Dr. Menez and his laboratory are interested in clinical and translational acute kidney injury (AKI) research, specifically with a focus on the transition between AKI and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dr. Menez has investigated novel approaches to evaluate AKI using biomarkers of kidney injury, inflammation, and repair in the multi-center TRIBE-AKI and ASSESS-AKI Studies. Dr. Menez collaborates nationwide through the NIDDK-sponsored Kidney Precision Medicine Project, with a goal to improve the global understanding of kidney disease subgroups and identify new pathways and targets for novel therapies.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has additionally investigated the impact of COVID19 on kidney health, including short-term outcomes including need for dialysis or in-hospital mortality, as well as longer-term outcomes post-hospital discharge.

The goals of the Translational neurobiology Laboratory are to understand the pathogenesis and cell death pathways in neurodegenerative disorders to reveal potential therapeutic targets for pharmaceutical intervention; to investigate endogenous survival pathways and try to induce these pathways to restore full function or replace lost neurons; and to identify biomarkers to mark disease function or replace lost neurons; and to identify biomarkers to mark disease progression and evaluate therapeutics. Our research projects focus on models of Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease. We use a combination of cell biology and transgenic animal models of these diseases.

Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus are found in association with a variety of cancers. Our laboratory studies are aimed at better defining the role(s) of the virus in the pathogenesis of these diseases and the development of strategies to prevent, diagnose or treat them. We have become particularly interested in the unfolded protein response in activation of latent viral infection. Among the notions that we are exploring is the possibility that activation of virus-encoded enzymes will allow the targeted delivery of radation. In addition, we are investigating a variety of virus-related biomarkers including viral DNA, antibody responses, and cytokine measurements that may be clinically relevant.

Our lab currently focuses on three areas of immunotherapy research: gaining a deeper knowledge of the biological underpinnings of human autoimmune response; discovering biomarkers that will help us identify which patients and tumor types are most likely to respond to various immune therapies; and developing immune-based treatment combinations that could deliver a more powerful anti-tumor response than monotherapies.