Research Mentor Database
| Name | Department | Title | Category | Interests | |
| Adebowale Adebiyi | Physiology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | My current research focuses primarily on elucidating signal transduction pathways in the kidney that are involved in the physiology and pathophysiology of renal hemodynamics. We utilize an integrative approach, including techniques drawn from cell and molecular biology, physiology, and pharmacology to investigate regulatory proteins, ion channels, and GPCRs that control renal vascular and glomerular functions. | |
| Lorraine Albritton | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Basic Science Research |
My research is focused on adult cancer and autoimmune disease therapies. Current research projects are (1) re-purposing chemotherapy for metastatic melanoma using oncolytic viruses (in collaboration with Dr. M. Whitt), (2) transcriptome analysis of melanoma to identify a prognostic gene signature (in collaboration with Dr. M. Fleming) and (3) genetic engineering of autologous T cells for immunotherapy of the autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, breast and pancreatic cancer using lentivirus vectors (in collaboration with Dr. M. Radic). Much of the work to date on these projects was performed by medical students in 10 weeks of the summer after their first year. Five students contributed sufficient data to the melanoma project and three students contributed sufficient data to the T cell project to earn authorship on publication of the work. Pending experiments are amenable to being completed in 10 - 12 weeks, including a two week training period in basic lab techniques. |
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| Suleiman W. Bahouth | Pharmacology | Professor | Basic Science Research |
The beta-1-adrenergic receptor (ß1-AR) is a major GPCR involved in mediating the actions of catecholamines in the heart. Activation of the ß1-AR increases heart rate and force of myocardial contractions and its blockade by ß-blockers is used in the management of hypertension and heart failure. Our research program aims to understand the mechanism of ß1-AR trafficking and its intracellular signaling in the heart. This research involves analysis of ß1-AR localization and trafficking in heart cells by confocal and STORM microscopies. We have identified a role of many proteins in regulating the trafficking and signaling of the ß1-AR and are now characterizing the translational potential of these protein on heart function in vivo and in vitro using state-of-the-art techniques. |
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| Matthew T. Ballo | Radiation Oncology | Professor & Chair | Basic Science Research | ||
| Sujoy Bhattacharya | Ophthalmology | Instructor | Basic Science Research | ||
| John Joseph Bissler | Pediatrics | Professor | Basic Science Research | ||
| Anna Bukiya | Pharmacology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | My research is focusing on lipid modulation of alcohol effect on cerebral arteries, starting from alcohol exposure in utero, and expanding into adulthood and elderly. Lipids of interest include cholesterol and cannabinoids, the latter are both endogenously produced and consumed with exposure to exogenous cannabis. With this general line in mind, I can provide training in basic lab techniques, such as immunofluorescence labeling of artery segments, western blotting, artery diameter measurements in vitro, cholesterol determination in the tissue biopsies, alcohol, and cannabinoid detection in the blood. | |
| Emmanuel Martial Camors | Pediatrics | Instructor | Basic Science Research | ||
| Edward Chaum | Ophthalmology | Professor | Basic Science Research | My laboratory has supported a robust portfolio of grants focused on understanding and quantifying many aspects of retinopathy (oxidative stress in the RPE, gene therapy for AMD, retinal image analysis and computer-based algorithms for remote diagnosis and management of diabetic retinopathy, drug trials for PVR, novel nano-platforms for research and discovery, retinopathy clinical outcomes studies including national clinical studies such as AREDS2, the EDIC/DCCT, and others). Our work focuses on translating novel concepts into new research tools and clinical medicine. | |
| Guoyun Chen | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | My laboratory is currently interested in dissecting the molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with the development of sepsis with the goal of developing novel therapeutic approaches for septic shock and improving outcomes of patients with severe sepsis. | |
| Hao Chen | Pharmacology | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | We are conducting a GWAS on socially acquired nicotine self-administration in rats. We are also studying the epigenetic mechanisms of nicotine intake. A third research program involves alcohol self-administration. We use 3D printing technology to manufacture behavioral testing devices. We are also working on large scale data analysis of the genomic data using deep neural networks (artificial intelligence). | |
| Hongsik Cho | Orthopaedic Surgery | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | Development of targeted delivery system using nanoparticles such as nano-sized immune liposomes. Establish the large animal models for arthritic joints in post-traumatic osteoarthritis(PTOA). Biological intervention to cure of traumatic osteoarthritis using adipose derived stem cells. | |
| Julio F. Codero-Morales | Physiology | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | My research is centered on understanding the functional basis of ion channels involved insomato sensation (human perception) and in the cardiovascular system. | |
| Stephania A. Cormier | Pediatrics | Professor | Basic Science Research | Early Initiators of Asthma, Neonatal/Infant Respiratory Immunology, Respiratory Tract Viral Infections, Inhalation Exposures and Host Defense, Genome-Environment Interactions in Airways Disease | |
| Harry S. Courtney | Medicine - Infectious Diseases | Professor | Basic Science Research | ||
| John V. Cox | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | We are currently investigating 2areas of research related to the pathogenesis associated with Chlamydia trachomatis genital tract infections in women. 1. We are using inbred strains of mice to identify host factors that contribute to pathology following genital tract infection with Chlamydia. 2. We are conducting high throughput screens to identify novel inhibitors that specifically block Chlamydia trachomatis growth without affecting the microbiome of the female genital tract. | |
| Mustafa K. Dabbous | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Basic Science Research | TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT IN INVASION AND METASTASIS: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Tumor invasion and Metastatic Spread; The role of Tumor: Stromal Interactions; Collagen lysis and matrix degradation; Tumor cell-derived motility factors; Tumor markers of metastasis. MATRIX ALTERATIONS IN PERIODONTAL DISEASES: The role of gingival and periodontal ligament fibroblasts in matrix alterations in periodontal diseases. | |
| John P. Devincenzo | Pediatrics | Professor | Basic Science Research | His research has focused on understanding the pathogenesis of Respiratory Syncytial virus directly in children and using this understanding to develop therapeutic and prevention strategies against this virus. | |
| Alejandro Dopico | Pharmacology | Professor & Chair | Basic Science Research | As a physician myself, I am convinced of the critical importance of providing basic science training to Medical Doctors and Clinicians. Accordingly, whether at UMass or UTHSC, I have continuously incorporated residents and medical students to our research enterprise. Our research focuses on determining the molecular mechanisms by which endogenous lipids (e.g., cholesterol, steroid hormones) and lipid-interacting drugs of misuse (e.g., alcohol) regulate ion channel function in cerebral vessels. This information is used to design new therapeutic agents for treating prevalent conditions in our community, such as alcohol intoxication, caffeine-alcohol abuse, cerebral vasospasm and stroke. | |
| Ioannis Dragatsis | Physiology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | My laboratory is interested in studying the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases using Huntington's Disease (HD) as a model system. | |
| Mohamad Elabiad | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | ||
| Husni Elbahesh | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Our research is focused on understanding interactions at the host-virus interface during influenza A virus and Zika virus infections. We combine animal model and tissue culture systems utilizing cellular and molecular biology approaches to define mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and disease progression during these viral infections. Our main objectives are to better understand 1) viral modulation of cellular signaling pathways for entry and replication; 2) viral evasion of host immune responses; 3) identifying biomarkers of disease severity and 4) development of novel host based antiviral therapeutics. | |
| Matthew Ennis | Anatomy & Neurobioloy | Professor & Chair | Basic Science Research | My primary interests are centered on the functional organization and physiological properties of neural networks involved in nociception/analgesia processing and the chemical senses (i.e., olfaction and gustation). Cutting across these research areas is a more general interest in the functional role of globally-projecting neuromodulator transmitter systems, such as norepinephrine and dopamine. My research utilizes an integrative, multidisciplinary approach combining tract tracing, immunocytochemistry, immediate early gene expression, molecular biology, optical imaging, electrophysiology and behavior to delineate cellular and circuit properties of functionally defined networks. The major current projects in my laboratory are: Regulation of Brainstem Opioid Analgesic Circuits; Synaptic Integration and Information Processing in the Olfactory Bulb; Integration in the Olfactory Bulb (OB)-Piriform Cortex (PC) Circuit | |
