— Office of Graduate Studies — Programs — Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences (IGPBS) — IGPBS Faculty — Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Faculty

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Faculty

Faculty Departments

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Cellular and Integrative Physiology
College of Dentistry, College of Pharmacy
College of Public Health
Eppley Institute
Genetics Cell Biology and Anatomy

Internal Medicine
Munroe-Meyer Institute
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Radiation Oncology

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

Faculty

	Maher Abdalla, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and immune cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and prostate cancer.
	Yazen Alnouti, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Research focus: Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), with a focus on the application of Bioanalytical Chemistry, in vitro and in vivo animal models to support ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity) and pharmacokinetic (PK) studies; Biomarkers for hepato-biliary diseases based on bile acid metabolism by sulfation.
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	Hamid Band, MD, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Regulation of receptor signaling by endocytic traffic; Cbl-family and CHIP ubiquitin ligases; EHD-family endocytic recycling regulators; mouse genetic models; cancer biology;and stem cell biology.
	Vimla Band, PhD Professor and Chair, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Delineate molecular mechanisms of early steps in transformation of mammary epithelial cells with the goal of identifying novel molecular diagnostic/prognostic markers and potential therapy targets of breast cancers.
	Surinder K. Batra, PhD Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Structure/function analysis of tumor-associated genes; cancer diagnostics, cancer vaccines; monoclonal antibodies, genetic engineering of antibodies.
	Robert Bennett, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (DEM) Research focus: Antifibrotic effects of the hormone relaxin and related peptides; expression and signaling of relaxin receptors; internalization and degradation of relaxin, insulin and related hormones; the role of relaxin in adipose function.
	Raymond Bergan, MD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Oncology & Hematology Research focus: Understanding how cancer cells regulate transformation to a high motility metastatic phenotype, and how that process can be therapeutically modulated.
	Kishor K. Bhakat, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Understanding the molecular mechanisms and alter the damage repair pathways and gene expression in tumor cells to promote therapy resistance and tumor recurrence, and develop second line of interventions to prevent tumor recurrence and metastasis.
	Piero Bianco, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Research focus: Stalled DNA replication fork rescue to maintain genome stability
	Jennifer Black, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Colon cancer; endometrial cancer; pancreatic cancer; cell signaling (kinases and phosphatases) cell cycle regulation; control of protein translation in cancer; protein kinase C; PP2A.
	Gloria Borgstahl, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Structural biology, structure-based drug design, superoxide dismutase and double-strand DNA repair by homologous recombination.
	Sandipan Brahma, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Mechanisms regulating chromatin structure, how cells use these mechanisms to establish and maintain gene expression programs, and the implications of these mechanisms for human health.
	Shilpa Buch, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Therapeutic strategies that may enhance neural function and survival in NeuroAIDS, with possible implications in other neurodegenerative diseases.
	Siddappa Byrareddy, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Understanding and developing therapeutics for emerging/re-emerging viruses, focusing on HIV, Zika and SARS-CoV-2.
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	Steve Caplan, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Study of endocytic membrane trafficking, receptor recycling, vesicular transport, endosomes, mechanisms of mitochondrial fission/fusion, ciliogenesis and mechanisms by which primary cilia are generated, and centrosome biology.
	Rey Carabeo, PhD Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Cytoskeletal dynamics and mechanostransduction in Chlamydia invasion and pathogen modulation of host epithelial cell-extracellular matrix interaction; Transcriptomic studies of Chlamydia stress adaption.
	Carol A. Casey, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research focus: Biochemistry of alcoholism and digestive system diseases.
	Kishore Challagundla, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Role of extra cellular vesicles (EV's) and the non-coding RNAs in affecting immunotherapy response and escaping immune surveillance in pediatric cancers, in particular neuroblstoma and acute myeloid leukemia.
	Nagendra Chaturvedi, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology Research focus: Medulloblastoma; Neuroblastoma; Oncogenic signaling pathways; Small molecule therapeutics; Development of clincally relevant animal models; Stem cell biology; Epigenetic regulation of peadiatric cancers.
	Sujata Chaudhari, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: rthropod physiology and bacterial pathogenesis; study of tick vector physiology with focus on cuticle development and pathogen transmission; chitin metabolism in arthropods using Tribolium castaneum as a genetic model system; Staphylococcal metabolism and stress response.
