The Jonathan Zenilman lab conducts research related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We are working to develop biological markers for sexual behavior to use in other research. The lab studies sexual risk behaviors in highly vulnerable populations and studies datasets from the Baltimore City Health Department to understand STD trends and behaviors. Additionally, we study nosocomial infections at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, with a focus on developing an antimicrobial control program. We also conduct clinical research related to the natural history and microbiology of chronic wounds in the outpatient setting.

The Dölen lab studies the synaptic and circuit mechanisms that enable social behaviors. We use a variety of techniques including whole cell patch clamp electrophysiology, viral mediated gene transfer, optogenetics, and behavior. We are also interested in understanding how these synaptic and circuit mechanisms are disrupted in autism and schizophrenia, diseases which are characterized by social cognition deficits. More recently we have become interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs for diseases like addiction and PTSD that respond to social influence or are aggravated by social injury, We are currently using both transgenic mouse and octopus to model disease.

Research in the Kimberly Skarupski Lab focuses on depression, geriatric medicine, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences. Recent studies have investigated various aspects of cognitive decline in biracial older adult and urban older adult community-based populations. Additional studies have investigated depression symptoms, disability and worship practices in older adults, with particular attention to racial disparities in these areas.

We investigate the brain networks and neurotransmitters involved in symptoms of movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, and the mechanisms by which modulating these networks through electrical stimulation affects these symptoms. We are particularly interested in the mechanisms through which neuromodulation therapies like deep brain stimulation affect non-motor brain functions, such as cognitive function and mood. We use imaging of specific neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine and dopamine, to understand the changes in brain chemistry associated with the clinical effects of deep brain stimulation and to predict which patients are likely to have changes in non-motor symptoms following DBS. Through collaborations with our neurosurgery colleagues, we explore brain function by making recordings during DBS surgery during motor and non-motor tasks. Dr. Mills collaborates with researchers in the Department of Neurosurgery, the Division of Geriatric and Neuropsychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and in the Division of Nuclear Medicine within the Department of Radiology to translate neuroimaging and neurophysiology findings into clinical applications.

The Hoffmann Lab is focused on reducing TB and HIV morbidity and mortality in the low and middle income settings through behavioral and implementation science approaches. Work has focused on understanding individual-level behavior towards linkage to care and continued care engagement for HIV and TB and using this knowledge to develop approaches to increase HIV testing, linkage to care, HIV viral load suppression, and retention in care. Other work has focused on health system strategies to improve service delivery and improve adherence to best practice to guidelines-based care. The group's research includes work on the general population, corrections inmates and ex-inmates, men at risk for HIV, and recently hospitalized individuals. Most of the research has been in South Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Work in the Hsin-Chieh Yeh Lab focuses on clinical trials and cohort studies of diabetes, obesity and behavioral intervention, cancer and hypertension. Recent investigations have focused on novel risk factors and complications related to obesity and type 2 diabetes, particularly lung function, smoking and cancer. We recently co-led a randomized clinical trial of tailored dietary advice for consumption of dietary supplements to lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular disease risk factors in hypertensive urban African Americans.

The Michelle Eakin Lab conducts research on behavioral science and adherence and asthma outcomes in inner-city children. Our studies into behavioral science have included exploring the impact of medication adherence on lung health outcomes in patients with cystic fibrosis, disparities in anti-hypertensive medication adherence in adolescents and other key topics. We also investigate methods for improving asthma care and treatment as well as health disparities among various ethnicities, particularly in pediatric patients.

Abbey J. Hughes, Ph.D., and Meghan Beier, Ph.D., are clinical psychologists, co-investigators and grant-funded clinical researchers specializing in neurorehabilitation psychology and multiple sclerosis. Dr. Hughes' research focuses on health behaviors and their impact on cognitive dysfunction in people with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Beier's research focuses on characterizing emotional and cognitive symptoms common among people with MS, refining neuropsychological assessment techniques, and developing interventions to ameliorate or slow MS-related cognitive decline.

The Michael Klag Lab focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Our research determined that the U.S. was experiencing an epidemic of end-stage kidney disease, pinpointed the incidence of kidney disease and published scholarship on risk factors for kidney disease such as race, diabetes and socioeconomic status. Our Precursors Study has shown that serum cholesterol measured at age 22 years is a predictor for midlife cardiovascular disease, a finding that has influenced policy about cholesterol screening in young adults. We also research health behaviors that lead to hypertension and study how differences in these behaviors affect urban and non-urban populations.

The Shanthini Sockanathan Laboratory uses the developing spinal cord as our major paradigm to define the mechanisms that maintain an undifferentiated progenitor state and the molecular pathways that trigger their differentiation into neurons and glia. The major focus of the lab is the study of a new family of six-transmembrane proteins (6-TM GDEs) that play key roles in regulating neuronal and glial differentiation in the spinal cord. We recently discovered that the 6-TM GDEs release GPI-anchored proteins from the cell surface through cleavage of the GPI-anchor. This discovery identifies 6-TM GDEs as the first vertebrate membrane bound GPI-cleaving enzymes that work at the cell surface to regulate GPI-anchored protein function. Current work in the lab involves defining how the 6-TM GDEs regulate cellular signaling events that control neuronal and glial differentiation and function, with a major focus on how GDE dysfunction relates to the onset and progression of disease. To solve these questions, we use an integrated approach that includes in vivo models, imaging, molecular biology, biochemistry, developmental biology, genetics and behavior.