PRISM supports all faculty in recruiting postdocs. The faculty listed on this page have expressed special interest in the PRISM program and may be actively recruiting. This is one of many ways to identify potential postdoc mentors; also review the guidance and links in the PRISM Application Guide for other ways to explore Stanford faculty. As you look for potential postdoc mentors, consider how faculty research interests align with your own.
PRISM mentor | Research Interests |
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Ellen Yeh Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Last Updated: July 12, 2022 |
Environmental microbiology (e.g. diatoms, algae) and synthetic biology Topics: Nitrogen fixation, lipid biosynthesis and transprot, cellular endosymbiosis, nonmodel organisms Application areas: Fertilizers, Biofuels |
Ellen Yeh Biochemistry, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Last Updated: July 14, 2022 |
The Yeh Lab studies the apicoplast, a unique plastid organelle in Plasmodium falciparum parasites that cause malaria. We are particularly focused on unbiased chemical and genetic screens to discover new cell biology and therapeutic targets for this important global health disease. Our work highlights the untapped opportunities in exploring divergent biology in non-model organisms, a theme we plan to expand in the lab by studying ocean algae (malaria's cousins!) and their role in the global ecosystem.
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Liang Feng Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: February 08, 2023 |
At the Feng Lab we are interested in the structure, dynamics and function of eukaryotic transport proteins mediating ions and major nutrients crossing the membrane, the kinetics and regulation of transport processes, the catalytic mechanism of membrane embedded enzymes and the development of small molecule modulators based on the structure and function of membrane proteins. |
Miriam B. Goodman Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: December 01, 2021 |
The @wormsenseLab at Stanford University seeks postdoctoral scholars with an interest in the genetics, biophysics, and cell biology of sensation. Experience with in vivo and in vitro live imaging as well as gene-editing techniques in a genetic model organism such as C. elegans is preferred, but not essential. In appointing postdocs, we look for curiosity, excellence in the practice of reproducible research, and the ability to lead and work in teams — learning from and teaching others. You may launch research into the molecular and physical events responsible for touch and its degradation by persistent mechanical stress and chemotherapeutics. The latter project involves a collaboration with Katie Wilkinson (Prof. Biology, SJSU), an expert in rodent proprioception. You may also propose to join NeuroPlant, an interdisciplinary, team-based discovery platform for discovering novel ligand-receptor pairs that modulate nervous system function and for deciphering the neural codes responsible for chemical attraction and repulsion. As a NeuroPlant postdoc, you will be encouraged to select a co-advisor from the project faculty team. The @wormsenseLab believes that interdisciplinary scientists are needed in diverse careers and have helped to launch former postdocs into tenure-track academic positions, research and business development in industry, start-ups, and venture capital firms. |
Miriam Goodman Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: August 12, 2020 |
The wormsenseLab seeks to decipher the genetic, molecular and physical basis of touch sensation and its disruption by mechanical and chemical stress, such as exposure to elevated glucose in diabetes and chemotherapeutic drugs. We use a combination of genetics, electrophysiology, and quantitative analysis of behavior and also develop new tools for delivering and measuring mechanical force. We also lead an interdisciplinary project (NeuroPlant) that uses nematode behavior to identify compounds synthesized by medicinal plants that modulate neuron function. This project also seeks to link compounds to their conserved protein receptors. |
Miriam Goodman Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: January 13, 2022 |
The @wormsenseLab at Stanford University seeks postdoctoral scholars with an interest in the genetics, biophysics, and cell biology of sensation. In appointing postdocs, we look for curiosity, excellence in the practice of reproducible research, and the ability to lead and work in teams — learning from and teaching others. You may launch research into the molecular and physical events responsible for touch and its degradation by persistent mechanical stress and chemotherapeutics. You may also propose to join NeuroPlant, an interdisciplinary, team-based discovery platform for discovering novel ligand-receptor pairs that modulate nervous system function and for deciphering the neural codes responsible for chemical attraction and repulsion. As a NeuroPlant postdoc, you will be encouraged to select a co-advisor from the project faculty team. The @wormsenseLab believes that interdisciplinary scientists are needed in diverse careers and have helped to launch former postdocs into tenure-track academic positions, research and business development in industry, start-ups, and venture capital firms. You can learn more about our researchers from this 2019 Life in a Lab profile. |
Ruth Huttenhain Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: December 31, 2022 |