	Pi-Wan Cheng, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Study of the mechanism of altered glycosylation in human disease.
	Vinai Chittezham Thomas, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Staphylococcal physiology and metabolism; staphylococcus stress response.
	Suyong Choi, PhD Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Phosphoinositide signaling pathways in cancer and immunology.
	Martin Conda-Sheridan, PhD Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy Research focus: Design of complex multifunctional biomaterials and bioactive small molecules for medicinal applications.
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	Kaustubh Datta, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Molecular mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis.
	John S. Davis, PhD Professor, Director of Research and Development - Olson Center for Women's Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research focus: Women's health; Reproductive endocrinology and cancer; Mechanisms of hormone action.
	Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Role of free radicals signaling to transform fibroblasts and inflammatory cells in normal tissue, which results in damage to these tissues; understanding the mechanisms by which ROS promote radiation induced fibrosis and prostate cancer progression.
	Paul Denton, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biology (UNO) Research focus: Improving immunotherapies to treat malignancies.
	Punita Dhawan, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Development of novel therapeutic targets for Gastrointestinal Cancer progression and chemoresistance; Role of signaling pathways and cancer stem cells involved in this process using cell culture, mouse and organoid models.
	Jixin Dong, PhD Associate Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Hippo signaling and cancer; Chemotherapeutic drug resistance.
	Andrew Dudley, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Mechanisms that regulate the development and homeostasis of musculoskeletal tissue using methods from embryology, molecular biology, cell biology, genetics and tissue engineering, with the goal of generating novel therapies for regenerative medicine.
	Anna Dunaevsky, PhD Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Synaptic plasticity and neuron-glia interactions in neurocognitive disorders.
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	Dalia Elgamal, PhD Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies, including immunosuppressive microenvironmental interactions and the gut microbiome, and evaluating novel anti-tumor therapeutics strategies.
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	Howard Fox, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Neurodegeneration, viral infections, single cell analyses of the brain, translational research in neuroscience.
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	Jered Garrison, PhD Professor, College of Pharmacy Research focus: Targeted molecular imaging and radiotherapeutic agent design; development of cancer-specific prodrugs; polymer based drug delivery systems.
	Howard E. Gendelman, MD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Development and testing of HIV-1 cure strategies; Basic and clinical studies on novel medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.
	Gargi Ghosal, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Understand the basic science underlying replication stress response in cancer and aging, identify new targets and bio-markers for cancer therapy and facilitate the development of strategies to overcome drug resistance and improve cancer therapies.
	Santhi Gorantla, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Humanized mouse models for HIV brain infection; influence of substance use on brain HIV latency, inflammation and pathogenesis.
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	Michael A. (Tony) Hollingsworth, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Basic and transactional research in pancreatic cancer, including investigation of the biology of tumor progress, discovery and validation of biomarkers of early detection and disease progression, development and testing of novel therapeutics, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies.
	Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Oncology and Hematology Research focus: Development of novel agents for the treatment of multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer, with a particular focus on Rab inhibitors of the isoprenoid biosynthetic.
	R. Katherine (Kate) Hyde, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Understand the mechanisms that regulate leukemia development; develop treatments for hematological malignancies.
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	Maneesh Jain, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Development of genetically engineered antibody fragments for improved radioimmunotherapy for solid tumors; development of serum assays for the early diagnosis of lethal pancreatic cancer.
	Keith R. Johnson, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: The role the cell adhesion molecules (cadherins) play in metastasis.
	Shantaram S. Joshi, PhD Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Improve therapy for human B lymphocytic malignancies and pediatric cancers by means of translational research involving molecular characterization of progressive/therapy resistant maliganant cells.
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	Adam R. Karpf, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Ovarian cancer biology and therapeutics; Cancer epigenetics.
	Kusum Kharbanda, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research focus: Alcohol liver injury with emphasis on alcohol's deleterious effect in altering the methionine metabolic pathway and lowering the ratio of the methyl dontor, SAM, to its product, SAH.
