Pathology Graduate Training Program
Cellular and Molecular Pathology (CMP) -
Faculty and Their Research Interests

  • Wendy M. Mars, PhD, Director
    - The role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and the plasminogen activator system in tissue regeneration
  • Aaron W. Bell, PhD, Assistant Professor
    - Understanding the role of transcription factors in control and regulation of liver growth, regeneration, differentiation and carcinogenesis.
  • Marie C. DeFrances, MD, PhD, Associate Director
    - PI3K signaling mechanisms in hepatocytes.
  • Stephen F. Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD
    - Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
  • Yaacov Barak, PhD
    - Placenta and adipose tissue
  • Michael J. Becich, MD, PhD
    - Pathology informatics
  • Dorothea Becker, PhD
    - Genes that regulate the onset and progression of melanoma
  • James T. Becker, PhD
    - Human memory disorders
  • Timothy R. Billiar, PhD
    - Regulation and function of inducible nitric oxide synthase
  • Harry C. Blair, MD
    - Bone physiology and pathology
  • Carol Bostwick, PhD
    - Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in aberrant extracellular matrix production
  • J. Richard Chaillet, MD, PhD
    - Epigenetic inheritance in mammalian species
  • Yvonne R. Chan, MD
    - Innate immune response to Gram negative pneumonias
  • Yuan Chang, MD
    - Viral oncogenesis
  • Alex F. Chen, MD
    - Vascular disease, injury, and repair
  • Charleen T. Chu, MD, PhD
    - Regulation of neurodegeneration and mitochondrial homeostasis; Parkinson's disease; ophthalmic pathology
  • Paula R. Clemens, MD
    - Pathogenesis of inherited muscular dystrophies, inflammatory myopathies, and cancer cachexia
  • Anthony J. Demetris, MD
    - The role of inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in the development of cirrhosis & tolerance induction and chronic tissue rejection
  • Steven F. Dobrowolski, PhD
    - Intoxicating type inborn errors of metabolism: genetics, genomic assessment to identify genetic modifiers of the primary phenotype(s), and the role of epigenetic modification in disease presentation
  • H. Henry Dong, PhD
    - Insulin resistance to diabetic dyslipidemia and insulin replacement
  • Albert D. Donnenberg, PhD
    - Identification of therapeutic targets on cancer stem cells
  • Andrew W. Duncan, PhD
    - Liver development, homeostasis and regeneration
  • Robert J. Ferrante, PhD, MS
    - Neuropathology and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in adult-onset neurological diseases
  • Ira J. Fox, MD
    - Experimental therapies for liver disease
  • Chandrashekhar S. Gandhi, PhD
    - Role of stellate cells in liver physiology and pathophysiology; hepatic regeneration
  • Nick Giannoukakis, PhD
    - Gene and cell therapy for type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus and their complications
  • Mark T. Gladwin, MD
    - Pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary complications of sickle cell disease
  • Jennifer R. Grandis, MD, FACS
    - Signal transduction, gene therapy, and personalized medicine
  • David Hackam, MD, PhD
    - Mechanisms governing the migration of intestinal epithelial cells during conditions of intestinal inflammation
  • Patricia A. Hebda, PhD
    - Wound healing and tissue engineering for applications in the head and neck
  • Johnny Huard, PhD
    - Tissue engineering
  • Nahed Ismail, MD, MSc, PhD, D(ABMM), D(ABMLI)
    - Understanding the immune mechanisms involved in host defense against intracellular bacteria
  • Naftali Kaminski, MD
    - Molecular networks that underlie the lung phenotype in pulmonary fibrosis
  • John M. Kirkwood, MD
    - To develop improved therapy for inoperable advanced melanoma
  • Scott Kulich, MD, PhD
    - the interaction between oxidative neurotoxins and intracellular signal transduction
  • Eric Lagasse, PharmD, PhD
    - Human stem/progenitor cells for liver diseases
  • Youhua Liu, PhD
    - Dissecting cellular and molecular pathways leading to chronic renal fibrosis
  • Anna E. Lokshin, PhD
    - Identification of cancer biomarkers for screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and disease monitoring of solid tumor cancers
  • Jianhua Luo, MD, PhD
    - Genome and gene expression study of maligancies
  • Kacey G. Marra, PhD
    - Tissue engineering
  • George K. Michalopoulos, MD, PhD
    - Use the differentiated cells of the liver (hepatocytes) as models to understand the mechanisms that regulate growth of complex differentiated cells and whole organs.
