Gene Regulation Mechanisms, Genetic Disease/Regenerative Medicine, Cell Therapy

UVa

What are the principles by which embryonic extracellular matrix defines cellular compartments essential for the development of 3-D biological form?

How can understanding planar cell polarity shed light on formation of cochlear sensory epithelium? Are clues provided for regenerative medicine? What systemic and cellular factors contribute to the capacity for tissue regeneration, and how do the two areas of regulation interact?

Can the differentiation and renewal of stem cells be manipulated? Can injectable stem cell niches be developed? What epigenetic mechanisms are involved, and are these triggered during injury-repair and in disease? Can precise tools be developed to molecularly track evolving cell populations at the single cell level? What is the role of glia in nervous system development?

How can genetic approaches be applied to the identification of disease genes and the underlying role of ionizing radiation sensitive genes in disease initiation? What are the oncogenic drivers of small cell lung cancer?

How can Systems Genetic approaches be applied to the understanding of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases?

How can understanding dynamic network interactions of nuclear proteins be linked to human disease and mutations in homeodomain proteins? How does structural and epigenetic variation develop in the human genome? What gene networks underlie metabolism?

Faculty engaged in this research

Civelek

DeSimone

Griffin

Kucenas

Lampe

O’Rourke

Owens

Park

Zunder