Faculty

Baha Abdalhamid, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Characterization of molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Maher Y. Abdalla, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and immune cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and prostate cancer.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and IPID

Iqbal Ahmad, PhD
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Research focus:  Molecular and cellular mechanisms of neural stem cells/progenitors maintenance and differentiation.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

Hesham Ali, PhD
Dean, Department of Information Science and Technology (UNO)
Research focus:  Developing secure and energy-aware wireless infrastructure to address tracking and monitoring problems in medical environments, particularly to study mobility profiling for various groups and to conduct a population analysis approach to advancing healthcare research.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Distinguished Scientist

Daniel R. Anderson, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology
Research focus:  Molecular and cellular immunology; innate immunity (preexisting immunity) and how such immune responses contribute to the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease processes, specifically focused on underlying mechanisms of viral myocarditis, atherosclerotic disease and the impact inflammation has on cardiac rhythm abnormalities.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Ann Anderson Berry, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology
Research focus:  Nutrition of the ELBW infant, preterm infant protein requirements, human milk fortification, Vitamin D metabolism in the mother-infant dyad, Vitamin A deficiency, Vitamin E metabolism.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 Spirit of Community Service

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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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, CR, IPID and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Research Leadership

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

Kiran Bastola, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Information Science and Technology (UNO)
Research focus:  Computational biology including gene regulation with noncoding RDA, mining for interesting patterns form genomic sequences for use in molecular diagnostics, public health, secondary metabolism and biology of the mitochondria in disease, as well as extreme environments.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2012 Scientist Laureate; 2010 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

B. Timothy Baxter, MD, FACS
Professor, Department of Surgery
Research focus:  Use of doxycycline to slow or stop the growth of aneurysms.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 Research Leadership

Kenneth W. Bayles, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Staphylococcus aureus infections; biofilm development; the control of bacterial programmed cell death.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Scientist Laureate

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPMM and MGCB

Ann Berger, PhD, APRN-CNS, AOCNS, FAAN
Professor, College of Nursing
Research focus:  Symptom management, in particular fatigue and sleep/wake disturbances, in individuals with cancer; use of wrist actigraphy.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

Tadayoshi Bessho, PhD
Associate Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Molecular mechanism of DNA interstrand crosslink repair in mammalian cells.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and MGCB

Kishor K. Bhakat, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Research focus:  Mitotic gene bookmarking:  A novel dimension of epigenetic memory in cancer for post-mitotic transcriptional reactivation; APE1 and its acetylation: A potential prognostic and predictive biomarker in cancer.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 New Investigator

Keshore Bidasee, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular complications in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM), and identify therapeutic strategies that could be used to slow their progression.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

Adrian Black, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Tissue sciences; molecular biology; cell cycle; transcription; protein kinase C signaling in intestinal cells; endometrial cancer.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty; 2015 Distinguished Scientist

Erika I. Boesen, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Iron-mediated kidney damage in lupus nephritis; renal control of salt and water homeostasis.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 New Investigator

Stephen Bonasera, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine -  Geriatrics
Research focus:  Age related changes in brain function.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPMM and NSC

Gloria Borgstahl, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Structural biology, superoxide dismutase and double-strand DNA repair by homologous recombination.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

M. Jana Broadhurst, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Microbiology and infectious diseases.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID

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 implication in other neurodegenerative diseases.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 Scientist Laureate

Shannon Buckley, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Research focus:  Utilize genomic and proteomic approaches to identify key ubiquitin ligases and their substrates that regulate mechanisms of hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and malignant transformation (i.e. Leukemia and Lymphoma).

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

Keely Buesing, MD, FACS
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Research focus:  Large animal and pulmonary cellular investigation of novel therapeutics targeting Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, IPID and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 New Investigator

Siddappa Byrareddy, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Understanding host-virus dynamics using molecular biology, virology, immunology, systems biology, and genomic tools to develop prevention strategies for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, such as Zika virus.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, CR, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Distinguished Scientist

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W. Scott Campbell, MBA, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Health informatics and pathology informatics.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 New Investigator

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 centrosome biology.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2011 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

Rey Carabeo, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Cellular microbiology of Chlamydia-host cell interaction.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Mark Carlson, MD, FACS
Professor, Department of Surgery
Research focus:  Cancer; regenerative medicine; hemostasis; wound healing.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPMM and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Distinguished Scientist; 2012 New Investigator

Pamela K. Carmines, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Renal microcirculation, vasoactive agents and intracellular signaling events regulating renal arteriolar tone, diabetes mellitus.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019-2020 Visionary Leadership in Education; 2011 Outstanding Teaching Award

