Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics || University of Pennsylvania

Welcome

Announcements/
News

Funding
Opportunities

CTSA

The members in the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) have vigorous research programs which are pursued within the translational space - from proof of principle in cells or model systems to completion of studies of drug mechanism and dosing in humans at the conclusion of Phase II. Members of the Institute are listed below.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Soraya Abbasi, MD

Research interest: : Dr. Abbasi's research focus has been on conducting small clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of common tocolytic agents used to prevent preterm delivery. In addition, Dr. Abbasi seeks to identify the optimal dose and frequency and gestational age ranges for antenatal corticosteroids treatment. Dr. Abbasi has also participated in the development of new techniques and equipments to measure neonatal lung function and is conducting studies to use the information for adjusting neonatal ventilatory support and to measure effectiveness of new therapies. Dr. Abbasi has also participated in industry supported trials for improvement of lung function and prevention of respiratory tract infections of preterm infants.

Peter C. Adamson, MD, Associate Director

Research interest: Dr. Adamson is an internationally recognized leader in pediatric cancer drug development, serving as Chair of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Developmental Therapeutics Programs and Principal Investigator of the COG Phase 1 Consortium. At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, he is the Associate Program Director of the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) and Principal Investigator of its NICHD funded Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit (PPRU). His laboratory focuses on the clinical pharmacology of new drugs for childhood cancer.

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Aguirre’s lab studies the molecular basis of inherited retinal degenerations using dog models. Once mutant genes are identified, they explore the link between mutation and disease using a variety of molecular and proteomic methods. Of special interest now is the potential modification of inherited photoreceptor diseases by environmental factors, particularly light and/or nutrition. In regard to nutrition, iron is an attractive target because of its role in oxidative stress.

Lawrence J. Agulnick

Research interest: Mr. Agulnick is interested in the commercialization process.

Sunday O. Akintoye, B.D.S.,D.D.S.,M.S.

Research interest: Dr. Akintoye's research focuses on oral medicine research related to oral complications of cancer therapy, specifically osteoradionecrosis.

Abass Alavi, MD

Research interest: : Dr. Alavi is interested in translational research which deals with molecular imaging techniques. Particularly, he has actively taken part in conducting a multitude of research projects by utilizing Positron Emission Tomography (PET) along with a variety of tracers to probe biological and pharmacological processes in animals and in human beings. His research interests include molecular imaging of the Central Nervous System Disorders, Cancer, and Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases. He is very interested in correlative imaging with various modalities and structure function relationships.

Steven M. Albelda, MD

Research interest: : Dr. Albelda's lab is interested in translational approaches to lung cancer and mesothelioma. This involves preclinical studies evaluating new treatments in animal models, genetic and genomic studies using human blood and cancer tissue samples, and clinical trials of novel therapeutics.

Daniel Albert, MD

Research interest: Dr. Albert's research focuses on Phase 1 and 2 Trials of novel therapeutic agents for Rheumatic disorders. Dr. Albert and his colleagues have been at the forefront of the emerging field of B cell therapy for rheumatic disease.

Talissa A. Altes, MD

Research interest: Dr. Altes is interested in the field of hyperpolarized gas MRI. Hyperpolarized gases are a new class of MR contrast agent which have the potential to become a clinically useful test in a variety of lung diseases. Hyperpolarized gases are considered a drug by the FDA and phase III clinical trials have not been performed. Dr. Altes is actively working toward translating this technique from a research technique used in animal models to a clinically useful tool.

C. Babis Andreadis, MD, M.S.C.E.

Research interest: Dr. Andreadis is interested in high-dose chemo/radiotherapy followed by stem cell transplantation for patients with Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. His research is focused on identifying the molecular determinants of response to therapy, especially as they relate to drug-detoxification and cellular metabolism.

Richard Aplenc, MD

Research interest: Dr. Aplenc's research interests center on three areas: molecular epidemiology, pediatric cancer Phase I clinical trials, and the treatment of pediatric AML. His epidemiology research centers on the use of genetic polymorphism data to predict treatment response to therapeutic interventions, particularly in pediatric cancer therapy.

Steven E. Arnold, MD

Research interest: Dr. Arnold's research interests include cellular and molecular mechanisms of complex neuropsychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia, as well as neuropathological substrates of cognitive impairment in aging and dementias. This research includes postmortem tissue research, animal models, and characterization of potential biomarkers of neuropsychiatric disease in human tissues.

David Asch, MD

Research interest: Dr. Asch's research interests include medical decision making and health policy.

Richard K. Assoian, PhD

Research interest: Research in the Assoian lab focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms that control smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation in vascular injury and atherosclerosis. Our approach is to use primary cells in culture to dissect mechanism, and then test the relevance of those mechanisms in vivo by comparing the SMC proliferative response after femoral artery injury of wild-type and genetically engineered mice.

Paul Axelsen, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Axelsen's research focuses on the mechanisms of amyloidogenesis and aging in human brain. His lab have developed novel experimental strategies to characterize the physicochemical environment that initiates the type of amyloid formation that occurs in Alzheimer's disease, and we are actively looking for in vivo correlates in human brain tissue to the processes that we have identified in vitro.

Karen O. Badellino PhD, RN

Research interest: Dr. Badellino examines the relevance of endothelial lipase to human HDL metabolism and atherosclerosis as well as the regulation of the enzyme by pro- and anti-inflammatory agents.

Adam Bagg, MD

Research interest: Dr. Bagg is interested in (1) the diagnostic molecular pathology of hematologic malignancies, with the development of novel assays to facilitate their diagnosis; (2) minimal residual disease testing in leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; and (3) unraveling the biology and improving the laboratory diagnosis of the myelodysplastic syndromes.

Don A. Baldwin, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Baldwin is interested in utilizing genomics technologies for translational research.

Kurt Barnhart, MD, MSCE

Research interest: Dr. Barnhart's work has included "Risk Factors as Predictor of Ectopic Pregnancy" (R01-HD-36455), a multi center Randomized Clinical Trial on the Management of Early Pregnancy Failure (N01-HD-1- 3324), and is a program leader for the Preclinical Development of Microbicides (P01-37829). He has interest in novel preparations bio markers for disease process that can be used as predictors or diagnostic aids. His translational work has also included evaluation of methods to assess microbicide deployment and safety. In total Dr. Barnhart has been involved in more that 60 clinical trials, translational research, and outcomes studies in women's health.