| Elizabeth Fitzpatrick | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Our research focuses on identifying the mechanisms that contribute to the development of aberrant immune responses in the lung in response to bacterial exposures. | |
| Raja Shekhar Gangaraju | Ophthalmology | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | My research program’s goal is to employ adult stem cells derived from adipose tissue for the treatment of retinal neuro-vascular pathology. We primarily utilize preclinical in vitro and in vivo models to investigate the potential of our findings for clinical translation, with the long-term goal of advancing clinical management of Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and Age-related macular degeneration. | |
| Ivan C. Gerling | Medicine - Endocrinology | Professor | Basic Science Research | Our lab studies the process of autoimmune (type 1) diabetes in human tissues obtained from organ donors. We collect comprehensive gene expression profiles for the islets of Langerhans to identify what is different in islets of those with high/low probability of developing diabetes or who are in the early/late stages of developing the diseases. Multiple different analysis and data mining approaches are used to gain new insights into the disease processes active a different stages. | |
| Maria Gomes-Solecki | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | My research interests arise from milestone-driven fundamental research where I am inspired to make basic discoveries in the laboratory and apply them to alleviate human disease. Walking the line between academia and industry I pursue basic research at the University funded through the NIH RO1 and UO1 mechanisms and when applicable translate these discoveries into vaccines and diagnostics against infectious diseases funded through the NIH SBIR program. | |
| Weikuan Gu | Orthopaedic Surgery | Professor | Basic Science Research | We will design the project for a clinical fellow based on the research of interests because my lab is currently working on a variety of fields. First of all, my lab has collected genomic and clinical data from patients of moya moya disease (one type of stroke), arthritis, and scleroderma. Secondly, we analyzed the gender differences in response to drug treatment on patients of lung and esophageal cancer. We also analyzed the sex difference of the drug target, Egfr, for the cancer drug design. In addition, we studied the efficacy of new drugs, Conbercept versus Ranibizumab for the treatment of Age-related macular degeneration and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. We currently have two mouse models, one for arthritis and the other for vitamin C deficiency. | |
| Kristin Marie Hamre | Anatomy & Neurobiology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | ||
| Joan C. Han | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Our Pediatric Obesity Program offers opportunities for clinical fellows to conduct basic science studies in mice with obesity-related gene defects, clinical research studies in children with obesity receiving care in the Healthy Lifestyle Clinic, a multidisciplinary weight management clinic (genetic and environmental predictors of metabolic health), and family-based interventions in the community for obesity prevention and treatment (diabetes prevention program, health assessments, and culinary medicine). | |
| Marcia Honig | Anatomy & Neurobioloy | Professor | Basic Science Research | The research in my laboratory is focused on examining the behavioral consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the associated pathological changes, through the use of a mouse model. We create the injury by delivering a high-pressure air blast to a restricted part of one side of the cranium, after anesthetizing and stabilizing the mouse to restrict its movement and shielding the rest of the head and the entire body from the blast. In terms of the biomechanical forces produced by the air blast, the functional deficits exhibited by the mice, and the widespread axonal injury later observed with histological analysis, our model very much mimics the mild TBI (i.e. concussion) sustained by humans during traumatic incidents such as sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and falls, where the skull remains intact. Accompanying the initial axonal injury, microglia become activated and the ensuing neuro-inflammation contributes to further pathogenesis. | |
| Roderick T. Hori | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | We are examining the role of UBTF, a transcription factor, in an undiagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder. This project involves characterizing the effect of a pathologic point mutation on the ability of UBTF to activate transcription, bind DNA and effect nuclear morphology. There are also collaborative mouse experiments involving behavioral phenotyping. We also have ChIP-Seq data examining differential DNA-binding of regulatory proteins in malignant cancer versus benign/normal tissue. This would be suitable for someone who already has bioinformatics experience. | |
| Monica Jablonski | Ophthalmology | Professor | Basic Science Research | We are evaluating a small molecule as a therapy for atrophic age related macular degeneration. This involves clinical assessment of the eye before and after treatment. We are also identifying novel genetic modifiers of phenotypes associated with glaucoma such as intraocular pressure and optic nerve damage. These studies also involve clinical assessment of the eye and systems genetics analyses. | |
| Byron Jones | Genetics, Genomics, & Informatics | Professor | Basic Science Research | Presently, I have three major projects underway. The first examines the effect of chronic mild stress on alcohol consumption in 40 recombinant inbred mouse strains. The second is a study of the toxic genetics of parquet on neurotoxicity in 40 recombinant inbred mouse strains. The third is a study of individual differences insusceptibility to Gulf War illness in a mouse model. | |
| Ying Kong | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | My laboratory has been working on screening for M. tuberculosis genes important for cell entry and intracellular survival. We have identified a critical gene of M. tuberculosis for intracellular survival. We are investigating the function of the gene and detailed mechanism of it in bacterial intracellular survival. Our other research area is to screen for anti-tuberculosis chemicals from Chinese herbal medicine extracts and aurora analogues. We have tested growth inhibitory effect of 90 aurora analogues and 130 herbal extracts in Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture, and identified 3 aurora analogues and 9herbal extracts having inhibitory effects on Mtb growth. We will continue working on MICs, cytotoxicity, and in vivo efficacies of these selected compound sand extracts. | |
| Petros Konofaos | Plastic Surgery | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | Nerve regeneration and Craniofacial bone growth | |
| Michael C. Levin | Neurology | Professor | Basic Science Research | Multiple Sclerosis, HTLV-1associated neurologic diseases, HTLV-1 associated neurologic diseases, Autoimmunity, Autoantibodies, Ribonucleic proteins | |
| Kui Li | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Basic Science Research | Pathogenesis of hepatitis C, innate immunity to viral infections | |
| Francesca-Fang Liao | Pharmacology | Professor | Basic Science Research | My laboratory has focused on studying molecular and cellular mechanism of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease using mouse models. We pay special attention to those metabolic risk factors. | |
| Yi Lu | Pathology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Viral-based gene therapy for prostate cancer. Study of p16-mediated down regulation of VEGF and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Screen and selection of anti-HIF-1alpha small molecular compounds for treatment of breast cancer. | |
| Salvatore Mancarella |
Physiology |
Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | We investigate cellular signals that regulate the functions of the heart. In particular, our research focuses on the study of calcium micro-domains and how their perturbation in cardiac muscle and smooth muscle often results in cardiac and vascular wall diseases, leading cause of death in the modern world. We employ high definition confocal microscopy, electrophysiology, and isolated heart technique. We also use animal models of cardiovascular diseases to mimic the human disease process and the calcium signal disarray that undermine such disease in order to explore new therapeutic strategies against cardiovascular disorders. | |
| Tony N. Marion | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Basic Science Research | Immune Tolerance in Anti-DNA Transgenic Lupus-Prone Mice, Racial Difference in HCV-Host Interactions and Response to Therapy | |
| Mark A. Miller | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | My primary research interest for the past 15 years has been to gain an understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms used by bacterial pathogens. Over the past several years I have I added to that focus an interest in understanding the response(s) of the host to bacterial pathogenic challenge and to define the interplay between the host and the bacterium. | |
| Susan Amy Miranda | Orthopaedic Surgery | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | Osteoporosis is a significant public health concern that affects over 10 million people in the United States. Estrogens are important in the development of bone and maintenance of bone mineral density in both men and women. It has been known for a long time that estrogens are necessary for strong bones, but little is known about their mechanism of action in bone cells. In particular, we are lacking the knowledge of which genes are regulated in each bone cell type. The goal of the Miranda Lab is to understand the mechanism of action of estrogens in bone cells, especially focusing on the genes regulated by estrogens in osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Understanding the molecular biology of estrogens in bone is critical to preventing and/or treating osteoporosis. | |
