Faculty Research Preceptors

The following is a list of University of Minnesota research faculty who may mentor MSTP students. This list is not fixed and is intended as a guide to begin to explore research opportunities with the Program. More complete lists of faculty who mentor PhD students can be found at the graduate program pages on the links below.

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Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics

Visit the Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics website

Edgar Arriaga 
Subcellular organization and distribution; subcellular analytical techniques

David Bernlohr
Metabolic control and regulation in adipocytes, obesity/insulin action, lipid metabolism, protein-lipid association, lipid oxidation, proteomics

Anja-Katrin Bielinsky
DNA replication

Naomi Courtemanche  
Cytoskeletal dynamics, protein biochemistry, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, thermodynamic modeling

Peter Crawford  
Ketone body metabolism in obesity and cardiovascular disease

Scott Dehm
Role of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer development and progression

James Ervasti
The structure and cellular function of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex

Tanya Freedman 
Regulation of the Src-family kinases in macrophage hypersensitivity

Melissa Gardner 
Biophysical studies of mitotic microtubule dynamics and spindle formation

Wendy Gordon 
Effects of mechanical extracellular stimuli on cell surface receptor signaling

Peter Igarashi 
Kidney development, transcription regulation, and polycystic kidney disease (PKD)

Ryan Langlois 
Immunity to influenza virus infections

Nicholas Levinson 
Allosteric regulation mechanisms

Louis Mansky 
Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV; HIV drug resistance; HTLV particle assembly and release; evolution of emerging viruses

Douglas Mashek 
Lipid metabolism and the development of metabolic and aging-related diseases

Joseph Metzger
Integrative systems biology and genetic engineering studies of cardiovascular function

Chad Myers 
Computational biology and functional genomics

Hai Dang Nguyen 
DNA damage response in cancers, posttranslational modification (phosphorylation, ubiquitination), biochemistry, molecular biology

Laura Niedernhofer 
Impact of DNA damage on the structure of DNA, cell function and organism health

Laurie Parker 
Assay development for post-translational modifications (PTMs)

Paul Robbins 
Developing novel approaches to treat autoimmune, inflammatory and age-related degenerative diseases using biologics and small molecules

Burckhard Seelig
Biocatalysis, Directed Evolution, Protein Engineering, Artificial Enzymes

Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan 
Novel mechanisms for emergence in collective protein interactions

David Thomas
Molecular dynamics in muscle

Natalia Tretyakova 
Chemical carcinogenesis and DNA repair

 

Biomedical Engineering

Visit the Biomedical Engineering website

Edgar Arriaga
Subcellular organization and distribution; subcellular analytical techniques

Patrick Alford  
Cellular mechano-adaption in development and disease

Victor Barocas
Ocular biomechanics and transport; tissue-equivalent mechanics; microelectromechnical systems

John Bischof 
Thermal biology in the application areas of nanomedicine, thermal therapies, cryo and biopreservation and thermal/mechanical properties

Timothy Ebner
Electrophysiology of motor control in the CNS; voltage sensitive neuroimaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging

Melissa Gardner
Biophysical studies of mitotic microtubule dynamics and spindle formation

Michael Garwood
MRI and MR spectroscopy studies of tissue function, metabolism and microstructure

Geoffrey Ghose
Effect of cognitive phenomena on the neuronal signals underlying visually guided behaviors

Benjamin Hackel
Application of engineering principles to enhance limits of disease detection, with a focus on in vivo molecular imaging of tumors

Matthew Johnson 
Neuromodulation technologies to improve quality of life for people with neurological disorders

Kelvin Lim  
Innovative magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study brain disorders

Louis Mansky  
Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV; HIV drug resistance; HTLV particle assembly and release; evolution of emerging viruses

Greg Metzger
Development of multi-parametic fMRI for cancer characterization

Tay Netoff
The role of inhibitory neurons in seizures

David Odde
Cell growth and division

Brenda Ogle 
Mechanisms of stem cell differentiation

Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari 
Bone-marrow transplant-related lung injury, biology of graft versus host disease

Paolo Provenzano 
Physical and molecular mechanisms of stromal extracellular matrix and stromal cell populations and their influence on epithelial cell behavior in cancer

David Redish
Neurophysiology of behavior, including computation, experiemental, theoretical and clinical approaches

Casim Sarkar
Elucidating biological design principles in cellular decision making and designing new molecular and cellular therapeutics

Sivaraj Sivaramakrisnan 
Novel mechanisms for emergence in collective protein interactions

David Thomas
Molecular dynamics in muscle

Jerrold Vitek 
Pathophysiology of movement disorders; mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of deep brain stimulation