Lab overview The communication between cells and their environment depends on a finely tuned decoding of extracellular cues into an array of intracellular signaling cascades that drive a cellular response. These signals are integrated through highly dynamic and context specific signaling networks that collectively define the phenotypic output. Given the complexity and dynamic state of signaling networks, the current understanding of their constituents and how they are spatiotemporally regulated in the cell as a result of a specific input is incomplete. The Huttenhain lab, which will launch in April 2023 at Stanford University, studies mechanisms of intracellular signal integration through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) by employing an interdisciplinary approach to probe, model, and predict how signaling network dynamics translate extracellular cues into specific phenotypic outputs. GPCRs represent the largest family of membrane receptors and mediate most of our physiological responses to hormones, neurotransmitters and environmental stimulants. Developing quantitative proteomics approaches to capture the spatiotemporal organization of signaling networks and combining these with functional genomics to study their impact on physiology, we aim to better understand GPCR signaling and to provide a solid foundation for the design and testing of novel therapeutics targeting GPCRs with higher specificity and efficacy. Relevant publications
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Merritt Maduke Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: July 14, 2022 |
The Maduke laboratory at Stanford University is seeking a postdoctoral scholar to study the molecular mechanisms of chloride-selective channels and transporters. Chloride channels and transporters are expressed ubiquitously, with defects giving rise to human diseases of kidney and bone, disorders of blood-pressure regulation, and epilepsy. Projects in the lab seek to understand the molecular basis for these functions using a combination of electrophysiology, biochemistry, and a variety of structural and spectroscopic techniques, tightly integrated with results from computational collaborations. Experience in electrophysiology, structural biology, or membrane protein biochemistry is helpful but is not necessary. More important is a strong personal motivation and willingness to learn. Relevant publications include:
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Merritt Maduke Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: July 14, 2022 |
Our research lab focuses on studying the molecular mechanisms of ion channels and transporters. We use a combination of biophysical methods to probe membrane protein structure and dynamics, together with functional assays and electrophysiological analysis. Ongoing projects in our lab include: |
Lucy Erin O'Brien Molecular & Cellular Phys, Stem Cell Bio Regenerative Med
Last Updated: August 31, 2020 |
Mature organs respond to the body's changing needs by moving between different 'states' of cellular flux. What does organ-scale cellular flux look like, and how do these dynamics arise? Our goal is to explain—and ultimately even predict—how large populations of individual cells act to create diverse organ states in response to external change. We believe that the cell dynamics of adult organs can be understood in the granular way that we currently understand embryonic gastrulation. Toward this vision, we build new experimental approaches and conceptual models to decipher how cell life cycles and molecular signaling together create the organ phase space. The fly gut is our testing ground for probing cell dynamics at the organ-scale… …and is a powerful model to study how dynamic cell flux maintains healthy organ form. |
Tino Pleiner Molecular & Cellular Phys
Last Updated: January 16, 2023 |
Research overview: How does the cell make and quality control multi-pass membrane proteins like transporters, receptors and ion channels that are essential for cellular physiology? Our lab combines mechanistic cell biology, (structural) biochemistry and protein engineering to dissect the pathways and molecular machines that mature roughly 5,000 human membrane proteins to a fully functional state. We are developing nanobody-based tools to acutely perturb such dynamic intracellular pathways directly at the protein level and assess immediate functional consequences to the nascent (membrane) proteome. A related area of focus will be to generate highly specific reagents that can fine-tune the cellular stress responses that adjust cellular protein folding and degradation capacity. Such reagents have potential future therapeutic applications as they can be used to either correct or increase the dysregulation of protein homeostasis in neurodegeneration/ageing or cancer, respectively. Major techniques in the lab include: mammalian cell culture, flow cytometry, FACS, CRISPR knock-outs/ knock-downs/knock-ins, genome-wide perturbation screens, phage & ribosome display, protein purification from mammalian and E. coli cells, in vitro translation and membrane insertion assays. Many of these techniques are highly sought-after in the biotech industry as well. Tino is the first in his family to go to college (FirstGen) and this experience shaped his approach to mentorship. The successful candidate will have access to close mentorship and will witness first-hand how to set up a new lab. The lab has fantastic resources and is surrounded by a world-class, collaborative scientific environment. Outside from the lab, life in the sunny Bay area offers spectacular culinary, cultural, and outdoor recreational opportunities. The Pleiner lab will be an inclusive space that fosters learning & curiosity, promotes team work and values mentorship to drive an innovative research program that pushes the boundaries of molecular biology. Relevant publications: Pleiner, T., Hazu, M., Tomaleri, G.P., Nguyen, V.N., Januszyk, K. and Voorhees, R.M. (2022) A selectivity filter in the EMC limits protein mislocalization to the ER. bioRxiv, doi: 10.1101/2022.11.29.518402 Pleiner, T., Hazu, M., Tomaleri, G.P., Januszyk, K., Oania, R.S., Sweredoski, M.J., Moradian, A., Guna, A. and Voorhees, R.M. (2021) WNK1 is an assembly factor for the human ER membrane protein complex. Mol Cell, 81, 2693-2704.e12. Pleiner, T., Tomaleri, G.P., Januszyk, K., Inglis, A.J., Hazu, M. and Voorhees, R.M. (2020) Structural basis for membrane insertion by the human ER membrane protein complex. Science, 369, 433-436. Pleiner, T., Bates, M. and Görlich, D. (2018) A toolbox of anti-mouse and anti-rabbit IgG secondary nanobodies. J Cell Biol, 217, 1143-1154.