| Gustavo Miranda-Carboni | Medicine - Hematology | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | I carried out genome-wide gene expression and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-on-chip) experiments with a focus on tissue-specific gene regulation in breast, and bone in Wnt-signaling and ERα-signaling. I have expertise in cellular, developmental and molecular immunology, gene therapy, bone and mammary gland development, oncogenesis, genome-wide gene expression and cancer stem cells. This expertise uniquely allows my group to conduct multidisciplinary research in the complex tumor microenvironment of breast cancer. I have extended my expertise to develop a mouse translational model for human Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) and Patient Derived Xenograft (PDX) with the hope to develop therapeutics against visceral lung metastasis. I have extensive experience with xenograft tumor biology for both mouse and human modeling that develop lung metastasis. Additionally, I have the expertise to image tumors in vivo and characterize their metabolic signature using state-of-the-art imaging technologies and translational biomarker discovery from mice to humans. | |
| Khyobeni Mozhui | Preventive Medicine | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | My overarching research interest is to understand how multiple genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors interact to define complex traits. | |
| Megan K. Mulligan | Genetics, Genomics, & Informatics | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | The goal of my research is to use a holistic systems approach, including genetic models, new molecular biology tools, and diverse bioinformatics resources in order to identify mechanisms by which genetic and environmental variation influence DNA modification, gene and protein expression, and neuronal function to modulate complex behavior and disease states. | |
| Satoru Kenneth Nishimoto | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Basic Science Research | The mechanism of action and function of Osteocalcin, a vitamin K-dependent bone hormone that regulates energy metabolism; how Osteocalcin interacts with the G-protein coupled receptor GPRC6A to activate signal transduction pathways in beta cells of the pancreas, liver cells, muscle and fat cells. | |
| Thaddeus S. Nowak, Jr. | Neurology | Professor | Basic Science Research | Investigations generally focus on the study of brain injury after ischemic insults in animal models. A past interest in selective neuron vulnerability after brief global ischemia has shifted to a recent emphasis on focal brain ischemia (experimental stroke). One area of current research examines protective effects of brain cooling. Recent evidence indicates the particular benefit of temperature reduction at the time of recirculation following transient ischemia, suggesting its potential therapeutic relevance in the context of "reperfusion injury." As a practical spin-off of these studies, the widely used approach to producing experimental stroke by intraluminal filament occlusion has been refined to avoid confounding effects on temperature regulation. A second research focus examines endogenous defense mechanisms activated following prior insults (preconditioning). Although widespread changes in gene expression occur in response to preconditioning insults, ongoing studies indicate that such protection in focal ischemia models arises via synergistic effects on the fundamental parameters of brain blood flow and metabolism. This has led to a new interest in vascular regulation and its response to brain injury. | |
| Divya Rana | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Pain and sedation in newborns: Routine use is opioids or benzodiazepines in sick newborns.
Implementation of guidelines. Judicious use of opioids and sedatives leading to decrease
in ICU stay, mechanical ventilation and parental nutrition. Neonatal abstinence syndrome:
study of bedside aEEG(amplitude integrated EEG) in NAS infants. NAS treatment guidelines:
assessment of current treatment strategies and implementation of newer therapy modalities.
Statewide NAS collaborative effort: prospective data collection on NAS infants and
mother dyads. Prospective study of maternal substance abuse and infant outcomes. Novel whole body massage techniques for NAS infants. Phlebotomy and PRBC utilization in term and preterm infants admitted to NICU. |
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| Radhakrishna Rao | Physiology | Professor | Basic Science Research | The focus of research interests in my laboratory is the regulation of epithelial tight junctions and cell-cell adhesion by intracellular signaling pathways. | |
| Amali E. Samarasinghe | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Our long term goal is to understand the pathogenesis of respiratory infections in the allergic host to develop novel therapeutics to enhance immunity. Current projects: 1.Determine the contribution of eosinophils in host immunity against common respiratory pathogens. 2. Determine the impact of defensins in altering immune responses to influenza infections. 3. Determine the pathogenesis of bacterial superinfections in allergic hosts recovering from influenza. | ||
| Guy Leland Reed III | Medicine - Internal Medicine | Professor & Chair | Basic Science Research | ||
| Anton J. Reiner | Anatomy & Neurobiology | Professor | Basic Science Research | The work in our laboratory focuses on the organization, function, and diseases of the basal ganglia and eye. We have also recently begun to develop a mouse model of traumatic brain injury, to develop treatments for the adverse outcomes from traumatic brain injury. Finally, we also have a longstanding interest in the evolution and fundamental organization of the vertebrate forebrain. | |
| Tiffany Seagroves | Pathology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Understanding the role of transcription factors in normal mammary gland development and in transgenic mouse models of breast cancer, particularly the oxygen-sensitive Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1alpha protein. Our laboratory focuses on primary cell culture, culture of cells on extracellular matrix substrata, DNA/RNA/protein extraction from normal mammary gland or mammary tumors, real-time PCR, immuno histochemistry and adenoviral/lentiviral transduction. | |
| Burt M. Sharp | Pharmacology | Professor | Basic Science Research | Neurobiology of stress-enhanced relapse to operant nicotine self-administration. Species: rat. Behavioral studies utilize operant nicotine self-administration. Stereotaxic brain surgery is done to micro infuse molecular constructs and place chronic guide cannula in specific brain regions. Brain function is modulated by activation of molecular constructs that regulate neuronal depolarization and affect behavioral responses. | |
| Solomon S. Solomon | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Professor Emeritus | Basic Science Research | I do both basic and clinical research on Diabetes, type 1 and 2. Most recently with clinical fellows i have been doing retrospective chart reviews , and have discovered the anti-cancer effect of the drug Metformin, for multiple cancer usually have a medical student paired with an Endocrine Fellow in at least 1 project per year. | |
| Jeffery D. Steketee | Pharmacology | Professor | Basic Science Research | Our lab studies the neuro-circuitry of drug addiction. Using behavioral, pharmacological and neurochemical techniques, we study the involvement of specific brain regions in the actions of stimulants (cocaine and amphetamine), inhalants (toluene), and ethanol. | |
| Donald B. Thomason | Physiology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | G-protein-coupled mechanism ofNa-K-2Cl cotransporter-mediated potassium uptake by skeletal muscle. | |
| Gabor Joseph Tigyi | Physiology | Professor | Basic Science Research | We are engaged in drug discovery research aimed at drugs that inhibit cancer metastasis and therapeutic resistance. | |
| Jack W. Tsao | Neurology | Professor | Basic Science Research | I have two areas of research-phantom limb pain following amputation and concussion. There are several research projects in each area active in my lab. | |
| Zhousheng Xiao | Medicine - Nephrology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | ||
| Jianfeng Xiao | Neurology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | My research focuses on human genetics of neurological diseases, genetics and molecular biology of dystonia, and animal models and cellular biology of dystonia. I have identified and characterized several dystonia genes in both human and rodent models, such as TOR1A, SGCE, Atcay, THAP1, CIZ1, GNAL, PRRT2, and TUBB4A. Our lab maintains world largest DNA, RNA, and cells repository of Dystonia and over 15 colonies of traditional and conditional knock-out or knock-in mice models. My work has shown that genetic factors do play an important role in the pathogenesis of adult-onset isolated dystonia. My studies on the rodent dystonia models provide strong evidence that the cerebellum plays an important role in the development of dystonia. Moreover, my 30 plus publications on pathological and gene expression studies strongly suggest that adult-onset dystonia may be a neurodegenerative disorder due to defects at the G1/S checkpoint of the cell cycle. My current researches concentrate on two NIH grants on molecular and cellular biology on dystonia mice models of Ciz1, Prrt2, and Ubtf, as well as whole EXOME sequencing on dystonia patients. | |
| Dahui You | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Basic Science Research | Viral immunology, Neonatal immunity, Respiratory viruses | |
| Nadeem I. Zafar | Pathology | Associate Professor | Basic Science Research | Colorectal Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Nanotechnology, Healthcare Disparity | |
| Tonny J.Oyana | Preventive Medicine | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Current Research Interests: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geographic Information Science, Geovisual Analytics, Visualization and Cartographic Design, Geography and Algorithms, Pattern Recognition, Environmental Health and Exposure, Spatial Epidemiology, and Spatial Analysis | |