Carol A. Casey, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Research focus:  Biochemistry of alcoholism and digestive system diseases.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty

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 neuroblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

Claudia Chaperon, PhD, RN, APRN-NP, BC
Associate Professor, College of Nursing
Research focus:  Effects of sleep-disturbing environments on late life health maintenance: water and electrolyte balance and blood pressure regulation; effects of sleep deprivation during the perimenopause in female mice; neurotrophin gene regulation of rhythms.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019-2020 Interprofessional Education Scholar; 2012 Spirit of Community Service

Yiannis S. Chatzizisis, MD, PhD
Professor, Internal Medicine - Cardiology
Research focus:  Vascular biology of atherosclerosis; cardiovascular biomechanics; mechanobiology; computational stent simulations; renal denervation.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 New Investigator

Pi-Wan Cheng, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Mechanism of altered glycosylation in cancer development/progression and alcohol abuse, and development of altered glycans-based markers for identification and targeted therapy of advanced cancers.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

Xiaoyue Cheng, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics (UNO)
Research focus:  Data visualization and interactive graphics, data exploratory analysis, data mining, statistical classification.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

Vinai Chittezham Thomas, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Staphylococcal physiology and metabolism; staphylococcus stress response.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

Parvathi Chundi, PhD
Professor, Department of Computer Science (UNO)
Research focus:  Machine learning algorithms for unstructured data collections; serious games; Big Data Frameworks.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB

Sanjib Chowdhury, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Awaiting information.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

Pawel Ciborowski, PhD
Professor and Director of Mass Spectometry and Proteomics Core Facility, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Protein structure and functions; proteomics.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, MGCB and NSC

Dahn Clemens, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Research focus:  Role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease; molecular mechanisms by which reactive oxygen species cause inflammation that leads to the initiation and profession of cardiovascular disease.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

Samuel M. Cohen, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Urologic pathology, carcinogenesis and toxicology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPID

Martin Conda-Sheridan, PhD
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research focus:  Design of complex multifunctional biomaterials and bioactive small molecules for medicinal applications.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 New Investigator

Leah Cook, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Investigation of immune interactions within the tumor bone microenvironment that contributes to bone metastatic prostate cancer; identifying novel immunotherapeutic targets for treating and curing metastatic cancers.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 New Investigator

Kate Cooper (Dempsey), PhD
Assistant Professor, College of Information Science & Technology
Research focus:  Biomedical "big" data, dynamic network modeling and analysis, precision wellness, public health informatics.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

Kenneth Cowan, MD, PhD
Director and Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Tumor suppressor genes, breast cancer; mechanisms associated with development of multi-drug resistance and the regulation of expression of drug resistance genes in human tumor cells.

Associated Doctoral Program: CR

Christine Cutucache, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biology (UNO)
Research focus:  Cognitive sciences with human learning; Bioinformatics and computationally-based research on immunological aspects of B-cell lymphomas.

Associated Doctoral Program: CR

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Kaustubh Datta, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Molecular mechanisms of cancer progression and metastasis.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty; 2014 Distinguished Scientist

John S. Davis, PhD
Professor, Director of Research and Development - Olson Center for Women's Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Research focus:  Reproductive endocrinology and oncology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and IPMM

Paul Davis, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biology (UNO)
Research focus:  Investigating and developing novel approaches to prevent and treat human parasitic infections, using approaches that include molecular biology, bioinformatics, -omics, high-content imaging, and genetics.

Associated Doctoral Program: BISB and IPID

Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, PhD
Associate 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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Distinguished Scientist; 2015 New Investigator

Paul Denton, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology (UNO)
Research focus:  Improving immunotherapies to treat malignancies.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

Cyrus Desouza, MBBS
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine – Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (DEM)
Research focus:  Improving outcomes in diabetes and obesity patients using treatment algorithms; mechanisms of diabetes and metabolic syndrome on vascular  and brain function.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Distinguished Scientist

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Distinguished Scientist

Jixin Dong, PhD
Associate Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Hippo signaling and cancer.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Distinguished Scientist; 2014 New Investigator

Terrence Donohue, Jr, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Research focus:  Role of autophagy in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver disease.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and IPID

Bin Duan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology
Research focus:  Integrate novel biomaterials, advanced biofabrication of tissue engineering to create multi-scale complexity within engineered tissue to understand the fundamentals of cell-material interactions and mimic the native tissue for tissue regeneration.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, MGCB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, IPMM and MGCB

Anna Dunaevsky, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Learning induced structural and functional synaptic plasticity, neuron glia interactions and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, MGCB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty; 2015 Distinguished Scientist

