Cell Regulation Faculty

Paul Sternweis, PhD
Program Chair
Research Interests: Regulation of intracellular events by cell-surface receptors; structure and function of GTP-dependent regulatory proteins and their effectors

Joseph Albanesi, PhD
Research Interests: Mechanisms of membrane fusion; role of lipids in membrane trafficking; membrane vesiculation of dynamin

Neal Alto, PhD
Research Interests: The intersection between human signal-transduction and bacterial pathogenesis; use of biochemical and cell biological analysis to define molecular mechanisms of microbial infectious disease

Steven Altschuler, PhD
Research Interests: Design principles underlying the spatial-temporal organization of molecular networks

James Bibb, PhD
Research Interests: Protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation related to neural function

Kathlynn Brown, PhD
Research Interests: Cell-specific targeting; receptor-ligand interactions; cancer targeting; drug delivery; cancer biomarker identification

Michael Brown, MD
Research Interests: Regulation of gene expression; cell-surface receptor function; genetics and biochemistry of lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism

David Chen, PhD
Research Interests: Role of DNA-PK in DNA double-strand break repair; Ku, telomere maintenance, and cellular senescence; transgenic mouse models for DNA damage sensing and signaling; DNA damage responses induced by HZE particles in human cells

Cheng-Ming Chiang, PhD
Research Interests: Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and epigenetic control; chromatin remodeling and histone tail modification; sumoylation and ubiquitination; functional interplay between oncoproteins and tumor suppressor proteins; general transcription factors and cofactors

Melanie Cobb, PhD
Research Interests: Protein kinase cascades; MAP kinases; signal-transduction mechanisms

Russell DeBose-Boyd, PhD
Research Interests: Regulation of HMG-CoA reductase and sterol metabolism

J. R. Falck, PhD
Research Interests: Total synthesis of natural products; synthetic methodology; organometalics; eicosanoids; medicinal chemistry

Beatriz M.A. Fontoura, PhD
Research Interests: Role of nuclear transport factors in interphase and mitosis: from viral pathogenesis to cell division

Alfred Gilman, MD, PhD
Regental Professor
Research Interests: Hormonal regulation of cyclic AMP metabolism; mechanisms of control of hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase; regulatory GTP-binding proteins

Joseph Goldstein, MD
Research Interests: Genetics and biochemistry of lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism; cell-surface receptor function; regulation of gene expression

Joel Goodman, PhD
Research Interests: Intracellular sorting of newly synthesized proteins; organelle biogenesis and membrane structure and function; the yeast peroxisome as a model of organellar assembly

F. Kent Hamra, PhD
Research Interests: Signal transduction pathways that regulate stem cell development; application of sperm stem cells to biology and medicine

Jer-Tsong (J.T.) Hsieh, PhD
Research Interests: Human cancer gene therapy; signaling defects in urogenital cancers

Lily Huang, PhD
Research Interests: Cytokine receptor; signal transduction; hematopoiesis; structure-function analysis of protein; cancer

Michele Hutchison, MD, PhD
Research Interests: Regulation of cell growth and differentiation affecting bone growth; action of IGF-I at the growth plate; skeletal dysplasias

Lily Jiang, PhD
Research Interests: Adenylyl cyclase regulation and function in the immune system; novel pathways of G protein signaling

Steven Kliewer, PhD
Research Interests: Physiology of nuclear receptors

Mark Lehrman, PhD
Research Interests: Informational carbohydrates in the endoplasmic reticulum: roles in protein folding, stress responses, and human disease

Jen Liou, PhD
Research Interests: Spatial and temporal regulation of cellular signaling events; mechanisms and physiological roles of store-operated calcium signaling

David Mangelsdorf, PhD
Research Interests: Mechanism of nuclear hormone receptor action; role of retinoids in cancer; transcriptional regulation of lipid metabolism

Carole Mendelson, PhD
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms in tissue-specific, developmental, and hormonal regulation of eukaryotic gene expression

John Minna, MD
Research Interests: Molecular genetics of human cancer; growth factors and signal transduction in human tumors

Sean Morrison, PhD 

Marc Mumby, PhD
Research Interests: Signaling pathways controlling cell growth and transformation

Kate Luby-Phelps, PhD
Research Interests: Light microscope imaging of structure and function in living cells and tissues

Ryan Potts, PhD 
Research Interests: Role of ubiquitin ligases in tumor initiation and progression, vesicular trafficking, and genome stability. 
Potts Lab 

Rama Ranganathan, MD, PhD
Research Interests: Biophysical mechanisms that underlie cellular signal transduction in sensory neurons

Elliott Ross, PhD
Research Interests: Mechanisms and regulatory behavior of G-protein signaling; regulated protein-protein interactions in signal transduction

Michael Roth, PhD
Research Interests: Recognition and sorting of cell-surface glycoproteins

David Russell, PhD
Research Interests: Steroid and bile-acid metabolism; molecular genetics; gene regulation; protein structure-function

Philipp Scherer, PhD
Research Interests: Identification and physiological characterization of novel secretory proteins that serve as potential links between the adipocyte and the processes of whole body energy homeostasis; inflammation and cancer; beta cell biology

Joachim Seemann, PhD
Research Interests: Biogenesis of the Golgi apparatus

Dean Smith, MD, PhD
Research Interests: Sensory transduction in Drosophila melanogaster

William Snell, PhD
Research Interests: Cell-cell interactions and signal transduction during fertilization in Chlamydomonas; cellular and molecular mechanisms of cell-cell fusion

Ronald Taussig, PhD
Research Interests: G protein-mediated signaling

Lance Terada, MD
Research Interests: Vascular biology; oxidant biochemistry; signal transduction; acute lung injury

Carlos Tirado, PhD 

Philip Thorpe, PhD
Research Interests: Development of novel angiogenesis inhibitors and agents for inducing thrombosis of tumor blood vessels for cancer treatment

Michael White, PhD
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms for control of cell growth and differentiation

Lani Wu, PhD
Research Interests: Design principles underlying the formation of cellular polarity

Christoph Wuelfing, PhD
Research Interests: Regulation of cytoskeletal rearrangements during T lymphocyte activation

Helen Yin, PhD
Research Interests: Mechanisms for signal transduction through the actin cytoskeleton

Hongtao Yu, PhD
Research Interests: Study of cell division cycle

Gang Yu, PhD
Research Interests: Biochemistry of signal transduction, gene regulation, and membrane protein complexes; molecular and cellular mechanisms of neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and neurodegeneration

Hui Zou, PhD
Research Interests: Molecular circuitries that ensure a timely and equal separation of chromosomes into the forming daughter cells; vertebrate mechanisms of chromatid cohesion and separation; unequal division of cytoplasmic content during asymmetric cell divisions