About the image: Cilia on ependymal cells in the brain beat to push cerebral spinal fluid through the ventricles of the brain. Defects in cilia function in the Tg737 mutant mice impair this fluid movement as observed by with fluorescently tagged bead and ultimately cause hydrocephalus.
Faculty & Research
Faculty in the CMDB theme are affiliated with multiple Departments across UAB. The scientific interests of the faculty are very diverse and interdisciplinary in nature and encompass cell, molecular, and developmental biology using modern tools and approaches as well as a wide range of model organisms and cell culture systems. The research conducted by CMDB faculty addresses fundamental cellular and molecular questions that provide the basis for understanding and treating human disease and developmental abnormalities. Specific research activities of the CMDB faculty can be viewed by visiting individual faculty research and profile pages or by looking under the faculty research focus areas. CMDB Faculty research is supported by awards from various agencies, with the majority coming from the National Institutes of Health
Anupam Agarwal, M.D. - MedicineRegulation of heme oxygenase gene expression in kidney and vascular injury G. M. Anantharamaiah, Ph.D. - Medicine
Apolipoproteins, Amphipathic Helices and Atherosclerosis Daniel Balkovetz - Medicine
Epithelial Cell Biology; Epithelial Cell Signal Regulation; Regulation of paracellular transport across epithelial cell Scott Ballinger, Ph.D. - Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Environmental cardiology, free radical biology, mitochondrial function Marcas Bamman, Ph.D. - Physiology & Biophysics
Membrane protein biogenesis in epithelial cells (CFTR as model). Unfolded protein response. David Bedwell, Ph.D. - Microbiology
Mechanism of Translation Termination and Therapies to Suppress Stop Mutations Dale Benos, Ph.D. - Physiology & Biophysics
Molecular basis of operation on ion channels and transporters Etty Benveniste, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
The CFTR Chloride Channel control of Epithelial Sodium Channel under physiological and pathological conditions Mark Bevensee, Ph.D. - Physiology & Biophysics
Cellular and Molecular Physiology of Acid-base Transporters and pH Regulation Michael Brenner, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Molecular Sudies of Astrocytes in Health and Disease Peter Burrows, Ph.D. - Microbiology
Lymphocyte Development and Function Chenbei Chang, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Signaling Transduction in Development and Diseases John Chatham, D. Phil. - Medicine
Cardiomyocyte function and metabolism in diabetes and ischemic heart disease Ching-Yi Chen, Ph.D. - Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Mechanism and Regulation of Mammalian mRNA Turnover Yabing Chen, Ph.D. - Pathology
Gene Regulation in the Pathogenesis of Cardiovascular diseases, Osteoporosis and Cancer
DNA Replication and Cell Cycle in Eukaryotes Louise Chow, Ph.D. - Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Human papillomavirus DNA replication and pathogenesis James Collawn, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Cystic Fibrosis; Endocytosis; Protein Trafficking Yingzi Cong, Ph.D. - Medicine
Host mucosal immune response to commensal bacterial antigens and the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases Rita Cowell, Ph.D. - Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology
Transcriptional regulation of early postnatal brain development: Insights into the pathology of Autism and Schizophrenia Lawrence DeLucas, O.D., Ph.D. - Optometry
Protein Crystallography/Protein Crystal Growth Patrizia DeSarno - Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology
Molecular mechanisms of organ fibrosis Charles O. Elson, III, M.D. - Medicine
Regulation of mucosal immune responses Charles Falany, Ph.D. - Pharmacology & Toxicology
Biochemical and physiological properties of human cytosolic sulfotransferases Michelle Fanucchi, Ph.D. - Environmental Health Sciences
Pulmonary cell biology and toxicology. Cell-to-cell interactions in the developing lung as well as in repair after lung injury and disease in children. The role of biochemical defense mechanisms native to pulmonary cells. Childhood lung disease and its etiology. Drug metabolism.
Growth Hormone Action and GH Receptor Structure and Function Andra R. Frost, M.D. - Pathology
Fibroblast-Epithelial Cell Interactions and Developmental Pathways in Breast Cancer Kohtaro Fujihashi, D.D.S, Ph.D. - Pediatric Dentistry
The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms for Mucosal Immunity in the Elderly; Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms for the Induction and Regulation of Mucosally Induced Tolerance; A Mucosal Internet Of gd, ab T Cells and Epithelial Cells for Mucosal Immunity; Mucosal Immunity in Murine Models of IBD
Studies of the Neural Bases of Vision & Eye Movements Mark Garfinkel, Ph.D. - Environmental Health Sciences
Drosophila W. Timothy Garvey, M.D. - Nutrition Sciences
molecular, metabolic, and genetic basis of type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, and obesity
Immune regulation of post-transplant vascular disease and allograft rejection G. Yancey Gillespie, Ph.D. - Surgery
Molecular and Viral Therapy of Malignant Primary Brain Tumors Alecia K. Gross, Ph.D. - Vision Sciences
Rhodopsin trafficking in rod cells and rhodopsin-mediated retinal degenerations Lisa Guay-Woodford, M.D. - Genetics
Genetics of renal disease, particularly polycystic kidney disease John Hablitz, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Cellular Mechanisms of Neurotransmission John L. Hartman, IV, M.D. - Genetics
Quantitative analysis of genotype-phenotype interaction networks in yeast models of human disease Hui-Chen Hsu, Ph.D. - Clinical Immunology, Rheumatology
The BXD2 autoimmune mouse model of lupus and erosive arthritis Amjad Javed, Ph.D. - Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Genetic and Molecular Signaling for Cellular Differentiation and Skeletogenesis Kai Jiao, M.D., Ph.D. - Genetics
TGF-beta/Bmp signaling during cardiogenesis Rajesh K. Kana, Ph.D. - Psychology
the neural substrates of social cognition and the impact of social cognition on language, communication and other cognitive functions
Regulation of retinoic acid homeostasis Bob Kesterson, Ph.D. - Genetics
Hypothalamic Control of Feeding Behavior Jeonga Kim - Medicine
Cross-talk between inflammation and insulin signaling Kevin Kirk, Ph.D. - Physiology and Biophysics
The CFTR Chloride Channel Christopher Klug, Ph.D. - Microbiology
The Biophysics and Biochemistry of Nitric Oxide Mathieu Lesort, Ph.D. - Psychiatry
Pathogenesis of Huntington's Disease: from models to therapeutic targets Xiaohua Li, M.D., Ph.D. - Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology
Neurobiology of mood disorders Yonghe Li, Ph.D. - Medicine
Pathophysiology and experimental therapeutics of dystonia and related movement disorders. Basal ganglia function and dysfunction. Molecular and cellular mechanism of learning and synaptic plasticity Fanh-Tsyr (Fannie) Lin, M.D., Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Mechanisms of the LPA Receptor Actions Rui-Ming Liu, M.D. - Environmental Health Sciences
Glutathione, aging, age-related diseases, fibrosis, cancer Farah Lubin, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Molecular Transcriptional Mechanisms in Learning/Memory and Neurological Disorders Jin-Biao Ma, Ph.D. - Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Structure and mechanism of proteins-RNA recognition in small RNA biogenesis and regulation James Markert, M.D. - Surgery
Engineering Herpes Simplex Viruses for the Therapy of Cancer
TGF- Signaling in Nervous System Development and Function Jay McDonald, M.D. - Pathology
Cellular Life and Death Signals in Cancer, Aids and Bone Disease Joseph L. Messina, Ph. D. - Pathology
Insulin and Growth Hormone (GH) Action, Insulin and GH Resistance Following Trauma and Infection Michael A. Miller, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Function and evolution of intercellular communication mechanisms John Mountz, M.D., Ph.D. - Medicine
Gene Therapy, T-cell Aging, Immunogenetics, and T-cell Imaging Joanne Murphy-Ullrich, Ph.D. - Pathology
Extracellular Matrix Control of Cell and Growth Factor Function Diana Noah, Ph.D. - Biochemistry/SRI
understanding of influenza virus pathogenesis, including the mechanisms utilized by the highly pathogenic avian influenza strains causing deaths throughout Asia
Animal Models of Myopia - Retinal Control of Eye Size Susan Nozell, Ph.D. - Cell Biology Suzanne Oparil, M.D. - Medicine
Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Disease Vladimir Papura, M.D. - Neurobiology
The role of glial cells in physiology of nervous system Boris Pashe, M.D., Ph.D. - Medicine
Common gene variants that impact cancer risk and other outcomes in breast and colorectal cancer patients Andrew J. Paterson, Ph.D. - Medicine
The Role of O-Glycosylation in Cell Regulation and Development Ji-Bin Peng, Ph.D. - Medicine
Calcium transport proteins and their roles in health and disease Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ph.D. - Pathology
Adeno-associated virus gene therapy Kirill M. Popov, Ph.D. - Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex Edward M. Postlethwait, Ph.D. - Environmental Health Sciences
Environmental Induction of pulmonary epithelial injury Lucas Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Neurotrophins, Ca2+ Signaling, Synapse Development and Plasticity, Mental Retardation, Rett Syndrome Meredith A. Preuss, Ph.D. - Medicine
