Cell Biology

About

cancer cell

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