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Tom Clandinin Neurobiology
Last Updated: June 25, 2023 |
My research program uses the fruit fly Drosophila to investigate neural circuits at the cellular and molecular levels. In this context, we predominantly study circuits involved in visual processing, particularly motion detection, as well as the sensorimotor transformations that underpin visually-guided locomotion. The development of novel molecular techniques is crucial for this work. Our ongoing research encompasses three types of tools: high-speed voltage imaging using genetically encoded indicators (like those you propose to optimize) using a variety of imaging strategies, cell-type-specific gene disruption tools, and molecular perturbations of energy metabolism in the brain. In addition, we are very interested in how the molecular underpinnings of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's Disease alter neuronal function, and use the fly as a model system in which to better dissect these disorders. |
Keren Haroush Neurobiology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Our laboratory studies the mechanisms by which highly complex behaviors are mediated at the neuronal level, mainly focusing on the example of dynamic social interactions and the neural circuits that drive them. From dyadic interactions to group dynamics and collective decision making, the lab seeks a mechanistic understanding for the fundamental building blocks of societies, such as cooperation, empathy, fairness and reciprocity. The computations underlying social interactions are highly distributed across many brain areas. Our lab is interested in which specific areas are involved in a particular function, why such an architecture arises and how activity in multiple networks is coordinated. Our goal is to develop a roadmap of the social brain and use it for guiding restorative treatments for conditions in which social behavior is impaired, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders and Schizophrenia. |
Andrew Huberman Neurobiology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Our specific main goals are to: 1. Discover strategies for halting and reversing vision loss in blinding diseases. 2. Understand how visual perceptions and arousal states are integrated to impact behavioral responses. We use a large range of state-of-the-art tools: virtual reality, gene therapy, anatomy, electrophysiology and imaging and behavioral analyses. |
Jennifer Raymond Neurobiology
Last Updated: July 14, 2022 |
The goal of our research is to understand the algorithms the brain uses to learn. A fundamental feature of our neural circuits is their plasticity, or ability to change. How does the brain use this plasticity to tune its own performance? What are the learning rules that determine whether a neural circuit changes in response to a given experience, and which specific neurons or synapses are altered? Our research integrates molecular, cellular, systems and computational neuroscience approaches in mice to uncover the logic of how the cerebellum implements learning. |
Nirao Shah Psyc: Behavioral Medicine, Neurobiology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Nirao Shah's lab is interested in understanding the molecular and neural networks that regulate sexually dimorphic social behaviors. |
Longzhi Tan Neurobiology
Last Updated: June 30, 2022 |
How do cells in our nervous system develop highly specialized functions after birth, and how do they degenerate as we age? An emerging molecular mechanism is 3D genome architecture—the folding of 6 billion base pairs of DNA (~2 meters) into a tiny cell nucleus (~10 microns). This folding can strategically position genes and their regulatory elements in 3D to orchestrate dynamic gene expression, and has been implicated in many developmental and degenerative diseases (e.g., autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s). However, traditional technologies and algorithms struggle to capture the full complexity of genome architecture of a single cell, and the enormous heterogeneity between cells. In addition, most studies interrogate genome architecture in vitro, taking cells out of their physiological context. The Tan Laboratory of 3D Genomics at Stanford Neurobiology studies the single-cell 3D genome architectural basis of neurodevelopment and aging by developing the next generation of in vivo multi-omic assays and algorithms, and applying them to the human and mouse cerebellum and beyond (e.g., cancer, immunology). |
Marion Buckwalter Neurology & Neurological Sci
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
My work focuses on neuroimmunology and how the central and peripheral immune system responds to brain injury, and in particular, stroke. We study how microglia and astrocytes respond with an emphasis on both the basic biology and clinically-relevant outcomes. We are also interested in how stroke can provoke long-lasting adaptive immune responses that lead to post-stroke dementia, a serious and currently untreatable consequence of stroke. The basic science lab performs primarily studies in mice and on human samples, while the Stanford Stroke Recovery Program (https://med.stanford.edu/neurology/divisions/stroke/recovery.html) enrolls stroke survivors and collects clinical data and human samples to ask whether findings in mice are applicable to humans. My lab values diversity of all types and there are projects available for postdoctoral scholars either in mouse or human studies. |
Marion Buckwalter Neurology & Neurological Sci
Last Updated: June 23, 2022 |
I'm interested in neuroinflammation and stroke, especially the effects of inflammation on longer term outcomes after stroke. Studies involve mice and humans, and basic mechanistic studies as well as development of potential therapies for humans. Check out the websites above for more information! My lab is welcoming of people from all backgrounds, and promotes team-work and mutual support. I am also a co-PI on the "Pathways to Neurosciences" program (https://neuroscience.stanford.edu/research/training/pathways-neurosciences), which is not a fellowship but rather a 2-year peer mentoring program to support and provide leadership training to early postdocs and late-stage graduate students who self-identify as coming from groups underrepresented in neuroscience. Please check us out and consider joining after you are on campus! |