Jeffrey S. Barrett, PhD, FCP

Research interest: Dr. Barrett's research interest is focused on investigating sources of variation in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Applied clinical pharmacologic investigation coupled with modeling and simulation strategies are pursued with the intention of developing rational dosing guidance in various populations for both marketed and exploratory compounds. Clinical trial simulation is utilized prospectively to explore design dependencies and parameter sensitivities. Dr. Barrett also focuses on the development of pharmacometric approaches to advance PK/PD, novel biomarker development and disease progression modeling.

Haim H. Bau, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Bau's research focuses on Nano and Micro Fluidics and the use of Carbon nanopipe based probes. His group developed a novel fabrication technique that allows one to fabricate integrated probes with diameters ranging from 100nm to 1micron. Dr. Bau's laboratory is also developing microfluidic systems for the isolation of cells and the identification of the gene profile of selected cell populations

Khalil Bdeir, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Bdeir studies the role of plasminogen activators and the neutrophil - defensins in the development of atherosclerosis, angiogenesis and acute lung injury and the mechanism of these effects. His research and collaboration involves both in-vitro and in-vivo models that will potentially will lead to translational therapy.

William A. Beltran, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECVO

Research interest: Dr. Beltran’s laboratory investigates pathways of photoreceptor cell death and survival via the use of neuroprotective agents. The use of iron chelators as a potential treatment for retinal degenerative diseases is particularly exciting as this has proven to be effective in rodent models. His work is currently aimed at investigating the molecular mechanisms of light-induced retinal degeneration in the T4R Rhodopsin dog. In this model the use of anti-oxydants and iron chelators may well prove to be beneficial, and could provide proof of principle for future translational studies in human patients.

Jean Bennett, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Bennett's research focuses on developing somatic gene delivery for treatment of ocular diseases causing blindness. In preclinical studies, he has demonstrated reversal of blindness in dog and mouse models of a congenital blinding disease called Leber Congenital Amaurosis.

Wade Berrettini, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Berrettini conducts translational research in multiple CNS disorders, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, opioid dependence and nicotine addiction.

Avinash Bhandoola, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Bhandoola's research focuses on hematopoietic stem cells and other hematopoietic progenitors, early T cell development, and T cell reconstitution in the transplant setting.

Ian A. Blair, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Blair is interested in Oxidative stress in cancer and cardiovascular disease. On going studies involve an investigation of the role of endogenous DNA- and glutathione-adducts as biomarkers of cancer and cardiovascular disease in vitro, in animal models, and in human populations.

Julie Blendy, PhD

Research interest: Research in the Blendy laboratory investigates the mechanisms underlying drug induced neuroplasticity. Long-term changes in the brain may lead to the persistent and compulsive use of drugs in the face of negative consequences. The development and evaluation of medications aimed at reducing or eliminated drug taking behavior can be greatly facilitated by animal models. Animals reliably exhibit reward/reinforcing behavior for drugs that are abused by man. Cross-species experiments allow us to validate drug reward phenotypes and to elucidate underlying molecular mechanisms. In particular, our use of genetically modified mice, harboring both null mutations as well as point mutations enable us to identify specific genes and/or polymorphisms of a gene associated with complex behaviors or treatment outcomes.

Ari Borthakur, PhD

Research interest: The goal of Dr. Borthakur's research is to develop MRI techniques for the study of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Disc Degenerative Disease, and arthritis. His lab facilitates timely clinical diagnoses by developing and improving MRI pulse sequences and hardware. Their multi-nuclear and relaxometric techniques are routinely applied in model systems as well as in clinical research.

Raymond Boston, MSc., PhD

Research interest: Dr. Boston has, for thirty years, published articles, developed software, and refined statistical methods for the development of kinetic and dynamic models for the disposition and action of drugs and metabolites. His software and statistical methodologies are in common use in the advancement of drug and metabolic investigations across the US and throughout the world. Dr. Boston's most recent interests relate to the development and application of new approaches for the investigation of Metabolic Syndrome and in this regard he has developed the MinMod Millennium software with Dr. Richard Bergman.

Lawrence F. Brass, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Brass is interested in signaling mechanisms relevant to platelet activation.

Edward S. Brodkin, MD

Research interest: The Brodkin laboratory uses methods of genetics and genomics to dissect the neurobiological pathways mediating social behaviors, including affiliative and aggressive behaviors, in mouse model systems. Certain neuropsychiatric disordersincluding autism, schizophrenia, and social phobiaare characterized by core disturbances in social cognition and socioemotional behaviors that are associated with substantial disability, morbidity, and mortality. Despite its importance, the fundamental biology of these social behaviors is not well understood. The Brodkin laboratory is studying the effects of autism and schizophrenia candidate genes on brain and social behaviors in mouse model systems. The lab is also involved in translational research in which findings from our basic research are used to try to improve diagnosis and treatment of autism and schizophrenia.

Amy R. Brooks-Kayal, MD

Research interest: Dr. Brooks-Kayal is interested in novel treatment strategies for pediatric epilepsy. Dr. Brooks-Kayal is also interested in proteomics, in particular, the development of new techniques for sensitive identification of low abundance proteins that may bind to and regulate promoters of certain genes thought to play a critical role in epileptogenesis using a combination of multidimensional HPLC, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics.

Marcia S. Brose, MD PhD

Research interest: Dr Brose's lab focuses on cancer genetics and genomics. Dr. Brose is currently studying thyroid cancer and several additional cancers including cancers of the esophagus, breast, lung, and head and neck. She studies the genetic changes that occur in cancer cells from cell culture, to changes found in patient tumor tissue, to the responses observed in phase I and Phase II clinical trials.

R. Nick Bryan, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Bryan is interested in promoting the development of advanced quantitative imaging techniques and their translation into clinical tools for early and more accurate diagnoses and image-guided therapies.

Maja Bucan, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Bucan's laboratory is using classical genetic, genomic and bioinformatic approaches to determine genetic determinants of psychiatric disorders. These studies start with the genetic dissection of a complex psychiatric syndrome into components or endophenotypes, followed by forward genetic screens for corresponding behavioral anomalies in the mouse. Bioinformatic and computational approaches facilitate molecular characterization of behavioral mutants and selection of candidate genes for these mutants, as well as studies of their relevance to human disease.

