Category: Research Area


Sagar P. Bapat, MD, PhD

Research Interests:
Development of a novel T cell therapy to induce beige adipogenesis

Summary:
Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of mortality in the United States, and its prevalence continues to rise in concert with the rising prevalence of obesity, the predominant risk factor for developing insulin resistance and diabetes. Obesity can result from a multitude of different complex physiological and socioeconomic conditions that individuals are often unable to overcome. Simply stated however, obesity is a manifestation of excessive storage of energy. Consequently, it could potentially be mitigated by turning on the body’s dormant systems for burning, not storing, that energy. In this proposal, we will develop regulatory T (Treg) cells as a powerful class of engineered, non-destructive cellular immunotherapies to tackle obesity and its co-associated metabolic disease type 2 diabetes. We will engineer fat-localizing Treg cells to deliver signals to convert energy-storing adipose tissue (AT) into energy-burning AT, thereby reversing or preventing obesity and insulin resistance in mice (and eventually humans.)

https://diabetes.ucsf.edu/lab/bapat-lab

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Jeffrey O. Bush, Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Signaling control of mammalian morphogenesis and congenital disease

Summary:

Our lab studies basic mechanisms by which signaling between cells coordinates mammalian morphogenesis. Understanding this control has significance beyond its fundamental importance in development since birth defects are the leading cause of death for infants during the first year of life. We utilize multiple approaches based in mouse genetics to understand fundamental signaling processes as they relate to development and disease with particular foci in the craniofacial and respiratory systems. In addition to mouse genetics approaches, we utilize human ES/IPSCs, biophysical approaches, multiomics, and live imaging to understand the cellular and molecular control of morphogenesis.

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Christina Theodoris, M.D., Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Gene regulatory networks, machine learning, and cardiovascular disease

Summary:

Our lab studies how genes interact within networks to direct normal heart development and how those networks are disrupted in cardiovascular disease. Using a combination of computational and experimental approaches, we map the disrupted gene networks to enable the design of therapies that correct them back to the healthy state.

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Matthew L Kutys, Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Notch receptor signaling and chemo-mechanical regulation of vascular barrier, molecular regulation of endothelial cell morphodynamics during angiogenic sprouting and in cerebral small vessel disease, cardiac myocyte sarcomerogenesis, and angiocrine niche contribution to parenchymal tissue development, cancer, and infectious disease progression. 

Summary:

Research in the Kutys Lab is focused on achieving a molecular and physical understanding of biological mechanisms that interact across time and length scales to enable emergent, tissue morphogenic behaviors. Central to our efforts is the development and application of biomimetic microphysiological culture models,  organ-on-chip systems, that incorporate three-dimensional (3D) organotypic architectures and permit the study of human tissue development, regeneration, and pathogenesis with unprecedented resolution and biological control. Combining these models with innovative molecular technologies and high content microscopy, a major focus of my laboratory is understanding orchestration of tissue morphogenic behavior and cell fate specification by cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion complexes during cardiovascular development and disease.

Current projects in the lab focus on: Notch receptor signaling and chemo-mechanical regulation of vascular barrier, molecular regulation of endothelial cell morphodynamics during angiogenic sprouting and in cerebral small vessel disease, cardiac myocyte sarcomerogenesis, and angiocrine niche contribution to parenchymal tissue development, cancer, and infectious disease progression. 

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Akinyemi Oni-Orisan, PhD

Research Interests:

Pharmacogenomics, Cardiovascular drugs, Health disparities

Summary:

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, affecting almost 100 million adults and costing over $300 billion. Death from cardiovascular disease had been steadily declining since the 1970s due in part to remarkable advances in pharmacotherapy, but more recently has started to worsen. Although the reasons for this reversing trend are likely multifactorial, it is evident that better optimization of therapy may help to improve this recent worsening. In particular, there exists considerable interindividual variability in response to cardiovascular drugs. We hypothesize that the discovery and clinical validity of molecular biomarkers for cardiovascular disease drug response will allow clinicians more precise select cardiovascular pharmacotherapy regimens, thereby improving population-wide cardiovascular health outcomes. The overall research goal of my group is to improve pharmacological regimens for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease through precision medicine. To accomplish this objective, we combine computational approaches in pharmacogenomics, pharmacometrics, and pharmacoepidemiology using electronic health record-linked biobanks. In addition, only ~14% of participants from all genome wide association studies are of non-European descent, despite accounting for ~86% of the global population. This underrepresentation has the strong potential to exacerbate health disparities. Thus, another goal of our group is to ensure that study populations of genomics research studies are inclusive so that advances can benefit all. In accord with our overall research objectives and the approaches that we employ, we are currently investigating genetic determinants of efficacy and safety for hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor therapy in diverse populations.

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Jan Christoph, PhD

 







Research Interests:
Arrhythmias and Imaging

Summary:
In the Cardiac Vision Laboratory we focus on developing imaging methodology that can be used to better diagnose life-threatening heart rhythm disorders and heart disease. Combining techniques from bioengineering, computer vision and artificial intelligence with the physics of complex biological systems, we aim to study the heart’s highly dynamic behavior, and bridge the gap between basic cardiovascular science, high-resolution imaging and numerical modeling. 


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Priscilla Hsue, MD

Research Interests:
Inflammation, Immunology and Cardiovascular Disease

Summary:
I oversee a multidisciplinary team which is studying the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease with a focus on HIV.  Our work includes descriptions of cardiovascular manifestations in HIV, elucidation of mechanisms underlying this disease process, and proof-of-concept therapeutic interventions to decrease CV risk with potential impact on HIV cure.

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Balyn W. Zaro, Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Hematopoiesis, innate immunity and proteomics/mass spectrometry

Summary:

Our lab takes a chemical biology and proteomics approach to optimizing drug selectivity and studying the immune system and blood formation. We aim to profile how different types of cells metabolize drugs in order to develop more-selective therapeutics and are interested in identifying targets critical for modulating the innate immune response during cancer and infection.

 

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Brian B. Graham, M.D.

Research Interests:

Pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary vascular inflammation, and cardiac angiogenesis.

 

Summary:

Our research group investigates pulmonary hypertension, a disease of the lung blood vessels. The major focus of our research is how the immune system contributes to the disease. The goal of our work is to discover new treatment approaches to help prevent or reverse this disease.

 

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Nevan J. Krogan, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Systems biology, quantitative unbiased approaches, proteomics, genetic interactions, proteinprotein interactions, post-translational modifications, cancer, infectious diseases, cardiac development, psychiatric disorders.

Summary:

Our research focuses on fundamental biological mechanisms, because cures to many diseases have been revealed by unexpected discoveries in the basic sciences. We use and develop complementing technologies that allow the unbiased study of the cell. We create maps to study how proteins work together in cells, and how this changes during different diseases, including infectious diseases, cancer as well as neurological and psychiatric disorders. We strongly believe that impactful research is accomplished when diverse groups of scientists work together, and therefore we are working in close collaboration with national and international experts from different disciplines on all of our projects.

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Abigail Buchwalter Cool, Ph.D.

 

Research Interests:
We study the mechanisms that govern the specialization and maintenance of nuclear organization across cell types.

Summary:
We seek to understand how the organization of the cell nucleus is established, specialized across cell types, and maintained over time to influence cellular identity. “Nuclear organization” involves the non-random packaging of the genome within the nucleus, but also the assembly and interactions of other nuclear structures, such as the nuclear lamina and the nucleolus.

This work begins with a particular focus on the nuclear lamina, a nuclear structure that is essential for mammalian development and is mutated in ~15 “laminopathy” diseases that afflict the heart, muscle, bone, fat, and nervous system. We focus on three main thematic areas: (i) defining the essential roles that the nuclear lamina plays in nuclear organization, (ii) exploring disruption of nuclear organization as a possible cellular mechanism of aging, and (iii) determining how nuclear organization is maintained (or alternatively, remodeled) over time.

 

 

 


Stella A. Bialous, DrPH, FAAN

Research Interests:

Tobacco control, health policy, nursing, public health, capacity building, smoking cessation, cancer, non-communicable diseases, tobacco industry, global health, health diplomacy, sustainable development goals.

Summary:

Dr. Stella Bialous’ research focuses on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, tobacco industry monitoring and building nurses’ capacity for tobacco control nationally and internationally. Dr. Bialous has consulted with the World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative for over 15 years. In 2003, she received the American Legacy Foundation’s Sybill G. Jacobson Adult Award for Outstanding Use of Tobacco Industry Document. In 2012, she received the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care Distinguished Merit Award and is currently the Society’s President.

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