Faculty Research

The long-term research in the Beranova and Giorgianni laboratory focuses on the application of high-end biological mass spectrometry and bioinformatics technologies for qualitative and quantitative characterization of complex biological systems in health and disease. The laboratory houses a state-of-the-art high-resolution LC-MS/MS instrument (Waters Synapt G2-Si) and advanced bioinformatics tools. Our team is currently applying targeted and global-scale strategies to examination of the effects of oxidative stress on the molecular machinery in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The main goal of this research is to bring new mechanistic insights into RPE dysfunction in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and to identify new targets to be exploited for development of therapeutic interventions to halt disease progression. Furthermore, we contribute expertise in biological mass spectrometry and proteomics to multidisciplinary collaborations with researchers at UTHSC.

Daniel Mohr Collier, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
daniel-collier@uthsc.edu 

The Collier Lab focuses on studying the molecular physiology of Hypertension. Hypertension is defined as having blood pressure greater than 130/80. It is considered the top risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke, which are the leading causes of death in the United States. Hypertension is often linked to impaired vasodilation, which is a key contributor to its development. The endothelium, the cells that form the inner lining of arteries, regulates vasodilation through various ion channels and receptors present in the endothelial cells. The Collier Lab is researching the role of ion channels in vascular endothelium using state-of-the-art 4D microscopy, genetically encoded biosensors, and various biochemistry, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and vascular biology techniques. The primary goal of the lab's research is to provide new insights into therapeutic strategies to reduce the impact of hypertension on cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cognitive disorders.

Ted Cory, PharmD, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science
tcory1@uthsc.edu

The Cory laboratory aims to enhance the effectiveness of HIV treatment by investigating techniques to increase drug concentrations in areas where drug concentrations may be insufficient to stop HIV replication, including the brain, lymph nodes, and secondary lymphoid tissues. Macrophages, which exist in two dissimilar subsets, play an important role in HIV infection and interact with host cells in lymph nodes and secondary lymphoid tissue. The Cory lab aims to define the mechanisms by which intracellular antiretroviral concentrations are altered in macrophage subsets and its effect on viral replication and spread. They focus on developing strategies to modulate the expression and function of drug transporters on macrophages. The lab is also investigating ways to increase drug concentrations in the presence of drugs of abuse, such as nicotine and alcohol, which are commonly used in HIV+ individuals and associated with worsened outcomes.

Jarrod Fortwendel, PhD
Professor
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science
jfortwen@uthsc.edu

Jarrod Fortwendel's laboratory is dedicated to studying host-pathogen interactions during invasive and chronic fungal diseases, molecular mechanisms of Aspergillus fumigatus pathogenic fitness, and mechanisms of triazole antifungal resistance in Aspergillus species.

Aspergillus fumigatus is a common cause of fungal infection in people with weakened immune systems. These invasive Aspergillus infections cost up to $1 billion annually in the US. Aspergillus can also cause chronic, non-invasive infections in non-immunosuppressed patients. Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CPA), an inflammatory disease, is a major but under-recognized disease that is diagnosed using new criteria. There are very few treatment options available for aspergilloses, and resistance to the triazole class of antifungals, which is the major class with anti-Aspergillus activity, is increasing. Despite over a decade of research into the emerging threat of triazole resistance in A. fumigatus, effective strategies for preventing or circumventing this phenomenon remain elusive.

Maxwell Gyamfi, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
mgyamfi@uthsc.edu 

The major goals Dr. Gyamfi’s research are 1) to define the broadly diverse in vivo functions of mouse and human xenobiotic nuclear receptor pregnane X receptor (PXR) genes, 2) to dissect the molecular mechanisms responsible for the sex and ethnic disparities in obesity, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and alcoholic liver disease (ALD), and 3) to investigate the effect of environmental chemical exposure on high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Cameron Hole, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science
chole@uthsc.edu

Dr. Hole’s work primarily focuses on the optimistic fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. C. neoformans is the most common disseminated fungal pathogen in AIDS patients, with an estimated quarter million cases of cryptococcal meningitis each year resulting in ~200,000 deaths and remains the third most common invasive fungal infection in organ transplant recipients. Current antifungal therapy is hampered by toxicity and/or the inability of the host’s immune system to aid in the resolution of the disease; treatment is further limited by drug cost and availability in the resource-limited settings where this disease is rampant. Even with appropriate therapy, one-third of patients with cryptococcal meningitis will undergo mycologic and/or clinical failure. Patients who do recover can be left with profound neurological sequelae, highlighting the need for more effective diagnostics, therapies, and/or vaccines to combat cryptococcosis.

