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School of Medicine Columbia

Research Areas

Members of our faculty often receive national grants to support their research. As a student, you'll be able to choose a faculty mentor and work closely with them throughout your degree. 

Faculty Mentors

Our goal is to make sure every student is able to find a place in a faculty member's lab. Please be sure to explore all of our faculty research interests to help get a better idea who you would like to work with while pursuing your degree

Reilly Enos
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Sex differences in obesity and diabetes
Sex steroid physiology
Glucose and fatty-acid metabolism

Norma Frizzell
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Protein post-translational modification
Protein succination
Mitochondrial stress and disease
Metabolic disorders

Caryn Outten
Guy F. Lipscomb, Sr. Professor of Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Bioinorganic chemistry
Cytosolic and mitochondrial redox factors
Structure-function relationships of iron homeostasis proteins

F. Wayne Outten
Guy F. Lipscomb, Sr. Professor of Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Bioinorganic chemistry
Microbial physiology and genetics
Metal trafficking and storage systems

Qian Wang
Robert L. Sumwalt Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Bioconjugation chemistry for biomedical applications
Modification and utilization of virus nanoparticles
Engineering of virus scaffolds for immunotherapy

Jie Li
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Discovery and biological evaluation of human microbial metabolites
Natural product-based drug discovery
Natural products biosynthesis

Chuanbing Tang
University Eminent Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Polymer biomaterials
Antibiotic development
Antimicrobial materials

Deepak Bhere
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:

Cancer therapeutics
Exosomal delivery of biologics
Cancer immunotherapies

Hexin Chen
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Cancer stem cells
Tumor microenvironment
Tumor suppressor genes
Anti-cancer drugs

Lorne Hofseth
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy 
Research Interests:
Inflammation
Complimentary and alternative medicine
Colitis and colon cancer

Lydia Matesic
Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Ubiquitin ligases in development and disease
Cancer and metastasis
Cardiac hypertrophy and sudden cardiac death

Campbell McInnes
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Anti-cancer drug development
Cell cycle regulation
Guided design of peptide inhibitors

Angela Murphy
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Complimentary medicine and cancer
Macrophage-induced inflammation
High fat diet and breast cancer

Mitzi Nagarkatti,
Chair Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cancer immunology and immunotherapy
Biodefense
Immunopharmacology of cannabinoids
Immunotoxicology

Prakash Nagarkatti
Vice President for Research and Carolina Distinguished Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Immunotoxicity of dioxin
Cannabinoids in cancer therapy
Complimentary medicine and inflammation

Maria Marjorette (Marj) Pena
Research Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Tumor microenvironment
Mechanisms of metastasis
Animal models of cancer

Douglas Pittman
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
DNA repair mechanisms
Chromosome rearrangement

Swapan Ray
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration
Glioblastoma
Therapeutic approaches to spinal cord injury

David Reisman
Director for Colon Cancer Research Tissue Biorepository and Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
p53 gene regulation and carcinogenesis
p53 and HIV-1 infection
Transcription factors

Igor Roninson
Endowed Chair and Professor, College of Pharmacy 
Research Interests:
DNA-damaging drugs
Cancer therapy outcomes
Function-based genomics approaches to cancer therapy

Deanna Smith
Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Regulators of cytoplasmic dynein
Molecular motors
Neuroscience

Kandy Velazquez
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cachexia
Pain
Natural supplements

Alan Waldman
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Mechanisms of DNA repair
Genetic recombination

Mike Wyatt
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
DNA repair and chromosome stability
Nanoparticles
DNA repair pathways and chemotherapy

Peisheng Xu
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Biomedical applications of engineered biomaterials
Central nervous system-targeting of nanomaterials 
Nanoparticles as cancer treatment

Wayne Carver
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Regulation of fibrosis
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
Fibroblast development and differentiation

Colin Evans
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Lung and vascular biology
Inflammatory diseases, e.g., ARDS and thrombosis
Nanoparticles for endothelial gene editing and drug delivery

Daping Fan
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Mechanisms of atherosclerosis
Complimentary medicine
Inflammation
microRNAs in atherogenesis

Edie Goldsmith
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Extracellular matrix in heart development and disease
Nanomaterials as therapeutics
Diabetes-induced heart disease

Lydia Matesic
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Ubiquitin ligases in development and disease
Cancer and metastasis
Cardiac hypertrophy and sudden cardiac death

Martin Morad
Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Health and Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Calcium channels and heart function
Conduction system
Engineering a biological pacemaker

Jay Potts
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Heart valve development
Signal transduction
Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Frank Spinale
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Heart failure
Matrix metalloproteinases
Myocardial infarction
Cardiovascular disease biomarker development

Deepak Bhere
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:

