Faculty Research Descriptions

The following is an alphabetical list of active MCB faculty members and brief descriptions of their research. Additional faculty lists are available using the links below.

Emeriti and Professors of the Graduate School | Faculty by Division

Click on a faculty member's name to see a complete description of their research (if available). Alternatively, use the search form below to search the faculty research interest pages for keywords.

A

Hillel Adesnik
Associate Professor, Affiliated of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Dynamics of neural circuits underlying information processing in the cerebral cortex.

Ana Arruda
Assistant Professor, Affiliated of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Organelle Architecture, Endoplasmic reticulum function, Metabolic regulation in health and disease

B

Greg Barton
Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Innate immune system

Helen Bateup
Associate Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Molecular mechanisms of synapse and circuit plasticity

Diana Bautista
Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Molecular mechanisms of transduction in touch and pain receptors

Robert Beatty
Senior Continuing Lecturer of Immunology
Infectious disease immunology

Eric Betzig
Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Development of new tools for imaging and image analysis to enable biological discovery

David Bilder
Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Genetics of cell and tissue architecture

Gloria Brar
Associate Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Regulation of meiotic translation, the roles of pervasive short translation products, and the co-option of stress responses for cellular differentiation through meiosis

Steven E. Brenner
Professor (Affiliated) of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Computational Genomics

Stephen Brohawn
Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular basis of sensory transduction and cellular electrical signaling

Carlos Bustamante
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Structural characterization of nucleo-protein assemblies

C

Jamie H. D. Cate
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular Basis for Protein Synthesis by the Ribosome

Kathleen Collins
Walter and Ruth Schubert Family Chair, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biology, biochemistry, and biotechnology of retroelements, retroelement reverse transcriptases, and functional RNAs

Laurent Coscoy
Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Molecular mechanisms of immune evasion in viral infection

Jeffery Cox
C.H. Li Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Endocrinology, Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and immune evasion in mycobacteria

D

Yang Dan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Information processed by neuronal circuits

Xavier Darzacq
Associate Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Transcription regulation during cellular differentiation

Abby Dernburg
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Chromosome organization and dynamics during meiosis

Andrew Dillin
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Biology and Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
My laboratory works on the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate aging and aging-related disease.

Jennifer A. Doudna
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences and Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
RNA-mediated gene regulation

David G. Drubin
Ernette Comby Chair in Microbiology Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Actin and microtubule cytoskeletons in yeast and mammalian cells

Michel DuPage
Assistant Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Epigenetic control of the functional plasticity of T cells in disease

E

Michael B. Eisen
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Raymond & Beverly Sackler Chair in Computational Biology, and Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Genomics/Bioinformatics

F

Marla Feller
Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
The development and function of retinal circuits

Yvette Fisher
Assistant Professor, Affiliated of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Flexibility of neural circuits for navigation

John G. Flannery
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Molecular mechanisms underlying diseases of the retina

Daniel A. Fletcher
Professor (Affiliated) of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Mechanics and dynamics of cell movements on the purified protein, single cell, and tissue levels

Meng-meng Fu
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Cytoskeleton and transport in glia

G

Hernan G. Garcia
Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Physical biology. Transcriptional regulation. Development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Britt Glaunsinger
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Virology; messenger RNA processing and degradation

Andrea Gomez
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Instructive cues for neural form and function

H

Iswar Hariharan
Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Mechanisms of control of growth and cell proliferation. Regulation of regenerative growth.

Richard Harland
Dean of Biological Sciences, C.H. Li Distinguished Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Molecular biology of development

Eva Harris
Professor (Affiliated) of Immunology and Molecular Medicine

Lin He
Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Research and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
microRNA functions in cancer development, mouse tumor models

Rebecca Heald
Department Co-Chair and Flora Lamson Hewlett Chair and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Mitotic spindle assembly and function in Xenopus laevis

Dirk Hockemeyer
Associate Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Telomere biology of human stem cells

James Hurley
Kirsch Springer Chair in Biological Sciences and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Structural membrane biology

I

Nicholas Ingolia
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular basis and physiological roles of the Translational control of gene expression through global and genome-wide analyses

Ehud Isacoff
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Ion channel function and synaptic plasticity

K

Gary Karpen
Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Chromosome structure and function

Nicole King
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Choanoflagellates, animal origins, and the evolution of host-microbe interactions

David Kirn
Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine

Arash Komeili
Professor (Affiliated) of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Assembly and Subcellular Organization of Bacterial Organelles

