Cell Biology
About
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all uni- and multicellular life and exhibits fascinating complexity and organization. Remarkable advances in optical microscopy and live cell imaging now make it possible to probe complex processes from the molecular to subcellular and from single cells to tissues. Combined with traditional genetics, powerful gene-editing technologies and genome-level analyses, the cell biologist now has an unprecedented set of tools available to probe mechanistic underpinnings of biological processes. Research at UVA features rich and diverse training in modern Cell Biology from a creative and internationally-recognized faculty. Research in Cell Biology employs the latest cellular, molecular, biophysical, and microscopic technologies, including engineered mutant mice, Drosophila, Xenopus, C. elegans, and Zebrafish. At the individual cell level, we specialize in exploring intracellular transport, organelle dynamics, cell compartmentalization, cytoskeleton, and signaling in the context of complex cellular behaviors, such as mitosis, cell adhesion, motility, mechanotransduction, and cell polarity. Training in cell biology forms the basis not only for making new discoveries into the fundamental mechanisms of how proteins function in cellular contexts, and their relationship to cell division, differentiation and morphogenesis, but also for understanding and exploring the links to human diseases where the fundamental processes of cytoskeletal dynamics, signal transduction, mitosis, cell adhesion, motility, mechanotransduction, and polarity go awry. These studies thus create opportunities to address fundamental mechanisms of diseases, including cancer, birth defects, cognitive impairment, and tissue degeneration.
Faculty
Ai, Huiwang
Molecular Biosensors; Spatiotemporal Regulation of Biological Signaling; Protein Engineering for Imaging, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics
Barker, Thomas H.
Matrix Biology and Engineering
Bloom, George S.
Pathogenic mechanisms in Alzheimer's Disease and other neurodegenerative disorders
Casanova, James E.
Role of Arf family GTPases in vesicular transport and cytoskeleton assembly.
Cell Biology of bacterial pathogenesis.
The innate immune response to bacterial infection.Chalfant, Charles Edward
Hematology and Oncology, Cell Biology, Lipid Signaling, Cancer Cell Signaling, and RNA Biology
Cope, Elise
Adult-born neurons, perineuronal nets, and microglia in hippocampal plasticity and behavior in health and disease
Coutinho-Budd, Jaeda
Neuron-glia and glial-glial interactions
Criss, Alison K.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of Neisserial pathogenesis
Deppmann, Christopher
Elucidating and Understanding the Mechanisms Underlying Nervous System Development
Desai, Bimal N.
Ion channels and Ca2+-signaling in inflammation, immunity and tissue homeostasis
DeSimone, Douglas W.
Cell Adhesion and Adhesion-Dependent Cell Signaling in Vertebrate Morphogenesis
Dwyer, Noelle
Neural Development; Cell Division in Neural Stem Cells; Axon Outgrowth and Guidance
Ebrahim, Seham
Cytoskeletal architecture, dynamics and roles in cellular physiology and disease; High-resolution live cell and tissue imaging
Elliott, Michael R.
Macrophage effector functions in inflammation and immunotherapy
Guler, Jennifer
Mechanisms of Genetic and Metabolic Adaptation in the Malaria Parasite, Plasmodium falciparum
Halme, Adrian J.
Regeneration and Systemic Responses to Tissue Damage
Hinton, Barry T.
Morphogenesis of the Developing Wolffian/Epididymal duct
Hirschi, Karen Kemper
Understanding Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Leading to Blood Vessel Formation
Kashatus, David F
The Role of Mitochondrial Fusion and Fission in Tumorigenesis.
Keller, Susanna R.
Insulin signaling, insulin-regulated membrane trafficking and associated changes in cellular function and whole body physiology
Kozminski, Keith G.
Regulation of Polarized Morphogenesis
Kucenas, Sarah C.
The role of glia in the development, maintenance and regeneration of the nervous system
Kulkarni, Saurabh
Precision medicine, translational science, regeneration, organoids, high resolution imaging, computational modeling
Kuyumcu-Martinez, Muge N
RNA regulatory networks and RNA binding proteins during cardiovascular development and in cardiovascular disease
Laurie, Gordon W.
Restoration of Homeostasis in Disease
Lazzara, Matthew
Cellular Engineering
Lu, Xiaowei
Wnt/PCP signaling in inner ear development Mouse models for human deafness Wnt/PCP signaling in neural tube closure
Naegle, Kristen
Regulation and function of tyrosine phosphorylation in complex networks
O’Rourke, Eyleen Jorgelina
Obesity and Aging
Pani, Ariel
Investigating the cell-biological foundations of development
Parichy, David
Developmental Genetics, Evolution and Regeneration
Pemberton, Lucy F.
Nuclear Transport in Chromatin Assembly and Transcriptional Regulation
Redemann, Stefanie
Chromosome segregation and aneuploidy in meiosis and mitosis
Ribic, Adema
Assembly and Plasticity of Neural Circuits
Sheynkman, Gloria M.
Proteoform Systems Biology: proteogenomic approaches to uncover the role of proteomic variation in human disease
Shin, Jung-Bum
Auditory Neurobiology
Siegrist, Sarah
Regulation of neural stem cell proliferation during development and adulthood
Spiliotis, Elias T
Spatial Cell Biology. Neuronal Morphogenesis and Disease. Cancer Migration and Invasion.
Stukenberg, P. Todd
Mechanisms of chromosome segregation in Mitosis and generation of Chromosomal Instability in tumors
Sutherland, Ann E.
Cell behavior and morphogenesis during early mouse development.
Tamm, Lukas K.
Biomembrane Structure and Function; Cell Entry of Enveloped Viruses; Neurosecretion by Exocytosis; Structure of Bacterial Pathogen Membrane Proteins; Lipid-Protein Interactions
Trinh, Bon Q
Understanding Protein and RNA regulations of gene expression via chromatin structure in myeloid cell development and diseases
Tsihlis, Nick
Vascular Biology, Nanotechnology, Biomaterials, Drug Delivery
Ukhanov, Kirill Y
Pharmacology
Vande Pol, Scott B.
How Viruses, Particularly Papillomaviruses, Can Cause Cancer
Winckler, Bettina
Endosomal function and dysfunction in neurons. Development of the nervous system: cytoskeleton and membrane traffic in axon and dendrite growth.
Wotton, David
Regulation of Gene Expression, Development and Tumor Progression by TGF beta Signaling
Zeitlin, Scott O.
Mechanisms of Huntington's Disease Pathogenesis
Zhang, Tian
Biochemistry
Zong, Hui
Early detection, cancer prevention, and tumor microenvironment