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Experimental Pathology

Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program

About

molecular basis of human disease

Research in Experimental Pathology at UVA involves researchers across the institution who study the molecular and cellular basis of human disease.  This work is facilitated by close interactions with clinical colleagues across the Health System who provide perspectives on challenges in patient care.This rigorous training program takes advantage of a unique environment created by a faculty composed of basic scientists, research and diagnostic pathologists, and physician colleagues in other clinical specialties.

Traditional laboratory-based research is complemented by first hand exposure to clinical approaches used in the diagnosis and treatment of human disease.  Coursework is designed to complement laboratory research and highlights the interface between basic science and the challenges faced in clinical medicine.  In addition, opportunities exist to observe patient care directly through clinical rotations that allow students to experience the complete arc from diagnosis through therapeutic decisions to surgical, radiological or medical interventions.

The curriculum is enriched by a disease-focused participatory journal club and a seminar series that explores the molecular basis of human disease.  Students have ongoing access to the expertise of their clinical colleagues as well as laboratory and tissue specimens to facilitate their research projects.

Faculty

Understanding the Molecular Basis of Macular Degeneration in Order to Hasten the Eradication of Blindness

Engineering cancer-killing T cells to overcome obstacles in solid tumors

Innate immunity, Cell clearance, Inflammatory and autoimmune disease

Matrix Biology and Engineering

Cancer metastasis, chemotherapy resistance, genetic and epigenetic regulation

Pathogenic mechanisms in Alzheimer's Disease and other neurodegenerative disorders

Pathways to enhance T cell function in tumors.

Role of Arf family GTPases in vesicular transport and cytoskeleton assembly.<br> Cell Biology of bacterial pathogenesis. <br>The innate immune response to bacterial infection.

Surgery

Immuno-Oncology, T cell therapy, TCR Discovery, Next generation cell therapy

Contribution of the Inflammatory Microenvironment to Tumor Initiation, Progression and Metastasis; Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer Chemoprevention

Immune mechanisms of pathogenic antibody production in allergy and autoimmunity

Cancer systems biology, Single-cell quantitative biology, Computational modeling

Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology. Medical Automation Research. Neurotransmitters, cell surface receptors and intracellular second messengers.

Brain metabolism, cognitive decline, cholesterol and Alzheimer's disease

Signal transduction in cancer cells

Hematopathology and Understanding the Molecular Basis of Hematopoiesis and Leukemogenesis

Biomedical Engineering

Vascular wall remodeling, intimal hyperplasia, stenosis, aneurysm, retinal degeneration.

Seizures, neuronal excitability and plasticity

Cardiovascular Biology

Neuroscience

Cellular Engineering

Gene regulation in cancer, RNA processing; Epigenetic modification; Stem cell and development

Plastic Surgery

Cardiovascular Biology

Developing novel neuroprotection strategies to preserve vision in glaucoma

Wnt/PCP signaling in inner ear development Mouse models for human deafness Wnt/PCP signaling in neural tube closure

Immune Memory

Behavioral Pharmacology, Sex Differences, Animal Models of Addiction

Physiology & Biophysics

Pathology

Neuroscience

Genetic variation, Complex diseases, Coronary artery disease, Genomics, Epigenomics, Regulatory mechanisms, Vascular biology, Pharmacology and Physiology

Cell signaling, stem cell biology, molecular and epigenetic mechanisms of blood and breast cancers

Regulation and function of tyrosine phosphorylation in complex networks

Identification of Factors and Mechanisms that Regulate the Stability of Late Stage Atherosclerotic Lesions and the Probability of Thromboembolic Events Including a Heart Attack or Stroke

Systems biology, infectious disease, cancer, toxicology, metabolic engineering

Our research uses a systems bioengineering approach to investigate how aberrant signaling leads to distinct metabolic and epigenetic states, and to devise strategies for therapeutic reprogramming.

Bioanalytical tools for inflammatory disease

The Proctor Laboratory integrates systems biology with molecular, cellular, and systems neuroscience into a cutting-edge framework for investigation of multi-scale mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease risk, onset, and progression.

Influence of commensal microbes on immune homeostasis, anti-tumor immunity, and metastasis

Regulatory T Cell biology in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases.

Role of Glia in Neurological Illnesses and Cancer

Immune Responses in asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung injury.

Lung injury, repair, and fibrosis; B cell immunology

Pathology

Understanding Protein and RNA regulations of gene expression via chromatin structure in myeloid cell development and diseases

Vascular Biology, Nanotechnology, Biomaterials, Drug Delivery

Cancer biology and immunology, Immuno-oncology, Immunometabolism, Genetically-engineered mouse models

Unraveling the Role of Obesity, Diet, and Lifestyle Factors in Melanoma Progression and Treatment Efficacy