Doug Koshland
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Chair in the Biological Sciences & Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Mechanisms and principles that mediate desiccation tolerance and the structure, integrity, and evolution of chromosomes

Richard H. Kramer
CH and Annie Li Chair in Molecular Biology of Diseases and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Chemical signaling within and between neurons

John Kuriyan
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Chancellor's Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Structural and functional studies of signal transduction and DNA replication

L

Liana Lareau
Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development

Samantha Lewis
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Mitochondrial biology; mitochondrial genome integrity in health and disease

Lorenzo Lones
Assistant Professor of Teaching, Division of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Biology education, STEM pedagogy, active learning, assessment

Bronwyn Lucas
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
In cell structural biology

Ellen Lumpkin
Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Molecular mechanisms in somatosensory decoding

Kunxin Luo
Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Signal transduction pathways mediated by receptors and the mechanisms controlling the activity of the receptor kinases

M

Michael Marletta
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Structure/Function Relationships in Proteins; Enzyme Catalysis; Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Signaling

Susan Marqusee
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Determinants of protein structure and folding

Megan Martik
Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Neural crest in development, disease, evolution, and tissue regeneration

Andreas Martin
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Energy-dependent proteases and molecular machines

Sabeeha Merchant
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biochemistry of metals; photosynthesis and bioenergy; genomics of algae

Barbara Meyer
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Sex determination in C. elegans

Craig T. Miller
Judy Chandler Webb Endowed Chair in the Biological Sciences and Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Developmental and evolutionary genetics

Evan Miller
Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Chemical biology, neuroscience, organic chemistry, fluorescence, imaging

Priya Moorjani
Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Human Population Genetics and Evolutionary Biology

N

Ahmad Nabhan
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Decoding and recoding stem/niche communication in regeneration and fibrosis

Dipti Nayak
Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Physiology and evolution of archaea; biochemistry of methanogenesis; genome editing tools for archaeal genetics

David Nguyen
Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Applications of genome editing in the immune system as applied to understanding and correcting mutations causing primary immunodeficiency (PID)

Eva Nogales
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Structure-function of macromolecular assemblies: cytoskeleton self-assembly and nucleic acid transactions

Daniel K. Nomura
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Using chemoproteomic platforms for drug discovery against the undruggable proteome and incurable diseases

James Nuñez
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Epigenome editing, epigenetic memory and inheritance; CRISPR technology development

O

Molly Ohainle
Assistant Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Cellular barriers to viral infection, host-virus arms race, HIV functional genomics

James Olzmann
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Regulation of cellular lipid homeostasis: lipid droplets, lipotoxicity, and ferroptosis

P

Eunyong Park
Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Structure and mechanism of membrane transport proteins; cryo-EM; biochemistry; biophysics

Daniel Portnoy
Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular and cellular basis of microbial pathogenesis

R

Michael Rape
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Protein ubiquitination, degradation and the control of cell division and differentiation

David Raulet
Esther and Wendy Schekman Chair in Basic Cancer Biology, and Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Innate immune responses to cancer and infections mediated by natural killer cells and T cells

Filipa Rijo-Ferreira
Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Circadian rhythms in parasitic diseases

Donald Rio
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Molecular genetics; transposable elements; RNA splicing

Ellen Robey
Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Fate determination in the T-lymphocyte lineage

Daniel S. Rokhsar
Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Collective phenomena and ordering in condensed matter and biological systems

S

David Savage
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Synthetic biology and metabolism.

Robert Saxton
Assistant Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Mechanisms of cell signaling controlling tissue inflammation, repair, and homeostasis

David Schaffer
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Molecular investigations of stem cells and viral gene delivery

Julia Schaletzky
Executive Director, Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases and Assistant Adjunct Professor of Molecular Therapeutics

Randy Schekman
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Organelle assembly; protein transport

Alanna Schepartz
CZ and Irmgard Distinguished Chair of Chemistry, Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Chemical and synthetic biology; how cellular molecules and machines function and how this information can be used to design new and useful molecules.

Kimberley Seed
Associate Professor (Affiliated) of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Interactions between bacteria and their viral predators (bacteriophages)

Max Staller
Assistant Professor in Residence of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Computational and experimental studies of intrinsically disordered proteins and transcription factors.

