Research in the Cynthia Boyd Lab concentrates on the clinical care of comorbid chronically ill and frail older adults, both chronically and during acute illnesses. Current projects focus on the treatment burden among older adults with multimorbidity, the importance of competing risks in decision-making for the elderly, the effects of guided care on the quality of care and the improvement of clinical practice guidelines for the elderly.

Work in the Cynthia Sears Laboratory focuses on the bacterial contributions to the development of human colon cancer and the impact of the microbiome on other cancers and the therapy of cancer. The current work involves mouse and human studies to define how enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, pks+ Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium nucleatum, biofilms and the colonic microbiota induce chronic colonic inflammation and colon cancer. Prospective human studies of the microbiome and biofilms in screening colonoscopy are in progress as are studies to determine if and how the microbiome impacts the response of individuals with cancer to immunotherapy and other cancer therapies.

The Ultra Low Vision Lab is interested in assessing and enhancing the functional visual abilities of individuals with ultra-low vision. The lab uses psychophysical experiments to investigate innovative methods for improving visual prostheses.

Researchers in the Danelle O. Cayea Lab develop and evaluate curriculum that teaches the care of older adults to residents and medical students. Our work includes older adults with complex heath issues who receive care in hospital and ambulatory environments.

Research in the Daniel Brotman Lab focuses on aspects of hospital medicine such as quality improvement, patient satisfaction and perioperative medicine. We recently conducted a cohort study of hypertensive African Americans to examine how access to care, treatment ambivalence and medication non-adherence affect long-term mortality.

Research in the Daniel Ford Lab seeks to understand the relationships between depression and various chronic medical conditions. Recently, we've focused on depression and coronary artery disease as well as tactics for improving care for patients with medical comorbidity. Our research was among the first to document depression as a risk factor for myocardial infarction and stroke. Our team is also interested in exploring how information technology can be used to improve the care of patients with depression and tobacco abuse.

The Daniel Kuespert Lab conducts research on a range of topics within bioengineering. Past studies include exploring microscale behavior in amphiphilic fluid mixtures predicted by the SAFT equation as well as local order and microphase formation in fluids containing asymmetric molecules.

The Daniel Nyhan Lab studies vascular changes that accompany aging to determine the underlying causes and find ways to reverse the process. One goal of our research is to identify the factors that cause vascular stiffness. Our hope is that our work in vascular biology will lead to new ways to improve vascular compliance and thereby improve cardiovascular function and perioperative risk.

The Daniel Weinberger Laboratory focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of genetic risk for developmental brain disorders. We study the genetic regulation of the transcriptome in normal human brain across the human life span and in brains from patients with various psychiatric disorders. We also study the impact of genetic variation on aspects of human brain development and function linked with risk for schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders. Our lab uses unique molecular and clinical datasets and biological materials from a large sample of families with affected and unaffected offspring and normal volunteers. These datasets include DNA, lymphoblast and fibroblast cell lines, and extensive quantitative phenotypes related to genetic risk for schizophrenia, including detailed cognitive assessments and various neuroimaging assays. In other research, we are working on a human brain transcriptome project that is RNA sequencing over 1,000 human brain samples in various regions and based also on sorting of specific celliular phentypes. We are exploring the molecular processing of the gene and its implications for cognition and aspects of human temperament.

The Dara Kraitchman Laboratory focuses on non-invasive imaging and minimally invasive treatment of cardiovascular disease. Our laboratory is actively involved in developing new methods to image myocardial function and perfusion using MRI. Current research interests are aimed at determining the optimal timing and method of the administration of mesenchymal stem cells to regenerate infarcted myocardium using non-invasive MR fluoroscopic delivery and imaging. MRI and radiolabeling techniques include novel MR and radiotracer stem cell labeling methods to determine the location, quantity and biodistribution of stem cells after delivery as well as to noninvasively determine the efficacy of these therapies in acute myocardial infarction and peripheral arterial disease. Our other research focuses on the development of new animal models of human disease for noninvasive imaging studies and the development of promising new therapies in clinical trials for companion animals.