John Huguenard Neurology & Neurological Sci
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
I direct the NIH supported T32 Epilepsy postdoctoral training program, with faculty broadly interested in the cellular/circuit basis of normal brain excitability and how it is disrupted in the disease of epilepsy. My particular interest is in large scale brain rhythms occuring during childhood absence epilepsy as studied in animal models. |
Juliet Knowles Neurology & Neurological Sci
Last Updated: November 16, 2022 |
Epilepsy affects ~1% of all children and is defined by recurrent, unprovoked seizures, impaired cognitive abilities, and diminished quality of life. The predisposition for seizures is thought to result from abnormal plasticity and excessive synchrony in affected neural networks. Myelin plasticity is a newly recognized mode of activity-dependent neural network adaptation. The potential for dysregulated myelin plasticity in disease states such as epilepsy is unexplored. Myelination of axons increases conduction velocity and promotes coordinated network function including oscillatory synchrony. During and after age-dependent developmental myelination, increases in myelin occur when humans and rodents acquire new skills. While adaptive myelin plasticity modulates networks to support function in the healthy state, it is unknown whether this process also contributes to network dysfunction in neurological disease. The Knowles lab conducts basic, translational and clinical research to study how seizures shape white matter, and how changes in white matter shape the course of epilepsy and its comorbidities. We discovered that generalized (absence) seizures induce aberrant myelination that promotes seizure progression. Thus, maladaptive myelination may be a novel pathogenic mechanism in epilepsy and other neurological diseases. Using innovative imaging, electrophysiological, histological and molecular biology techniques, we are studying multiple questions. How does white matter structure change throughout the brain over the course of epilepsy? |
Elizabeth Mormino Neurology & Neurological Sci
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Alzheimer's disease pathology begins decades before clinical symptoms of dementia are present, providing an important opportunity to understand early disease and the impact of this disease on cognitive aging. We combine multimodal neuroimaging and genetics to determine how AD changes and risk factors influence subtle cognitive decline in older individuals. We have a particular focus on PET imaging of Amyloid and Tau proteins, but also work with structural and functional MRI data. The ultimate goals of our work are to improve our ability to predict who is most at risk for dementia, and to understand the time course of brain changes that occur decades before clinical symptoms are present. We are specifically recruiting trainees with expertise in genetics, neuroimaging, or neuropsychology, to work on large scale multimodal imaging-genetic studies. |
Josef Parvizi Neurology & Neurological Sci
Last Updated: September 06, 2023 |
Our research aims to fill a fundamental gap of knowledge about the timing, location, and causal importance of specific neuronal populations in the brain that work together in the millisecond scale to subserve a given brain function. We record directly from inside the brain in neurosurgical patients that are implanted with multiple electrodes across different anatomical and functional systems. We also apply direct electrical current to specific populations of neurons to alter their function while testing the effect of such perturbation on the human participant subjective feelings or task performance. Our research is beneficial to each individual patient who volunteers to participate in our cognitive and behavioral experiments because we map the location of functional units within each patient’s brain and share this information with clinicians to make more precise and safer surgical plans and prevent major cognitive deficits after surgery. We also map the location of pathological activity and use the data to locate the source of seizures and the pathways for their propagation in each individual patient’s brain. Our work is also relevant to public health and has societal impact. We strive to collect novel information about the functional architecture of the human brain, and improve our understanding of how the brain works. This will be vital for our understanding of the pathophysiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders that affect higher level cognitive functions and cause major problems for afflicted individuals and their families and the society. We study human brain function at multiple levels of cognitive and behavioral processing. We study brain activity from the very early sensory input to very late decision making in even social or emotional domains. We do not focus on a specific area of the brain or on a narrow field of cognitive neuroscience. As documented by our published work, every level of human cognition, every stage of human brain function, and every regions of the human brain - are of interest to us – as we want to understand how different areas of the brain work together across different experimental tasks. For instance, we have studied the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as we have recorded directly from the human periaqueductal gray (PAG) and we have electrically stimulated the human default network as we have stimulated the human hypothalamus. Our goal is to acquire a universal understanding of the functional architecture of the human brain with millisecond and millimeter precision. |
Kathleen Poston Neurology & Neurological Sci, Neurosurgery
Last Updated: August 05, 2021 |
