Credit: Max Wilson Lab

Biomedical research in MCDB spans a wide variety of areas and medical fields from basic research all the way to pre-clinical experimentation and direct medical application. MCDB researchers investigate molecular disease mechanisms, diagnostic approaches and biomarkers, pharmacological interventions and novel drug design, therapies including stem-cell therapy. Diseases that are being investigated in MCDB labs include various forms of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, viral and bacterial infectious diseases, kidney diseases, addiction, immunological diseases, diabetes. Investigators in MCDB use state-of-the-art methods in biochemistry and biophysics, cell and molecular biology, genetics and genomics, nanotechnology, microfluidic, and microarray platforms, animal models from worms and flies to rodents. In addition, numerous and extensive collaborations exist with clinical institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and research laboratories in disciplines such as physics, material science, engineering, nanotechnology, and marine science.

Affiliated Faculty

Professor, Wilcox Family Chair in BioMedicine
Human stem cell research; Molecular mechanisms of stem cell differentiation; Derivation of ocular cells from stem cells; Soft tissue regeneration.
Professor
Molecular mechanisms of self/non-self recognition in non-vertebrates; characterization of stem cells and development processes underlying regeneration and aging.
Professor
Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Neuronal Development; Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases; Structure, Function and Regulation of the Microtubule Associated Protein, Tau; Cytoskeletal Regulation.
Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Structure and function in the vertebrate retina with an emphasis on mechanisms underlying photoreceptor degeneration and the role of glial cells in normal and injured or diseased retina.
Assistant Professor
Combining biochemistry and cell biology to understand the regulation of membrane-bound organelles.
Assistant Professor
Neural circuit dynamics and behavior; navigation in a visual environment; neural mechanisms of object selection and decision-making.
Harriman Professor of Neuroscience
Neural plasticity including the molecular basis of plasticity, the evolution of synapses, and disease-related impairments of plasticity such as occurs in Alzheimer's disease.
Associate Professor
Molecular mechanisms of signal transduction; Alzheimer's Disease and other protein aggregation/misfolding diseases; molecular biology, enzymology, and protein structure/function.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Cellular communication between bacteria, including mechanisms and biology of contact-dependent growth inhibition; epigenetic gene regulatory mechanisms.
Professor
Microbial pathogenesis; innate and adaptive immune responses to infection; microbial sepsis; vaccine and antimicrobial development.
Duggan Professor and
Distinguished Professor
Molecular and cellular basis of animal behavior in flies and mosquitoes.
Duggan Professor and Distinguished Professor
Combination of molecular, genetic, and state-of-the-art imaging approaches to define and solve fundamental questions in cell and developmental biology with implications for neurodegenerative disease, ischemic diseases and cancer.
Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Bio-inspired catalytic nanofabrication, tunable photonic materials and dynamic self-assembly. Applications to semiconductors, high-power batteries, electro-optics, IR and solar energy.
Assistant Professor
We investigate DNA repair mechanisms and use this knowledge to improve gene editing.
Distinguished Professor
Wilcox Family Chair in Biotechnology
Director, Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program
Regulation of development and differentiation; regulation of programmed cell death and cell division; mechanisms of tumorigenesis.
Distinguished Professor
Safinya’s research revolves around elucidation of structures and interactions in assemblies of biological molecules and soft matter systems, including, liquid crystalline biological matter.
Research Professor,
and C.A. Storke II Professor and Distinguished Professor, Emeritus
Antiviral innate immunity and interferon action, with focus on the roles of double-stranded RNA in translational control by the PKR kinase and A-to-I RNA editing by the ADAR1 deaminase.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Studies the self-renewal and pluripotency of stem cells.
Professor
Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and related renal diseases. Membrane trafficking and epithelial cell polarity.
Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Mechanism and regulation of microtubule polymerization and dynamics; mechanism of action of microtubule-targeted anticancer drugs and microtubule-regulatory proteins.
Assistant Professor
Combines tools from Biology, Engineering, and Physics to understand the cell’s perceptual field.