Graduate Program Faculty and Research Interests
*Denotes Faculty participating in the Anti-Cancer Drug Development Training Program.
*Rhoda M. Alani, M.D., Associate Professor
Human melanocyte growth and differentiation, molecular regulation of melanoma development and progression, targeted therapies for melanoma, molecular diagnostics for melanoma.
*Richard F. Ambinder, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Virology and human cancer; antiviral therapy; antitumor therapy; lymphoma pathogenesis and treatment; immunological approaches to virus-associated malignancies.
*L. Mario Amzel, Ph.D., Professor
3-D structure of proteins: immunoglobulins and other binding proteins; ATP synthase; monoxygenases and dioxygenases quinone reductase.
*J. Thomas August, M.D., Professor
Genetic immunotherapy of infectious diseases and cancer by targeting DNA encoded antigen chimeras to MHC II; MHC II antigen presentation; development of DNA vaccines; immune tolerance.
*Philip A. Cole M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Director
Chemical and biochemical approaches in the study of signal transduction, circadian rhythm, and gene regulation.
*Robert J. Cotter, Ph.D., Professor
Development of new analytical techniques and instrumentation for mass spectrometry; applications of mass spectrometry to the structural analysis of peptides, glycopeptides, and glycolipids.
*Samuel R. Denmeade, M.D., Associate Professor
Targeted therapies for cancer; prodrugs; proteases; peptide libraries.
Albena Dinkova-Kostova, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Protection against cancer mechanisms and strategies; structure-activity relation of protective agents; inflammation and cancer; skin cancer prevention.
Sylvain Doré,Ph.D., Associate Professor
Battling neurodegenerative disorders: Stroke, alzheimer and aging.
Charles W. Flexner, M.D., Professor
Basic and clinical pharmacology of antiretroviral drugs; HIV protease inhibitors and entry inhibitors.
*Robert H. Getzenberg, Ph.D., Professor
Cancer biomarkers; proteomic analysis of nuclear structure; nanotechnology.
*Wade Gibson, Ph.D., Professor
Herpesvirus proteins: studies of their expression, structure, and function using genetic, biochemical, and immunological approaches.
Marc M. Greenberg, Ph.D., Professor
Chemical and biochemical approaches to the study of DNA damage and repair.
*Carol Greider, Ph.D., Professor
Telomerase and telomere length regulation.
J. Marie Hardwick, Ph.D.,Professor
Molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death.
*Gary S. Hayward, Ph.D., Professor
Pathways of herpesvirus gene regulation and latency; cis-acting DNA elements that modulate gene expression; mechanisms of positive and negative transcriptional regulation; interaction of viral immediate-early transactivators with nuclear domains; molecular piracy by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus.
*S. Diane Hayward, Ph.D., Professor
Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma virus; viral latency and tumorigenesis; mechanisms of virus-induced cell proliferation; viral mediated epigenetic modification of cell gene expression; notch and wnt pathways.
Craig W. Hendrix, M.D., Professor
Anti-infective drugs; chemoprevention of infectious diseases.
Richard L. Huganir, Ph.D., Professor
Molecular Mechanisms in the Regulation of Synaptic Plasticity
*William B. Isaacs, Ph.D., Professor
Understanding the molecular genetic events responsible for initiation and progression of prostate cancer, with particular interest in inherited susceptibility to prostate cancer.
*Elizabeth M. Jaffee, M.D., Professor
Analysis of antitumor immune responses against human tumors; identification of the targets of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells.
*Thomas W. Kensler, Ph.D., Professor
Molecular mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis; Nrf2 signalling; cancer chemoprevention.
*Kenneth W. Kinzler, Ph.D., Professor
Molecular genetics of cancer, translational cancer research.
*Jun O. Liu, Ph.D., Professor
Chemical biology and molecular biology; use of small molecules as probes to elucidate mechanisms of signal transduction; angiogenesis and cell proliferation.
Ernesto T. Marques, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Vaccine design and immunotherapies; immunomics; immunopathogenesis of Dengue and HIV.
*Caren L. Freel Meyers, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Organic and medicinal chemistry, chemical biology: drug delivery mechanisms in bacteria; development of antibiotic prodrug strategies; study of bacterial isoprenoid biosynthesis; combinatorial biosynthesis; development of potential therapeutic agents.
*William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Molecular mechanisms of prostatic carcinogenesis; epigenetic alterations in cancer; new approaches to prostate cancer prevention and treatment.
*Paula M. Pitha-Rowe, Ph.D., Professor
Effects of viral infection on expression of cellular (cytokines and chemokines and their receptors) and viral (HIV-1, HHV-8) genes; targeted antiviral and anticellular therapy (gene transfer, ribozymes); breast cancer: role of c-erbB-2.