| Kerry O. Cleveland | Medicine - Infectious Diseases | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Currently we are involved in ongoing projects related to histoplasmosis (epidemiology, alternative therapies, and high-risk groups) as well as any infectious diseases - or epidemiology-related clinical project. We also are involved in clinical drug trials. | |
| Sandra R. Arnold | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | I do clinical research in pediatric infectious diseases at le Bonheur children's hospital. I am already involved in mentoring fellows within my division but also in other divisions. | |
| James E. Bailey | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Develop and evaluate the SafeMed care transitions model, a program designed to simultaneously improve care and reduce costs for patients with complex chronic conditions experiencing frequent hospitalizations. His ongoing research focuses on the impact of health system organization and patterns of care on quality of care and health outcomes for people in medically underserved areas with multiple chronic conditions. He is particularly interested in primary care innovations, building multidisciplinary teams to address the needs of patients with obesity, diabetes, and multimorbidity, and health care delivery approaches that meet the triple aim of simultaneously improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing costs of health care. | |
| Matthew T. Ballo | Radiation Oncology | Professor & Chair | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Paras M. Bhattarai | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | I am leading the pediatric stroke program at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. We are part of International Pediatric Stroke Study. We do have a separate multidisciplinary stroke clinic. If someone is interested in clinical research, I am willing to become mentor. Additionally, if anyone is interested other areas of pediatric neurology other than pediatric stroke, I am willing too. | |
| John Joseph Bissler | Pediatrics | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Regan W. Bollig | Surgery | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Edward Chaum | Ophthalmology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | My laboratory has supported a robust portfolio of grants focused on understanding and quantifying many aspects of retinopathy (oxidative stress in the RPE, gene therapy for AMD,retinal image analysis and computer-based algorithms for remote diagnosis and management of diabetic retinopathy, drug trials for PVR, novel nanoplatforms for research and discovery, retinopathy clinical outcomes studies including national clinical studies such as AREDS2, the EDIC/DCCT, and others). Our work focuses on translating novel concepts into new research tools and clinical medicine. | |
| Mark R. Corkins | Pediatrics | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Dr. Corkins is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, specifically specialized nutrition support, malnutrition and probiotics. | |
| Narendra R. Dereddy | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| John P. Devincenzo | Pediatrics | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | His research has focused on understanding the pathogenesis of Respiratory Syncytial virus directly in children and using this understanding to develop therapeutic and prevention strategies against this virus. | |
| Mohamad Elabiad | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| James W. Eubanks | Surgery | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Pediatric Trauma, Chest Wall Abnormalities, Foregut Anomalies, Minimally Invasive Surgery | |
| James C. Fleming | Ophthalmology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Luis Martin Gomez Carbajal | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | My areas of interest relate to high risk pregnancy or pregnancy complications: maternal and fetal infections (HIV, hepatitis, CMV, etc.), cardiovascular disease, thromboembolic disease, preterm labor, malignancy, solid organ transplant, fetal skeletal dysplasias, placental accretism and other disorders, invasive procedures such as amniocentesis, CVS, cerclage | |
| Joan C. Han | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Our Pediatric Obesity Program offers opportunities for clinical fellows to conduct basic science studies in mice with obesity-related gene defects, clinical research studies in children with obesity receiving care in the Healthy Lifestyle Clinic, a multidisciplinary weight management clinic (genetic and environmental predictors of metabolic health), and family-based interventions in the community for obesity prevention and treatment (diabetes prevention program, health assessments, and culinary medicine). | |
| Marion E. Hare | Preventive Medicine | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | I am currently working on a weight loss intervention in the Air Force and a gestational weight gain/post-partum weight loss intervention - also in Air Force personnel. I am not sure either is suitable for Clinical Fellows at this time. My research interests also include childhood obesity, literacy, breast-feeding promotion and early brain development. As projects develop I am optimistic there could be a place for Clinical Fellows. | |
| William L. Hickerson | Plastic Surgery | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Colin W. Howden | Medicine - Gastroenterology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Clinical gastroenterology Acid peptic disorders Peptic ulcer disease Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection Dyspepsia and functional dyspepsia Clinical pharmacology of gastrointestinal disorders Functional gastrointestinal disorders Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Upper gastrointestinal bleeding Acid-suppressing drugs | |
| Eunice Yuee-Dean Huang | Surgery | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Hirschsprung's Disease Anorectal Malformation Intestinal Rehabilitation Bioinformatics in Clinical Research | |
| Timothy Jancelewicz | Surgery | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Neonatal surgery, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, surgical outcomes | |
| Vijaya M. Joshi | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Christopher J. Knott-Craig | Surgery | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Christopher M. Waters | Physiology | Professor & Vice Chair | Dr. Waters’ lab focuses on two main areas: 1) acute lung injury, and 2) asthma. Studies on acute lung injury are examining the mechanisms by which mechanical forces and reactive oxygen species promote injury (such as in ventilator-induced lung injury), stimulate inflammation, or inhibit repair (wound healing of lung epithelial cells).Both in vitro cell culture and in vivo animal models are used to investigate lung injury, cell migration and wound healing, focal adhesion kinase, chemokine, and Rho GTPase signaling, cytoskeletal remodeling, stimulation of reactive oxygen species, and regional variations in cellular tension. Studies focusing on asthma are examining how remodeling and changes in mechanical stresses in the airways alters airway smooth muscle cell phenotype and function. | ||
| Petros Konofaos | Plastic Surgery | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Nerve regeneration and Craniofacial bone growth | |
| Santosh K. Koshy | Medicine - Cardiology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Julio Alberto Lanfranco | Medicine - Pulmonary | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Pulmonary arterial hypertension Sarcoidosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension Burn patients and critical care illness |
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| Max R. Langham | Surgery | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | NSQIP, Liver Tumors, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, General, non-cardiac thoracic and hepatobiliary surgery in children | |
| Dukhee Lew | Pediatrics | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | My research interest is in biomarkers and genetic factors of severe childhood asthma and intervention strategies. | |
| Jay A. Lieberman | Pediatrics |
Assistant Professor |
Prospective Patient Studies | My research interests are mainly in food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and a little in primary immune deficiencies. I do clinical research mainly (epidemiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic trials). | |
| Marc Malkoff | Neurology | Professor & Vice Chair | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
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Michael Gary Martin |
Medicine - Hematology | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Debendra Pattanaik | Medicine - Rheumatology | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Allergy, Arthritis – Psoriatic and Rheumatoid, Asthma, Fibromyalgia, Hives (Urticarial), Immunology, Lupus, Osteoporosis, Rheumatic Diseases | |
| Rsnjit Raju Philip | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | The evaluation of pulse wave velocity (a method of evaluating endothelial function)
in children. Other major research interests are pulmonary hypertension in children and the preterm patent ductus arteriosus. |
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| Seyed Hasan Raza | Medicine - Rheumatology | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | SLE, RA, Spondyloarthropathy, Systemic Sclerosis, Inflammatory Myositis, Vasculitis | |
| Guy Leland Reed III | Medicine - Internal Medicine | Professor & Chair | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Shyam K. Sathanandam | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Nadeem I. Shafi | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Dr. Shafi’s research interest is in the field of spinal cord neuro-regeneration and repair. He has been involved with investigating how genetic modification of neural stem cells can augment their potential for repairing the traumatically injured spinal cord – work for which he was awarded the Pediatric Critical Care Scientist Development Program K12. Dr. Shafi’s clinical interests are in neuro-intensive care. | |