Jason A. Burdick, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Burdick's research involves the development of biodegradable polymers for a number of tissue regeneration and drug delivery applications. All of the Burdick laboratory projects are focused on translational applications and they hope to motivate all towards clinical problems.

Theresa Busch, PhD

Research interest: The Busch laboratory is interested in the biological mechanisms of photodynamic therapy (PDT) of solid tumors. Our work includes the investigation of PDT effects on tumor oxygenation and blood flow, as well as the determination of methods to augment or abrogate these effects. PDT-induced physiologic changes in tissue properties are quantified microscopically and macroscopically using clinically-acceptable tools and instruments toward the goal of defining clinical practices to optimize therapeutic efficacy.

Rafaela Cañete-Soler, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cañete-Soler is interested in multifunctional proteins/post-transcriptional control their and role in diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). In vivo, ex vivo and in vitro models for post-transcriptional control and neurodegeneration.

Arthur L. Caplan, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Caplan's research interests are in the ethics of clinical research including informed consent, the role of IRBs and DSMBs, biobanking and compensation of research subjects injured during their participation in research. He is also particularly interested in the ethics of stem cell research, vaccines and innovative forms of surgery.

Anne R. Cappola, MD, ScM

Research interest: Dr. Cappola’s research focuses on the hormonal alterations that occur with aging and the clinical impact of these changes. She performs both analyses of large cohort studies of older people and smaller, mechanistic studies in this population. Her research areas include 1) the clinical relevance of androgens in older women, 2) the hormonal contributions to the frailty syndrome, and 3) the clinical impact of subclinical thyroid disease in older individuals.

Thomas Cappola, MD, ScM

Research interest: Dr. Cappola’s laboratory studies mechanisms of cardiac remodeling in human subjects. Their specific biologic focus is cardiac transcription factors and transcriptional regulation as a therapeutic target. They employ a variety of approaches in human subjects, including large scale gene expression studies, SNP-association, biomarkers, and proof-of-concept studies of novel therapeutics. They collaborate with molecular cardiology to explore related questions in murine models.

Roberto Caricchio, MD

Research interest: Dr. Caricchio's research effort focuses on: 1) the relevance of cell death in the pathogenesis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE); 2) the disruption of certain molecular steps of cell death as therapeutic targets in SLE.

Martin Carroll, MD

Research interest: The Carroll laboratory is interested in hematologic diseases. The lab currently have several active translational programs including signal transduction in acute myeloid leukemia, retinoid derivative for treatment of refractory AML, and pathogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes using primary cells from patients.

Keith A. Cengel, MD, PhD

Research interest: Research in Dr. Cengel's laboratory is centered on modulating the therapeutic index of radiation therapy (RT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) in cancer patients. Using in vitro and in vivo cancer models, they are exploring the cellular signaling mechanisms that lead to RT and PDT resistance in cancer cells and the way in which inhibitors of growth factor signaling modulate this resistance. In addition, they are exploring the ability of dietary antioxidants such as curcumin and plant-derived lignans to promote normal tissue tolerance to RT and PDT. The data generated in these studies will be used to support the initiation of Phase I/II studies in cancer patients.

Britton Chance, PhD, Sc.D.

Research interest: Dr. Chance's research focuses on images of brain, skeletal and cardiac muscle function, cancer invasivity.

Kyong-Mi Chang, MD

Research interest: Dr. Chang’s research is translational with use of patient samples to examine T cell immune pathogenesis in HCV infection.

Bin Chen, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Chen is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (a partner of ITMAT) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at PENN. His lab focuses on studying the mechanisms of photodynamic therapy in cancer treatments. Particularly, the Chen lab is interested in photodynamic tumor vascular targeting and is currently investigating the mechanism of photodynamic vascular targeting in the treatment of prostate cancer and its interaction with chemotherapy or antibody therapy.

Yan Cheng, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cheng is particularly interested in understanding the molecular mechanism for vascular disease related to vascular injury, including thrombosis, vascular proliferation, vascular remodeling, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and the identification of novel drug target for bioactive lipids.

Sara Cherry, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cherry’s laboratory uses high-throughput screening methodologies to identify small molecule inhibitors of viral replication. The identification of such compounds represents the first step in the development of new therapeutics. The viruses they study are important arthropod-borne human pathogens for which there are currently no efficacious drugs including West Nile virus, Dengue virus and Rift Valley Fever virus. Therefore, any inroads that they make will provide a stepping stone to new anti-virals.

Anna Rose Childress, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Childress's research focuses on neuroimaging of the brain subtrates of drug motivation and its modulation in humans.

Yongwon Choi, PhD

Research interest: The Choi laboratory is studying, using animal models, the interaction between the immune and skeletal systems. They are currently testing and developing various biologics modulating these systems to provide the proof of concept in animal models whether agonists or antagonists of such molecules can be translated into potential treatment for human diseases such as arthritis or osteoporosis.

Jason Douglas Christie, MD, MS

Research interest: Dr. Christie's career is focused on translational research studies of the risks, pathogenesis, treatment, and outcomes of acute lung injury (ALI) in the transplant and non-transplant human populations. Currently, he has extramural funding to study the role of oxidative stress, coagulation/fibrinolysis, and inflammatory pathways in acute lung injury following lung transplantation (termed primary graft dysfunction). He has active research on somatic genetic variation, gene expression, and protein biomarkers in the etiology and pathogenesis of acute lung injury in the transplant, sepsis, and trauma populations.

Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou is interested in pulmonary inflammation and cell adhesion molecule regulation/expression. Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou conducts projects related to translational research in the field of acute/chronic lung injury.

Christina S. Chu, MD

Research interest: Dr. Chu is a clinical gynecologic oncologist who focuses primarily on conducting clinical trials of novel immune and biologic therapies. Current work underway includes a phase I/II trial of an autologous dendritic cell vaccine as consolidation therapy in women with advanced ovarian cancer. Other current trials focus on treatment of recurrent disease or persistent disease in ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancer. In development, a phase I trial is planned for treatment of advanced persistent cervical cancer using a novel HPV vaccine.