	So-Youn Kim, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research focus: Oncofertility, cachexia, ovarian cancer.
	Zeljka Korade, DVM, PhD Professor, Department of Pediatrics Research focus: Cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system; study of an inborn error of metabolism Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome; desmosterolosis; development of neuronal cell lines with defects in different enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and their characterization.
	Mohan Krishnan, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Pathophysiology of Tranfusion-associated Necrotizing Enterocolitis (TA-NEC) and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome(SIRS) in premature infants.
	Sushil Kumar, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Tumor microenvironment; Pancreatic pathologies including pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis using multiple murine models, organoid, and 3D cell culture-based technologies.
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	Marilynn Larson, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Host and intracellular pathogen interactions, and determining the mechanisms that allow the Tier 1 select agent Francisella tularensis to persist and rapidly replicate within infected macrophages.
	Robert Lewis, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Defining intracellular mechanisms required for the epithelia-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the formation and maintenance of cancer stem cells.
	Oksana Lockridge, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Transglutaminase levels are high in pancreatic ductal carcinoma. By crosslinking proteins, transglutaminase alters their stability and function; protein identification through mass spectrometry.
	Brian Lowes, MD, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology Research focus: Novel education clinical trainees and education program with a goal to develop clinicians and scientists in sub-Saharan Africa.
	Xu Luo, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways in cell death and survival in cancer cells.
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	Sidharth Mahapara, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics Research focus: Elucidating pathophysiologic mechanisms triggering aggressive pediatric brain tumors using transcriptomic analyses to hone in on essential signaling pathways and to test synthetic inhibitors of these pathways; Repurposing FDS-approved drugs for treatment of aggressive pediatric brain tumors.
	Luis Marky, PhD Professor, College of Pharmacy Research focus: Biophysical chemistry and molecular forces that control the conformational stability and flexibility of nucleic acids, including Okazaki fragments, hairpin loops, intramolecular triplexes, G-quadruplexes, C-quadruplexes, and three- & four-arm DNA junctions and their interaction with drugs.
	Grinu Mathew, PhD Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Genetic and epigentic regulation of prostate cancer metastasis.
	Benita McVicker, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology-Hepatology Research focus: Alcohol liver injury and mechanisms.
	Karoly Mirnics, MD, PhD Director, Munroe-Meyer Institute Research focus: Animal models of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders; effects of Gene-Environmental-Drug interactions on the developing brain; role of disrupted cholesterol biosynthesis of brain function - all using genetic, molecular, cellular and biochemical tools in our studies, coupled with drug screening and mouse behavioral assessments.
	Justin L. Mott, PhD, MD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Receptor tyrosine kinase and microRNA regulation of apoptosis in liver cancer and bile duct injury.
	DJ Murry, PharmD Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science Research focus: Ways to individualize drug therapy using pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomics information; from in vitro metabolism and transport studies, animal pharmacokinetic studies, to clinical studies evaluating drug therapy in patients.
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	Prabagaran (Praba) Narayanasamy, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Drug design, discovery and development (including drug delivery by nanomedicine) for infectious diseases; study of physiology and pathogenesis of bacteria and virus towards drug discovery; design, synthesis and characterization of substrates, inhibitors, intermediates, products and mechanisms for drug discovery and development.
	Naava Naslavsky, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Development of new strategies to treat diseases involving traffic and recycling events related to the control of receptor localization to the plasma membrane that is central to normal cell function, and dysregulation as the underlying cause for diseases as diverse as atherosclerosis, diabetes and cancer.
	Wasim (Mohd) Nasser, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Research focus: Novel therapeutic strategies for immunosuppressive and tumor-supportive microenvironments of metastatic breast and lung cancers.
	Amarnath (Amar) Natarajan, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Developing novel target and mechanism specific therapeutics.
	Caroline Ng, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Biology and pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum, genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying drug resistance.