The Poston Lab seeks to understand the biological underpinnings of non-motor symptoms in patients with Lewy Body diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and Lewy Body Dementia. While our primary focus is understanding cognition and dementia, we also study other prominent non-motor symptoms such as psychosis/hallucinations, sleep disruption, orthostatic dysregulation, and others. A major focus is on the role of co-pathologies, such as Alzheimer's and vascular co-pathologies, and the role of neuro-inflammation, in the development of Lewy Body disease associated non-motor symptoms. We collect clinical, motor, neuropsychological, biological, genetic, and imaging data on patients and healthy older adults to perform our studies. |
Alfredo Dubra Ophthalmology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Our lab is part of the Byers Eye Institute and the Ophthalmology Department at Stanford University. We seek to develop novel retinal imaging technologies to improve the diagnosing and treatment of ocular, vascular, neurodegenerative and systemic diseases. Our work is motivated by the personal interactions with research study volunteers and patients that we have been fortunate to have worked with. We pursue this through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates optics, computer science, vision science, electrical engineering and other engineering disciplines, in a highly collaborative environment with clinical colleagues in our department. |
Jeffrey Goldberg Ophthalmology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
We work on the cellular and molecular basis of neuronal survival and axon growth relevant to neuroprotection and regeneration, and on differentiation and transplant relevant to neural development and cell replacement therapies. Using retinal ganglion cells, a type of CNS neuron, as our primary model system in vitro and in rodent models in vivo, we use diverse "omics" and discovery research, combined with hypothesis-driven experiments and novel techniques, to unveil the basis for neuronal development, integration, and regeneration in the visual system. |
Yang Hu Ophthalmology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
We are studying the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and axon regeneration after CNS injury and neurological diseases, using retinal ganglion cell (RGC) and optic nerve in various optic neuropathies mouse models. Regenerative and neuroprotective therapies have long been sought for CNS neurodegenerative diseases but none have been found. That there is no curative neuroprotective or restorative therapy for neurodegeneration is a central challenge for human health. My lab focuses on the mechanisms responsible for neuronal degeneration and axon regeneration after injury or diseases with the goal of building on this understanding to develop effective combined strategies to promote neuroprotection and functional recovery. |
Michael Kapiloff Ophthalmology, Med: Cardiovascular Medicine
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Specificity and efficacy in intracellular signal transduction can be conferred by the anchoring and co-localization of key enzymes and their upstream activators and substrate effectors by scaffold proteins. The Kapiloff lab investigates “signalosomes” formed by scaffold proteins, asking fundamental questions such as: 1) how are signalosomes constituted; 2) how are upstream signals integrated by signalosomes to regulate in a concerted manner downstream effectors; 3) what is the physiologic relevance of these signalosomes; and 4) can signalosomes be targeted in a clinically relevant manner so as to constitute new therapeutic strategies. In particular, the Kapiloff lab studies signaling within the myocardium and retina. Using a comprehensive approach that includes biochemistry, cell biology, and in vivo physiology, ongoing projects address the regulation of pathological cardiac remodeling and the effects of disease on retinal neurons.
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Wendy Liu Ophthalmology
Last Updated: June 06, 2022 |
Mission: Approach: Questions: Techniques: |
Quan Nguyen Ophthalmology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Throughout the decades, our team has dedicated to the conducts of innovative clinical trials and ocular imaging studies aimed to enhance our knowledge while bringing new therapeutic options for retinal vascular diseases, including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema, retinal vein occlusion and vaso-occlusive diseases, retinal degeneration as well as uveitic and ocular inflammatory diseases. Our efforts, often started with first-in-human trials, have led to the availability of VEGF-antagonists such as ranibizumab and aflibercept, interleukin inhibitors such as tocilizumab and sarilumab, and mTOR inhibitors such as sirolimus for many patients throughout the world. We have developed and perfected approaches to plan and execute effectively and economically multi-centered investigator-sponsored trials. We have also established teams that receive, process, and grade ocular images of the anterior and posterior segments and teams that coordinate the successful conducts of studies. Medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty members from around the globe, near and far, have joined our team to pursue our mission in enhancing the knowledge, diagnosis, and management of retinal and uveitic diseases through clinical research to preserve and improve vision for our patients. We are committed to the success of every team member. |
Sui Wang Ophthalmology
Last Updated: August 15, 2023 |
Our research focuses on unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying retinal development and diseases. We employ genetic and genomic tools to explore how various retinal cell types, including neurons, glia, and the vasculature, respond to developmental cues and disease insults at the epigenomic and transcriptional levels. In addition, we investigate their interactions and collective contributions to maintain retinal integrity.