Jianxiong Jiang, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
jjiang18@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Jianxiong Jiang’s lab investigates neuroinflammation, neuronal injury, and behavioral impairment associated with neurological insults including seizures, strokes, and brain tumors. The lab also works to develop novel anti-inflammatory therapies that confer neuroprotection and reduce brain injury-associated co-morbidities. The lab uses various technologies, such as high-throughput screening, chemical genetics, CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi, time-locked video EEG, unbiased stereology, and behavioral tests, aiming to bridge the gap between basic biomedical research discoveries and clinical innovations.

Colleen B. Jonsson, PhD
Professor
College of Medcine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Biochemistry

The research in Dr. Colleen B. Jonsson’s lab focuses on ecology, evolution, and immune responses of hantaviruses, particularly in their natural rodent reservoir that are endemic in the Interior Atlantic Forest of Paraguay. The lab is also involved in the discovery of antivirals for Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), and Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV). The lab collaborates with other institutions to optimize lead quinazolinone series for non-GLP studies, define scale-up synthesis of the lead drug substance, and conduct nonclinical virology studies for evaluation of safety, efficacy, mechanism of action, target specificity, and drug resistance monitoring plan.

Santosh Kumar, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
ksantosh@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Santosh Kumar is a researcher who focuses on neuroHIV/neuroAIDS and its comorbidities. These include substance use disorders (SUD), neurological diseases, and coinfections. Although HIV is manageable, there is a rapid increase in complications related to neuroHIV-associated comorbidities, especially in aging populations. The high prevalence of neuroHIV/neuroAIDS is due to the viral reservoirs in brain cells and suboptimal therapeutic concentrations of antiretroviral drugs in the brain. This leads to persistent HIV replication in brain reservoirs, causing neuronal damage and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Kumar's goal is to understand the mechanisms of HIV and its related comorbidities to develop a novel treatment strategy for HIV-associated comorbidities. He is also working on discovering biosignatures that can predict HIV-associated comorbidities and aid in disease prediction.

Marie Dennis M Leo, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
mleo@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Leo's research is on signaling pathways controlling vascular ion channels expression and function in health and disease.

Glen Edwin Palmer, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science
gpalmer5@uthsc.edu

Dr. Glen Palmer's research aims to find new target proteins for developing more effective antifungal therapies. His lab is investigating new classes of antifungal agents targeting fungal vacuoles, fatty acid biosynthesis, and aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. They have developed high-throughput chemical screening assays, including a new type of target-based whole-cell screen, to identify compounds that target these cellular functions. This approach is expected to speed up the identification of pre-therapeutic leads with a defined mechanism of action. Dr. Palmer is optimistic about the potential of using yeast-based systems, which are amenable to high-throughput approaches, to find new pharmacotherapies that target human disease-related proteins. Fungal infections are a major health concern, and developing effective antifungal drugs is essential to reduce mortality rates.

Udai Singh, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
usingh1@uthsc.edu

Dr. Singh research interests are focused on 1) developing innovative therapeutic approaches to suppress autoimmune diseases by alternative medicine; 2) developing novel strategies to attenuate obesity and regulatory T cells (Tregs) expansion, and 3) developing innovative therapeutic approaches to suppress urinary bladder inflammation by chemokines.

Dr. Singh’s primary research interests include studying chemokines, autoimmune diseases, immunotherapy, and alternative medicine and investigating the causes and pathogenesis of human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and interstitial cystitis (IC). In addition, Dr. Singh is delving into the pathogenesis of obesity and its impact on T-cell homeostasis, macrophage polarization, and the differential expression of miRs in peripheral adipose tissue. His current emphasis is on employing regulatory T cells (Tregs) as therapeutics for diabetes, in both mice models and clinical patients.

