Building on the long, rich history of the Department of Cell Biology, faculty members merge molecular biology and imaging techniques to focus on cellular form, function and transformation. Departmental scientists study topics including cell motility, division, membrane trafficking, metabolism, and development, with tools like scanning and transmission electron microscopy and scanning confocal, total internal reflection, and lattice light sheet fluorescence microscopy. Faculty participate in the Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology and the Johns Hopkins University Biology graduate programs.
Director
Andrew J. Ewald, Ph.D.
Director, Department of Cell Biology
Co-Leader, Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program (CIM)
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Oncology
Co-Leader, Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program (CIM)
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Oncology
Research Interests:
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of epithelial growth, invasion and metastasis, focus on how clusters of cancer cells disseminate from the tumor, traverse the systemic circulation, and cooperate with resident stromal cells to colonize distant organs.
Deborah Jean Andrew, Ph.D., M.S.
Associate Director for Faculty Development, Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Cell Biology
Research Interests:
Drosophila, Developmental genetics of organ formation
Peter N. Devreotes, Ph.D.
Isaac Morris and Lucille Elizabeth Hay Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biological Chemistry
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biological Chemistry
Research Interests:
Genetic analysis of chemotaxis in eukaryotic cells, Dictyostelium
Peter J. Espenshade, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Graduate Biomedical Education
Executive Director, Center for Innovation in Graduate Biomedical Education
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Oncology
Executive Director, Center for Innovation in Graduate Biomedical Education
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Oncology
Research Interests:
Lipid Metabolism, Cholesterol, Cancer, Pancreas, Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein (SREBP), Hypoxia, Homeostasis, Nutrient Sensing
Andrew J. Ewald, Ph.D.
Director, Department of Cell Biology
Co-Leader, Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program (CIM)
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Oncology
Co-Leader, Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program (CIM)
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Oncology
Expertise, Disease and Conditions:
Breast Cancer, Cancer, Fibrosis, Metastatic Disease
Research Interests:
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of epithelial growth, invasion and metastasis, focus on how clusters of cancer cells disseminate from the tumor, traverse the systemic circulation, and cooperate with resident stromal cells to colonize distant organs.
Takanari Inoue, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biological Chemistry
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
Professor of Biological Chemistry
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
Research Interests:
Synthetic cell biology
Scot C. Kuo, Ph.D.
Director of Imaging, Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences
Director, Microscope Facility
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
Director, Microscope Facility
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
Research Interests:
Laser-based imaging and bioinstrumentation, Nanoscale biophysics, Actin-based protrusion and cell motility, Mechanical functions of cells
Erika L. Matunis, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell Biology
Research Interests:
Molecular genetics of germ line stem cell function
Susan Michaelis, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Genetic Medicine
Professor of Genetic Medicine
Research Interests:
ER quality control, Mammalian cell biology, Cytosolic protein quality control, ABC transporters, ERAD, ZMPSTE24 protease, Lamin A, Endocytosis, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS or progeria), Yeast protein trafficking and human disease
Douglas N. Robinson, Ph.D., M.Phil.
Professor of Cell Biology
Joint Appointment in Medicine
Professor of Oncology
Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
Joint Appointment in Medicine
Professor of Oncology
Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
Research Interests:
Disease states, Model systems, Cell-shape control, Homeostasis, Tissue development, Cytokinesis (Cell division), Cellular mechanosensing, Molecular mechanisms
Hiromi Sesaki, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell Biology
Research Interests:
Membrane fusion and fission, Mitochondrial dynamics
Shigeki Watanabe, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
Research Interests:
Microscopy, synaptic plasticity, Cell biology, Neuroscience
Katherine Lee Wilson, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell Biology
Research Interests:
Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, Nuclear envelope, lamins and nucleoskeleton, Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome