| Research |
Full-Time Faculty
- 13 fulltime faculty members (10 males and 3 females)
- 1 part-time faculty member (male)
- 1 part-time faculty member (female)
- 7 Full Professors, 2 Associate Professors, 2 Assistant Professors, 1 Visiting Scientist, 1 Research Assistant Professor
- 7 joint faculty/volunteer and 1 Adjunct faculty (see list below)
Robert M. Blumenthal, Ph.D. - Professor - Dr. Blumenthal's laboratory is studying how bacteria control and coordinate the expression of their thousands of genes, and how well that regulatory architecture is conserved. This knowledge is important for developing bioinformatic methods to predict regulation in bacteria. One focus is a global regulator called Lrp, that (in Escherichia coli) affects the expression of several hundred genes and controls the transition between life in the digestive tract and life outside an animal host. Part of this work involves characterizing the Lrp regulon in the bacterial pathogens EHEC, Proteus mirabilis, and Vibrio cholerae. A second focus is on an unusual, broad host-range transcription activator that controls several restriction-modification systems, such that bacteria are protected against viral infection at minimum risk to the cell from the potentially-lethal nuclease.
Wenhao Chen, M.D., Ph.D. - Assistant Professor - Dr. Chen is interested in identifying the molecular mechanisms that regulate activation, differentiation, apoptosis, and tolerance in T cells, the processes that lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for preventing T cell-mediated transplant rejection and autoimmune diseases. He is currently investigating: 1) the role of cytokine milieu in the generation of interleukin-17-producing T helper 17 (Th17) cells and regulatory T cells;
2) the role of Janus tyrosine kinases (Jaks) and signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stats) in regulating T cell function in transplant rejection and tolerance; 3) the induction of transplant tolerance by targeting alloreactive memory T cells.
Nancy H. Collins, Ph.D. - Dr. Collins's major research interest is in the translation of cellular therapies from the research laboratory into clinical application. Working with bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, and cord blood cells, her laboratory developed various methods to improve the safety and efficacy of hematopoietic cell transplantation. Additionally, the laboratory developed various other cellular therapies for the treatment of post transplant complications. Dr. Collins founded professional organizations in cellular therapy, promoted the establishment of professional standards, and the accreditation of cellular therapy programs. She is currently helping to organize a new model for living kidney donor transplantation proposed and developed by Dr. Michael Rees of the UTMC Department of Urology.
Paul F. Lehmann, Ph.D. - Professor - Dr. Lehmann's research concerns the molecular genetic analysis of species of yeasts that have proved to be a serious problem in AIDS and in persons with compromised immune systems. He has shown that several yeast species are complexes of unrelated organisms. These may have different genes associated with pathogenicity and antifungal susceptibility. He is researching semi-automated methods for identifying fungi, which could be used to provide an inventory of organisms when studying biodiversity.
Hironori Matsushima, Ph.D. - Research Assistant Professor - Dr. Matsushima's research is studying molecular mechanisms regulating the function of
dendritic cells, which play crucial roles in the induction of both
innate and adaptive immunity.
Isabel Novella, Ph.D. - Associate Professor - Dr. Novella studies the evolution of viruses and how this knowledge can help fight viral infections. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is used as a model to study specific aspects of virus evolution and general issues of population genetics. VSV is grouped together with important pathogens (measles, influenza, poliovirus, HIV, hepatitis A, B and C viruses, etc.) among viruses whose genomic information is stored in RNA instead of DNA. RNA replication is error-prone, and therefore many mutations are constantly produced that allow extremely rapid evolution.
Z. Kevin Pan, M.D., Ph.D. - Professor - Dr. Pan's laboratory is interested in molecular mechanisms by which cells use the innate immune system to detect microbes and initiate defensive inflammatory responses. The main research interests are the structural features of the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and the structural changes by which binding of a microbial ligand to the receptor leads to intracellular signaling cascades, the involvement of TLRs for microbial pathogens in several inflammatory diseases, including asthma and acute lung injury, and G protein-coupled chemoattrant receptors function and biology.
