Cancer
The major focus of investigators in this area is the use of genetic and molecular approaches to study the underlying mechanisms of cancer and factors that contribute to tumor progression. Examples include identification of cancer susceptibility genes, genetic variation in tumor formation, DNA damage and repair pathways, and carcinogens.
Steve Akman DNA damage, mutagenesis, and genomic instability. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Hannah Caldas The role of Survivin in family members with cancer, and the exploitation of the tumor microenvironment for in situ delivery of anticancer agents to tumors. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Yong Chen Tumor suppressor genes; apoptosis; cell-cycle regulation; prostate cancer. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Scott Cramer Molecular tools to understand and cure prostate cancer and growth and metastasis. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Zheng Cui Lipid signaling in apoptosis and carcinogenesis. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Waldemar Debinski Focus of the identification of molecular markers/targets that are specific to brain tumors. Faculty Profile & Publications
William Gmeiner My lab is interested in understanding how efficacious anti-cancer drugs cause cancer cell death and in designing new drugs and novel drug delivery strategies. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Steven Kridel Proteases and Cancer: Proteases play pivotal roles in the progression of cancer. Fatty Acid Synthase and prostate cancer: Fatty acid synthase (FAS) has been established as a biomarker and prognostic indicator for prostate cancer. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Karin D. Scarpinato Defects in the mismatch repair pathway and implications for cancer predisposition, progression and chemotherapy. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Mark Miller Molecular pathogenesis and chemoprevention of lung cancer. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Akiva Mintz Utilizing multimodality molecular imaging to personalize biomarker targeted therapies by non-invasively detecting and quantifying the targeted tumor biomarkers/pathways. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Charles Morrow Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of expression of genes associated with antineoplastic drug resistance. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Timothy Pardee My research focus is directed at understanding how Acute Myeloid Leukemia cells resist chemotherapy with the hope of using this information to design clinical trials and improve outcomes for patients with this devastating disease. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Fred Perrino Molecular mechanisms of mutagenesis during DNA replication in animal cells; use of in vitro model systems. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Suzy Torti Regulation of iron metabolism in normal and transformed cells. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Alan Townsend Mechanisms of resistance to cytotoxic and mutagenic agents; enzymes of glutathione metabolism; chemoprevention of cancer; oxidative stress and antioxidant defenses. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Yuh-Hwa Wang Human fragile sites, DNA rearrangement, oncogenesis, trinucleotide repeat expansion diseases, chromatin structure. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
John Wilkinson Apoptosis regulation in the pathogenesis of cancer and other human diseases. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Functional Genomics and Physiology
Studies in this area explore the contribution of specific genes to both physiologic and pathophysiologic processes. A major focus is on the experimental manipulation of genes and gene expression in animal models and cell-based systems and analyses of phenotypic consequences.
Peter Antinozzi Functional mapping of disease-susceptibility loci with emphasis on diabetes; cell-based functional assessment of disease-associated allelic variants; metabolism-secretion coupling in pancreatic beta-cells. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Paul Dawson Regulation and genetics of hepatic and intestinal cholesterol and bile acid metabolism. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Ashok Hegde Molecular biological, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches to study questions on long-term memory. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Scott Hemby Molecular neuropathophysiology of schizophrenia and substance abuse. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Ross Holmes Molecular and biochemical approaches to investigate intermediary metabolism in cells related to the synthesis of glycolate and oxalate. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Doug Lyles Virus assembly; molecular pathogenesis of virus infection. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Charles McCall Neutrophil biology and biochemistry; inflammation of lung; signal transduction; phospholipid metabolism; expression of IL-1, TNFa and cyclooxygenase genes in phagocytes. Faculty Profile & Publications
Lance Miller Transcriptional and genomic alterations of the "oncogenome" that drive tumorigenesis and predict patient outcomes. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Carol Milligan Neuronal development, degeneration, and plasticity after injury: identification and characterization of differentially expressed genes in motoneuron cell death. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Nila Mishra New therapeutic targets for the treatment and prevention of SLE. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Gloria Muday Hormonal controls of physiological processes with a focus on transcriptional controls of gene expression using genome wide and individual gene approaches to study cross talk between steroid hormones, leptin, and insulin in adipocyte cells and auxin and ethylene in Arabidopsis thaliana. Faculty Profile & Publications
Barbara Nicklas Research focuses on understanding the metabolic and hormonal adaptations to exercise and dietary interventions in older individuals, and the role of genetics in determining these adaptations. Faculty Profile & Publications
Ron Oppenheim Developmental neurobiology; programmed cell death; growth factors and neurotrophic molecules. Faculty Profile & Publications
David Ornelles Molecular virology of adenovirus; the oncolytic and oncogenic potential of human adenovirus. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
John Parks Structure-function relationships of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase and high-density lipoproteins. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Tom Register Modulation of the expression of cytokines and connective tissue genes during early atherogenesis. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Greg Shelness Intracellular protein targeting and transport; lipoprotein assembly and secretion. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Mary Sorci-Thomas Regulation of apolipoprotein gene expression; structure-function relationships of apoprotein A-I. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Ann Tallant Signal transduction; regulation of growth; hypertension; cancer treatment/prevention. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description: Molecular and Cell Biology Core Lab / Research Description: Hypertension Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory
Richard Weinberg Structure and function of human apolipoprotein A-IV (apo A-IV), an intestinal protein synthesized during lipid absorption and incorporated into the surface of nascent chylomicrons. Faculty Profile & Publications
Bingzhong Xue Molecular and cellular mechanisms of obesity and insulin resistance. Faculty Profile & Publications
Liqing Yu Molecular and cellular basis of cholesterol trafficking in vivo and in vitro. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Genetic & Genomic Analysis
The major focus of investigators in this area is the use of statistical analysis of genetic approaches.