we are investigating candidate endothelial promoters that give high transgene expression in vascular endothelial cells in vivo and limit liver gene expression which has been shown to lead to toxicity
Structural Biology of Viral Assembly and Infection Chandler Raman, Ph.D. - Medicine
Lymphocyte activation, immune tolerance and autoimmunity tolerance and autoimmunity Erik Roberson, M.D. Ph.D. - Neurology
Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia Tom Ryan Ph.D. - Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Stem Cell Therapies in Animal Models of Human Disease
Regulation of Salt and Water Reabsorption by the Distal Nephron
Control of RNA polymerase I transcription in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae Harry Schroeder, M.D., Ph.D. - Medicine
The Development and Function of Lymphocyte Antigen Receptors. &Genetics of Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases Lisa Schwiebert, Ph.D. - Physiology & Biophysics
Airway inflammation; lung function; asthma and exercise Rosa Serra, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Mechanism of TGF- Action in Developmental and Disease Processes Bingdong Sha, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Structural and functional studies of proteins involved in protein folding and translocations John Shacka, Ph.D. - Pathology
Regulation of Neuron Death by the Autophagy Lysosome Pathway Sadeep Shrestha, Ph.D. - Epidemiology
Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology
The role of the membrane cytoskeleton in regulating the cell surface expression of epithelial transport proteins Harald Sontheimer, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
The Role of Neuroglia in Brain Function and Disease Giuseppe L. Squadrito - Environmental Health Sciences
Development, design and evaluation of dynamic multi-component molecular systems that can be used to understand
Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases David Sweatt, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Signal Transduction Mechanisms in Learning and Memory Elizabet Sztul, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Membrane Traffic; Protein Degradation
Role of phosphoinositides in developmental neurobiology Sunnie Thompson, Ph.D. - Microbiology
Translation initiation during viral infection, tumorigenesis, or under stress. Janusz Tucholski, Ph.D. - Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology
Cellular and molecular biology of neuroblastoma. Response of neuronal cells and neurons to stress Thomas Van Groen, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Amyloid angiopathy in cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease Jacques Wadiche, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Synaptic transmission and glutamate transporters Linda Wadiche, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
The function of adult generated neurons Mei Wan, Ph.D., M.D. - Pathology
Protein degradation mechanisms of tumor suppressor Smad4/DPC4 in cancers Qin Wang, M.D., Ph.D. - Physiology & Biophysics
Regulation of GPCR cellular responses and in vivo functions Hengbin Wang, Ph.D. - Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Role of Histone Modification in Chromatin Function Jianbo Wang, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Currently, we are focused on a novel signaling pathway termed planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway and how this pathway regulates morphogenesis in mammals. Danny Welch, Ph.D. - Pathology
Molecular Basis of Tumor Progression and Metastasis Andrew B. West, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Genetic and biochemical mechanisms in neurological disorders C. Roger White, Ph.D. - Medicine/Cardiovascular Disease
Oxidant Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction Scott Wilson, Ph.D. - Neurobiology
Mouse Models of Neurodegeneration Anne Woods, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Syndecan Proteoglycans in Cell Adhesion and Matrix Assembly Jianming Wu, D.V.M., Ph.D. - Medicine
Molecular Immunology and Genetics of Human Autoimmune Diseases J. Michael Wyss, Ph.D. - Cell Biology
Neuroplasticity in aging and neuro cardiovascular control Yang Yang, M.D., Ph.D. - Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Targeting heparan sulfate for myeloma therapy Qinglin Yang, Ph.D. - Nutrition Sciences
exploring molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of heart failure, especially those related to transcriptional regulation of myocardial fatty acid and carbohydrate metabolisms (eg., PPAR signaling pathway) in pathological conditions such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes
Cilia Signaling and Dysfunction in Development and Disease Nabiha Yusuf, Ph.D. - Dermatology
environmental influences such as chemical carcinogens and ultraviolet light on the skin and on the immune system Majd Zayzafoon, M.D., Ph.D. - Pathology
The Role of Calcium Signaling in the genetic and epigenetic pathogenesis of disease Jianhua Zhang, Ph.D. - Pathology
Cell and molecular mechanisms, and mouse models of autophagy in development, neurological and psychiatric diseases