Dorothea L. Sawicki, Ph.D. - Professor - Dr. Sawicki's research effort is directed toward determining the molecular mechanisms governing RNA synthesis. The systems being studied utilize the alphaviruses Sindbis and Semliki Forest viruses. These as well as other Togaviruses are of interest because they produce disease in a variety of animals, including humans, and because they replicate in invertebrate as well as vertebrate animals. A cDNA clone of Sindbis that is capable of expressing infectious RNA genomes is being utilized to determine the role of the viral nonstructural proteins in the alphavirus replication cycle.
Stanley G. Sawicki, Ph.D. - Professor - Dr. Sawicki is studying two different kinds of positive stranded RNA viruses, alphaviruses and coronaviruses, and is interested in how these viruses infect cells and cause viral RNA synthesis. Coronaviruses produce disease in humans, as well as a wide variety of agriculturally important animals. His studies are directed to understanding how coronaviruses establish persistent infection.
Stanislaw Stepkowski, DVM, Ph.D., D.Sc. - Professor - Dr. Stepkowski's overall work is focused on the development of novel strategies: 1) to improve the survival of organ allografts, with emphasis on non-toxic immunosuppressive agents; 2) to induce permanent acceptance of allografts (transplantation tolerance); and 3) to increase survival of islet. Special efforts are made to better understand cytokine-induced signaling through Janus tyrosine kinases (Jaks) and signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stats) pathways in T cells. Undergoing work aims to identify novel regulatory phosphotyrosine sites in function of Jak3, using knock-in mice with mutated Jak3 sites. The role of Stat3 and Stat 5a/b transcription factors are explored in Stat3 and Stat5 conditional knockouts, respectively.
Akira Takashima, M.D., Ph.D. - Professor & Chairman - Dr. Takashima's major research interest is in the immuno-biology of specific leukocyte subsets known as dendritic cells (DCs), which play crucial roles in the induction of both innate and adaptive immunity. The objectives in his laboratory are: a) to study molecular mechanisms regulating the function of DCs (Basic Immunology), and b) to develop novel DC-targeted immunotherapeutics (Applied Immunology). For the first objective, Dr. Takashima’s group recently developed an intravital confocal imaging system that enables real-time visualization of dynamic 3D behaviors of DCs in living animals. To achieve the second objective, his group established a DC-based biosensor system as a high-throughput drug screening platform for the discovery of agents that deliver DC activation signals. Not only will these ongoing studies provide important insights into the mechanisms controlling the behaviors and functions of DCs under physiological and pathological conditions, they may also lead to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of cancer, infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, and organ transplantation.
Mark Wooten, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Medical and graduate student course director. Dr. Wooten's laboratory is interested in the host/pathogen interactions that lead to the development of Lyme disease. Borrelia burgdorferi is highly infectious and especially adept at evading host defenses and persisting in various tissues, even in an apparently immunocompetent host. His research takes an immunological approach to identification of host mechanisms involved in control of spirochete persistence and in mediating the inflammatory pathology related to Lyme disease.
Randall G. Worth, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor - Dr. Worth is interested in identifying pathways involved in pathogen destruction within host phagolysosomes. Many pathogens have acquired mechanisms by which they can alter host cell signaling pathways to delay phagolysosome fusion. Ultra high-speed fluorescence microscopy is employed to detect spatial calcium wave propagation leading to phagosome lysosome fusion and eventual destruction of the pathogen.
Joint/Volunteer Faculty
Haig Donabedian, M.D.
Professor Emeritus, Division of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology
Department of Medicine - Health Science Campus
Joint Appointment
M. Bashar Kahaleh, M.D.
Professor, Medicine
Chief, Division of Rheumatology
Department of Medicine - Health Science Campus
Joint Appointment
Eric Lafontaine, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine
Department of Infectious Diseases
Adjunct Faculty
Thomas J. Papadimos, M.D. MPH
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Department of Anesthesiology - Health Science Campus
Joint Appointment
Anthony Quinn, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
University of Toledo, Main Campus
Joint Appointment
Michael A. Rees, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Urology - Health Science Campus
Director of Renal Transplantation and Kidney Paired Donation
Joint Appointment
Hermann von Grafenstein, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Departments of Pharm-Med/Bio Chem, Main Campus
Joint Appointment
M.A. Julie Westerink, M.D.
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases - Health Science Campus
Professor, Internal Medicine & Pathology
Joint Appointment