Douglas Cines, MD

Research interest: Dr. Cines has collaborated with Drs. Vladimir Muzykantov and Dr. Mortimer Poncz to develop means to deliver plasminogen activators, among other therapeutics for prevention and treatment of thrombotic disorders. Approaches range from genetic engineering to foster ectopic expression of pro-and anti-thrombotics in platelets to chemical and antibody-based cell targeting to endothelium, red blood cells, platelets and other cellular elements. We have also developed means to dissociate the beneficial fibrinolytic from deleterious signal-transducing functions of plasminogen activators in models of pulmonary embolism, stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Robert R. Clancy, MD

Research interest: Dr. Clancy's research focuses on neonatal brain injury including birth asphyxia, neonatal stroke and intraventricular hemorrhage in the premature baby. His work also explores the causes and consequences of neonatal seizures as well as methods of detection and treatment. Dr. Clancy is the Principal Investigator for an NIH funded neuroprotection trial to reduce adverse short term outcomes after newborn heart surgery. He is actively involved in long term neurodevelopmental follow-up for adverse effects of newborn heart surgery for serious congenital heart defects. Dr. Clancy is working to develop a new neuroprotective initiative using iv topiramate for the prevention of white matter injury detected after newborn heart surgery.

Chris Clark, MD

Research interest: Dr. Clark’s clinical research is focused on the evaluation biomarkers for the early detection of pathology associated with various neurodegenerative diseases and the safety and efficacy evaluation of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

Abigail Cohen, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cohen is involved in project management and evaluation. In this capacity her role has been to integrate faculty and staff from different institutions, departments and within departments. She is part of the CTSA and works in the capacity of the Senior Manager of the Evaluation Core, monitoring the success of the CTSA. She also is the Manager of the OMMC. The OMCC supports institutional effectiveness through consultation with faculty, staff, and community clients on the development of instruments and experimental designs informed by standard principles of measurement, assessment, and evaluation, including research, academic, program development and evaluation. Dr. Cohen is an Associate Professor of Health Psychology at the University of the Sciences and works in the CCEB, previously evaluation patient medication safety.

Akiva S. Cohen, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cohen's laboratory is focused on alterations in brain circuitry induced by concussive brain injury. He is currently collaborating with Michal Elovitz on trying to determine how neuronal function is altered in Brain (cortical) neurons in a rat model of Cerebral Palsy (CP). They hope that this will lead to potential therapeutic regimes to alleviate the pathology observed in children with CP.

Debbie Cohen, MD

Research interest: Dr. Cohen is a nephrologist with a research interest in the effects of different antihypertensive medications on pulse wave velocity in patients with proteinuric kidney disease.

Noam Cohen, MD, PhD

Research interest: Although Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects 16% of the US population, very little is understood as to why in this subset of the population the common cold progresses to CRS. The Rhinology Research Laboratory of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania is investigating several potential causes of the disease as well as screening novel therapeutic treatments. Areas of investigation include inflammation induced respiratory cilia dysfunction, presence of bacterial biofilms in human sinonasal mucosa, inflammatory responses to mucosal biofilms, and utilization of recombinant innate immunity proteins topical therapies for treatment of CRS.

Philip L. Cohen, MD

Research interest: Dr. Cohen's research program focuses on autoimmune disease.

Ronald Collman, MD

Research interest: Dr. Collman's lab studies HIV-1 entry into target cells and consequences for AIDS pathogenesis and therapeutics and pathogenesis. One focus is on the mechanisms of entry into primary cells, in particular how interactions between primary virus isolates and primary target cell (macrophages, mucosal lymphcytes) differ from prototype and cell line models, and how this affects sensitivity to new antiviral drugs under development that target the entry step. The other main focus is on how HIV triggers activation of uninfected bystander target cells, including specific signal transduction mechanisms elicited by the virus. Importantly, it is increasingly appreciated that AIDS pathogenesis requires not just viral replication, but widespread dysregulated activation of bystander cells as well. The Collman lab is now starting to study whether new approaches that block virally-triggered pathways of cellular activation can decrease aberrant immune activation and might be a novel therapeutic strategy in AIDS.

Charlene Compher, PhD, RD, FADA, CNSD, LDN

Research interest: Dr. Compher is a nutrition science researcher with active research interests in the optimization of absorption in short bowel syndrome and vitamin D status in severe obesity. She also evaluates energy needs using indirect calorimetry across racial groups and metabolic states. Email: compherc@nursing.upenn.edu

Russell J. Composto, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Composto's research focus is polymer surfaces and interfaces as well as surface modification. His laboratory has utilized polymers to prepare biomimetic surfaces that resist protein adsorption, textured surfaces that align cells and hydrogels with a modulus commensurate with cell type. Dr. Composto is particularly interested in translational research that involves taking his lab's fundamental discoveries beyond the bench top and he has joined forces with Professor Eckmann (Anesthesia) to extend the biomimetic approach towards clinical applications.

Edward Cooper, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cooper is interested in novel treatment strategies for epilepsy and related paroxysmal disorders of the CNS. Dr. Cooper is also interested in proteomics, in particular, the development of new techniques for sensitive identification of low abundance proteins and sites of post-translational modification using a combination of multidimensional HPLC, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics.

Barry S. Cooperman, PhD

Research interest: The Cooperman laboratory is currently working in three areas. They are developing inhibitors for ribonucleotide reductase, a key target for cancer chemotherapy. Their work on depolymerizing human serpin aggregates and on ribosomal antibiotics are at earlier stages for therapeutic development, but are pointed in that direction.

George Coukos, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Coukos leads the program of Tranlational Research in Gynecologic Malignancy at the Abramson Cancer Center Translational Research Group and directs the laboratory of Gynecologic Oncology at the Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health. His research is focused on ovarian cancer and is entirely translational, as the lab discovers biomarkers and develops novel biological and immune therapeutics for ovarian cancer.

Andrew J. Cucchiara, PhD

Research interest: As Biostatistician and Associate Director for Information Resources within the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), Dr. Cucchiara has been involved in the support of Translational Research conducted within both the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and the GCRC for more than a decade.

Marina Cuchel, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Cuchel is interested in the study of mechanisms regulating the metabolism of lipid and lipoproteins, with particular attention to HDL and reverse cholesterol transport, using two parallel approaches: animal models and well-defined human monogenic disorders. She is also interested in early phase development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of rare genetic disorders of lipid metabolism and for the enhancement of reverse cholesterol transport.