Bhupesh Singla, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
bsingla@uthsc.edu

Research work in Dr. Singla’s lab focuses on identifying endogenous molecular factors and investigating the downstream signaling mechanisms that regulate lymphangiogenesis, lymphatic function, vascular cell phenotype, and their significance in developing various vascular pathologies. One area of research is investigating a potentially deleterious role of TSP1-CD47 signaling in the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic and occlusive vascular diseases. Another area of interest is defining the role of RSPO2-mediated signaling in the development of cardiovascular diseases. To address the key questions in cardiovascular biology, Dr. Singla’s lab utilizes a variety of innovative tools ranging from in vitro/ex-vivo cell-based assays, molecular biology techniques, various biochemical, imaging, functional, and cell biology assays to multiple genetically engineered mouse models and in vivo gene transfer.

Hao Chen, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
hchen55@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Hao Chen’s research mainly focuses on the design and synthesis of heterocyclic compounds, nucleic acids, peptides, and various drug conjugates, including antibody drug conjugates (ADC), small molecule drug conjugates (SMDC), and antibody fragment drug conjugates. (AFDC), and peptide-drug conjugates (PDC). Additionally, his work spans medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, and structure-based drug design with a focus on cancer research, immunity, inflammation, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease.

Kirk Hevener, PharmD, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
khevener@uthsc.edu 

The Hevener laboratory is dedicated to validating and characterizing selective, narrow-spectrum antibacterial targets, as well as identifying early-stage chemical probes. The lab’s research is focused on using their strengths in protein biochemistry, structural biology, computer-aided drug design, and rational drug design to target the bacterial FAS II pathway and bacterial type IA topoisomerases. The lab has expertise in a variety of disciplines, including infectious diseases, pharmacy, biochemistry, chemical biology, computer-aided drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, and structural biology.

Michio Kurosu, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
mkurosu@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Kurosu has a long-term interest in identifying new drug targets for bacterial infections and cancer chemotherapeutics. He has a broad background in organic chemistry / medicinal chemistry and protein chemistry, with special training and expertise in preclinical drug discovery (hit to lead). His research includes anticancer and antibacterial drug discoveries associated with Gram-negative bacteria, Mycobacterium spp., spore-forming bacteria (e.g., Clostridioides difficile), and solid cancers (e.g., pancreatic, breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers). As PIs on several NIH- and internally funded programs, he has studied essential enzymes for growth of Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and glycosyl transferases for drug discoveries of pancreatic and cervical cancers.

Duane D. Miller, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
dmiller@uthsc.edu

A Professor Emeritus at the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Miller's research interests include the design, synthesis and characterization of new drug molecules for mechanism based structure-activity relationships is the primary focus of our laboratory. One of the important areas of research is studying new drugs affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. Our laboratory is very interested in the design of drugs that are used to treat asthma, emphysema and obesity. Other areas of keen interest are drugs used to treat and diagnose prostate cancer and diabetic complications.

David N. Hayes, MD, MPH
Professor
College of Medicine, Department of Medicine - Hematology
Neil.Hayes@uthsc.edu

The Hayes Research Lab expertise is in bridging multidisciplinary clinical cancer care, clinical trials, translational cancer research, and model systems of cancer with a focus on aerodigestive tumors. In the lab, Hayes and his team use genetic and genomic techniques to identify molecular alterations in cancer, with the aim of discovering new patterns of clinically relevant disease. This involves discovering and validating biomarkers, as well as identifying germline and somatic variations in DNA and RNA structure and sequence. They also examine patterns of gene expression, protein expression, and the impact of environmental factors such as pathogens and toxic exposures.

Bob M. Moore II, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
bmoore@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Moore’s current research focuses on the development of novel agonists and inverse agonists of the cannabinoid receptor 2. Molecular modeling, synthetic chemistry, and pharmacological evaluation of new compounds from the core of his research group. In collaboration with experts in various human disease states, compounds developed in his lab are being tested for in vivo efficacy in protecting against acute kidney injury, neuroinflammation, colitis, and host graft responses. Additionally, his group collaborates with genetics researchers to study signaling pathways of the cannabinoid receptor 1 in the central nervous system.