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Benson Edagwa, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Design, development and evaluation of antiretroviral prodrugs, development of long acting slow effective release ART (LASER ART) and their application to testing in cell and small animal based assays.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 New Inestigator

Dalia Elgamal, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies and evaluating novel targeted tehrapies for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Richter's transformation.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

James Eudy, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Research focus:  Next Generation DNA Sequencing strategies for rare Mendelian disease gene identification and functional genomic technologies; biomedical interest in cancer, cardiovascular disease and virology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and MGCB

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Pierre Fayad, MD
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Vascular Neurology; research for Stroke.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

Paul D. Fey, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Staphylococcal biology and pathogenesis; antibiotic resistance of clinical relevant pathogens.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Kurt Fisher, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Identification and evaluation of novel targets for therapy in gastrointestional tumors with K-Ras mutation; GI tract, liver, and solid organ transplant pathology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPID

Howard S. Fox, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Neurodegeneration, brain dysfunction and viral infections of the brain.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Scientist Laureate

Ann Fruhling, PhD
Professor, College of Information Science and Technology (UNO)
Research focus:  User interface design and evaluation; usability studies; information systems design strategies for medical emergency response systems, e-health applications; health informatics; agile system development; implementation and management strategies.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

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Lie Gao, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Neural control of circulation and autonomic function; pancreatic islet function and diabetes; skeletal muscle function and exercise intolerance in heart function.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB and IPMM

Matthew Garlinghouse, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Resting State functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI), Task-based functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Volumetric Analysis, Impact of drugs of abuse on brain structure/function, and impact of cancer treatment on cognition.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

Jered Garrison, PhD
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research focus:  Targeted molecular imaging and radiotherapeutic agent design; development of cancer-specific prodrugs; polymer based drug delivery systems.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB and CR

Howard E. Gendelman, MD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Investigate Th1 and Th2 cell responses in Parkinson's disease; study the role of mononuclear phagocytes in neurotoxicity and neuroregeneration in HIV dementia.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

Dario Ghersi, PhD
Assistant Professor, College of Information Science and Technology (UNO)
Research focus:  Large-scale cancer genomics datasets, integrating different types of data (including protein structure) to gain insight into the molecular bases of cancer and immune system function.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

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 therapies and facilitate the development of strategies to overcome drug resistance and improve cancer therapies.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

Stacey Gilk, PhD
Associate Professor, Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Microbial pathogenesis; Coxiella, Rickettsia

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Santhi Gorantla, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Mouse models for HIV; humanized mouse model to study HIV vaccine strategies to induce protective immune responses and immune-based therapeutics to enhance HIV immune responses; HIV pathogenesis.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Distinguished Scientist

Karen Gould, PhD
Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Research focus:  Estrogen receptor alpha regulation of lupus; identification of the Mom5 modifier of intestinal tumorigenesis.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, CR, IPMM and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018-2019 Visionary Leadership in Education

Timothy C. Greiner, MD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Etiology and progression of lymphoma by examining the mutational spectra of oncogenes and tumor suppresser genes.

Associated Doctoral Program: IPID

Chittibabu (Babu) Guda, PhD
Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Research focus:  Development and application of computational methods for genomic data analyses including cancer genomics, functional annotation of proteins, pathways, networks and systems in biomedical research.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Distinguished Scientist

Rebekah Gundry, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Development and application innovative mass spectrometry (MS) technologies, bioinformatics tools, and methodologies to transform our understanding of cell surface proteins and glycans, and answer outstanding questions in stem cell biology and cardiac pathology.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB, BISB and IPMM

Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Development and improvement of transgenic and genome editing technologies; development of versatile animal model resources and tools.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

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Frederick G. Hamel, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (DEM)
Research focus:  Degradation of insulin and its relationship to insulins mechanism of action; polypeptide hormone metabolism; diabetes mellitus.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Curtis Hartman, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation
Research focus:  Management of infected hip and knee replacements.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Kathleen Healey, APRN, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Multiple Sclerosis.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

Kyle Hewitt, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy
Research focus:  Multidisciplinary approaches to identify gene regulation networks and cell signaling mechanisms that control blood production during development and/or regeneration following disease or injury.  Transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms that cause hematologic disorders and mechanisms that regulate the function of hematopoietic stem and projenitor cells.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 New Investigator

Steven H. Hinrichs, MD
Chair and Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Molecular pathogenesis and diagnostics of infectious organism, antimicrobial drug discovery and bioterrorism preparedness information technology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and MGCB

Michael A. (Tony) Hollingsworth, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Basic and translational research in pancreatic cancer, including investigation of the biology of tumor progression, discovery and validation of biomarkers of early detection and disease progression, development and testing of novel therapeutics, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD
Associate 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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Distinguished Scientist