Cancer therapeutics
Exosomal delivery of biologics
Cancer immunotherapies

Bert Ely
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Medical genetics
Bacterial genome evolution
Bioinformatics

Reilly Enos
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Sex differences in obesity and diabetes
Sex steroid physiology
Glucose and fatty-acid metabolism

Colin Evans
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Lung and vascular biology
Inflammatory diseases, e.g., ARDS and thrombosis
Nanoparticles for endothelial gene editing and drug delivery

Jason Kubinak
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Microbial pathogenesis
Humoral immunity
Antigen presentation

Roger Sawyer
Professor and Executive Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Integument development
Evolution off epidermal appendages
Genomics

Jeffery L. Twiss
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of brain development and regeneration

Reilly Enos
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Sex differences in obesity and diabetes
Sex steroid physiology
Glucose and fatty-acid metabolism

Daping Fan
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Mechanisms of atherosclerosis
Complimentary medicine
Inflammation
microRNAs in atherogenesis

Angela Murphy
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Complimentary medicine and cancer
Macrophage-induced inflammation
High fat diet and breast cancer

Mitzi Nagarkatti
Professor and Chair Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cancer immunology and immunotherapy
Biodefense
Immunopharmacology of cannabinoids
Immunotoxicology

Prakash Nagarkatti
Carolina Distinguished Professor and Vice President for Research, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Immunotoxicity of dioxin
Cannabinoids in cancer therapy
Complimentary medicine and inflammation

Kandy Velazquez
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cachexia
Pain
Natural supplements

Kiesha Wilson
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Acute respiratory distress syndrome
Epigenetic regulation of inflammatory diseases
Complimentary medicine and inflammation

Wayne Carver
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Regulation of fibrosis
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
Fibroblast development and differentiation

Hui Chen
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Embryo development
Cell fate specification
Genome regulation
Size regulation

Edie Goldsmith
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Extracellular matrix in heart development and disease
Nanomaterials as therapeutics
Diabetes-induced heart disease

Jay Potts
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Heart valve development
Signal transduction
Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Roger Sawyer
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Integument development
Evolution off epidermal appendages
Genomics

Deanna Smith
Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Regulators of cytoplasmic dynein
Molecular motors
Neuroscience

Deepak Bhere
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:

Cancer therapeutics
Exosomal delivery of biologics
Cancer immunotherapies

Colin Evans
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Lung and vascular biology
Inflammatory diseases, e.g., ARDS and thrombosis
Nanoparticles for endothelial gene editing and drug delivery

Daniel Foster
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Brain Circuits Involved in Psychiatric Disorders
The Role of the Striatum in Regulating Repetitive Behaviors
Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors and Cannabinoid Receptors as Novel Drug Targets

T. Chase Francis
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Synaptic plasticity
Neurobiological mechanisms of brain stimulation
Neural circuitry involved in mood, stress, and anxiety

Campbell McInnes
Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Anti-cancer drug development
Cell cycle regulation
Guided design of peptide inhibitors

Alessandra Porcu
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Cellular circadian clock in psychiatric disorders
Neural circuits and molecular mechanisms of light in mood and cognition
Pharmacological characterization of allosteric modulators of GABAB receptors

Igor Roninson
Endowed Chair and Professor, College of Pharmacy 
Research Interests:
DNA-damaging drugs
Cancer therapy outcomes
Function-based genomics approaches to cancer therapy

Michael Shtutman
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
DNA-damaging drugs
Cancer therapy outcomes
Function-based genomics approaches to cancer therapy

Qian Wang
Robert L. Sumwalt Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Bioconjugation chemistry for biomedical applications
Modification and utilization of virus nanoparticles
Engineering of virus scaffolds for immunotherapy

Jie Li
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Discovery and biological evaluation of human microbial metabolites
Natural product-based drug discovery
Natural products biosynthesis

Mike Wyatt
Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
DNA repair and chromosome stability
Nanoparticles
DNA repair pathways and chemotherapy

Peisheng Xu
Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Biomedical applications of engineered biomaterials
Central nervous system-targeting of nanomaterials 
Nanoparticles as cancer treatment

Wayne Carver
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Regulation of fibrosis
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
Fibroblast development and differentiation

Colin Evans
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Lung and vascular biology
Inflammatory diseases, e.g., ARDS and thrombosis
Nanoparticles for endothelial gene editing and drug delivery

Daping Fan
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Mechanisms of atherosclerosis
Complimentary medicine
Inflammation
microRNAs in atherogenesis

Jason Kubinak
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Microbial pathogenesis
Humoral immunity
Antigen presentation

Angela Murphy
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Complimentary medicine and cancer
Macrophage-induced inflammation
High fat diet and breast cancer

Mitzi Nagarkatti
Chair Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cancer immunology and immunotherapy
Biodefense
Immunopharmacology of cannabinoids
Immunotoxicology