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Albert Wu Ophthalmology, Stem Cell Bio Regenerative Med
Last Updated: January 13, 2022 |
Our translational research laboratory endeavors to bring breakthroughs in stem cell biology and tissue engineering to clinical ophthalmology and reconstructive surgery. Over 6 million people worldwide are afflicted with corneal blindness, usually caused by chemical and thermal burns, ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, microbial infections, or chronic inflammation. These injuries often result in corneal vascularization, conjunctivalization, scarring, and opacification from limbal epithelial stem cell (LSC) deficiency (LSCD), for which there is currently no durable treatment. The most promising cure for bilateral LSCD is finding an autologous source of limbal epithelial cells for transplantation. Utilizing recent advances in the field of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), our research aims to create a reliable and renewable source of limbal epithelial cells for potential use in treating human eye diseases. These cells will be grown on resorbable biomatrices to generate stable transplantable corneal tissue. These studies will serve as the basis for human clinical trials and make regenerative medicine a reality for those with sight-threatening disease. On a broader level, this experimental approach could serve as a paradigm for the creation of other transplantable tissue for use throughout the body. Stem cell biology has the potential to influence every field of medicine and will revolutionize the way we perform surgery. |
Nidhi Bhutani Orthopedic Surgery
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Our research interests broadly encompass the molecular mechanisms regulating development, regeneration and repair with a focus on the epigenome. We are exploring epigenetic regulation in health and disease especially understanding (a) the dynamics of DNA methylation and demethylation and (b) the 3D chromatin organization. Another focus is stem cell biology and reprogramming approaches especially utilizing embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells towards musculoskeletal regeneration and for age-associated diseases like Osteoarthritis. We are looking for highly creative and motivated postdoctoral fellows with a broad interest in Stem cell biology and Regenerative medicine. The specific research projects are focused on studying epigenetic regulation of skeletal diseases (cartilage and bone) and for understanding stem cell function in skeletal growth and regeneration. Another focus area is tissue engineering and generation of biomimetic 3D tissue models that reflect the endogenous complexity. Applicants must be PhD (cell, molecular or stem cell biology or bioengineering). |
Peter Yang Orthopedic Surgery, Materials Sci & Engineering, Bioengineering
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Biomaterials, medical devices, drug delivery, stem cells and 3D bioprinting for musculoskeletal tissue engineering |
Yunzhi Peter Yang Orthopedic Surgery
Last Updated: July 14, 2022 |
Biomaterials, medical devices, drug delivery, stem cells and 3D bioprinting for musculoskeletal tissue engineering |
Alan Cheng Surg: Otolaryngology
Last Updated: November 22, 2021 |
I am a surgeon-scientist with a clinical interest in caring for patients with hearing loss and deafness, and research interests in inner ear development and regeneration. For almost 20 years, I have been studying hair cell biology. Since 2007, my research has focused on defining the role of Wnt signaling in regulating hair cell progenitors in the developing and damaged inner ear using a combination of genetic, molecular biological, pharmacological, and imaging techniques. In particular, our work has led to the discovery of Wnt-responsive hair cell progenitors in the neonatal mouse cochlea and utricle, and more recently, functional recovery during vestibular regeneration.
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Teresa Nicolson Surg: Otolaryngology
Last Updated: November 29, 2021 |
Our research focuses on genetic forms of hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction. As many features of the auditory/vestibular system are highly conserved among vertebrates, we use zebrafish as our animal model and have identified over a dozen genes that are required for hearing and balance. Our studies have yielded important insights into the molecular basis of sensory hair-cell function, especially with regard to mechanotransduction and synaptic transmission. To understand the function of deafness genes and delve deeper into the underlying biology, our lab uses a wide range of methods to analyze mutant phenotypes including live cell imaging, physiological experiments, CRISPR gene editing, transcriptomic methods, and auditory/vestibular behavioral analyses.