Norma Cuellar, DSN, RN

Research interest: Dr. Cuellar is currently involved in a pilot study that is a phase II clinical trial examining the effects of valerian (an herb) on sleep in persons with the sleep disorder Restless Legs Syndrome. She has just been awarded a K award that will continue the work of the current pilot, adding objective measures of actigraphy and psychomotor vigilance testing.

Thomas Curran, PhD

Research interest: As part of the brain gene expression atlas project (GENSAT), the Curran laboratory is also analyzing gene expression in the brain using high-throughput in situ hybridization. They are taking genomic approaches to identify molecular changes and potential drug targets for several brain tumors including medulloblastoma, atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors and choroid plexus carcinomas. They developed a model system with a 100 percent incidence of spontaneous medulloblastoma for use in translational studies. Recently, they found that a small molecule inhibitor of the sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway eliminated even large tumor masses in vivo. The Curran lab is continuing to analyze the mechanism of action of several anticancer drugs in tumor cells and cancer models.

Brian Czerniecki, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Czerniecki is a surgical oncologist and a translational immunologist developing vaccines for the treatment of cancer. His lab has developed type I polarized dendritic cells for the treatment of early breast cancer and melanoma. They have one open Phase I clinical study and are about to open two additional pilot early phase vaccines studies for the treatment of patients with breast cancer. His laboratory interests are in dendritic cell activation and T cell sensitization.

Josep Dalmau, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Dalmau's research is focused on autoimmune neurologic (paraneoplastic) disorders that occur in patients with systemic cancers.

Lisa E. Davis, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS, BCOP

Research interest: Dr. Davis’ field of science involves Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacology. Her research interest centers on factors that are responsible for variability in drug disposition and response in patients with cancer. As such, this work involves the translational space – in efforts to better understand aspects of mechanisms of drug effects and optimizing/individualizing drug dosing in humans.

Peter F. Davies, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Davies is interested in quantitative aspects of vascular pathophysiology.

Diva D. De Leon, MD

Research interest: Dr. De Leon is a pediatric endocrinologist focusing her research efforts on disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in children. Specifically, she is interested in improving our understanding of the interaction between incretin hormones and the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells in the pathogenesis of diabetes, as well as disorders of excessive insulin secretion such as congenital hyperinsulinism and other hypoglycemic disorders.

William DeGrado, PhD

Research interest: William F. DeGrado's research focuses on molecular design as an approach to understanding macromolecule structure and function. His primary research is in the de novo design of proteins, in which one attempts to design proteins from first principals. This approach critically tests understanding of protein folding and function, while also laying the groundwork for the design of proteins with properties not precedented in nature. In addition, his lab has recently been able to prepare a variety of functionally interesting proteins that bind redox-active cofactors, DNA, and transition metals. Other areas of interests include the design of small molecules that inhibit the interaction of cells with the extracellular matrix by binding to a class of membrane proteins known as integrins and the structure and function of membrane-active peptides.

Susan DeMarco, RN, BSN, CCRC

Research interest: Ms. DeMarco is interested in clinical trial management, training, compliance, and human subject protection.

John A. Detre, MD

Research interest: Dr. Detre's research and infrastructure support activities in neuroimaging.

Clifford S. Deutschman, MD

Research interest: Dr. Deutschman's research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of sub-cellular, cellular and organ dysfunction in sepsis, the leading cause of ICU and hospital mortality in the United States. Using an animal model, Dr. Deutschman and his colleagues have defined abnormalities in liver, heart, lung, brain, immune system and other organs. All involve alterations in the transduction of extracellular signal transduction, intracellular protein expression and mitochondrial enzyme function that are amenable to manipulation by the introduction of relevant molecules into cells in the hope of correcting defined defects. Once established in animal models these manipulations should be readily transferred to humans.

Scott Diamond, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Diamond has active programs in cardiovascular engineering technologies including: endothelial gene therapy, endothelial mechanobiology, thrombolytics and protease therapies, platelet and neutrophil participation in thrombosis, and drug discovery. Diamond is the Director of the Penn Center for Molecular Discovery, a high throughput screening facility that is part of the NIH Roadmap chemical libraries initiative.

David Dinges, PhD

Research interest: The Dinges's laboratory conducts basic human translational research at the Phase I and II levels, and has special scientific skills. These include expertise in characterizing human and animal sleep-wake states, circadian pacemaker assessment, neurobehavioral, neuroendocrine and neuroimmune functions, physiological alertness, attention and cognitive functions, sleepiness and fatigue, and EEG power spectral analyses. Dr. Dinges had new research projects beginning on functional neuroimaging and genomics of differential vulnerability to sleep deprivation.

Dennis E. Discher PhD

Research interest: Dr. Discher's research focuses on novel drug delivery systems.

Ivan J. Dmochowski, PhD

Research interest: The Dmochowski lab works at the interface of synthetic chemistry, biophysics, biomolecular imaging, and bio-nanomaterials. We have three active projects in the group. In the first, we are developing novel MRI contrast agents based on the very sensitive Xe-129 nucleus. These compounds allow the imaging of enzyme activity and will some day facilitate early cancer detection. We are also developing methods of synthesizing and assembling inorganic nanoparticles using ferritin proteins, and are studying the role of ferritins in anesthetic toxicity. Finally, we are developing new techniques for turning genes "on" and "off" with light using "caged" oligonucleotides and UV confocal microscopy.

Steven D. Douglas, MD

Research interest: Dr. Douglas has discovered that antagonists of the Neurokinin 1 Receptor inhibit HIV entry in macrophages by down regulation of CCR5. Dr. Douglas is studying new HIV-l therapies that utilize novel antiviral mechanisms exert a positive immunomodulatory effect, and have positive behavioral effects. Neurokinin-l receptor (NK-1R) antagonists target the substance P (SP) receptor and have demonstrated antiviral and immunomodulatory effects; these studies are supported by an NIMH Program Project "Neurokinin-1R (SP Receptor) Antagonists for HIV Therapy". He is also investigating all cofactors in HIV transmissions and progressions (e.g., drugs of abuse, alcohol).

Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD

Research interest: The Dreyfuss laboratory is interested in RNA-binding proteins and how they influence the biogenesis, function and localization of mRNAs in cells. Current studies are focused on the survival of motor neurons (SMN) protein. SMN is part of a large multi-protein complex that functions as a master orchestrator of cellular RNA metabolism. Reduced levels of SMN cause spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the most common motor neuron degenerative disease. High throughput methods are used to screen for small molecules that may affect the function and expression of SMN, and have the potential to serve as pharmacological reagents for the treatment of SMA.

Joshua L. Dunaief, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Dunaief’s lab studies the pathogenesis of the blinding disease age-related macular degeneration. Specifically, they focus on the role of age-related iron build-up in the retina and its ability to incite inflammation and cause oxidative stress. They have generated a mouse model of macular degeneration by knocking out an iron transporter. The mouse develops iron overload followed by retinal degeneration. They are using these mice to test potential anti-AMD therapies including anti-oxidants and iron chelators.

Richard L. Dunbar, MD

Research interest: Dr. Dunbar is interested in the dyslipidemia of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, and is involved in mechanistic clinical research related to high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and post-prandial lipidemia. He is currently using niacin to probe this physiology, employing adipose tissue genomics and high-resolution techniques to measure the physical properties of cutaneous flushing.

Thomas Dziubla, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Dziubla's background is in chemical engineering, nanomedicine and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Dziubla has worked on the development of targeted polymeric nanocarriers for the treatment of vascular oxidative stress.

James Eberwine, PhD

Research interest: The Eberwine lab performs fundamental work in elucidating how cells of the central nervous system communicate with one another. In particular, the lab has concentrated their efforts on developing novel methodologies that permit them to detect and quantify in vivo the influence of local subcellular environment on mRNA translation and gene transcription.

David M. Eckmann, MD, PhD

Research interest: The Eckmann Lab Group represents an amalgam of applied physiology, cellular signaling, experimental and theoretical fluid dynamics, interfacial mechanics, materials science, chemical engineering and vascular biology to try to reveal the molecular mechanisms by which intravascular gas embolism provokes cellular and tissue injury. The work is directed at developing new therapy for gas embolic events including those occurring in cardiovascular surgery and decompression.

Robert Eisenberg, MD

Research interest: Dr. Eisenberg's research is in systemic lupus erythematosus, and included efforts to develop approaches to use bone marrow transplantation and B-cell depletion to treat this disease. Dr. Eisenberg's laboratory is pursuing mouse models in both of these areas and has instituted a trial of B-cell depletion in human SLE, which is near completion.

Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. El-Diery is interested in drug discovery and development to attack the problem of drug resistance in cancer. Using the tools of molecular biology, genetics, pharmacology, non-invasive molecular in vivo optical imaging, animal models and high throughput screening his lab is identifying novel therapeutics that have in vivo anti-tumor effects through targets in the cell death and growth arrest pathways. The goal is to develop novel therapeutics and combinations for clinical testing and development.

Josephine Elia, MD

Research interest: Dr. Elia conducts genetic research in children with disruptive behavioral disorders at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

Jonas H. Ellenberg, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Ellenberg's statistical research has focused on issues affecting validity and inferential viability/generalizability in clinical research, including bias arising from patient selection and subjects lost to follow-up, uniformity of methods of assessment across centers in multicenter studies, missing data and completeness of reporting, barriers to access to enrollment pools in observational studies, and intention to treat analysis in clinical trials. His medical interests include the etiology and prognosis of cerebral palsy (CP), convulsive disorders, and other neurological disorders in children, neurodegenerative disorders, and the treatment and prognosis of HIV in adolescents. He is concentrating on the centralized delivery of the building block operational components of clinical trials across the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine, with special attention to the biostatistical design, integrity of informational systems, and validity of processes for all translational phases of clinical trial activity.

Susan S. Ellenberg, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Ellenberg's research interests have focused on issues in the design and analysis of clinical trials, and assessment of medical product safety. Particular areas of interest include efficient trial designs, interim monitoring and the operation of data monitoring committees, evaluation of surrogate endpoints, ethical issues in clinical research, and special issues in trials of cancer and AIDS therapies, and of vaccines.

Dawn M. Elliott, PhD

Research interest: The focus of Dr. Elliot's research program is the intervertebral disc. She utilizes a combination of mathematical modeling and experimental studies to test hypotheses concerning the role of mechanics in the function, degeneration, and restoration of the intervertebral disc. Her research is translational in that her goals are to prevent or reverse disc degeneration and the associated low back pain.

Michal A. Elovitz, MD

Research interest: Dr. Elovitz's main research interests are preterm birth and preeclampsia. In regards to preterm birth, Dr. Elovitz has created a mouse model of inflammation-induced preterm birth that is utilized to 1) understand the signal transduction pathways that result in cervical ripening and parturition and 2) to elucidate the mechanism by which inflammation-induced preterm birth promotes fetal and neonatal brain injury. Results from these studies have promoted translational research projects that explore that ability to predict both preterm birth and adverse neonatal outcomes. In regards to preeclampsia, the Elovitz laboratory has created a large database of preeclamptic women. Within this cohort of women, they are exploring the pathogenesis of this disease by investigating genetic polymorphisms and gene/environment interactions to further classify the disease and understand mechanism. These studies are designed so that therapeutic interventions may become feasible.

Hildegund Ertl, MD

Research interest: Dr. Ertl's research focuses on preclinical and clinical vaccine development of recombinant vaccines to HIV-1, HPV, influenza, rabies virus. Dr. Ertl is one of the founding faculty members of The Wistar Institute Vaccine Center.

Sydney M. Evans, VMD

Research interest: Dr. Evans is interested in factors that cause resistance of tumors to therapy, in particular hypoxia in human cancers. Hypoxia is known to be an important factor in the resistance of animal tumors to radiation and chemotherapy; recent evidence shows that cellular hypoxia results in increased tumor aggression, e.g. invasion and metastasis. Dr. Evans and his colleagues have developed a diagnostic agent, EF5 that is bound intracellularly at a rate that is inversely proportional to cellular pO2. This binding can be imaged in tissue using quantitative immunohistochemistry or flow cytometry. Having been shown safe in a Phase 1 trial, EF5 with immunohistochemical detection is in human clinical trials at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and elsewhere in the world. The PET imagable form, 18F-EF5 is in human clinical trials in the US and internationally. The data shows that in several tumor types, EF5 is a prognostic marker for patient outcome. As a result of detailed and quantitative method of analysis of EF5 in tissue sections, new insights have been made regarding the relationship of hypoxia with blood vessels, cell growth and death. The early PET data supports that hypxoic regions of tumors will be able to be identified such that they can receive higher doses of radiation (intensity modulated radiation therapy, IMRT), sparing oxic sensitvie cancer cells and normal tissues.