Sarah A. Stanley
Associate Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Immune responses to infection

Peter Sudmant
Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Evolutionary and Functional Genomics

Ian Swinburne
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Multi-scale mechanisms of organ form and function

T

Denis Titov
Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Regulation of Human Metabolic Pathways; Molecular Basis of Aging; Systems and Computational Biology

Robert Tjian
Howard Hughes Medical Institute President and Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Eukaryotic molecular biology; biochemistry

U

Elçin Ünal
Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Molecular basis of cellular rejuvenation, gene regulation during cellular differentiation

Srigokul Upadhyayula (Gokul)
Assistant Professor in Residence of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Multifunctional adaptive optical microscopy; 3D subcellular dynamics; computational tools for tera- to petabyte-scale projects.

Fyodor Urnov
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Development and advancement to the clinic of CRISPR-Cas-based genome/epigenome editing approaches for Mendelian diseases

V

Russell Vance
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Host-pathogen interactions

W

Allon Wagner
Assistant Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Computational and systems immunology, single-cell genomics, immunometabolism

Matthew Welch
Department Co-Chair and Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Cytoskeletal function in cell migration, membrane trafficking and microbial pathogenesis

Noah Whiteman
Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
We study the genetic basis of biotic interactions, the evolution of immune systems and toxin evolution-resistance mechanisms

Ross Wilson
Assistant Adjunct Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic delivery of genome editing enzymes

Y

Ahmet Yildiz
Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Structural mechanism of molecular motors. High resolution imaging of subcellular structures

Z

Ziyang Zhang
Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Molecular Therapeutics

Roberto Zoncu
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
How organelles sense nutrients and regulate cellular growth

Emeriti and Professors of the Graduate School

Mark Alper
Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biochemistry; biomolecular materials

Giovanna Ferro-Luzzi Ames
Professor Emerita of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Bacterial molecular biology; membranes

Georjana Barnes
Professor Emerita of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Microtubule cytoskeleton and cell cycle controls

Steven Beckendorf
Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Molecular biology of development; Global warming: solutions and biological effects; Concentrating solar power.

Michael Botchan
Professor Emeritus of Molecular Therapeutics
Eukaryote DNA replication and control of S phase

Beth Burnside
Professor Emerita of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Cell biology of the photoreceptor cytoskeleton

W. Zacheus Cande
Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Cell and developmental biology

Michael Chamberlin
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Nucleic acids; gene expression

Thomas Cline
Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Sex determination in Drosophila

Peter Duesberg
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
The cancer karyotype: What it is and what it does

Gary Firestone
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Molecular endocrinology; tumor biology

Gian Garriga
Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Developmental neurobiology; molecular genetics

John Gerhart
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Developmental biology

Robert Glaeser
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Cryo-EM of multiprotein complexes; membrane proteins; structural biology; biophysics; advancing the capabilities of high-resolution cryo-EM in biology.

Caroline Kane
Professor Emerita of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Eukaryotic gene regulation during transcript elongation

Judith Klinman
Professor Emerita of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Principles of catalytic and regulatory mechanisms in enzyme-catalyzed reactions

Stuart Linn
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Enzymology of DNA metabolism

Terry Machen
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Epithelial transport; cellular and membrane physiology

G. Steven Martin
Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Cell biology; tumor virology

John Ngai
Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of olfaction

Hiroshi Nikaido
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Membrane biochemistry; bacterial physiology

W. Geoffrey Owen
Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology
Membrane biophysics; retinal neurophysiology

Edward Penhoet
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology

Mu-ming Poo
Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology
Neurobiology

Jasper Rine
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and Professor of the Graduate School Division of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Gene regulation; cell biology

Henk Roelink
Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Induction in vertebrate development and ES cell differentiation

Kristin Scott
Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development
Processing gustatory information in the Drosophila brain

William Sha
Professor Emeritus of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
B cell gene regulation and fate determination

Jeremy Thorner
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Signal transduction mechanisms; biochemistry; molecular genetics; cell biology

David Weisblat
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Developmental biology

Frank Werblin
Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology
Neurophysiology of vision

Gerald Westheimer
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Neurobiology
Neurobiology; psychophysics

Fred Wilt
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology
Molecular embryology; cell biology

Astar Winoto
Williams Endowed Chair and Professor Emeritus of Immunology and Molecular Medicine
Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and proliferation in T cells, cancer, host pathogen interaction and human stem cells.

Qiang Zhou
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Biochemistry of HIV gene expression and transcriptional elongation

Bob Zucker
Professor of the Graduate School Division of Molecular and Cell Biology
Cellular neurophysiology; synaptic biophysics

David Zusman
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
Microbial development; molecular genetics