Karen Honeycutt, PhD, MEd, MLS(ASCP)SM
Associate Professor, College of Allied Health Professions – Clinical Laboratory Science Education
Research focus:  Effective and efficient educational methodologies; active learning strategies, online and multimedia educational platforms; incorporation of professionalism in MLS education; women and the academic doctoral degree path.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017-2018 Varner Educator Laureate; 1996 Outstanding Teaching Award

Corey Hopkins, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research focus:  Design, synthesis and optimization of biologically active small molecules as in vivo probes, drug discovery lead compounds and preclinical candidates.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Distinguished Scientist

Guoku Hu, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  NIH and drug abuse synergy, exomes, noncoding RNAs.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

Sung-Ho Huh, PhD
Assistant Professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute
Research focus:  Understanding mechanisms by which signaling pathways regulating sensory and nephron progenitor cells generation and maintenance during development and regeneration and use these findings as tools for regenerative medicine.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, MGCB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 New Investigator

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Distinguished Scientist; 2018 Sprit of Community Service; 2016 New Investigator

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Javeed Iqbal, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Molecular signatures to improve diagnosis and outcome prediction in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; gene expression profiling and pathway targeted therapy in peripheral T-cell lymphoma; characterization of key molecular signatures in natural killer cell malignancies.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 Distinguished Scientiest

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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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty; 2020 Research Leadership Award; 2016 Distinguished Scientist

Keith R. Johnson, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  The role the cell adhesion molecules (cadherins) play in metastasis.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty; 2014 Research Leadership

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.

Associated Doctoral Program:  MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2011 Outstanding Teaching Award; 2017-2018 Inspirational Mentor of Educators

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Georgette D. Kanmogne, PhD, MPH
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  HIV/AIDS, vascular biology and cell signaling.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID, MGCB and NSC

Adam R. Karpf, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Ovarian cancer biology and therapeutics; Cancer epigenetics.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, CR, IPID and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Distinguished Scientist

Sukhwinder Kaur, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Awaiting information.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

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 donor, SAM, to its product, SAH.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPMM and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Distinguished Scientist

Tammy L. Kielian, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Host-pathogen interactions, immunology, neuroimmunology, translational therapeutics.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 Scientist Laureate

Hyung Joon Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Research focus:  Measuring the pathophysiologically relevant molecular and cellular deficits in human brain diseases.

Associated Doctoral Program:  MGCB

So-Youn Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Research focus:  Oncofertility, cachexia, ovarian cancer.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 New Investigator

Scott Koepsell, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Microbiology
Research focus:  Transfusion medicine; cellular therapy; molecular diagnostics.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and NSC

Sushil Kumar, PhD
Assistant 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.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

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Marilynn Larson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Development of diagnostics and therapeutics for pathogen identification and treatment; respectively; determining the molecular mechanisms that allow pathogens to replicate and persist.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB and IPID

Tricia LeVan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy
Research focus:  Genetic and pathogen associated microbial product influences on respiratory diseases, functional genomic studies, gene by environment association studies, host pathogen interactions with bronchial epithelial cells.

Associated Doctoral Program:  MGCB

Robert Lewis, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Identification and targeting of Ras-driven, tumor-specific pathways; molecular mechanisms controlling cellular and organismal energy balance.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 Scientist Laureate; 2016 Research Leadership

Yulong Li, MD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Dysfunction of baroreceptor neurons in heart failure and diabetes: cellular and molecular mechanisms.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 Distinguished Scientist

Ming-Fong Lin, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Mechanism of cell growth regulation by steroids via cross-talk of ROS and tyrosine phosphorylation signaling.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB and CR

Merry Lindsey, PhD
Chair and Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Identifying novel MMP substrates in post-MI tissues using omics strategies to identify novel extracellular matrix signaling pathways altered post-MI; examining the roles of macrophages and fibroblasts in post-MI remodeling of the left ventricle; discovering novel biomarkers of adverse left ventricular remodeling.

