Department: Bio-X

My research is focused on attaining a better understanding of the initiation, maintenance, and progression of lymphoid tumors, and their response to immunochemotherapy toward improving current treatment strategies. In this effort, I employ tools from functional genomics, computational biology, molecular genetics, and mouse models. I hope to apply this knowledge towards the design of clinical trials in the treatment of patients with lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma.

I refer you to my web page for detailed list of interests, projects and publications. In addition to pressing the link here, you can search "Russ Altman" on http://www.google.com/

Our research focuses on understanding disease mechanisms of stroke injury and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as they relate to the COX-2-prostaglandin pathways. We are identifying prostaglandin receptor pathways that are involved in these disease models, and our objective is to identify which receptors will be translationally relevant in human neurological disease.

Our laboratory's current transformative research efforts focus on studying immune health in the context of surgery and anesthesia.

The ANNES LABORATORY of Molecular Endocrinology: Leveraging Chemical Biology to Treat Endocrine Disorders DIABETES The prevalence of diabetes is increasing at a staggering rate. By the year 2050 an astounding 25% of Americans will be diabetic. The goal of my research is to uncover therapeutic strategies to stymie the ensuing diabetes epidemic. To achieve this goal we have developed a variety of innovate experimental approaches to uncover novel approaches to curing diabetes. (1) Beta-Cel..

Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes that protect chromosome ends and shorten with cell division and aging. We are interested in how telomere shortening influences cancer, stem cell function and genomic stability. Telomerase is a reverse transcriptase that synthesizes telomere repeats and is expressed in stem cells and in cancer. We have found that telomerase also regulates stem cells and we are pursuing the function of telomerase through diverse genetic and biochemical approaches.

Dr. Atlas's medical research has centered on advanced applications of new MRI technologies and the key economic issues related to the future of such technology-based advances. At Hoover, he is investigating the role of government and consumerism in health care, both within the US and globally, and the effects of government policies and the changing marketplace on technology-based innovations in medicine. At FSI, he studies evolving health care systems of emerging economies, including China.

Our research is aimed at defining the pathways of p53-mediated apoptosis and tumor suppression, using a combination of biochemical, cell biological, and mouse genetic approaches. Our strategy is to start by generating hypotheses about p53 mechanisms of action using primary mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs), and then to test them using gene targeting technology in the mouse.

Genetic and cell biological analyses of signals controlling cell polarity and morphogenesis. Frizzled signaling and cytoskeletal organization.

We study how the neural circuitry of the vertebrate retina encodes visual information and performs computations. To control and measure the retinal circuit, we present visual images while performing simultaneous two-photon imaging and multielectrode recording. We perturb the circuit as it operates using simultaneous intracellular current injection and multielectrode recording, and use the resulting large data sets to construct models of retinal computation.

Our laboratory is focused on identifying proteins based upon their ability to alter a variety of cell fate decisions - including mesodermal, endodermal, neural, endothelial, and somitic - within the vertebrate embryo.

Our lab is interested in the neuronal-glial interactions that underlie the development and function of the mammlian central nervous system.

Biophysical mechanisms of host defense peptides and their mimics

Genetics of color variation

mathematical models econometrics global health social determinants of health health policy

Function of Hedgehog proteins and other extracellular signals in morphogenesis (pattern formation), in injury repair and regeneration (pattern maintenance). We study how the distribution of such signals is regulated in tissues, how cells perceive and respond to distinct concentrations of signals, and how such signaling pathways arose in evolution. We also study the normal roles of such signals in stem-cell physiology and their abnormal roles in the formation and expansion of cancer stem cells.

Applications of computer graphics to medical imaging, with emphasis on diagnosis of bowel pathology using virtual colonoscopy. Dynamic joint imaging with open Magnetic Resonance Imaging system.

Development of improved embryo culture conditions in vitro. Blastocyst cultures. Embryo metabolism in vitro. Embryo maternal dialogue. Clinical application and integration of extended embryo culture systems. Monozygotic twinning. Prevention of multiple pregnancy. Sperm motility enhancers. Fluorescent and non-fluorescent markers of sperm morphology and viablility. Oocyte cryopreservation. Fertility preservation. Improving IVF outcome.

