Faculty Research Interests

Professor
Regulation of actin dynamics and analysis of genomic influences on actin function.

Associate Professor
Elucidate the structure, dynamics and functions of intrinsically disordered proteins and protein regions (IDPs/IDRs) and their biological regulation by Post-translational modifications.

Professor
Fibrosis; Scarring; Protein degradation; ubiquitin; integrins; cytoskeleton; patient-derived model systems

Associate Professor
- Extracellular kinase signaling
- Extracellular chaperone function
- Targeting extracellular signaling networks in urological cancers

Professor
Molecular mechanisms of protein transport and localization in retinal neurons; mechanisms of retinal degenerative diseases

Distinguished Professor
Mitochondrial biology, stress signaling and aging-related degenerative diseases.

Professor
Epigenetic regulation of chromatin, Mixed Lineage Leukemia, Structural Biology, Enzymology, Biophysical Chemistry, Rational drug design

Associate Professor
Chromosomal DNA replication origins (location, timing and regulation), replication fork integrity and checkpoint regulation, genomic instability and chromosome fragility in both the yeast and human genome

Associate Professor
My research includes studies of the role of microRNA in development of leukemia.

Research Scientist
Gene expression in development and disease, RNA pol II regulation, homeobox genes, prolyl isomerases

Distinguished Teaching Professor
Vacuolar H+ATPases (structure, function, assembly and regulation), cellular pH homeostasis, cellular stress responses, protein sorting, genomics, yeast as a model system

Professor
My research is primarily focused on defining the role of SHIP1 in immunity, obesity, stem cell biology and cancer. This research has revealed that SHIP1 is at the nexus of signaling pathways that regulate: (1) hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cell homeostasis, (2) terminal differentiation of myeloid cells, (3) acute BM graft rejection, (4) survival of T cells in the small intestine and (5) survival of hematologic cancer cells. More recently we developed SHIP1 and pan-SHIP1/2 inhibitors and showed they can expand stem cells in vivo, reverse obesity, eradicate certain cancers and boost tumor immunity. We are also attempting to better understand what LRBA does in immune cells. LRBA is a scaffold protein that coordinates intracellular vesicle trafficking with receptor signaling.

Professor
Visual transduction, Gene Expression, Membrane proteins

Associate Professor
RNA polymerase I transcription (structure, assembly, regulation), nucleolar biology, macromolecular architecture, crosslinking, proteomics, bioinformatics, modeling, molecular genetics, biochemistry, model systems

Professor
Cancer biology, cell signaling, the role of actin cytoskeleton in tumor progression, mouse models of cancer

Professor
Protein engineering, design, and folding

Professor
- Genetic, epigenetic, and neuroanatomical basis of neurological and psychiatric disorders
- Basal ganglia and cerebellar circuitry in normal and disease states
- Neural-immune and gut-brain interactions
- Machine learning approaches for biomarker discovery
- Next generation sequencing for multiomic data analysis (genome, transcriptome, microbiome, methylome)

Professor
Role of molecular chaperone Hsp90 in cancers
Kidney Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Breast Cancer
Tuberous Sclerosis Complex syndrome (TSC)
Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHD)

Distinguished Professor
Genes and Viruses Predisposing to Autoimmunity, Genetics, Apoptosis, Endogenous Retroviruses, Transaldolase

Professor and Chair
Neurogenesis; Retinal Progenitor Cells Specification and Proliferation; Genetic Control of Stem Cell Identity and Maintenance; Disease Genes Analysis in Drosophila

Associate Professor
Understanding how muscle cells organize their actin cytoskeleton into efficient contractile units, using a combination of in vitro biochemistry, and analysis of cultured muscle cells and genetic models C. elegans and zebrafish.

Associate Professor
- Regulation of actin filament polymerization
- Mechanisms of actin-microtubule crosstalk
- Role of actin and microtubules in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
- Single-molecule super-resolution microscopy techniques (i.e. TIRF, STED, STORM).

Professor
Ribonucleoprotein assembly and biogenesis; mitochondrial RNA import, mRNA degradation, cell cycle control

Associate Professor
Mammalian retinal stem cells formation; molecular mechanism of retinal cell fate decisions; vascular development in the CNS; using cell replacement therapy to heal the blinded eye.

Associate Professor
Structure and Mechanism of Membrane Bound Transport Proteins

Associate Professor
The molecular basis of retinal stem cell formation; regulating retinal stem/progenitor cell proliferation; using retinal stem/progenitor cells to heal the injured or degenerating retina.