Recent Dissertation Titles

Dissertation titles authored by doctoral degree conferees in the past two academic years. Titles are listed with student's name and mentor.

"Role of TGR5 in Bile Acid Metabolism"

Tingting Li
Mentors: David Mangelsdorf, Ph.D./Steven Kliewer, Ph.D.

"With No Lysine (WNK) Family Proteins and Their Interactions with Downstream Kinases"

Kyle Wedin
Mentor: Melanie H. Cobb, Ph.D.

"Transcriptional Gene Silencing in Mammalian Cells by Micro-RNAs That Target Gene Promoters"

Scott Thomas Younger
Mentor: David R. Corey, Ph.D.

"MAPK Signaling Pathways in Pancreatic β Cells: The Regulation of RAF Activation by Nutrient Stimuli"

Lingling Duan
Mentor: Melanie H. Cobb, Ph.D.

"Improving Viral Vectors for Gene Targeting in Gene Therapy"

Brian Lee Ellis
Mentor: Matthew H. Porteus, M.D., Ph.D.

"A Global Experimental Analysis of Protein Function: A Case Study in the PDZ Domain"

Richard Noel McLaughlin, Jr.
Mentor: Rama Ranganathan, M.D., Ph.D.

"Regulation of Pericyte Behavior by Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC)"

Lee Benjamin Rivera
Mentor: Rolf A. Brekken, Ph.D.

"Elucidating the Role of Yeast Lipin (Pha 1 p) in Lipid Droplet Biogenesis"

Oludotun Adeyo
Mentor: Joel Goodman, Ph.D.

"Ral G-Proteins and the Exocyst Complex are Mediators of the Cellular Response to Nutrients"

Brian Oliver Bodemann
Mentor: Michael A White, Ph.D.

"Discovery and Characterization of Novel Chemical Inhibitors of WNT Ligand Production with Implications for Anti-Cancer Therapy"

Michael E. Dodge
Mentor: Lawrence Lum, Ph.D.

"Mechanisms of Sensitization to Chemotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer"

Rachel Marie Greer
Mentor: John D. Minna, M.D.

"Regulation of Liver Metabolism by Fibroblast Growth Factor 19"

Serkan Kir
Mentor: David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.

"Targeting Aminophospholipids Exposed on Tumor Endothelium for Tumor Imaging"

Jason Hugh Stafford
Mentor: Philip E. Thorpe, Ph.D.

"The Role of NS1-BP in Influenza Virus Replication"

Pei-Ling Tsai
Mentor: Beatriz Fontoura, Ph.D.

"Characterization of Nuclear Localization Signals of Karyopherin-Mediated Nuclear Import"

Zi Chao Zhang
Mentor: Yuh Min Chook, Ph.D.

"The Protein Composition of the Chlamydomonas Flagellar Membrane is Dynamically Regulated by Cilium-Generated Signaling During Fertilization"

Olivier Belzile
Mentor: William J. Snell, Ph.D.

"Regulation of Endocytic Recycling by FGD4, a Cdc42 GEF"

Jessica A. Cardenas
Mentor: Michael A. White, Ph.D.

"Multi-Scale Structure and Dynamics of Visual Signaling in Drosophila Photoreceptor Cells"

Stephen Jess Helms
Mentor: Rama Ranganathan, M.D., Ph.D.

"Biochemical Characterization of Niemann-Pick C: a Disease of Cholesterol Transport"

Rodney Elwood Infante
Mentors: Michael Brown, M.D./Joseph Goldstein, M.D.

"Bile Acids and Nuclear Receptors: Their Roles in Nutrition and Cancer"

Daniel R. Schmidt
Mentor: David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.

"Host Modifiers of Cell Death in Response to Influenza A Infection"

Samuel Enoch Ward
Mentor: Michael A. White, Ph.D.