The lab's current research is aimed primarily at understanding how hematopoietic stem cells interact with their microenvironment in order to subsequently modulate these interactions to ultimately improve bone marrow transplantation and unlock biological secrets that further enable regenerative medicine broadly.
We aim to understand the genetic basis of diabetes and related metabolic conditions and to use this to leverage a better understanding of what causes diabetes and how we can improve treatment options for patients. Our work is predominantly focused on understanding what causes pancreatic islets to release insufficient insulin to control blood glucose levels after a meal in patients with type 2 diabetes, but often extends to efforts to relate this to metabolic dysfunction in other relevant tissues such as fat and liver.
The Sakamoto lab studies normal and aberrant blood cell development. Her research team is interested in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic leukemia, including acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia. The overall goal of her research is to understand the signaling pathways that lead to leukemia or bone marrow failure. She is also interested in developing new drugs to treat these diseases. Her group experience works with mammalian cells and mouse models of cancer and bone marrow failure syndromes, such as Diamond Blackfan Anemia.
The Kay lab is interested in Gene Transfer, Genome Editing and Non-coding RNA biology. The current research is studying: 1) rAAV vectors specifically: developing capsid libraries, chemical modification of vectors and screening approaches that will provide improved vectors for human application; molecular mechanism of discordance in vector transduction between species; molecular mechanisms involved in AAV transduction; and chromatin formation of gene transfer vector genomes in primary tissues.
The Gifford lab is focused on defining the complex genetic and molecular mechanisms that are necessary for faithful cardiovascular development and how perturbation of these mechanisms can lead to disease. We use both stem cell and rodent experimental models to:
The laboratory of Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch, Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology) is seeking a highly-motivated and accomplished postdoctoral scholar to join their team of investigators in conjunction with the Basic Science and Engineering (BASE) Initiative of the Children’s Heart Center at Stanford University.
We study the development and function of specialized sensory and secretory cells in the lung called pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs). We apply genetic single cell labeling studies in vivo as well as single RNA sequencing to identify the molecular basis of their developmental migration and functional specialization. We recently identified dozens of neuropeptides expressed by individual neuroendocrine cells and aim to understand the functional consequences of the secreted products and their targets both within the lung.
Our lab has several major foci:
1. Using iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes to develop a better understanding of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congenital heart disease.
2. The role of alterations in mitochondrial structure and function in normal physiology and in diseases such as dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
3. Single cell analysis of mitochondrial function reveals significant heterogeneity.
Specific projects underway in our lab include:
Mission: Our mission is to both use neuroscience as a tool for improving education, and use education as a tool for furthering our understanding of the brain. On the one hand, advances in non-invasive, quantitative brain imaging technologies are opening a new window into the mechanisms that underlie learning. For children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, we hope to develop personalized intervention programs that are tailored to a child’s unique pattern of brain maturation.
The Cardiovascular Biomechanics Computation Lab develops fundamental computational methods for the study of cardiovascular disease progression, surgical methods, treatment planning and medical devices. We focus on patient-specific modeling in pediatric and congenital heart disease, as well as adult cardiovascular disease. Our lab bridges engineering and medicine through the departments of Pediatrics, Bioengineering, and the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. We develop the SimVascular open source project.