Cell & Molecular Biology
Training Program Faculty
The Program
Information for Current Trainees
CMB faculty have appointments in multiple departments and interdepartmental research programs across our campus. This draws together diverse researchers with common research interests in modern cell and molecular biology, providing an exciting and highly collaborative training environment for graduate students. The current CMB training faculty are listed below, along with their primary departmental affiliations and brief summaries of their research interests.
Milan K. Bagchi, Molecular & Integrative Physiology: Transcriptional regulation by steroid & thyroid hormone receptors; mechanisms of coactivators.
Andrew S. Belmont, Cell & Developmental Biology: Chromosome structure and nuclear architecture.
May R. Berenbaum, Entomology: Cytochrome P450-mediated detoxification of xenobiotics by insects.
Steven R. Blanke, Microbiology: Molecular and cellular mechanisms used by bacterial pathogens to modulate eukaryotic cells through the action of bacterial toxins.
William M. Brieher, Cell & Developmental Biology: Actin dynamics, cell motility and cell adhesion.
Isaac K. O. Cann, Animal Sciences: Mechanism of DNA replication and repair in Archaea; contribution of glycosyl hydrolases to energy acquisition in the gut and their potential for application in biofuel production.
Stephanie Ceman, Cell & Developmental Biology: Investigating how fragile X mental retardation protein (Fmrp) binds mRNAs, how its activities are regulated by post-translational modifications, how Fmrp is involved in vocal learning and regulation.
Jie Chen, Cell & Developmental Biology: Signal transduction mechanisms – in particular, those that respond to nutrient signals – that underlie fundamental cellular and developmental processes in mammals, including cell growth, myogenic differentiation, adipogenesis and metabolism.
Lin-Feng Chen, Biochemistry: Epigenetic regulation of NF-κB and the inflammatory diseases; role of NF-κB-mediated inflammatory response in gastric carcinogenesis by Helicobacter pylori.
Charles L. Cox, Pharmacology, Molecular & Integrative Physiology: Cellular mechanisms of synaptic transmission and plasticity, and of neuronal network activity associated with sensory processing as well as pathophysiological conditions including epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
John E. Cronan, Microbiology: Genetic and biochemical approaches to regulation of lipid metabolism; synthesis and attachment of biotin and lipoic acid.
Rutilio A. Fratti, Biochemistry: Mechanisms of membrane fusion, and how membrane composition regulates protein function.
Brian C. Freeman, Cell & Developmental Biology: Molecular chaperone mediated protein-DNA dynamics with a focus on events related to transcription and telomere protein systems.
Jeffrey F. Gardner, Microbiology: Mechanism of site-specific recombination by conjugative transposons using a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches.
Robert B. Gennis, Biochemistry: Structure/function relationships in respiratory oxidases.
John A. Gerlt, Biochemistry: Mechanistic enzymology. Discovery/prediction of the functions of unknown proteins/enzymes discovered in genome project.
Martha U. Gillette, Cell & Developmental Biology: Role of the actin cytoskeleton in plasticity of circadian rhythms; systems-level neural-glial interactions through neural peptidomics; neuroengineering approaches to understanding neuron development and repair at the nanoscale.
Jonathan J. Henry, Cell & Developmental Biology: Analysis of genes involved in: vertebrate lens and eye development and regeneration; developmental cell signaling pathways in metazoan evolution.
Paul J. Hergenrother, Chemistry: Novel protein targets involved in programmed cell death pathways; devising small molecule reagents to control procaspase activity and modulate the activity of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) as biological probes and as drug leads.
James A. Imlay, Microbiology: Investigating the molecular mechanisms by which oxygen (and species derived from it) damage cells, as well as the defensive strategies by which cells defend themselves against it.
Jongsook Kim Kemper, Molecular & Integrative Physiology: Nuclear receptor action in metabolic regulation: applications to metabolic disorders including fatty liver, obesity, and diabetes
David M. Kranz, Biochemistry: Molecular basis of T cell immunity. Development of protein engineering technologies in order to use engineered proteins in the regulation of immune responses.
Harris A. Lewin, Animal Sciences: Genomic basis for complex and adaptive traits in mammals.
Yi Lu, Chemistry: In vitro selection of novel functional nucleic acids and their applications in fluorescent sensing and MRI imaging in vivo.
Susan A. Martinis, Biochemistry: Fidelity mechanisms of tRNA synthetases and its significance to the viability, health, and evolution of the cell; novel activities of the tRNA synthetases in mitochondrial RNA processing.