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Daibhid O Maoileidigh Surg: Otolaryngology
Last Updated: August 15, 2023 |
I am a Theoretical Physicist by training and have been working on mathematical and computational modeling of biological systems since my PhD. My lab studies hearing and balance systems and is interested in how sensory signals are filtered, transduced, amplified, and transmitted to the brain. We have worked on the ear's mechanics, synaptic dynamics, and otoacoustic emissions and use experimental data to motivate and test our mathematical models. In collaborations with several experimental labs, we have helped explain their data and tested our mathematical models. Our work is highly interdisciplinary and sits at the intersection of many fields including physics, biology, mathematics, neuroscience, and engineering. At present, we are focusing on the sensory cells in hearing and balance systems and on auditory evoked potentials.
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Eugene Butcher Pathology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
We are interested in fundamental aspects of cell-cell recognition, migration and development with the mammalian immune and vascular systems as models. We use molecular, genetic and single cell transcriptomic and mass cytometric approaches to study the development and trafficking of lymphocytes, NK cells and dendritic cells and their role in immune function in health and diseases. |
Le Cong Pathology, Genetics
Last Updated: January 31, 2023 |
Dr. Cong's group is developing novel technology for genome editing and single-cell genomics, leveraging scalable methods inspired by data science and machine learning and artificial intelligence. His group has a focus on using these gene-editing tools to study immunological and neurological diseases. His work has led to one of the first FDA-approved clinical trials using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing for in vivo gene therapy. More recently, his group invented tools for cleavage-free large gene insertion via mining microbial recombination protein (Wang et al. 2022), and developed single-cell perturbating - tracking approach for studying cancer immunology and neuro-immunology (Hughes et al. 2022). We have also strong interest in using deep learning for predicting and designing gene-editing system and protein function (Hughes et al. 2022 and Yuan et al. 2023). Dr. Cong is a recipient of the NIH/NHGRI Genomic Innovator Award, a Baxter Foundation Faculty Scholar, and has been selected by Clarivate Web of Science as a Highly Cited Researcher.
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Dylan Dodd Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Last Updated: January 12, 2022 |
One of the key ways that the gut microbiome impacts human health is through the production of bioactive metabolites. By understanding how microbes produce these molecules, we aim to develop new approaches to promote human health and treat disease. Our laboratory employs bacterial genetics, metabolomics, and gnotobiotic mouse colonization to uncover the chemistry that underlies host-microbe interactions in the gut. |
Andrew Fire Pathology, Genetics
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Our lab studies the mechanisms by which cells and organisms respond to genetic change. The genetic landscape faced by a living cell is constantly changing. Developmental transitions, environmental shifts, and pathogenic invasions lend a dynamic character to both the genome and its activity pattern.We study a variety of natural mechanisms that are utilized by cells adapting to genetic change. These include mechanisms activated during normal development and systems for detecting and responding to foreign or unwanted genetic activity. At the root of these studies are questions of how a cell can distinguish "self" versus "nonself" and "wanted" versus "unwanted" gene expression. We primarily make use of the nematode C. elegans in our experimental studies. C. elegans is small, easily cultured, and can readily be made to accept foreign DNA or RNA. The results of such experiments have outlined a number of concerted responses that recognize (and in most cases work to silence) the foreign nucleic acid. One such mechanism ("RNAi") responds to double stranded character in RNA: either as introduced experimentally into the organism or as produced from foreign DNA that has not undergone selection to avoid a dsRNA response. Much of the current effort in the lab is directed toward a molecular understanding of the RNAi machinery and its roles in the cell. RNAi is not the only cellular defense against unwanted nucleic acid, and substantial current effort in the lab is also directed at identification of other triggers and mechanisms used in recognition and response to foreign information.
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Michael Howitt Pathology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Our lab is broadly interested in how intestinal microbes shape our immune system to promote both health and disease. Recently we discovered that a type of intestinal epithelial cell, called tuft cells, act as sentinels stationed along the lining of the gut. Tuft cells respond to microbes, including parasites, to initiate type 2 immunity, remodel the epithelium, and alter gut physiology. Surprisingly, these changes to the intestine rely on the same chemosensory pathway found in oral taste cells. Currently, we aim to 1) elucidate the role of specific tuft cell receptors in microbial detection. 2) To understand how protozoa and bacteria within the microbiota impact host immunity. 3) Discover how tuft cells modulate surrounding cells and tissue.
