Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Structure and function of TGF-b receptors; growth regulation by TGF-b.
Robert Wechsler-Reya	Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology	Role of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Neural Development and Cancer.
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
You can skip quickly up this list by choosing a department name below: Biochemistry, Biology, Cell Biology, Immunology Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Neurobiology, NSOE, Pathology, Pharmacology