Faculty - Center for Membrane and Cell Physiology

The Ubiquitin System and Human Cancer

Basic and translational brain tumor research

Genetic approaches, cellular and molecular biology of intracellular pathogen infection

Molecular Biosensors; Spatiotemporal Regulation of Biological Signaling; Protein Engineering for Imaging, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics

Biophysics of membrane pore formation; research and therapeutic applications of lipid nanoparticles.

Circuit mechanisms of sleep and epilepsy

Computational Biology; Bioinformatics; Precision Medicine; Machine Learning/AI; Quantum Computing

Immunology

Genome instability syndromes in cancer and immune deficiencies

Molecular mechanisms linking innate immune and insulin signaling to control cell growth and metabolism

Signaling Pathways and Breast Cancer

Protein phosphatases

Structure and Assembly of the Herpes Simplex Virus Capsid.

Natural Killer Cells, Viral Immunity, Genetic basis of host resistance to viral infection, Tumor immunity, Immune cell regulation

Engineering biomaterials as cellular microenvironments

Hematology and Oncology, Cell Biology, Lipid Signaling, Cancer Cell Signaling, and RNA Biology

Herpes Simplex Virus Infection of Neurons

Epigenetic mechanisms involved in complex human disease

Neuron-glia and glial-glial interactions

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

Elucidating and Understanding the Mechanisms Underlying Nervous System Development

Host/pathogen Interaction - Chlamydia Infection

Cell Adhesion and Adhesion-Dependent Cell Signaling in Vertebrate Morphogenesis

Systems Immunology, Cancer Systems Biology, , Neonatal and Maternal Immunology

My research investigates how changes in iron regulates endothelial cell biology with a focus on how this impacts cardiovascular function iron deficiency anemia and chronic kidney disease.

Neural Development; Cell Division in Neural Stem Cells; Axon Outgrowth and Guidance

Structure and Function of Macromolecular Complexes Using Electron Microscopy

Innate immunity, chronic disease, host-parasite interactions, Toxoplasma gondii, proteomics

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

Systems Genetics of Skeletal Development and Maintenance

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

Super-resolution fluorescence imaging of bacterial cells

RNA-protein interactions in antiviral immunity and autoimmune diseases.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia: molecular and cellular biology events which mediate aberrant epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms during disease establishment and progression

Blinding disease age-related macular degeneration, utilizing the tools of immunology, molecular biology, and engineering.

Signal transduction in cancer cells

Hematopathology and Understanding the Molecular Basis of Hematopoiesis and Leukemogenesis

Molecular embryology--gene regulation in cells committed to specific developmental lineages

Mouse models

Modulation of aldosterone production in health and disease.

Mechanisms of Genetic and Metabolic Adaptation in the Malaria Parasite, Plasmodium falciparum

Circadian entrainment for the treatment of metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases

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

Regeneration and Systemic Responses to Tissue Damage

Molecular mechanisms controlling insulin signaling and fat synthesis.

Systems-biology approaches to cancer biology and virology.

Mechanisms by which cells direct and regulate protein targeting to the ER and mitochondria, and how molecular control of cell dormancy impacts health and disease.

Neuronal circuits underlying infant behaviors, including sleep and social behavior

The Role of Mitochondrial Fusion and Fission in Tumorigenesis.

Metabolic and Genetic Regulation of Aging, Redox Biology, DNA Repair, Comparative and Functional Genomics, Stress Resistance, Drug Discovery, Evolutionary Biology, Synthetic and Systems Biology for Evolutionary Engineering, Adaptive Evolution, Mitochondrial Signaling, Neurodegenerative Diseases

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of morphogenesis

Advancement in the design of imaging agents; molecular imaging and radiological sciences.

Bacterial cell signaling, host-pathogen interactions, intestinal pathogens

Regulation of Polarized Morphogenesis

The role of glia in the development, maintenance and regeneration of the nervous system

Precision medicine, translational science, regeneration, organoids, high resolution imaging, computational modeling

RNA regulatory networks and RNA binding proteins during cardiovascular development and in cardiovascular disease

Molecular and metabolic adaptations of cancer cells.