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Jon Long Pathology
Last Updated: July 13, 2022 |
Energy metabolism encompasses the fundamental homeostatic processes by which we regulate our energy storage and energy expenditure. Energy metabolism is highly dynamic and changes according to availability of nutrients, physical activity, or environmental conditions. Dysregulation of energy metabolism is a hallmark of many age-associated chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemias, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Therefore a complete understanding of the molecular pathways of energy metabolism represents an important basic scientific goal with implications for many of the most pressing biomedical problems of our generation. Metabolic tissues including adipose, liver, and muscle play critical roles in energy homeostasis. We are interested in understanding the dynamic endocrine signals that control metabolic tissue function. What are the identities of these signals? How do their levels change in response to physiologic energy stressors? Where are they made? What cell types or tissues do they act on? To answer these questions, we use chemical and mass spectrometry-based technologies as discovery tools. We combine these tools with classical biochemical and genetic techniques in cellular and animal models. Our goal is to discover new molecules and signaling pathways that regulate organismal energy metabolism. Recent studies from our laboratory have identified a family of cold-regulated lipid hormones that stimulate mitochondrial respiration as well as a thermogenic polypeptide hormone regulated by exercise. We suspect that many more remain to be discovered. We anticipate that our approach will uncover fundamental homeostatic mechanisms that control mammalian energy metabolism. In the long term, we hope to translate our discoveries into therapeutic opportunities that matter for metabolic and other age-associated chronic diseases.
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Jonathan Long Pathology
Last Updated: November 29, 2021 |
Our laboratory uses chemical and genetic approaches to study the signaling pathways that control mammalian energy homeostasis. We focus on blood-borne metabolic hormones and other hormone-like molecules. Ultimately, we seek to translate our discoveries into therapeutic opportunities that matter for obesity and other age-associated metabolic diseases.
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Bingwei Lu Pathology
Last Updated: October 25, 2023 |
Mitochondrial dysfunction is commonly associated with aging and age-related chronic diseases. A major goal of our research is to understand how mitochondrial dysfunction arises during aging and contributes to the pathogenesis of a broad spectrum of age-related diseases, from cancer to neurodegenerative diseases and sarcopenia. An overarching hypothesis is that aging and age-related diseases share fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms. Thus, by targeting the molecular drivers of aging, we can develop new understandings and therapies for many age-related diseases. Supporting this hypothesis, our more recent studies demonstrate that reverse electron transport (RET) along mitochondrial electron transport chain is activated during aging, leading to excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and imbalanced NAD+/NADH ratio, and that inhibition of RET is beneficial in disease models of brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. We are actively investigating the mechanism of RET activation during aging, the signaling pathways influenced by RET, and the potential of RET as a viable therapeutic target. We use Drosophila and mouse in vivo models, human induced pluropotent stem cell (iPSC) derived cell culture models, and state-of-the art techniques such as CRISPRa/i, proximity proteomics, RNA-seq, cryo-EM, and molecular dynamics simulation in our research.
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Stephen Montgomery Pathology, Genetics
Last Updated: April 15, 2021 |
We are looking for postdoctoral researchers interested in understanding the impact of rare variants on human diseases. Projects in the lab are either computational and experimental (or both!). We are particularly interested in establishing new research directions for using genomics data to interpret undiagnosed rare diseases. We are also interested in helping to improve the use of genetic data in diverse populations. Great opportunities for networking also as many of the projects in our lab are often part of major genomics research consortium like the UDN, Mendelian Genomics Research Centres, MoTrPAC, GTEx, TOPMED, ENCODE and more! Please check out our website and our recent list of papers on Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=117h3CAAAAAJ&hl=en
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Jonathan Pollack Pathology
Last Updated: January 12, 2022 |
Research in the Pollack lab centers on translational genomics, with a current focus on diseases of the prostate. The lab employs next-generation sequencing, single-cell genomics, genome editing, and cell/tissue-based modeling to uncover disease mechanisms, biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Current areas of emphasis include: (1) Defining molecular features of prostate cancer that distinguish indolent from aggressive disease; (2) Determining disease mechanisms and new therapeutic targets in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); and (3) Defining disease drivers in rare neoplasms (e.g., ameloblastoma).
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Birgitt Schuele Pathology
Last Updated: December 08, 2021 |
The Schuele lab works on gene discovery and novel stem cell technologies to generate stem cell models from patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders to understand the underlying causes of neurodegeneration. Our projects range from clinical genetic family studies and human stem cell modeling of neurocircuits to translational pre-clinical gene therapy studies in Parkinson’s disease. |
Katrin Svensson Pathology
Last Updated: July 14, 2022 |
The Svensson Laboratory is dedicated to the discovery of new fundamental pathways that regulates cellular and organismal metabolism. The main focus is to identify novel functions for new molecules controlling the regulation of glucose and lipid homeostasis using a combination of genomic, proteomic and physiology approaches. |