Douglas A. Mitchell, Microbiology: Molecular underpinnings of bacterial virulence
Craig A. Mizzen, Cell & Developmental Biology: Epigenetic regulation of transcription, DNA repair and other chromatin processes; regulation and significance of methylation of histone H4 and the phosphorylation of histone H1.
James H. Morrissey, Biochemistry: Regulation of protease cascades; molecular basis for protein-phospholipid binding interactions; role of polyphosphate as a regulator of blood clotting.
Satish K. Nair, Biochemistry: Archaeal DNA replication using biochemical and biophysical methods.
Ann M. Nardulli, Molecular & Integrative Physiology: The effects of estrogen on target cells and tissues; examining the estrogen-induced expression of oxidative stress and DNA repair proteins in mouse brain and brain slices.
Phillip A. Newmark, Cell & Developmental Biology: Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the remarkable regenerative abilities of freshwater planarians.
Romana A. Nowak, Animal Sciences: Mechanisms that regulate uterine remodeling during embryo implantation and in pathological conditions such as endometriosis and uterine leiomyomas; how cells interact with the surrounding extracellular matrix and how this ECM influences cell function.
Lori T. Raetzman, Molecular & Integrative Physiology: Role of Notch signaling during pituitary organogenesis; examining pituitary cell proliferation, differentiation and movement in mouse models of pituitary diseases such as hypopituitarism.
Gene E. Robinson, Entomology: Molecular and genomic analyses of social behavior.
Mary A. Schuler, Cell & Developmental Biology: Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases in plants insects: Gene expression, enzyme characterization, modeling and structure determination. Pre-mRNA splicing in plants to identify proteins involved in early stages of intron recognition.
David J. Shapiro, Biochemistry: Mechanisms by which estrogens and other steroid hormones acting via their receptor proteins, regulate gene transcription in normal cells and in cancer cells.
Joanna L. Shisler, Microbiology: The cellular and molecular mechanisms poxviruses utilize to inhibit host immune defenses. Specifically, viral proteins that either induce or inhibit the cellular NF-κB transcription factor.
Scott K. Silverman, Chemistry: DNA as a catalyst (deoxyribozyme) for bioorganic chemical reactions and nanotechnology; thermodynamics and kinetics of RNA; allosteric nucleic acid enzymes (aptazymes) as sensors for detecting environmental toxins and pollutants.
James M. Slauch, Microbiology: Molecular mechanisms of Salmonella pathogenesis: Resistance to phagocytic superoxide and the mechanisms by which the oxidative burst kills or damages bacteria; regulation of bacterial gene expression in response to the host environment.
Stephen G. Sligar, Biochemistry: Understanding mechanisms of biological oxidations as well as investigating the structure function relationship of membrane associated enzymes and receptors.
Lisa Stubbs, Cell & Developmental Biology: Evolution of gene regulatory networks; long-range regulatory mechanisms; mouse models for human disease
Jonathan V. Sweedler, Chemistry: Cell-cell signaling and unusual neurochemical pathways in the brain. Determining neurochemical pathways for synthesis and degradation of serotonin, peptides and D-amino acids using a variety of well-characterized neuronal networks.
Richard I. Tapping, Microbiology: Innate immune sensing of microbes by human Toll-like receptors. These studies encompass regulation, molecular recognition, genetic polymorphisms, and role in host defense.
Wilfred A. van der Donk, Chemistry: Understanding enzymatic transformation of pharmaceutical importance; lantiobiotic biosynthesis.
Fei Wang, Cell & Developmental Biology: The molecular and cellular mechanisms governing the fate decisions of human embryonic stem cell; the signaling mechanism underlying neutrophil polarity and chemotaxis.
Brenda A. Wilson, Microbiology: Mechanisms used by toxins from Pasteurella multocida, Bordetella, E. coli and Yersinia. Post-exposure anti-toxin therapeutics; analytical and functional genomic technologies to investigate vaginal microbial ecosystems.
Colin A. Wraight, Biochemistry: Mechanisms of energy coupling in respiration and photosynthesis; reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by respiratory and photosynthetic membrane complexes.
Kevin Xiang, Molecular & Integrative Physiology: GPCR signaling in both muscle and neuronal cells.
Huimin Zhao, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering: Developing and applying molecular and cellular bioengineering approaches to address important problems related to human health, energy, and sustainability.
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