Cell Biology, Development and Physiology

CDB_research_Drosophila_Hariharan Faculty of the Division of Cell Biology, Development & Physiology (CDP) pursue research aimed at detailed understanding of: the structure and function of cellular components, such as membranes, organelles, chromosomes and the cytoskeleton; cellular processes, such as epithelial transport, cell motility, mitosis, protein targeting and secretion, stem cell plasticity, and eukaryotic cell cycle control; tumor biology; cellular physiology; the origin of cell polarity; and the molecular and cellular basis for axis formation, morphogenetic movements, fate determination, and gene regulation during embryogenesis and cellular differentiation. These issues are being addressed in systems as diverse as yeast, fruit flies, worms, sea urchins, frogs, mice and mammalian cells in culture, and these studies exploit techniques ranging from molecular biology and microinjection to digital imaging and mathematical modeling. Specialized equipment for confocal fluorescence microscopy, video imaging, and computer simulations are available in shared core facilities in Weill Hall where many of the faculty are housed.

Faculty

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

Emeriti and Professors of the Graduate School | Secondary Divisional Affiliates

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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Emeriti and Professors of the Graduate School

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Secondary Divisional Affiliates

The following faculty have a secondary affiliation with the Cell & Developmental Biology division.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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