| Sridhar Shankar | Radiology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Akosua SinTim-Damoa | Radiology | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | My research interests include pediatric imaging, particularly pediatric musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary imaging. I am interested in using ultrasound in order to define pediatric pathology. I am also very interested in the imaging of pediatric ovarian and testicular torsion. I am also interested in the imaging of fetal abnormalities using both ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. | |
| Solomon S. Solomon | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Professor Emeritus | Prospective Patient Studies | I do both basic and clinical research on Diabetes, type 1 and 2. Most recently with clinical fellows, I have been doing retrospective chart reviews, and have discovered the anticancer effect of the drug Metformin, for multiple cancer usually have a medical student paired with an Endocrine Fellow in at least 1 project per year. | |
| Helmut O. Steinberg | Medicine - Endocrinology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | Diabetes and general endocrinology in hospital and out-patient setting, Management of chronic diseases, Behavioral determinants of successful glucose and risk factor control. Effect of macronutrients on markers of vascular function. Management of chronic diseases. | |
| Jack W. Tsao | Neurology | Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | I have two areas of research-phantom limb pain following amputation and concussion. There are several research projects in each area active in my lab. | |
| Gregory A. Vidal | Medicine - Hematology | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | I am involved in both clinical and translational research. I currently am funded for a translational project investigating the role of WNT pathway in triple negative breast cancer. This involves identifying patients in clinic, obtaining blood and tissue and performing lab based analysis for WNT bio-markers in blood and tissue. I also participate in phase I, II and III clinical research focused on drug development. These are pharmaceutical sponsored trial but, there are numerous projects resulting from these trials involving analysis of molecular profiles and outcomes that are of interest. | |
| Mark F. Weems | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | I have research projects looking for ways to use social media and electronic communication tools to communicate with NICU families. I also have interest in noninvasive ventilation for premature neonates and diaphragmatic hernia. | |
| John R. Whitworth | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Timothy Woods | Medicine - Cardiology | Associate Professor | Prospective Patient Studies | ||
| Bindiya Bagga | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Dr. Bagga is participating in clinical research projects studying clinical conditions that guide antibiotic usage in the hospital with a goal to minimize hospital wide use of broad spectrum and unwarranted antimicrobials. In addition, Dr. Bagga has an interest in studying the clinical course and epidemiological factors that drive common infectious diseases in our community, such as tuberculosis, disseminated histoplasmosis in renal transplant patients, infections and immunizations in children with chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and nephrotic syndrome. Dr. Bagga also supervises residents in developing QI initiatives to increase immunization rates of common vaccines, such as HPV. | |
| Louisa Balazs | Pathology | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Interested in the research and pathology of human malignancies as well as lung pathology and morphology of acute lung injury. Dr. Balazs is the pathologist member of the research group conducting investigations on the alleviation of acute hematopoietic and gastrointestinal radiation injury. | |
| Matthew T. Ballo | Radiation Oncology | Professor & Chair | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Vickie S. Baselski | Pathology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | My interests are rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases (emphasis on sexually transmitted and lower respiratory infections), evidence based laboratory practice guidelines for infectious disease diagnosis, and laboratory management metrics for benchmarking. | |
| Paras M. Bhattarai | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | I am leading the pediatric stroke program at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. We are part of International Pediatric Stroke Study. We do have a separate multidisciplinary stroke clinic. If someone is interested in clinical research, I am willing to become mentor. Additionally, if anyone is interested other areas of pediatric neurology other than pediatric stroke, I am willing too. | |
| John Joseph Bissler | Pediatrics | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Kerry O. Cleveland | Medicine - Infectious Diseases | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Currently we are involved in ongoing projects related to histoplasmosis (epidemiology, alternative therapies, high-risk groups) as well as any infectious diseases - or epidemiology-related clinical project. We also are involved in clinical drug trials. | |
| Harris L. Cohen | Radiology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | My areas of interest: Neonatal neuro-sonography Pediatric scrotum (testes) Pediatric ovary Perinatal CNS evaluation Pediatric elastography Ultrasound contrast agents and pediatric imaging. | |
| Mark R. Corkins | Pediatrics | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Dr. Corkins is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition,specifically specialized nutrition support, malnutrition and probiotics. | |
| Sarah L. Cross | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Narendra R. Dereddy | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| John P. Devincenzo | Pediatrics | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | His research has focused on understanding the pathogenesis of Respiratory Syncytial virus directly in children and using this understanding to develop therapeutic and prevention strategies against this virus. | |
| Alicia M. Diaz Thomas | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Current Research: NIH Grant 5U01DK085465-02. “Natural history study of the development of type 1 diabetes [protocol TN-01]”. Role: Affiliate Center PI NIH Grant HHSNZ67200800019C. | |
| Mohamad Elabiad | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| James W. Eubanks | Surgery | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Pediatric Trauma, Chest Wall Abnormalities, Foregut Anomalies, Minimally Invasive Surgery | |
| James C. Fleming | Ophthalmology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Richard I. Gray | Radiology |
Assistant Professor |
Retrospective Case Reviews | I study neuroradiology and its application in trauma and disease. I am currently beginning a project on the longitudinal effect of sickle cell on brain anatomy and have interests in blunt cerebrovascular trauma. | |
| Joan C. Han | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Our Pediatric Obesity Program offers opportunities for clinical fellows to conduct basic science studies in mice with obesity-related gene defects, clinical research studies in children with obesity receiving care in the Healthy Lifestyle Clinic, a multidisciplinary weight management clinic (genetic and environmental predictors of metabolic health), and family-based interventions in the community for obesity prevention and treatment (diabetes prevention program, health assessments, and culinary medicine). | |
| Marion E. Hare | Preventive Medicine | Associate Professor |
Retrospective Case Reviews |
I am currently working on a weight loss intervention in the Air Force and a gestational weight gain/post-partum weight loss intervention - also in Air Force personnel. I am not sure either is suitable for Clinical Fellows at this time. My research interests also include childhood obesity, literacy, breast-feeding promotion and early brain development. As projects develop I am optimistic there could be a place for Clinical Fellows. | |
| Rebecca A. Krukowski | Preventive Medicine | Assistant Professor |
Randomized Clinical Trials |
Behavioral weight control interventions; technology-based interventions; built food environment; gestational weight gain; self-monitoring; public health | |
| William L. Hickerson | Plastic Surgery | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
|
Colin W. Howden |
Medicine - Gastroenterology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Clinical gastroenterology Acidpeptic disorders Peptic ulcer disease Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection Dyspepsia and functional dyspepsia Clinical pharmacology of gastrointestinal disorders Functional gastrointestinal disorders Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Upper gastrointestinal bleeding Acid-suppressing drugs | |
|
Colin W. Howden |
Medicine - Gastroenterology | Professor | Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses | Clinical gastroenterology Acidpeptic disorders Peptic ulcer disease Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection Dyspepsia and functional dyspepsia Clinical pharmacology of gastrointestinal disorders Functional gastrointestinal disorders Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Upper gastrointestinal bleeding Acid-suppressing drugs | |
| Eunice Yuee-Dean Huang | Surgery | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Hirschsprung's Disease Anorectal Malformation Intestinal Rehabilitation Bioinformatics in Clinical Research | |
| Jason N. Johnson | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Dr. Johnson has focused his research interests on cardiovascular imaging of heart disease in children. He has published studies evaluating echocardiogram, cardiac CT, and cardiac MRI in many different disease processes. Currently he is involved in projects in patients with myocarditis, non-compaction cardiomyopathy, patent ductus arteriosus, and tetralogy of Fallot. | |