  • Satdarshan P. Singh Monga, MD
    - Molecular mechanisms of liver growth and development, in health and disease.
  • Shanmugam Nagarajan, PhD
    - Auto-antibodies and preventing chronic inflammatory diseases
  • Yuri E. Nikiforov, MD, PhD
    - Molecular mechanisms of radiation-induced carcinogenesis and chromosomal rearrangements in human cells and molecular basis of thyroid cancer.
  • Michael Oertel, PhD
    - hepatic cell transplantation.
  • Steffi Oesterreich, PhD
    - Endocrine resistance in breast cancer
  • Denise S. O'Keefe, PhD
    - Potential mechanisms leading to epigenetic changes
  • Zoltan Oltvai, MD, PhD
    - Systems biology
  • Tim D. Oury, MD, PhD
    - Oxidative stress and innate immunity in pulmonary disease
  • Jon D. Piganelli, PhD
    - Oxidative stress and free radical generation
  • Jan Pilch, MD
    - Cell adhesion and extracellular matrix biology relating to blood clotting, angiogenesis and tumor metastasis
  • Lisa J. Robinson, MD
    - Signaling mechanisms in the regulation of normal and abnormal myelopoiesis
  • Steven D. Shapiro, MD
    - Biological functions of matrix degrading proteinases
  • Jill M. Siegfried, PhD
    - Growth factors and hormones in the development and growth of human lung cancer
  • Alejandro Soto-Gutierrez, MD, PhD
    - Development of new technologies for organ replacement using regenerative medicine approaches
  • Donna Beer Stolz, PhD
    - Angiogenesis and vascular function
  • Urvashi Surti, PhD
    - The molecular cytogenetics of pregnancy loss and cancer.
  • Kenichi (Ken) Tamama, MD, PhD, FCAP
    - Cellular and molecular biology of mesenchymal stem cells
  • Bryan W. Tillman, MD, PhD
    - Novel therapies for vascular graft failure resulting from graft stenosis
  • Rocky S. Tuan, MD
    - Biological activities underlying the development, growth, function, and health of skeletal tissues
  • Ivona Vasile-Pandrea, MD, PhD
    - SIV pathogenesis in progressive and nonprogressive hosts. Immune therapies for HIV infection
  • Nam Viet Vo, PhD
    - To understand the mechanisms of degeneration of matrix in the intervertebral discs and explore therapeutic strategies to minimize disc matrix loss
  • Yoram Vodovotz, PhD
    - Systems approaches to the biology of shock states, host-pathogen interactions, wound healing, and chronic inflammatory diseases
  • David Alan Vorp, PhD
    - Vascular biomechanics
  • Zhou Wang, PhD
    - Androgen action and the roles of androgens in benign and cancerous prostate growth
  • Alan Wells, MD, DMS
    - The role of cell migration in physiologic and pathologic conditions.
  • Sally E. Wenzel, MD
    - Pathobiology of asthma
  • Clayton A. Wiley, MD, PhD
    - Pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and in particular on viral induced nervous system diseases.
  • Cary Wu, PhD
    - Cell adhesion: molecular mechanism and the roles in the pathogenesis of cancer and diabetic nephropathy.
  • Jian Yu, PhD
    - The molecular mechanisms of apoptosis in mammalian cells and its role in cancer therapy and carcinogenesis.
  • Reza Zarnegar, PhD
    - The analysis of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and HGF receptor (a protooncogene) function and their genetic regulation at the molecular level in vivo.