Associated Doctoral Programs: BISB and IPMM

Steven Lisco, MD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
Research focus:  Critical Care Management, thoracic and vascular anesthesiology, management of complex airways, blood management.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Yutong Liu, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Radiology
Research focus:  Neuroimaging and image processing.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and NSC

Oksana Lockridge, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Protein crosslinking from chronic low dose exposure to pesticides leads to Alzheimer and Parkinson's disease.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPID and NSC

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPMM and MGCB

Guoqing Lu, PhD
Professor, Department of Biology & Interdisciplinary Informatics (UNO).
Research focus:  Theoretical and applied bioinformatics, with a focus on comparative genomics and evolutionary informatics.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

Matthew Lunning, DO, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine – Oncology and Hematology
Research focus:  Rare hematologic malignancies with a focus on early drug development and experimental correlates that leads to enhanced knowledge of how to treat hematologic malignancies.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 Distinguished Scientist

Xu Luo, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Regulation of mitochondria-dependent cell death.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2012 Distinguished Scientist

Quan Ly, MD, FACS
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Research focus:  Study of the role of cadherins in metastatic cancer cell signaling and effect of cadherin mutations on cell adhesion and cell motility.  Evaluate NBL1 function by re-expressing NBL1 in cancer cells.  Develop novel therapies for pancreatic cancers.  Study the role of survivin in pancreatic cancers.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

Yuri Lyubchenko, PhD, DrSc
Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research focus:  Nanoscale structure, dynamics and interactions – seeing and manipulating biomolecules.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

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Richard G. MacDonald, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Signal transduction/biological effects of the insulin-like growth factors with emphasis on structure-function.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 1993, 2001 & 2011 Outstanding Teaching Award

Mahbubul Majumder, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics (UNO)
Research focus:  Exploratory data analysis; data visualization and visual inference; statistical modeling; data science.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 Research Leadership; 2006 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

Pamela May, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Memory disorders; Movement disorders; HIV; Toxic/metabolic encephalopathies; Cerebrovascular disease.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

Thomas McDonald, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Immunology; antigen isolation and purification; acute phase proteins; inflammation; immunoassays.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 1988 Outstanding Teaching Award

David McMillan, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Mechanisms of toxicity of drugs and environmental chemicals; mechanism underlying pro-oxidant drug-induced hemolytic anemia , and in the metabolism and toxicity of the environmental contaminant, trichloroethylene.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Benita McVicker, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology-Hepatology
Research focus:  Alcohol liver injury and mechanisms.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR, IPID and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2012 New Investigator

Jane Meza, PhD
Professor, College of Public Health - Biostatistics
Research focus:  Statistical issues related to small-area estimation. These methods have been extended to disease mapping applications and combining national and state data to estimate the probability of a rare event.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB and NSC

Paras Kumar Mishra, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  MicroRNomics of cardiovascular diseases and diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, IPMM and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 New Investigator

Aaron Mohs, PhD
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research focus:  Development of new florescent imaging contrast agents to guide surgical removal of tumors; developing new drug delivery systems that target tumor metabolism.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Distinguished Scientist; 2017 New Investigator

Daniel T. Monaghan, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Development of drugs for modulating NMDA receptor activity for treating schizophrenia and autism.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

R. Lee Mosley, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Regulation of T Lymphocyte function; T cell-mediated immunity in neurodegenerative disorders.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPID, IPMM and NSC

Justin L. Mott, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Receptor tyrosine kinase and microRNA regulation of apoptosis in liver cancer and bile duct injury.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Outstanding Teaching Award; 2015 New Investigator

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.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB and CR

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Prabagaran (Praba) Narayanasamy, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPID and MGCB

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.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

Wasim (Mohd) Nasser, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Cancer metastasis; brain metastasis; tumor microenvironment; microRNA's; cytokines/chemokines.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 New Investigator

Amarnath (Amar) Natarajan, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Developing novel target and mechanism specific therapeutics.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Research Leadership; 2012 Distinguished Scientist

Ali Nawshad, PhD
Associate Professor, College of Dentistry
Research focus:  Transforming Growth Factor (TGF) ß signaling during palate development; mechanisms of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) by TGFß in HNSCC; role of TGFß signaling during dentinogenesis.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and MGCB

Caroline Ng, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology & Microbiology
Research focus:  Biology and pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum, genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying drug resistance.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, BMB, IPID and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

Robert B. Norgren, PhD
Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Research focus:  Use of nonhuman primate genomics to better understand human genetic disease.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB, IPMM, MGCB and NSC

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Gregory Oakley, PhD
Associate Professor, College of Dentistry – Oral Biology
Research focus:  DNA damage and repair involving signal transduction pathways that regulate the cellular response to DNA damage and how alterations in these pathways contribute to mutagenesis and, ultimately, carcinogenesis.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

Stephen Obaro, MD, PhD
Professor, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Research focus:  Pneumococcal disease and vaccine, meningococcal disease and vaccine, HIV infections in children, typhoid fever in children, community pneumonia and invasive bacterial infections in Nigerian children.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 New Investigator

Ann Haskins Olney, MD
Professor, Munroe-Meyer Institute
Research focus:  Dysmorphology; molecular etiology of multiple congenital anomaly syndromes; overgrowth syndromes; syndrome delineation.