| Vijaya M. Joshi | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Petros Konofaos | Plastic Surgery | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Nerve regeneration and Craniofacial bone growth | |
| Santosh K. Koshy | Medicine - Cardiology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| TK S. Kumar | Surgery | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews |
Health informatics, outcome , policy, healthcare management, comparative effectiveness, evaluation of technology, telemedicine, e-Health, m-Health, global health, prevention, early detection, ophthalmology, nursing, home care, equity in health, rural and remote health, health policy, minority health. |
|
| Julio Alberto Lanfranco | Medicine - Pulmonary | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Pulmonary arterial hypertension Sarcoidosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension Burn patients and critical care illness |
|
| Max R. Langham | Surgery | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | NSQIP, Liver Tumors, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, General, non-cardiac thoracic and hepatobiliary surgery in children | |
| Max R. Langham | Surgery | Professor | Large Data Base | NSQIP, Liver Tumors, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, General, non-cardiac thoracic and hepatobiliary surgery in children | |
| Dukhee B. Lew | Pediatrics | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | My research interest is in biomarkers and genetic factors of severe childhood asthma and intervention strategies. | |
| Jay A. Lieberman | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | My research interests are mainly in food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and a little in primary immune deficiencies. I do clinical research mainly (epidemiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic trials). | |
| Debendra Pattanaik | Medicine - Rheumatology | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Allergy, Arthritis – Psoriatic and Rheumatoid, Asthma, Fibromyalgia, Hives (Urticaria), Immunology, Lupus,Osteoporosis, Rheumatic Diseases | |
| Rsnjit Raju Philip | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | The evaluation of pulse wave velocity (a method of evaluating endothelial function)
in children. Other major research interests are pulmonary hypertension in children and the preterm patent ductus arteriosus. |
|
| Eniko Pivnick | Pediatrics | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | My main interest is Neurofibromatosis type 1, neurocutaneous syndromes, genetic eye diseases, multiple congenital anomalies | |
| Seyed Hasan Raza | Medicine - Rheumatology | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | SLE, RA, Spondyloarthropathies,Systemic Sclerosis, Inflammatory Myositis, Vasculitis. | |
| Guy Leland Reed III | Medicine - Internal Medicine | Professor & Chair | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Preet K. Sandhu | Radiology | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Sanjaya K. Satapathy | Surgery | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Liver Diseases with special interest in NASH (Nonalcoholic steato-hepatitis), hepatitis C and portal hypertension, liver transplantation | |
| Ankur Seth | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews |
Active participation in several ongoing Meta-analysis and Systematic reviews in the
field of General Internal Medicine and its Subspecialties to develop and refine clinical
pathways and treatment modalities for common disease processes including hypertension,
diabetes, venous thromboembolism, Cardiovascular diseases, Cirrhosis, GI bleeding
and Rheumatologic disorders. |
|
| Nadeem I. Shafi | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Dr. Shafi’s research interest is in the field of spinal cord neuro-regeneration and repair. He has been involved with investigating how genetic modification of neural stem cells can augment their potential for repairing the traumatically injured spinal cord – work for which he was awarded the Pediatric Critical Care Scientist Development Program K12. Dr. Shafi’s clinical interests are in neuro-intensive care. | |
| Akosua SinTim-Damoa | Radiology | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | My research interests include pediatric imaging, particularly pediatric musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary imaging. I am interested in using ultrasound in order to define pediatric pathology. I am also very interested in the imaging of pediatric ovarian and testicular torsion. I am also interested in the imaging of fetal abnormalities using both ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. | |
| Saumini Srinivasan | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Research interests are in long term pulmonary complications from cancer therapies. | |
| Helmut O. Steinberg | Medicine - Endocrinology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Diabetes and general endocrinology in hospital and out-patient setting, Management of chronic diseases, Behavioral determinants of successful glucose and risk factor control. Effect of macronutrients on markers of vascular function. Management of chronic diseases. | |
| Ajay J. Talati | Pediatrics | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Neonatal Intensive Care unit with special interest in quality improvement, neonatal sepsiswee | |
| Jack W. Tsao | Neurology | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | I have two areas of research-phantom limb pain following amputation and concussion. There are several research projects in each area active in my lab. | |
| KIrtikumar Upadhyay | Surgery | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Dr. Upadhyay's research is focused on Group B Streptococcal pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions. In addition, Dr. Upadhyay has presented and published several clinical abstracts in regional, national and international conferences regarding resuscitation of extremely low birth weight neonates and congenital anomalies. | |
| Jason Michael Vanatta | Surgery | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Transplant related problems and outcomes in kidney and liver transplantation. | |
| Gregory A. Vida | Medicine - Hematology | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | I am involved in both clinical and translational research. I currently am funded for a translational project investigating the role of WNT pathway in triple negative breast cancer. This involves identifying patients in clinic, obtaining blood and tissue and performing lab based analysis for WNT bio-markers in blood and tissue. I also participate in phase I, II and III clinical research focused on drug development. These are pharmaceutical sponsored trial but, there are numerous projects resulting from these trials involving analysis of molecular profiles and outcomes that are of interest. | |
| Mark F. Weems | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | I have research projects looking for ways to use social media and electronic communication tools to communicate with NICU families. I also have interest in noninvasive ventilation for premature neonates and diaphragmatic hernia. | |
| John R. Whitworth | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Timothy Woods | Medicine - Cardiology | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| IIana Graetz Yonas | Preventive Medicine | Assistant Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | ||
| Nadeem I. Zafar | Pathology | Associate Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Colorectal Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Nanotechnology, Healthcare Disparity | |
| Paul Bryan Hill | Psychiatry | Assistant Professor | Clinical Case Research | Clinical psychiatry and geriatrics | |
| Tonny J.Oyana | Preventive Medicine | Professor | Retrospective Case Reviews | Current Research Interests: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geographic Information Science, Geovisual Analytics, Visualization and Cartographic Design, Geography and Algorithms, Pattern Recognition, Environmental Health and Exposure, Spatial Epidemiology, and Spatial Analysis | |
| Lorraine Albritton | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Transitional Research | My research is focused on adult cancer and autoimmune disease therapies. Current research projects are (1)re-purposing chemotherapy for metastatic melanoma using oncolytic viruses (in collaboration with Dr. M. Whitt), (2) transcriptome analysis of melanoma to identify a prognostic gene signature (in collaboration with Dr. M. Fleming),and (3) genetic engineering of autologous T cells for immunotherapy of the autoimmune disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, breast and pancreatic cancer using lentiviral vectors (in collaboration with Dr. M. Radic). Much of the work to date on these projects was performed by medical students in 10 weeks of the summer after their first year. Five students contributed sufficient data to the melanoma project and three students contributed sufficient data to the T cell project to earn authorship on publication of the work. Pending experiments are amenable to being completed in 10 - 12 weeks, including a two week training period in basic lab techniques. | |
| Terrance G. Cooper | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Nitrogen metabolism and its regulation in yeast TorC1 regulation in yeast Transcription factor regulation in yeast | ||
| Suleiman W. Bahouth | Pharmacology | Professor | Transitional Research | The beta-1-adrenergic receptor(ß1-AR) is a major GPCR involved in mediating the actions of catecholaminesin the heart. Activation of the ß1-AR increases heart rate and force of myocardial contractions and its blockade by ß-blockers is used in the management of hypertension and heart failure. Our research program aims to understand the mechanism of ß1-AR trafficking and its intracellular signaling in the heart. This research involves analysis of ß1-AR localization and trafficking in heart cells by confocal and STORM microscopies. We have identified a role of many proteins in regulating the trafficking and signaling of the ß1-AR and are now characterizing the translational potential of these protein on heart function in vivo and in vitro using state-of-the-art techniques. | |