*Martin G. Pomper, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
In Vivo molecular and cellular imaging; radiopharmaceutical development; targeted cancer imaging and therapy; functional brain imaging.
*Gary H. Posner, Ph.D., Professor
Organic and medicinal chemistry aimed toward rational design and synthesis of new compounds for effective and safe chemotherapy of malaria and cancer.
*Jonathan D. Powell, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor
Mechanisms of T cell activation and tolerance.
*Douglas N. Robinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Understanding cytokinesis and cell shape control.
Christopher A. Ross, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Neuropsychiatric disorders.
*Charles M. Rudin, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor
Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis, roles of apoptosis in carcinogenesis and therapeutic resistance, novel therapeutic development in animal models of cancer.
*Ronald L. Schnaar, Ph.D., Professor
Cell interactions in the nervous system.
Theresa A. Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Clinical pharmacology; molecular mechanisms of antiparasitic drug action; effects of topoisomerase inhibitors on DNA of trypanosomes; structure-activity of synthetic antimalarial trioxanes.
Robert F. Siliciano, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
HIV latency, evolution, and persistence; HIV treatment and drug resistance; pharmacology of HIV drugs.
Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., Professor
Molecular basis of neural signal transduction.
Simona Stager, D.V.M., Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Immunoparasitology; CD8+ T-cells; Leishmania; vaccination.
*James T. Stivers, Ph.D., Professor
Molecular mechanism and inhibition of enzymes involved in DNA repair, anticancer and antiviral chemotherapy, and adaptive and innate immunity.
*Paul Talalay, M.D., Professor
Molecular mechanisms involved in chemoprotection against mutagens and carcinogens.
*Sean D. Taverna, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Histone and chromatin modifications, epigenetics and gene function, identification of histone binding modules, and small RNA directed gene silencing.
*Craig A. Townsend, Ph.D., Professor
Organic and bioorganic chemistry: biosynthesis of natural products and biomimetic synthesis; elucidation of protein function; molecular biology of secondary metabolism and engineering of biosynthetic systems to practical ends; study of the role and inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in human cancer, tuberculosis, and obesity.
*Bert Vogelstein, M.D., Professor
Molecular genetics of human cancer.
*Jin Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Cell signaling; kinases and phosphatases; chemotaxis; live-cell imaging; fluorescent proteins and reporters; chemical biology.
*Heng Zhu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Signal Transduction; protein network; host-pathogen interaction; biomarker identification.?
Clinical Pharmacology Faculty
Albena Dinkova-Kostova, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Protection against cancer mechanisms and strategies; structure-activity relation of protective agents; inflammation and cancer; skin cancer prevention
Cao, Ying-Jun, M.B., Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling of drug action at cellular, tissue, and population level; chemoprevention of HIV transmission; pharmacology of the male genital tract; clinical development of antiviral drugs
Charles W. Flexner, M.D., Professor
Basic and clinical pharmacology of antiretroviral drugs; HIV protease inhibitors and entry inhibitors.
Craig W. Hendrix, M.D., Associate Professor
Anti-infective drugs; chemoprevention of infectious diseases.
Walter C. Hubbard, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Quantitative mass spectrometry via combined liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and applications to clinical and laboratory research; (1) pharmacokinetics and metabolism of agents employed for treatment of HIV/AIDS and other viral disease; (2) lipid molecular species: potential for newborn screening for leukodystrophies and roles as mediators of signal transduction in cells.
Paul Lietman
Brent Petty, M.D., Associate Professor
Antimicrobial chemotherapy;? hospital-based medical practices; internal medicine collaboration with ophthalmologic clinical trials.
Theresa A. Shapiro, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Clinical pharmacology; molecular mechanisms of antiparasitic drug action; effects of topoisomerase inhibitors on DNA of trypanosomes; structure-activity of synthetic antimalarial trioxanes.
Part-Time Faculty
Darrell R. Abernethy, M.D., Ph.D.
Role of genetic polymorphisms of drug effectors that effect responses to cardiovascular drugs.
Adjunct Faculty
James E. K. Hildreth, D.Phil., M.D., Adjunct Professor
Molecular cloning of leukocyte adhesion receptors; characterization of the role of adhesion receptors in the pathogenicity and cell-cell transmission of HIV; mechanisms of host protein incorporation into retroviruses; role of cell signaling in HIV and HTLV-I replication.
Affiliated Faculty
Donald S. Coffey, Ph.D., Professor
Nuclear structure and DNA organization in normal and cancer cells.
Joel H. Shaper, Ph.D., Professor
Molecular and cell biology of glycosyltransferases.
