Bacteriology

• Daniel Amsterdam, Ph.D., Professor
  Epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens; molecular and immunologic detection.



• Piero Bianco, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  For additional information:  Single Molecule Center
  Single Molecule studies of DNA motor proteins



• Anthony Campagnari, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Role of lipooligosaccharides in the pathogenesis of Haemophilus ducreyi; identification and characterization of vaccine antigens for Moraxella catarrhalis-induced otitis media.

• John Crane, M.D. and Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine
  Signal transduction pathways exploited by intestinal bacterial pathogens, especially diarrhea-producing Escherichia coli; protein kinase C; Bacteria-induced apoptosis.

 
• Terry Connell, Ph.D., Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Iron acquisition in the pathogenesis of the respiratory agents /Bordetella pertussis/, /B. bronchiseptica/, and /B. avium./   Structure/function analysis of bacterial heme receptors;  regulation of virulence gene expression in bacterial pathogens; ECF sigma factor regulatory systems.
  
   
• Richard Hall, Ph.D., Professor
  Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
  
  
•  Anders Hakansson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
  Our laboratory is interested in better understanding how the gram-positive, extracellular pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae interact with host cells in the respiratory tract.
   For further information: WCMPI

• Robert Genco, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor
  Molecular biology of fimbrae and other surface molecules of Porphyromonas gingivalis.

• Alan Lesse, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine
  Molecular biology of outer membrane proteins of Haemophilus aegyptius and other invasive Haemophilus infections.
  
   
• Timothy Murphy, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine
  Molecular biology of outer membrane protein antigens of Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella (Branchamella) catarrhalis and development of vaccines against these mucosal pathogens.
  
  
   
• Mark O'Brian, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Biochemistry, WCMPI
  Genetic and biochemical control of heme biosynthesis; heme-mediated signal transduction; iron metabolism.

 

• Thomas Russo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine, WCMPI
  Microbial pathogenesis, modulation of host response, and vaccine development; extraintestinal isolates of Escherichia coli.

Immunology

• Richard Bankert, Ph.D., V.M.D., Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Molecular and cellular networks in human tumor microenvironments and anticancer immunotherapies.
  
  
• James Clements, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Defining the molecular signaling pathways that regulate hematopoietic cell development and function: T cell development and activation; role of adaptor proteins in regulating function of dendritic cells

 
• Terry Connell, Ph.D., Professor
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating mucosal immune responses;  molecular and cellular biology of B cells, T cells, and dendritic cells; biology of immunomodulators; development of recombinant vaccines.
  
   
• Ernesto DeNardin, Ph.D., Professor
  Cellular mechanisms of inflammation; phagocytic cell-surface components and their functions; receptor-ligand interactions; leukocyte-microbial interactions; chemotaxis; cell motility; cytokines and inflammatory mediators.
  
  
• Nejat Egilmez, Ph.D. Associate Professor
  Our primary area of interest is tumor immune suppression.   More specifically we are investigating how tumors suppress anti-tumor immunity and whether this process can be reversed via the use of pro-inflammatory adjuvants and/or functional blocking/elimination of suppressive mechanisms. For further information: WCMPI
   
  
   
• Sarah Gaffen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Signal transduction mediated by immune cytokines; cytokine use to protect lymphocytes from apoptosis; development of particular immune lineages.

 
• Floyd Green, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine
  Immunochemistry



 
• Vijay Kumar, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
  Immunopathology; molecular biology of dysfunction in skin and gastrointestinal autoimmune disorders; immunopathology of the skin


 
• Madhaven Nair, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine
  Studies of the molecular mechanisms operative on immunopathogenesis of HIV infection.


 
• Russell Nisengard, Ph.D., Professor
  Oral microbiology

 
• Kate Rittenhouse-Olson, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Carbohydrate immunology and the effect of photodynamic therapy in the regulation of the immune response.
  
  
• Michael Russell, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Mucosal immunology; functions of IgA; mucosal vaccine development especially in relation to dental caries, periodontal disease, and gonorrhea; enterotoxins as mucosal immunomodulators.

 
• Stanley Schwartz, Ph.D., Professor
   For additional information:  Dept. of Medicine
   Immunobiology of human immunodeficiency virus.
  
   
• Yasmin Thanavala, Ph.D., Professor
  Candidate vaccine antigen identification and delivery systems for HBV, human pappilomavirus (HPV)and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae; special emphasis on oral and nasal vaccination and mucosal immunity.


 
• Thomas Tomasi, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  RPCI
   

• Adrian Vladutiu, Ph.D., Professor
  Genetics, pathogenesis, and suppression of experimental autoimmune disease.
  
  
  

Parasitology

• Laurie Read, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Molecular mechanisms of RNA editing and RNA turnover in Trypanosoma brucei; posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression in Trypanosoma brucei and Plasmodium falciparum.



• Noreen Williams, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Mechanisms of regulation of gene expression in Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Plasmodium falciparum; DNA replication in T. brucei.

Virology

• Arlene Collins, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Neuropathogenesis of human coronavirus; viral virulence determinants and immune mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and host protection; role of cysteine protease inhibitors in coronavrius replication.



• John Hay, Ph.D., Professor and Chairman
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Molecular biology and pathogenesis of human viral infections, including varicella zoster virus (chicken pox and shingles), chronic fatigue sysdrome (CFS), and Hantaan virus (the type virus of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome).


 
• Paul Knight, M.D. and Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  Dept. of Anesthesiology, WCMPI
  The interaction of anesthesia and surgery on host responses to viral respiratory tract infections.



• Thomas Melendy, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Factors and mechanisms of DNA replication of papillomaviruses, SV40, and human cells; control of DNA replication by S-phase DNA damage checkpoint pathways.



• Edward Niles, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Vaccinia virus transcription and mRNA processing; Schistosoma gene expression.



• William Ruyechan, Ph.D., Professor
  For additional information:  WCMPI
  Molecular biology of herpesviruses; protein-nucleic acid interactions; DNA replication and gene regulation.



• Harshad Thacore, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Molecular biology of virus-cell interactions; virus entry into cells; mechanism of induction and action of interferons; role of cellular signal transduction in the cytokine network.

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