| James E. Bailey | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Professor | Transitional Research | Develop and evaluate the SafeMed care transitions model, a program designed to simultaneously improve care and reduce costs for patients with complex chronic conditions experiencing frequent hospitalizations. His ongoing research focuses on the impact of health system organization and patterns of care on quality of care and health outcomes for people in medically underserved areas with multiple chronic conditions. He is particularly interested in primary care innovations, building multidisciplinary teams to address the needs of patients with obesity, diabetes, and multimorbidity, and health care delivery approaches that meet the triple aim of simultaneously improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing costs of health care. | |
| Matthew T. Ballo | Radiation Oncology | Professor & Chair | Transitional Research | ||
| Edward Chaum | Ophthalmology | Professor | Transitional Research | My laboratory has supported a robust portfolio of grants focused on understanding and quantifying many aspects of retinopathy (oxidative stress in the RPE, gene therapy for AMD,retinal image analysis and computer-based algorithms for remote diagnosis and management of diabetic retinopathy, drug trials for PVR, novel nanoplatforms for research and discovery, retinopathy clinical outcomes studies including national clinical studies such as AREDS2, the EDIC/DCCT, and others). Our work focuses on translating novel concepts into new research tools and clinical medicine. | |
| Kerry O. Cleveland | Medicine - Infectious Diseases | Professor | Transitional Research | Currently we are involved in ongoing projects related to histoplasmosis (epidemiology, alternative therapies, high-risk groups) as well as any infectious diseases - or epidemiology-related clinical project. We also are involved in clinical drug trials. | |
| Edward A. Park | Pharmacology | Professor | Historically, our work focused on the hormonal regulation of gene expression especially in the liver. We have a long standing interest in nuclear receptors, thyroid hormone, polyunsaturated fatty acids and insulin with respect to fatty liver and insulin resistance. Recently our lab has become interested in the role of secretory phospholipase in metabolic regulation. We are using mice to investigate how phospholipase alter appetite and metabolism. | ||
| Stephania A. Cormier | Pediatrics | Professor | Transitional Research | Early Initiators of Asthma,Neonatal/Infant Respiratory Immunology, Respiratory Tract Viral Infections,Inhalation Exposures and Host Defense, Genome-Environment Interactions in Airways Disease | |
| Samuel E. Dagogo-Jack | Medicine - Endocrinology | Professor | Transitional Research | Pathobiology of pre-diabetes in a bi-racial cohort. | |
| Robert Lowell Davis | Pediatrics | Professor | Transitional Research | I currently have an opening for a fellow interested in looking at the relationship between quality of care for children with chronic illnesses and school performance in later life. The conditions we are studying, in particular, include sickle cell anemia, asthma, and ADHD. | |
| Narendra R. Dereddy | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | ||
| John P. Devincenzo | Pediatrics | Professor | Transitional Research | His research has focused on understanding the pathogenesis of Respiratory Syncytial virus directly in children and using this understanding to develop therapeutic and prevention strategies against this virus. | |
| Alejandro Dopico | Pharmacology | Professor & Chair | Transitional Research | As a physician myself, I am convinced of the critical importance of providing basic science training to Medical Doctors and Clinicians. Accordingly, whether at UMass or UTHSC, I have continuously incorporated residents and medical students to our research enterprise. Our research focuses on determining the molecular mechanisms by which endogenous lipids (e.g., cholesterol, steroid hormones) and lipid-interacting drugs of misuse (e.g., alcohol) regulate ion channel function in cerebral vessels. This information is used to design new therapeutic agents for treating prevalent conditions in our community, such as alcohol intoxication, caffeine-alcohol abuse, cerebral vasospasm and stroke. | |
| Mohamad Elabiad | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | ||
| Elizabeth Fitzpatrick | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Our research focuses on identifying the mechanisms that contribute to the development of aberrant immune responses in the lung in response to bacterial exposures. | |
| James Patrick Ryan | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor & Assistant Dean | Education Research | I teach bacteriology, virology, and mycology, and serve as co-course director for COM 2052 and 2055. As dean I help develop the schedules for M1 and M2 courses and assist in room scheduling. | |
| James C. Fleming | Ophthalmology | Professor | Transitional Research | ||
| Inna P. Gladysheva | Medicine - Cardiology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Our research goal is to understand the biology and biochemistry of serine proteases, receptors and hormones which are involved in the regulation of natriuretic peptide system, and to evaluate their potential for diagnostic applications or rational drug-based therapies in particular for cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension, cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. | |
| Weikuan Gu | Orthopaedic Surgery | Professor | Transitional Research | We will design the project for a clinical fellow based on the research of interests because my lab is currently working on a variety of fields. First of all, my lab has collected genomic and clinical data from patients of moyamoya disease (one type of stroke),arthritis, and scleroderma. Secondly, we analyzed the gender differences in response to drug treatment on patients of lung and esophageal cancer. We also analyzed the sex difference of the drug target, Egfr, for the cancer drug design. In addition, we studied the efficacy of new drugs, Conbercept versus Ranibizumab for the treatment of Age-related macular degeneration and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. We currently have two mouse models, one for arthritis and the other for vitamin C deficiency. | |
| Ramareddy V. Guntaka | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Transitional Research | Organ Fibrosis is a major health problem. In our laboratory we developed a nucleic acid drug, targeting the type I collagen gene responsible for fibrosis. In a rat model, we could clearly demonstrate prevention of liver fibrosis and amelioration of liver function. We also work on another project related to the development of a preventive vaccine for Hepatitis C Virus. This involves construction of an epitope-derived antigen clone and expression in Pichia pastoris. Upon injection of this antigen into first animals, and later in humans, should protect the subjects from HCV infection. | |
| Joan C. Han | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Our Pediatric Obesity Program offers opportunities for clinical fellows to conduct basic science studies in mice with obesity-related gene defects, clinical research studies in children with obesity receiving care in the Healthy Lifestyle Clinic, a multidisciplinary weight management clinic (genetic and environmental predictors of metabolic health), and family-based interventions in the community for obesity prevention and treatment (diabetes prevention program, health assessments, and culinary medicine). | |
| Valerie P. Jameson | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Director of the Adolescent Rotation for the Pediatric and Med-Peds Residency Program | ||
| Marcia Honig | Anatomy & Neurobioloy | Professor | Transitional Research | The research in my laboratory is focused on examining the behavioral consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the associated pathological changes, through the use of a mouse model. We create the injury by delivering a high-pressure air blast to a restricted part of one side of the cranium, after anesthetizing and stabilizing the mouse to restrict its movement and shielding the rest of the head and the entire body from the blast. In terms of the biomechanical forces produced by the air blast, the functional deficits exhibited by the mice, and the widespread axonal injury later observed with histological analysis, our model very much mimics the mild TBI (i.e. concussion) sustained by humans during traumatic incidents such as sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and falls, where the skull remains intact. Accompanying the initial axonal injury, microglia become activated and the ensuing neuro-inflammation contributes to further pathogenesis. | |
| Dai KImura | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | He has served as the PI of randomized control study of steroid for pediatric early ARDS, and the site-PI of SPROUT (Sepsis Prevalence, Outcomes, and Therapies) study. Currently, he is conducting research projects associated with RSV and lung pathophysiology under the mentorship of Dr. Stephania Cormier. | |
| Ramesh K. M. Krishnan | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | I am primarily involved with clinical research on neonatal chronic lung disease and neonatal nutrition. I have worked with our neonatal fellows and residents on these areas of my interest. However, I do try to support and help out the students, residents and fellows in training based on their interests as well, if they have good ideas and passion to pursue it. I am currently engaged in nutritional quality outcomes research to improve the growth and developmental outcomes of our tiny babies. | |
| Dukhee B. Lew | Pediatrics | Professor | Transitional Research | My research interest is in biomarkers and genetic factors of severe childhood asthma and intervention strategies. | |