Anthony N. Fabricatore, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Fabricatore’s research interests lie in the development, consequences, and treatment of obesity and related disorders. His research on the effects of low-fat and low-glycemic load diets on long-term weight control, HbA1c, and other metabolic parameters is currently funded by NIDDK. The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which findings achieved under tightly controlled conditions are applicable to free-living obese individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Harold I. Feldman, MD, M.S.C.E.

Research interest: Dr. Feldman's major research interests address the epidemiology of kidney diseases with a particular focus on the management of kidney disease from the stage of chronic kidney dysfunction to end-stage renal disease. He leads a group of CCEB researchers with research activities addressing the manifestations and treatment of kidney disease. Their specific research programs address the causes of failure of vascular accesses used for hemodialysis, anemia and metabolic disorders of kidney disease, the determinants of long-term survival of kidney allografts, the epidemiology of drug-related kidney disease, the relationship of ethnicity and kidney disease, the inter-relationship between chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, and pediatric kidney diseases.

David A. Fenstermacher, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Fenstermacher is interested in Bioinformatics. He directs the Biomedical Informatics Facility (BMIF) of the Abramson Cancer Center which is a multi-faceted shared resource combining the fields of bioinformatics, computational biology, clinical informatics and biostatistics. Biomedical informatics tools developed by the BMIF enable biomedical investigators to utilize vast amounts of research and clinical data. This is achieved by creating unified data models, standardizing data interfaces, developing structured vocabularies, generating new data visualization methods and capturing detailed metadata for the investigator's research project. Data exchange, integration and analysis are the underlying themes for creating effective computational resources that support and extend investigative biomedical research. The BMIF is engaged in several large informatics infrastructure projects to create semantic interoperability between clinical and research data while also creating customized data management and analysis resources for investigator-initiated studies.

Richard S. Finkel, MD

Research interest: Dr. Finkel is a pediatric neurologist based at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia where he directs the Neuromuscular Program. His most recent translational research activities includes: phase 1 study of sodium phenylbutyrate in spinal muscular atrophy and phase 2a study of PTC124 in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, Director

Research interest: Dr. FitzGerald is interested in the role of eicosanoids in inflammatory and cardiovascular disease and in the regulation and function of peripheral clocks.

Keith T. Flaherty, MD

Research interest: Dr. Flaherty’s research focuses on the development of novel therapies and biomarkers related to response or resistance to those therapies in melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. He conducts early phase clinical trials (phase I and II) in those patient populations with an emphasis on correlative studies in normal and tumor tissue to identify factors that predict outcome in the setting of those therapies. He also collaborates with investigators who are interested in the development of non-invasive measures of tumor response. Performed in tandem, these correlative studies are intended to develop the most robust assessment of tumor response or resistance possible. These observations provide basis for preclinical investigations to further develop biomarkers or improve therapy by understanding mechanisms of resistance.

Thomas F. Floyd, MD

Research interest: Dr. Floyd’s research investigates the role of acute anemia in eliciting cognitive dysfunction in the aged and the role of an age related impaired hypoxic response in that potential etiology. Dr. Floyd and his colleagues are studying the relationship of aortic atherosclerosis to the genesis of acute stroke and vascular dementia following aortic valve replacement. They are involved with the development of and application of imaging methodologies for the diagnosis of microvascular disease and the noninvasive measurement of oxygen extraction within the brain and chamber hemoglobin oxygen saturation within the heart for congenital heart disease.

Ellen W. Freeman, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Freeman’s research focuses on women’s mood disorders and reproductive hormones. She is the Principal Investigator of an NIH-funded, population-based cohort study of late reproductive age women, now in its 12th year. In this longitudinal study, reproductive hormones are assayed and investigated for hypothesized associations with menopausal symptoms such as depression, poor sleep, hot flashes, anxiety and other problems of perimenopausal women. The GCRC conducts the hormone assays and is an essential component of this long-term project.

Jacqueline French, MD

Research interest: Dr French is a clinical researcher in epilepsy. Her research relates to methodology of trial design and drug development in epilepsy, as well as the clinical epidemiology of antiepileptic drug resistance.

Harvey M. Friedman, MD

Research interest: Dr. Friedman studies immune evasion properties of herpes simplex virus.

Gregg J. Fromell, MD

Research interest: Dr. Fromell is interested in the development of infrastructure relevant to compliance and data management in clinical research.

Dave Gaieski, MD

Research interest: Dr. Gaieski's current research is on clinical outcomes in early goal-directed therapy for severe sepsis and septic shock and on post-cardiac arrest hypothermia and resuscitation.

Luis Andres Garza, MD, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Garza is a dermatologist interested in the use of skin stem cells in regenerative medicine. Currently, he is focused on the regulation of hair follicle stem cell function by prostaglandins.

Philip Gehrman, PhD, CBSM

Research interest: Dr. Gehrman’s research program is just beginning and will be focused on improving the understanding of the neurobiology of insomnia in order to develop more effective therapeutics.

Joel M. Gelfand, MD MSCE

Research interest: Dr. Gelfand's research focuses on psoriasis and cutaneous T cell lymphoma. For psoriasis, he has focused on the natural history of diseases associated with psoriasis and well as early stage clinical trials for psoriasis. Examples of translational research in this area includes a study of HHV viral levels in psoriasis patients on and off immune-suppressants, and a phase II trial of oral curcumin for psoriasis with appropriate blood and skin studies to evaluate mechanism (supported in part by GCRC). Dr. Gelfand's CTCL research has focused on efficient phase II trials to evaluate novel therapies for this malignancy as well as the identification of biomarkers to predict prognosis and response to therapy.