Sudeshna Roy, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
roy@uthsc.edu 

SudeshnaRoy, Ph.D., and her research group, the Roy Laboratory, joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Memphis on August 1st. Dr. Roy and her team investigate critical gaps in research to solve major human health problems. She comes to UTHSC from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) School of Pharmacy, where she served as a tenured Associate Professor.

Through a multipronged strategy, Dr. Roy and the researchers in her lab principally pursue the discovery of new small molecule inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), with a focus on drug-resistant strains. Among other projects, the lab also explores development of new synthetic strategies to construct medically relevant fluorinated heterocycles. The research programs on tuberculosis and fluorinated heterocycles are supported through NIH grants.

Wei Li, PhD
UTHSC Distinguished Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
wli@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Li is currently a UTHSC Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), and the Director of UTHSC College of Pharmacy Drug Discovery Center. He is also the Founder and CSO of SEAK Therapeutics LLC, a UTHSC spin-off startup company focusing on developing small molecule therapeutic agents originally invented in his lab. His research focus is medicinal chemistry and small molecule drug discovery. 

More on Dr. Li’s research can be found on his lab webpage.

Chao-Yie Yang, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
cyang26@uthsc.edu 

The Yang lab is dedicated to discovering and developing chemical probes and targeted therapies for the treatment of cancers and immune-mediated diseases. In pursuit of this goal, the lab employs a combination of computational modeling techniques such as docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and bioinformatic analysis, as well as medicinal chemistry, biochemical/biophysical assays, and cell-based assays to develop compounds and study their effects on cellular pathways. The lab collaborates closely with other labs to carry out in vivo disease model studies. The lab primarily focuses on hematological malignancies. However, we also study solid tumors, including breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer, through collaborations. The lab is particularly interested in developing chemical probes and compounds to target and interrogate RNA splicing in cancers.

Bernd Meibohm, PhD, FCP, FAAPS
Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
bmeibohm@uthsc.edu

Dr. Bernd Meibohm’s research is focused on investigating the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of drugs with special emphasis on PK/PD-correlations. The goal of the research in Dr. Meibohm’s lab is to contribute to optimizing dosing regimens for increased efficacy and reduced toxicity and to modulate pharmacotherapy according to the needs of the individual patient. PK/PD modeling bridges the gap between dynamic dose-concentration relationships and static concentration-effect relationships of drugs. Combining information provided by pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics facilitates the description and prediction of the time course of drug effects that result from a certain dosing regimen. 

Dr. Meibohm’s scientific interests include bacterial and viral infectious diseases, pediatric pharmacotherapy and the application of quantitative modeling and simulation techniques in preclinical and clinical drug development, with specific focus on therapeutic proteins. 

Hassan Almoazen, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
halmoaze@uthsc.edu 

Dr. Almoazen is an expert in pediatric drug delivery systems. His laboratory is focused on training graduate students and post- doctorate fellows on translational and novel drug delivery systems. Trainees have designed microemulsion to deliver the iodide ion through the transdermal route to pediatrics with short bowel syndrome, prepared oral minitablets of solid dispersions to enhance the bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs, designed special sublingual films of poorly impermeable small molecules and developed two layers double compressed tablet to prevent teeth erosion in children and adults. 

Chalet Tan, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
ctan5@uthsc.edu

The research in our laboratory covers three areas: drug delivery, pharmacokinetics, and immunotherapy. We are particularly interested in developing inhalable liposomes for systemic delivery of biologics, for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancers.

Junling Wang, PhD
Professor and Vice Chair for Research
jwang26@uthsc.edu

Dr. Junling Wang has continuously concentrated on the following two research areas: (1) outcomes/economic evaluation of pharmaceutical products and services including medication therapy management; and (2) racial and ethnic disparities in the utilization of health services and prescription drugs. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Aging, Pharmacy Quality Alliance, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Pfizer Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, and the State of Tennessee. Dr. Wang has published over 100 research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her work has been cited by the federal government as a reason for federal policy reform for the Medicare eligibility criteria for medication therapy management services. She has also received recognition for her research, including the Nobuo Meade International Research Award and an Honorable Mention for Betty J. Cleckley Minority Issues Research Award from the American Public Health Association Aging and Public Health Section.