Associated Doctoral Program:  MGCB

Natalia Osna, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine – Gastroenterology and Hepatology (GI)
Research focus:  Role of inflammation, innate immunity, apoptosis, preteasome dysfunctions and extracellular vesicles in the mechanisms of liver disease development; alcohol- and HIB-triggered liver injury; HCV, HBV and HIV-co-infections; second hits in potentiation of HIV-induced liver and fibrosis.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 New Investigator

Michel M. Ouellette, PhD
Associate 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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Distinguished Scientist

Scot Ouellette, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Microbiology
Research focus:  Chlamydial microbiology: bacterial cell division, gene regulation, host-pathogen interactions.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB, BISB and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 Distinguished Scientist

David Oupicky, PhD
Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research focus:  Design on multifunctional nanoparticles and polymers with applications in the treatment of metastatic cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and acute kidney injury.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students; 2014 Distinguished Scientist

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Kaushik P. Patel, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Neural control of circulation; neural regulation of cardiovascular and renal function in health and disease states.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Research Leadership

Youri Pavlov, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Cellular systems of mutagenesis and antimutagenesis.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

Gurudutt N. Pendyala, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
Research focus:  Animal models of addiction, sex differences in drug abuse; Synaptic biology; Epigenetic regulation, role of microRNAs at the synapese in drug addiction, mechanisms and role in gene regulation; Prenatal drug exposure and snyaptic development; Integrative Systems Biology approach to understand synaptic aberrations in chronic drug abuse; High input technologies-genomics, mass spectrometry-based proteomics and metabolomics.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB, IPMM, MGCB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 New Investigator

Aimin Peng, PhD
Associate 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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 New Investigator

Thomas Petro, PhD
Professor, College of Dentistry
Research focus:  Using molecular immunobiology approaches to explore intrinsic pathways to or novel therapeutics for expression and control of cytokines to prevent chronic viral infections, autoimmune disease and/or inflammatory diseases.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPID

Armen Petrosyan, MD, PhD
Assistant 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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

Vaishali Phatak, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Neuropsychology - Traumatic Brain Injury; Memory; Dementia; Stroke and neurodegenerative disorders.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

Iraklis Pipinos, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Development of regenerative medicine strategies for skeletal muscle tissues in the legs of patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty

Larisa Poluektova, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Pathogenesis and treatment of HIV-1 associated dementia; translational mouse models for human-specific diseases.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2016 Distinguished Scientist

Moorthy Ponnusamy, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Characterization of cancer stem cells; mechanism of metastasis and tumor glycobiology.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 New Investigator

Thomas Porter, MD
Chair and Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology
Research focus:  Targeted blood brain barrier permeability changes with ultrasound and microbubbles.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Bunny Pozehl, PhD, RN, APRN-NP, FAHA, FAAN
Professor, College of Nursing
Research focus:  Exercise training interventions and promoting adherence to exercise in hear t failure.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2012 Distinguished Scientist; 1992 Outstanding Teaching Award

Sundaralingam Premaraj, BDS, MS, PhD, FRCD(C)
Associate Professor, College of Dentistry
Research focus:  Cranial suture biology; (TGF) ß cell signaling in osteoblasts; molecular biology of tooth movement.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and MGCB

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Satyayanarayana Rachagani, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Pathogenesis and targeting strategies for pancreatic and colorectal cancers through miRNA, natural agents and other novel combination therapies.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 New Investigator

Prakash Radhakrishnan, PhD
Associate Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Glycobiology of pancreatic cancer; autocrine and paracrine cell signaling mechanisms; developing therapeutics for pancreatic cancer.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 New Investigator

Sutapa Ray, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Research focus:  Molecular mechanisms of pediatric brain and central nervous system tumors initiation, maintenance, progression and drug resistance.

Associated Doctoral Program:  MGCB

St. Patrick Reid, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Molecular virology of novel functions of proteins encoded by highly pathogenic viruses; Elucidating host-pathogen interactions of emerging highly pathogenic viruses including Ebola, Chikungunga and Zika.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

Stephen I. Rennard, MD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy
Research focus:  Cellular mechanisms that underlie altered tissue structure in lung disease, particularly with regard to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Angie A. Rizzino, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Molecular mechanisms that regulate the proliferation of cancer stem cells and pluripotent stem cells.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2007 & 2015 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students; 1994 Outstanding Teaching Award

Matthew Rizzo, MD, FAAN
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Memory disorders; behavioral consequences of aging and neurological disorders.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BISB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Scientist Laureate; 2016 Distinguished Scientist

William Rizzo, MD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Research focus:  Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome and other inherited metabolic diseases.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPMM and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Distinguished Scientist

Kerry Rodabaugh, MD
Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Research focus:  Gynecologic oncology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and MGCB

Eleanor G. Rogan, PhD
Professor, College of Public Health
Research focus:  Investigation of the possible role of contaminants, especially agrichemicals, in various waterways in the etiology of adverse health effects, including pedicatric cancer, birth defects and Parkinson's disease.