Alan M. Gewirtz, MD

Research interest: Dr. Gewirtz has pioneered the use of "antisense" approaches to the understanding of normal and malignant human hematopoiesis. His work, which includes study the effects of the deep space radiation environment on hematopoietic cell development is targeted ultimately towards identification of more effective, and less toxic therapies for human leukemia.

Benoit Giasson, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Giasson's research interests are to understand the molecular pathways involved in protecting or harming neurons leading to Parkinson's disease. To achieve these goals, the laboratory has used a spectrum of approaches including biophysical studies, cell culture model, analyses of autopsy specimens and manipulation of mice using transgenic technologies. Dr. Giasson believes that these complexes and complimentary approaches will lead to novel targets for therapeutics.

Aaron D. Gitler, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Gitler’s laboratory studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration using yeast and zebrafish model systems. They have developed and validated several new yeast models to study human diseases such as Parkinson's, ALS, and Neurofibromatosis. Dr. Gitler and his colleagues are interested in using these yeast models to discover small molecules that antagonize cellular disease-associated phenotypes with a goal to translate their findings to therapies for human patients.

Naomi Goel, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Goel investigates how physiological, behavioral and environmental factors affect sleep, circadian rhythms and mood. She utilizes multidisciplinary and translational approaches bridging psychiatry, and behavioral neuroscience, clinical and biological psychology to show that environmental, non-drug stimuli substantially alter sleep and mood and modify circadian rhythms in clinical and non clinical populations. Thus, she conducts basic human translational research at the Phase I and II levels. Most recently, she has broadened her interests to include cognitive measures and genetics, and is identifying genes involved in differential vulnerability to partial sleep deprivation in humans.

Elizabeth Goldmuntz, MD

Research interest: Dr. Goldmuntz’s research investigates the genetic basis of congenital heart disease with the ultimate goal of understanding how genotype impacts upon clinical outcome. She currently oversees the recruitment of patients with congenital heart disease to develop a clinical and DNA data/sample bank. Her laboratory uses several different approaches to identify genetic variants that contribute to the risk of disease including candidate gene mutation studies, family based association studies and now genome wide association studies. She is also directing several clinical studies (retrospective chart review and one cross sectional study) that assess whether the presence of specific genetic variants or syndromes are associated with clinical outcome.

Steven Goldstein, MD

Research interest: Dr. Goldstein is interested in novel translational strategies employing allogeneic cellular therapy to enhance the graft versus tumor response in hematologic malignancies.

John Goodier, MSc, PhD

Research interest: Dr. Goodier’s research is in the field of LINE-1 retrotransposon biology and the ways in which L1 expression impacts the genome, and in turn mechanisms the cell employs to control these insertional mutagens.

Joseph H. Gorman, III, MD

Research interest: Dr. Joseph Gorman's research interests inlcude the etiology and treatment of heart failure and valve disease as well as ways to improve the safety of cardiac surgical interventions.

Robert C. Gorman, MD

Research interest: Dr. Robert Gorman's research interests include the etiology and treatment of heart failure and valve disease as well as ways to improve the safety of cardiact surgical interventions.

Doron Greenbaum, PhD

Research interest: Doron's laboratory focuses on developing and exploiting new technologies at the interface between biology and chemistry to study protease function. The lab uses a variety of techniques including the synthesis of small molecule inhibitors, quantitative proteomics, genomics, recombinant protein expression, and molecular genetics in order to better understand proteolytic systems. Although these tools are useful to study any biological system, my laboratory will initially concentrate much of its efforts to validate cysteine and serine proteases as potential therapeutic targets in the parasite P.falciparum, the causative agent of malaria.

Mark I. Greene, MD, PhD, F.R.C.P.

Research interest: Dr. Greene's research focuses on the design and synthesis of receptor-based therapeutics.

Adda Grimberg, MD

Research interest: Dr. Grimberg’s career as a translational physician scientist focuses on growth regulation at both the systemic and cellular levels. Through a combination of in vitro research and clinical investigations, her goal is to advance understanding of growth biology and apply the molecular biology of the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis to improving care of children with growth problems.

Robert Gross, MD, MSCE

Research interest: Dr. Gross’ research is focused on antiretroviral therapy for HIV with a primary focus on the relation between adherence to therapy and outcome and barriers to adherence and interventions to overcome barriers to adherence. He also conducts research on new antiretroviral agents as well as pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacogenetics of HIV drugs.

Tilo Grosser, MD

Research interest: Dr. Grosser is particularly interested in the integration of proteomic and genomic information to probe inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways in cells relevant to cardiovascular pathology.

Michael M. Grunstein, MD, PhD

Research interest: The focus of Grunstein laboratory is to identify genes and molecular signaling pathways that regulate the induction of airway hyperreactivity, the key phenotypic feature of asthma. To date, their research has lead to the development of certain new targeted drug therapies that will be pursued in translational studies on patients with asthma.

Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD

Research interest: The primary focus of Grupp lab work is the study of cellular and molecular events in B cell development and applying these processes to an understanding of leukemia. The Grupp lab has used leukemic cell lines and models of murine and human early B cell leukemia/lymphoma to demonstrate the mTOR signal transduction inhibitor drugs (such as rapamycin) are effective agents against pre-B ALL. These findings have direct translational significance in leukemia, and Phase I trials of rapamycin in relapsed ALL are currently in development based on this work. In addition, through the Children's Oncology Group, the lab's work has lead directly to a national phase III randomized clinical trial testing the use of rapamycin as combined GVHD prophylaxis and relapse suppression after BMT for ALL.

Carmen E. Guerra, MD, MSCE, FACP

Research interest: Dr. Guerra is a general internist and cancer control researcher, with a specific interest in the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer. Dr. Guerra is a PI of an early Phase II study titled “Curcumin for the Chemoprevention of Colorectal Cancer,” a study which will determine if curcumin modulates biomarkers of colorectal cancer risk (cell proliferation and apoptosis and COX-2 expression and function). This represents important translational research as it is the first human efficacy study and, if positive, will be the basis for an R01 to study the efficacy of curcumin in the prevention of polyps.

James Guevara, MD

Research interest: Dr. Guevara’s research interests are in developmental disabilities and behavioral health in children. More specifically, he is interested in the translation and implementation of evidence-based developmental and behavioral practices into policy.

Raquel E. Gur, MD, PhD, Associate Director