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	Michael M. Ouellette, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology Research focus: Molecular mechanisms that determine the lifespan of human cells, including telomeres and telomerase. Role of the small GTPases K-Ras and Rac1 in the development of pancreatic cancer and its response to conventional therapies.
	Scot Ouellette, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Chlamydial microbiology: bacterial cell division, gene regulation, host-pathogen interactions.
	David Oupicky, PhD Professor, College of Pharmacy Research focus: Design of multifunctional nanoparticles and polymers with application in the treatment of metastatic cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and acute kidney injury.
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	Youri Pavlov, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Cellular systems of mutagenesis and antimutagenesis.
	Aimin Peng, PhD Professor, College of Dentistry Research focus: Cell cycle regulation and the DNA damage response (DDR); cellular recover process from DNA damage; protein phosphatase-dependent cell cycle and DDR regulation and its implication for cancer progression and therapy.
	Palsamy Periyasamy, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience Research focus: Investigate the epigenetic changes that occur during HIV-1 infection and drug abuse, leading to glial cells (microglia and astrocytes) activation; identify potential therapeutic strategies for HAND treatment.
	Armen Petrosyan, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Mechanism of Golgi alteration in advanced prostate cancer: focus on aberrant glycosylation; role for non-muscle Myosin IIA in alcohol-induced Golgi fragmentation.
	Moorthy Ponnusamy, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Cancer stem cells; metastasis; progression of pancreatic cancer.
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	Subu Ramanathan, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy Research focus: Principles that underpin how cells with divergent sizes pack into epithelial tissue and how alterations in cellular packing influence tissue homeostasis.
	William Rizzo, MD Professor, Department of Pediatrics Research focus: Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome and other inherited metabolic diseases.
	Don Ronning, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Research focus: Discovery and development of anti-infective and anti-cancer compounds.
	Shyamal K. Roy, PhD Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Cellular & Integrative Physiology Research focus: Endocrine regulation of follicular development, growth factors, signal transduction in ovarian cells and biochemistry of granulosa cells.
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	Micah Schott, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Research focus: Cell biology of lipids in metabolic disease.
	Polina Shcherbakova, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Mechanisms controlling genome stability in eukaryotic cells, particularly the functions of DNA polymerases, DNA replication fidelity and the relationship between DNA polymerase defects and cancer.
	Jawed Siddiqui, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Bone metastasis, bone microenvironment, chemokines and cytokines, osteoimmunology, bone-muscle cross-talk, and cancer therapeutics.
	Amar Singh, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Molecular mechanisms inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer; renal pathobiology.
	Rakesh K. Singh, PhD Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Tumor growth and metastasis, angiogenesis, tumor immunology, cytokine biology.
	Joyce Solheim, PhD Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Mechanisms regulating the immune response to tumors and infectious pathogens, and development of new immunotherapies.
	Paul Sorgen, PhD Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Advancing our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of gap junction regulation in the heart, with particular interest and expertise in protein-protein interactions mediated by the carboxylterminal domain of connexins.
	Kelly Stauch, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences Research focus: Role of mitrochondrial dysfunction and altered energy metabolism in the context of neurodegerative diseases and aging.
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	Melissa Teoh-Fitzgerald, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research focus: Role of oxidative tumor microenvironment in regulating the reciprocal tumor-stroma interactions.
	Geoffrey M. Thiele, PhD Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Rheumatology Research focus: Autoimmunity, immune system disorders, immunopathology; infectious diseases/agents; Rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, breast cancer and the immune system, bone loss and erosion, alcoholic liver disease.
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	Saraswathi Viswanathan, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism Research focus: Determine the role of obesity in modulating the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, alcohol-associated liver injury, and pancreatic cancer.
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	Guangshun (Gus) Wang, PhD Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Research focus: Develop novel antimicrobials by combining structural biology and database with in vitro and in vivo toxicity and efficacy studies.
	Nicholas Woods, PhD Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute Research focus: Systems biology based analysis of cancer signaling pathways.
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	Ying Yan, PhD Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology Research focus: Tumorigenesis, cancer progression and metastasis, and development of new anticancer agents.
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