Dr. Bejerano, co-discoverer of ultraconserved elements, studies the Human Genome. Through computation and experimentation we investigate the Systems Biology parts-list of many thousands genomic regions involved in gene transcription regulation during embryonic development. Major interests include (1) the origins and evolution of these regions, (2) how they encode their individual as well as combined roles, (3) their contribute to human disease, and (4) their contribute to species adaptation.

My research interests adoptive transfer of defined subsets of lymphocytes for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. I have a specific interest in the treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndromes with non-myeloablative and reduced intensity transplant conditioning regimens.

We use genetic, genomic and cell biological approaches to study cell fate acquisition, focusing on cases where cell fate is correlated with asymmetric cell division.

1. Role of the G protein coupled receptors in regulating mitochondrial structure and function. 2. Differences between R and L ventricular responses to stress, including gene expression and miR regulation. 3. Using iPSC-derived myocytes to understand heart failure and congenital heart disease. 4. Tools for evaluation of cardiac physiology in transgenic mice and isolated cardiomyocytes. 5. Anti-body mediated rejection. 6. Biomarkers for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

Gastroenterology, gastointestinal motility, clinical management of pediatric liver transplant recipients.

molecular modeling of anesthetic-protein interactions, molecular modeling of the ligand-gated ion channels

Dr. Bishop specializes in treating fractures of the upper extremity, lower extremity, pelvis and acetabulum as well as the management of post-traumatic problems including malunion, nonunion and infection. He received his undergraduate and medical school degrees from Harvard University and went on to complete the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program. He pursued his subspecialty training in Orthopaedic Traumatology at the world-renowned Harborview Medical Center in Seattle,..

Chronic pain sufferers are unfortunately limited by poor diagnostic tests and therapies. Our lab is interested in 'imaging pain' by using multimodality molecular imaging techniques to study nociception and neuronal inflammation as a means of improving objective, image-guided diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain disorders. We develop new molecular contrast agents for use in positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), working towards eventual clincal translation.

Prof. Helen Blau's research area is regenerative medicine with a focus on stem cells. Her research on nuclear reprogramming and demonstrating the plasticity of cell fate using cell fusion is well known and her laboratory has also pioneered the design of biomaterials to mimic the in vivo microenvironment and direct stem cell fate. Current findings are leading to more efficient iPS generation, cell based therapies by dedifferentiation a la newts, and discovery of novel molecules and therapies.

The major goal of our research is to gain insight into the prevention and control of HIV and other viral pathogens by studying the interplay between the virus and the host immune response. We investigate the role of various arms of the immune response, but with a particular focus on NK cells. We hope to gain additional insights into control of infectious diseases by studying how pregnancy modulates immune responses.

Clinical Interest and Research My primary areas of interest are in the diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of vitreal retinal diseases. These principally include age-related macular degeneration and other diseases of the macula, and tractional syndromes, diabetic retinopathy, and complex forms of retinal detachment. I have been interested in the development of novel technology to diagnose and treat these diseases, including new forms of imaging, laser delivery systems, other microsurgi..

I am interested in how environmental variation affects life history traits, population structure and dynamics, and species interactions in ecological and evolutionary time, using Lepidoptera.

Our lab uses chemical, biochemical, and cell biological methods to study protease function in human disease. Projects include: 1) Design and synthesis of novel chemical probes for each of the primary protease families. 2) Understanding the role of proteolysis in the life cycle of the human parasites, Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii. 3) Defining the specific functional roles of proteases during the process of tumorogenesis. 4) In vivo imaging of protease activity

Tolerance induction in liver transplantation. Hepatocyte transplantation.

We are intereseted in the interaction between the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii and its mammalian host. We use a combination of molecular and genetic tools to understand how this obligate intracellular parasite can invade almost any cell it encounters, how it co-opts a host cell once inside and how it evades the immune response to produce a life-long, persistent infection.

Regulation of expression of oncogenes in normal and malignant hematologic cells.

The lymphocytes of the human immune system share some biological properties with human cancers: in each case, there are subpopulations of cells whose genomes are rearranged and mutated compared to other cells in the body. Our goal is to understand the genotype-phenotype relationships in lymphoid cells that determine the behavior of human diseases. We apply new analytical methods, particularly high-throughput DNA sequencing, in parallel with functional assays, to tackle this challenge.