Associated Doctoral Program: CR

Jim Rogers, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics (UNO)
Research focus:  Mathematical biology.

Associated Doctoral Program: BISB

Debra Romberger, MD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Research focus:  Agricultural/occupation/environmental lung disease; airway epithelial repair and injury mechanisms; clinical problems associated with COPD; mycobacterial lung disease.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Spirit of Community Service

Don Ronning, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research focus:  Discovery and development of anti-infective compounds with particular interest on compounds possessing efficacy for treating Tuberculosis.

Associated Doctoral Programs: BMB, BISB, IPID and MGCB

Jordan Rowley, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Anatomy
Research focus:  3D organization of DNA within the nucleus.

Associated Doctoral Programs: BISB and MGCB

Shyamal K. Roy, PhD
Professor, Departments 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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPMM and MGCB

Elizabeth Rucks, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Microbiology
Research focus:  Host trafficking to the chlamydial inclusion, growth and development of chlamydia.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Mark Rupp, MD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Research focus:  Awaiting information.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2012 Distinguished Scientist

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Steven C. Sansom, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Physiological mechanisms of ion transport in the kidney.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Joshua Santarpia, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Microbiology
Research focus:  Detection, measurement and characterization of bioaerosols, atmospheric chemistry of bioaerosols, microbial communities in ambient environment (aerosol, soil and water) and bacteriophage for therapeutic and industrial uses.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Alicia Schiller, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
Research focus:  Quantification of sympathetic nervous system output and vascular control for clinically relevant applications, including intraprocedural feedback for renal denervation, hemorrhage, and as a screening tool for the presence of dysautonomia.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

Micah Schott, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Cell biology of lipid metabolism in metabolic liver disease.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BMB

Harold D. Schultz, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Sensory and motor functions of the autonomic nervous system.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Distinguished Scientist

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 Distinguished Scientist

Amar Singh, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Molecular mechanisms of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer; renal pathobiology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Distinguished Scientist

Pankaj Singh, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Cancer metabolism, immuno-metabolism, signal transduction in cancer, tumor-microenvironment interactions, therapy resistance, metastasis, cancer cachexia, personalized cancer medicine, and multi-omics systems biology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Distinguished Scientist; 2013 New Investigator

Rakesh K. Singh, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Tumor growth and metastasis, angiogenesis, tumor immunology, cytokine biology.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 & 2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

Joseph Sisson, MD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Research focus:  Control of ciliary motility; regulation of ciliary beating in primary cultures of ciliated tracheal epithelium; ethanol as a model agonist and the mechanism(s) by which ethanol desensitizes the ciliary apparatus to subsequent stimulation by physiologic agonists; kinase phosphorylation targets in the cilia axoneme to determine the mechanism(s) by which phosphorylation activates dyneins and other motor elements of the axoneme.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 Research Leadership; 1999 Outstanding Teaching Award

Joyce Solheim, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Mechanisms regulating the immune response to tumors and infectious pathogens, and development of new immunotherapies.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2008 & 2016 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Studies

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 carboxyl terminal domain of connexins.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

Kelly Stauch, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Role of mitochondrial dysfunction and altered energy metabolism in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and aging.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 New Investigator

Laurey Steinke, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 Spirit of Community Award

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Tahir Tahirov, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Reveal the structure basis of the mechanisms covering the key stages in the expression and duplication/repair of genes and to learn how the disease-related mutations in proteins disrupt these key processes.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and MGCB

James E. Talmadge, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Tumor progression and metastasis; immune intervention in cancer using cytokines, vaccines, adoptive cellular therapy and molecular therapeutics; regulation of MDSCs; molecular and cellular immunology, hematology and stem cell transplantation; oncology; gene therapy; translational research.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and IPID

Geoffrey Talmon, MD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Surgical, renal and placental pathology.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020-2021 Varner Educator Laureate

William Tapprich, PhD
Professor, Department of Biology (UNO)
Research focus:  Understanding the structure and function of viral RNA molecules, particularly enteroviral genomic RNA.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB and IPID

Melissa Teoh-Fitzgerald, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research focus:  Role of oxidative tumor microenvironment in regulating the reciprocal tumor-stroma interactions.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB and CR

UNMC Award Recipient: 2014 New Investigator

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.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, IPID and IPMM

Austin Thompson, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Research focus:  Pulmonary hypertension and clinical therapeutic investigations.