| Jay A. Lieberman | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | My research interests are mainly in food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and a little in primary immune deficiencies. I do clinical research mainly (epidemiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic trials). | |
| Jay A. Lieberman | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Clinical Trials | My research interests are mainly in food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and a little in primary immune deficiencies. I do clinical research mainly (epidemiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic trials). | |
| Melissa Ashley Little | Preventive Medicine | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | My primary research interest is in the design, evaluation and dissemination of evidence-based tobacco cessation programs. My secondary research interest is in the etiology of tobacco use in underserved populations, particularly the co-use of tobacco with other tobacco and nicotine containing products. | |
| Tony N. Marion | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Transitional Research | Immune Tolerance in Anti-DNA Transgenic Lupus-Prone Mice, Racial Difference in HCV-Host Interactions and Response to Therapy | |
| Gustavo Miranda-Carboni | Medicine - Hematology | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | I carried out genome-wide gene expression and chromatin immuno precipitation (ChIP-on-chip) experiments with a focus on tissue-specific gene regulation in breast, and bone in Wnt-signaling and ERα-signaling. I have expertise in cellular, developmental and molecular immunology, gene therapy, bone and mammary gland development, oncogenesis, genome-wide gene expression and cancer stem cells. This expertise uniquely allows my group to conduct multidisciplinary research in the complex tumor microenvironment of breast cancer. I have extended my expertise to develop a mouse translational model for human Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) and Patient Derived Xenograft (PDX) with the hope to develop therapeutics against visceral lung metastasis. I have extensive experience with xenograft tumor biology for both mouse and human modeling that develop lung metastasis. Additionally, I have the expertise to image tumors in vivo and characterize their metabolic signature using state-of-the-art imaging technologies and translational biomarker discovery from mice to humans. | |
| Miklos Molnar | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Medical Resident | Transitional Research | Dr. Molnar’s research interests are centered on epidemiology and outcomes, sleep disorders, traditional and non-traditional risk factors, metabolic abnormalities, race-ethnicity, and bone and mineral disorders in kidney transplant recipients. He is Principal Investigator on several studies and federal grant in these areas. He has published his research in over 125 peer-reviewed articles, as well as numerous abstracts and book chapters. | |
| Khyobeni Mozhui | Preventive Medicine | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | My overarching research interest is to understand how multiple genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors interact to define complex traits. | |
|
Ramesh Narayanan |
Medicine - Hematology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Our lab's focus is on the role of androgen receptor (AR) in prostate and breast cancers. We have developed a new set of drugs that degrade the AR that could be used to treat advanced prostate cancers. We are also evaluating the MOA of these drugs and the AR in these cancers. | |
|
Yan Cui |
Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Associate Professor |
|
Basic Science Research | My research field is computational biology. I am interested in statistical modeling of biological systems using large-scale omics data. We work on genetic network modeling and deep learning algorithms for genomic data analysis. We also develop web databases and software for analyzing the phenotypic effects of genetic and somatic mutations in microRNAs and their target sites. |
| Debendra Pattanaik | Medicine - Rheumatology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Allergy, Arthritis – Psoriatic and Rheumatoid, Asthma, Fibromyalgia, Hives (Urticaria), Immunology, Lupus,Osteoporosis, Rheumatic Diseases | |
| Lawrence M. Pfeffer | Pathology | Professor | Transitional Research | Dr. Pfeffer researches an anticancer drug called interferon, which is an important component of the host response to various insults. | |
| Hari Hara S K Potula | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | Dr. Pfeffer researches an anticancer drug called interferon, which is an important component of the host response to various insults. | |
| Tayebeh Pourmotabbed | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor | Transitional Research | ||
| Guy Leland Reed III | Medicine - Internal Medicine | Professor & Chair | Transitional Research | ||
| Lawrence T. Reiter | Neurology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Stem cell models and Drosophila models of human neurogenic disorders. Focus on autism and epilepsy. | |
| Shyam K. Sathanandam | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | ||
| Tiffany Seagroves | Pathology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Understanding the role of transcription factors in normal mammary gland development and in transgenic mouse models of breast cancer, particularly the oxygen-sensitive Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1alpha protein. Our laboratory focuses on primary cell culture, culture of cells on extracellular matrix substrata, DNA/RNA/protein extraction from normal mammary gland or mammary tumors, real-time PCR, immuno histochemistry and adenoviral/lentivirus transduction. | |
| Solomon S. Solomon | Medicine - General Internal Medicine | Professor Emeritus | Transitional Research | I do both basic and clinical research on Diabetes, type 1 and 2. Most recently with clinical fellows, I have been doing retrospective chart reviews , and have discovered the anticancer effect of the drug Metformin, for multiple cancer usually have a medical student paired with an Endocrine Fellow in at least 1 project per year. | |
| Thomas Spentzas | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Current Research Projects involved: 1. Spentzas T, Chaum E - Study of the Correlation of Intraocular and Intracranial Pressure in Children with Severe Head Injuries – IRB-approved 8397 on progress. | |
| Helmut O. Steinberg | Medicine - Endocrinology | Professor | Transitional Research | Diabetes and general endocrinology in hospital and out-patient setting, Management of chronic diseases, Behavioral determinants of successful glucose and risk factor control. Effect of macronutrients on markers of vascular function. Management of chronic diseases. | |
| Jack W. Tsao | Neurology | Professor | Transitional Research | I have two areas of research-phantom limb pain following amputation and concussion. There are several research projects in each area active in my lab. | |
| Gregory A. Vida | Medicine - Hematology | Assistant Professor | Transitional Research | I am involved in both clinical and translational research. I currently am funded for a translational project investigating the role of WNT pathway in triple negative breast cancer. This involves identifying patients in clinic,obtaining blood and tissue and performing lab based analysis for WNT bio-markers in blood and tissue. I also participate in phase I, II and III clinical research focused on drug development. These are pharmaceutical sponsored trial but, there are numerous projects resulting from these trials involving analysis of molecular profiles and outcomes that are of interest. | |
| Michael A. Whitt | Medicine - Microbiology, Immunology, & Biochemistry | Professor & Chair | Transitional Research | I am a molecular virologist by training and my one of the projects in my lab involves the use of an enveloped RNA virus called vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) as an on colytic agent to treat cancer. Recently we developed a strategy to break the inherent resistance of melanoma to chemotherapeutic agents by expressing a protein from VSV that down regulates melanogenesis and increases the sensitivity of melanoma to approved chemotherapeutic drugs (Kansal et al, Oncotarget 2016,PMID: 27028866). We are also developing methods to target VSV to somatostatin receptors over expressed on tumor cells. Opportunities to move this towards clinical development are available. | |
| Zhaohui Wu | Pathology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | DNA damage response, cancer therapeutic resistance, metastasis, non-coding RNAs, gene transcription, signaling transduction | |
| Zhousheng Xiao | Medicine - Nephrology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | ||
| Nadeem I. Zafar | Pathology | Associate Professor | Transitional Research | Colorectal Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Nanotechnology, Healthcare Disparity | |
| Oguz Akbligic | Pediatrics | Assistant Professor | Statistical Modeling | Predictive Modeling, Data Mining, Neural Networks, Statistics, Classification, Prediction, Clustering, Clinical Informatics, Clinical Decision Support Systems | |
| Barry Michael Wall | Medicine - Nephrology | Professor | Observational Studies with Csaba Kovesdy | ||
| William M. Novick | Surgery | Professor | Transitional Research | Pulmonary hypertension in children with congenital heart defects. Clinical and Financial Impact on developing countries with little or no pediatric heart care and how to improve these problems. Alternatives to Right Ventricular to pulmonary artery connections in children requiring RV/PA conduits. Reducing morbidity and mortality in congenital heart surgery in programs in developing countries. Empowering nurses in pediatric cardiac care in developing countries. Implementing Safe Surgery checklists and protocols for pediatric cardiac surgery programs in developing countries. Remote educational options for pediatric cardiac healthcare professionals in developing countries. | |
| Christie F. Michael | Pediatrics | Associate Professor | Healthcare Delivery Innovation |