Cancer Biology, Tumor Cell of Origin and Tumor Microenvironment, Neurofibromatosis and Schwann Cell Biology, Skin and Hair Stem Cell Biology & Regeneration

Role of lipid oxidation products in inflammation and vascular immunology in atherosclerosis and diabetes

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

Genetic and Epigenetic stability in human cancer

Hematologic malignancies; bone marrow disorders; leukemia; large granular lymphocyte (LGL)

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

Understanding How Immunological Pathways Contribute to Neurodegenerative, Neurodevelopmental, Mental and Behavior Disorders

Pharmacology

Identifying tumor selective drug targets, Understanding the genetic drivers of tumor immune evasion

Transcriptional Regulation by NFKB

Immune System Regulation of Cardiometabolic Disease

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

Obesity and Aging

Investigating the cell-biological foundations of development

Mechanisms of tissue/organ homeostasis and tumorigeensis

Tissue Engineering and Regeneration, Computational Systems Biology, Vascular Growth and Remodeling, Stem Cell Therapies

Director of Graduate Studies for Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology

Exploring epilepsy circuits then preventing seizures using gene therapies. Developing drug-inducible genetic switches for insulin replacement gene therapies.

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.

Microbial Pathogenesis

Genomics, Molecular Evolution, Algorithm Design and Analysis

Chromosome segregation and aneuploidy in meiosis and mitosis

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Gene Expression; Human Endogenous Viruses; SARS-CoV-2 Protein Trafficking; Post-transcriptional Gene Regulation

Regulation of transcription by nuclear hormone receptors, transcriptional control of metabolism and inflammation, small molecule approaches to drug discovery

Understanding the molecular basis of atherosclerotic plaque development and late-stage pathogenesis, in particular the mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for vascular calcification.

Proteoform Systems Biology: proteogenomic approaches to uncover the role of proteomic variation in human disease

Molecular and genetic determinants of atherosclerosis and cardiometabolic disorders.

Auditory Neurobiology

Regulation of neural stem cell proliferation during development and adulthood

Transcriptional Silencing and Aging in Yeast

Microbiology

Role of Glia in Neurological Illnesses and Cancer

Gram-positive pathogenesis; type VII secretion; impact of secreted effectors on host-pathogen interactions and immune responses

Research Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Mechanisms of chromosome segregation in Mitosis and generation of Chromosomal Instability in tumors

Role of endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation in health and disease

Regulation of cell-surface stability and intracellular trafficking of membrane proteins in epithelial cells

Prokaryotic immune systems, bacteriophage virology, programmed cell death, pore-forming proteins, evolution of immunity, cGAS-STING, protein engineering

Biomembrane Structure and Function; Cell Entry of Enveloped Viruses; Neurosecretion by Exocytosis; Structure of Bacterial Pathogen Membrane Proteins; Lipid-Protein Interactions

Complex Genome Rearrangements

Gene regulation during host-parasite interaction

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

Membrane-transport physiology and biophysics

Vascular Biology, Nanotechnology, Biomaterials, Drug Delivery

Iron metabolism and Immunometabolism in inflammation and autoimmune diseases

Genome instability in cancer and repeat expansion diseases

Mechanisms of DNA repair in chromatin

The formation, function, coordination, and pathology of multinucleated cell types that make up the placenta and musculoskeletal system.

The immune response to common cold and allergens in health and disease.

Regulation of miRNA Processing and Function During Oogenesis and Embryogenesis

Regulation of Gene Expression, Development and Tumor Progression by TGF beta Signaling

Structural biology, Cryo-EM, Mitochondrial stress, Integrated stress response, De novo protein design, Drug development, Neurodegeneration, Heart disease, Cancer

Pathogenesis of infectious diseases and the development of new therapies and vaccines for infectious diseases and cancers.

Genetics, Functional Genomics, Epigenetics, Lung repair/regeneration, Metabolic regulation, Alveolar stem cells, Chromatin interaction, Innate immune response, Live-cell imaging

Transport of biopolymers across biological membranes with a particular interest in polysaccharide and protein translocation.

Looking to uncover and understand the underlying principles of spindle assembly on a nano-scale level. Understanding the role of cell polarity, endosomal trafficking and metabolism in organism development and neurodegenerative disease.