Associated Doctoral Program: CR

Wallace B. Thoreson, PhD
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Research focus:  Visual information processing by the retina; electrophysiology and optical imaging techniques to study transmission at ribbon synapses of rod and cone photoreceptors.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM, MGCB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 & 2019 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students; 2013 Research Leadership

Myron L. Toews, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Regulation of G protein-coupled receptors and their signaling pathways; lysophosphatidic acid and its receptors in lung disease; epidermal growth factor receptors and protease signaling in agricultural dust-induced lung disease, oxytocin receptors and signaling in primate social behavior.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 1995 Outstanding Teaching Award

Paul Trippier, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research focus:  Small molecule drug discovery for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR

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Matthew Van Hook, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Research focus:  Influence of neurodegenerative diseases of the visual system (i.e. glaucoma) on the function of neurons and synapses in the brain and retina.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 New Investigator

Trevor VanSchooneveld, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Research focus:  Antimicrobial stewardship; Clostridium difficile infections; multi-drug gram negative pathogens; use of infection biomarkers in clinical practice.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Joseph Vetro, PhD
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research focus:  Developing novel synthetic targeted drug and gene delivery nanocarriers for the anti-angiogenesis treatment of cancer; improving development paradigms for targeted bioimaging and drug delivery nanocarriers; developing subunit vaccines based on the novel adjuvant, EP67.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 Distinguished Scientist

Saraswathi Viswanathan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism
Research focus:  Determine the link between obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2018 New Investigator

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James Wahl, PhD
Professor, College of Dentistry (Lincoln)
Research focus:  Understand the role of desmosomes play in maintaining the normal phenotype of squamous epithelial tissues and to determine if their alteration during tumorigenesis influences cell motility, metastasis and signaling.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2019 Distinguished Scientist

Dong Wang, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research focus:  Macromolecular therapies for inflammatory diseases; dentrothropic therapies for oral and craniofacial diseases; targeted therapies for musculoskeletal diseases; click chemistry for drug delivery and nanomedicine; biocompatible polymers for biomedical applications; prodrug design.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2012 Distinguished Scientist

Guangshun (Gus) Wang, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Research focus:  Host defense antimicrobial peptides; structural bioinformatics; biomolecular NMR.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPID

Hanjun Wang, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Cardiovascular reflexes during exercise; neural control mechanisms underlying the exaggerated cardiovascular response and hyperventilation during exercise in the chronic heart failure state.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB and IPMM

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Distinguished Scientist; 2016 New Investigator

David Warren, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences
Research focus:  Cognitive neuroscience investigations of cognition (especially memory) and related brain networks that combine neuroimaging, neuropsychological, and neurostimulation methods.

Associated Doctoral Program:  BISB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 New Investigator

Michael Wiley, PhD
Assistant Professor,  College of Public Health
Research focus:  Developing and deploying NGS-based solutions for detecting and characterizing pathogens.

Associated Doctoral Program:  IPID

Nicholas Woods, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute
Research focus:  Systems biology based analysis of cancer signaling pathways.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, BISB, CR and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2015 New Investigator

Ashley Wysong, MD, MS
Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology
Research focus:  Skin cancer treatment and epidemiology.

Associated Doctoral Program:  CR

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Jingwei Xie, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery-Transplant.
Research focus:  Synthesis, surface modification, self-assembly of materials at nanometer scale to address problems in the field of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and drug/gene delivery.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  CR, IPID and MGCB

UNMC Award Recipient: 2020 Distinguished Scientist; 2015 New Investigator

Huangui Xiong, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
Research focus:  Molecular and cellular underlying HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorders.

Associated Doctoral Program:  NSC

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Ying Yan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Research focus:  Rac1 as a therapeutic target in triple negative breast cancer; protein phosphatase 2A in pancreatic cancer.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and MGCB

Sowmya Yelamanchili, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
Research focus:  MicroRNAs in neurodegenerative diseases, HIV, Parkinson's Disease.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM, MGCB and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2017 New Investigator

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Chi (Kevin) Zhang, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Research focus:  Development of novel strategies for delivery of therapies to brain tumors.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  BMB, CR and IPMM

Matthew C. Zimmerman, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Role of reactive oxygen species and redox signaling in the brain in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease; utilization of nanoformulated antioxidants for the improved treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

Irving H. Zucker, PhD
Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Research focus:  Neural control of cardiovascular function; heart failure; hypertension; sympathetic function.

Associated Doctoral Programs:  IPMM and NSC

UNMC Award Recipient: 2013 Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students

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