Fang-Chi Hsu Development and use of statistical methods in genetic epidemiology and longitudinal data. Faculty Profile & Publications
Maggie Ng Genetic epidemiology of metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Faculty Profile & Publications
Jielin Sun Identification of genetic risk factors for cancer and prediction of individual risk of common diseases using genetic profiling. Faculty Profile & Publications
Genomics
The major focus of investigators in this area is the use of genetic approaches to identify genes that contribute to human disease. These include studies in families and populations and are facilitated by advanced, high-throughput technologies in combination with functional computational analysis.
Don Bowden Genetics of common diseases with emphasis on type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and renal disease. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Barry Freedman Molecular genetics of human renal disease, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Faculty Profile & Publications
Greg Hawkins Molecular genetics of complex diseases. Faculty Profile & Publications
Tim Howard Identification of genes for complex diseases, asthma and allergy. Faculty Profile & Publications
Deborah Meyers Family studies and association studies on the genetics of common respiratory diseases. Faculty Profile & Publications
Mark Pettenati Molecular cytogenetics. Faculty Profile & Publications
Jianfeng Xu The goal of my research is to identify genetic and epigenetic changes, at both germline and somatic levels, that increase cancer risk and/or modify disease progression. Faculty Profile & Publications
Immunology and Pathogenesis
The major focus of investigators in this area is the use of genetic approaches to identify factors that are involved in determining the outcome of pathogen infection. The immune cells that respond to infection as well as proteins produced by pathogens (both bacterial and viral) that contribute to virulence are studied.
Martha Alexander-Miller Regulation of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes; control of functional avidity. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Rajendar Deora Bordetella pathogenesis. Faculty Profile & Publications /Research Description
Elizabeth Hiltbold Schwartz Antigen presenting cell responses to intracellular bacterial pathogens; regulation of T cell responses. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Islam Khan T cell effector function in health and autoimmune diseases. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Steven Mizel Vaccines against agents of bio-terrorism; flagellin signal transduction. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Griff Parks Molecular biology of paramyxoviruses. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Ed Swords Cellular microbiology; bacterial genetics and pathogenesis; innate host defenses and host/pathogen interactions. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Regenerative Medicine
The mission of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is to harness the body’s ability to heal itself. Using biomaterials, genetic engineering, stem and progenitor cells, and tissue engineering modalities, the Institute investigates translational approaches ranging from gene and cell therapy to the replacement of damaged organs with engineered tissues. More than 130 investigators, students, research fellows, and postdocs work on more than 80 formal research programs. The WFIRM is a truly multidisciplinary environment where biologists, engineers, chemists, materials scientists, and clinicians of all types work side-by-side in a large, open laboratory environment. The training philosophy stresses interactions between investigators with different backgrounds in a team-environment to solve challenging clinical problems.
Colin Bishop The overall focus of my laboratory concerns the genetics of primary sex determination, germ cell development and fertility. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Martin Childers Cell therapy for muscular dystrophies, whole muscle and single fiber physiology. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
George Christ Cell and tissue physiology, advanced tissue maturation Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Shay Soker Stem and progenitor cell biology and genomics, molecular biology, angiogenesis Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Mark Van Dyke Genomics-guided biomaterials development, interaction of stem and progenitor cells with biomaterials, keratin biomaterials Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Stephen Walker Dr. Walker is broadly interested in using and developing molecular tools, especially array-based and sequencing technologies, to better understand transcriptional control that underlies development and disease processes. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
James Yoo Tissue engineering and clinical translation Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Structural Biology
Investigators in structural biology study the molecular structures and physical properties of proteins, nucleic acids and their complexes. The tools of molecular biology are used to synthesize proteins in large quantities suitable for physical analysis by X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, enzymology, and a variety of biophysical methods such as light scattering and sedimentation.
Rebecca Alexander Understanding protein-nucleic acid interactions at the molecular level. Faculty Profile / Publications / Research Description
Al Claiborne Structural and mechanistic studies of flavoproteins in streptococcal oxygen metabolism; catalytic functions of flavin coenzymes. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Jacquelyn Fetrow Computational analysis of functional sites in proteins; development of methods to model biological networks from experimental time course data; and analysis of molecular dynamics and motion in proteins. Faculty Profile / Research Description
Roy Hantgan Molecular mechanisms of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis; conformation of proteins in solution. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Tom Hollis X-ray crystallographic studies of DNA repair proteins and Fanconi anemia-associated proteins. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
David Horita Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy/structural biology of protein-lipid interactions. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Daniel Kim-Shapiro Nitrogen oxide signaling in hemoglobin and other heme proteins in normal physiology, disease and therapeutics using various spectroscopies including EPR, light scattering, and time-resolved absorption. Faculty Profile / Research Description
Mark Lively Analysis of protein structure and function using mass spectrometry, proteomics, and bioinformatics; proteolytic enzymes; cell biology and biochemistry of laryngopharyngeal reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Todd Lowther X-ray crystallographic and biochemical analyses of enzymes that repair the oxidative damage to free and protein-incorporated methionine. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
Derek Parsonage Enzymology of bacterial enzymes involved in defending against oxidative stress: enzymes that utilize flavin and cysteine residues at the catalytic site. Faculty Profile & Publications /Research Description
Leslie Poole Mechanistic enzymology of bacterial enzymes involved in protection against oxidative stress; novel roles of catalytic cysteine residues. Faculty Profile & Publications / Research Description
