Wound Healing
Research Faculty
Role of Transforming Growth Factor beta in cardiovascular development and pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases
The molecular basis of sexual reproduction and aging. The role of bile acid induced DNA damage and programmed cell death (apoptosis) in colon cancer.
Cell-Cell communication in airway epithelium; Pathogen-host interaction in the airway
Molecular mechanisms of physical and chemical carcinogenesis; cellular oncogene activation and differential gene expression during tumor progression.
Effects of milk-borne growth factors on normal and abnormal development of the neonatal gastrointestinal tract.
Our laboratory investigates the role of genetic and intestinal luminal risk factors in gastrointestinal (GI) carcinogenesis
Research includes using a muscle cell culture model in which we can observe the aggregation of known synaptic molecules in response to neurons or active factors such as neural agrin. There appear to be 2 basic pathways which regulate the aggregation of synaptic molecules: one involves signal transduction and tyrosine phosphorylation while the other may involve structural interactions on the extracellular surface. When observed in detail, the aggregation is quite dynamic in surprising ways that we hope will promote a better understanding of the underlying processes & nbsp; Future research will hope to answer the question of how one synapse gets larger at the expense of the other.
Mechanisms whereby the giant filamentous protein titin influence muscle structure and function.
Identification of the molecular components and signaling mechanisms that regulate cytoskeletal protein interactions during striated muscle development and cardiac muscle disease.
Function and regulation of the p53 tumor suppressor protein; Role of p53 & 14-3-3 proteins in genomic instability in lung cancer; The role of bile acids in colon cancer etiology.
The role of primary cilia in normal mammary gland development and breast cancer progression
The Neurobiology of Hearing: Dendritic and Axonal Circuits Underlying Frequency Maps in the Auditory Central Nervous System
Studies of mechanisms of cell death (including apoptosis), molecular and cellular pathology, colon carcinogenesis and in situ molecular imaging techniques.
Genetics of brain development and neuronal plasticity; genetics of mental retardation; drug discovery for neurotherapeutics; Drosophila neurogenetics.
Mechanisms of tissue interaction and cellular transformation in the developing valves of the heart. Environmental causes of congenital heart disease.
Binding and uptake of amyloid-β peptide in CNS neurons. Amyloid-β-induced changes in the function and survival of CNS neurons. Dynamic movements of neurotransmitter receptors in neurons and muscle cells. Self-assembly of amyloid-β peptides. Effects of amyloid-β on the trafficking of AMPA-type glutamate receptors in chemical LTD – an in vitro model of synaptic defects in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease.
Neuron-neuron and neuron-glia interactions during development; development of olfactory system in insect model
Research in the Functional Genomics Laboratory focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of human complex diseases, such as asthma and allergy.