Prakash Nagarkatti
Vice President for Research and Carolina Distinguished Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Immunotoxicity of dioxin
Cannabinoids in cancer therapy
Complimentary medicine and inflammation

Carole Oskeritzian
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Mast cells
Sphingolipids
Regulation of mast cell enzymes and cytokines

Kandy Velazquez
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Cachexia
Pain
Natural supplements

Kiesha Wilson
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Acute respiratory distress syndrome
Epigenetic regulation of inflammatory diseases
Complimentary medicine and inflammation

Jason Kubinak
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Microbial pathogenesis
Humoral immunity
Antigen presentation

James Fadel
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia

Research Interests:
Aging, homeostasis and cognition
Hypocretin/Orexin neuropeptide system 
Basal forebrain cholinergic system

Daniel Foster
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Brain Circuits Involved in Psychiatric Disorders
The Role of the Striatum in Regulating Repetitive Behaviors
Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors and Cannabinoid Receptors as Novel Drug Targets

Norma Frizzell
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Metabolic processes and protein modifications
Mitochondrial Stress in diabetes
Mitochondrial diseases like Leigh Syndrome

Claudia Grillo
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Neural mechanisms regulating food intake
Neurobiology of obesity

Fiona Hollis
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Brain mitochondrial function in healthy and stressed conditions
Neurodevelopmental disorders
Social and anxiety-related behaviors

Aaron Jasnow
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Neural mechanisms of fear learning and memory
Neurobiology of stress, anxiety disorders, and PTSD.
Sex differences and estrogen regulation of emotional behavior

Joe McQuail
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Age-related cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer’s disease
Impacts of chronic stress across the lifespan
Neurobiological effects of a ketogenic diet

Ana Pocivavsek
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Sleep dysregulation in psychiatric disorders
Interactions between sleep and cognitive function
Kynurenine pathway of tryptophan degradation

David Mott
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia, Neuroscience Graduate Director
Research Interests:
Neural mechanisms of learning and memory
Modulation of neural circuits underlying motivated behaviors
Neurobiology of neuropsychiatric disorders and epilepsy

Sujit Pujhari
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Director, Viral Vector Core
Research Interests:
Development of viral vectors for modifying brain expression of proteins
Virology of mosquito-borne pathogen transmission

Larry Reagan
Professor and Vice Chair Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Hippocampus
Stress and neuropsychiatric disorders
Insulin resistance, synaptic plasticity and cognition

Swapan Ray
Professor, School of Medicine Columbia

Research Interests:
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration
Glioblastoma
Therapeutic approaches to spinal cord injury

Deanna Smith
Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Regulators of cytoplasmic dynein
Molecular motors
Neuroscience

Marlene Wilson
Professor and Chair Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience,  School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Neural mechanisms of anxiety-related disorders
Sex differences in brain physiology and pathology
Individual differences in fear learning and extinction

Susan Wood
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Social Stress
Animal models of depression and PTSD
Neuroinflammatory mechanisms of stress susceptibility

Peisheng Xu
Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Biomedical applications of engineered biomaterials
Central nervous system-targeting of nanomaterials 
Nanoparticles as cancer treatment

Jun Zhu
Professor, College of Pharmacy
Research Interests:
Dopaminergic pathways in brain function
Dopamine transporter in HIV-1-induced brain dysfunction
Nicotine dependence

Daniel I. Speiser
Associate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests: 
Evolution of nervous systems
Visual neuroscience

Fabienne Poulain
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests: 
Neurodevelopment
Neurodegenerative disorders
Zebrafish models

Jeffery L. Twiss
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of brain development and regeneration

Kristy Welshhans
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Connectivity in the nervous system during development
Neurodevelopmental basis of Down syndrome
Local translation of mRNAs during axon guidance

Lewis BowmanAssociate Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
RNA silencing
Host defense

Beth Krizek
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Flower development
Meristem development
Stem differentiation

Johannes Stratmann
Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Plant-herbivore interactions
Signal transduction
Ubiquitin-proteasome system

Zhengqing Fu Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests: 
Salicylic acid signaling in plant-pathogen interactions

Jason Kubinak
Associate Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Microbial pathogenesis
Humoral immunity
Antigen presentation

F. Wayne Outten
Guy F. Lipscomb, Sr. Professor of Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Bioinorganic chemistry
Microbial physiology and genetics
Metal trafficking and storage systems

Qian Wang
Robert L. Sumwalt Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Interests:
Bioconjugation chemistry for biomedical applications
Modification and utilization of virus nanoparticles
Engineering of virus scaffolds for immunotherapy

Kiesha Wilson
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Columbia
Research Interests:
Acute respiratory distress syndrome
Epigenetic regulation of inflammatory diseases
Complimentary medicine and inflammation


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