Alik Widge    
Modifying brain circuits to treat mental illness  

Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology

Visit the Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology website

Peter Crawford  
Ketone body metabolism in obesity and cardiovascular disease

Melissa Gardner
Biophysical studies of mitotic microtubule dynamics and spindle formation

Kelvin Lim 
Innovative magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study brain disorders

Louis Mansky 
Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV; HIV drug resistance; HTLV particle assembly and release; evolution of emerging viruses

Chad Myers 
Computational biology and functional genomics

Hai Dang Nguyen 
DNA damage response in cancers, posttranslational modification (phosphorylation, ubiquitination), biochemistry, molecular biology

Laurie Parker 
Assay development for post-translational modifications (PTMs)

Jenny Poynter
DNA methylation, genomic imprinting and susceptibility to cancer

Zohar Sachs 
Acute myeloid leukemia stem cells

Logan Spector 
Causes of childhood leukemia, hepatoblastoma, and osteosarcoma

Andrew Venteicher 
Chemotherapy and radiation treatment resistance in brain tumors

Chemistry

Visit the Chemistry website

Edgar Arriaga 
Subcellular organization and distribution; subcellular analytical techniques

Gunda Georg 
Design, synthesis, and evaluation of synthetic and natural product-derived medicinal agents; drug discovery by HTS; new synthetic methods; combinatorial chemistry. Therapeutic areas: cancer, male contraception, Alzheimer's disease

Christy Haynes 
Applications of analytical chemistry to immunology and toxicology, nanotoxicology

Natalia Tretyakova 
Chemical carcinogenesis and DNA repair

Carston R. Wagner 
Mechanism of action of novel biologically active substances and their application to the development of potential pharmaceuticals

Epidemiology

Visit the Epidemiology website

David Boulware 
Diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and quality improvement initiatives of meningitis in resource-limited areas

Paul Drawz 
Hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and inpatient nephrology

Aaron Folsom
Cardiovascular disease epidemiology; heart disease surveillance and risk factors

Jayne Fulkerson 
Family-based health promotion in community settings; child and adolescent obesity prevention

Lisa Harnack
Public health and policy approaches to improving diet for obesity prevention; improving methods for assessing food and nutrient intake

Shalini Kulasingam
Cervical cancer, cancer screening, vaccines, decision modeling, cost-effectiveness, design and conduct of studies to evaluate screening tests

Pamela Lutsey
Cardiovascular epidemiology

Heather Nelson 
Cancer, genetics, epigenetics, environment, immunity

Jenny Poynter
DNA methylation, genomic imprinting and susceptibility to cancer

Kelly Searle 
Malarial transmission, community control and elimination programs

Jaime Slaughter-Acey   
Factors that contribute to women's health across the lifecourse

Logan Spector
Causes of childhood leukemia, hepatoblastoma, and osteosarcoma

Rachel Vogel    
Cancer survivorship

Health Services Research, Policy & Administration

Visit the Health Services Research, Policy & Administration website

Lynn Blewett 
Health care policy and access

Ezra Golberstein 
Effects of health insurance changes, provider incentives, and practice innovations on health care use and outcomes for people with mental health problems

Rachel Hardeman  
Impact of racism on health inequity

Katy Kozhimannil 
Health care policy, maternal and child health, rural health, health care quality, policy evaluation, health equity

Karen Kuntz 
Simulation modeling in medical decision making; biases in disease modeling; colorectal cancer incidence and mortality; obesity; disparities in cancer-related outcomes

Nathan Shippee 
Impact of social, medical, and mental/behavioral health factors on patient outcomes in chronic disease management

Integrative Biology and Physiology

Visit the Integrative Biology and Physiology website

Emilyn Alejandro 
Pancreatic beta-cell development and programming of beta-cell susceptibility to diabetogenic conditions

Melena Bellin 
Islet transplantation for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus

David Bernlohr
Metabolic control and regulation in adipocytes, obesity/insulin action, lipid metabolism, protein-lipid association, lipid oxidation, proteomics

Bryce Binstadt   
Autoimmunity, innate immunity

Yingjie Chen 
Molecular targets associated with the abnormal mitochondrial biogenesis and ventricular dysfunction in the failing hearts; molecular mechanism of the decreased NO-cGMP bioavailability in cardiovascular diseases

Lisa Chow 
The effects of exercise and fitness on insulin resistance and diabetes

Peter Crawford    
Ketone body metabolism in obesity and cardiovascular disease 

Samuel Dudley 
Cardiac cell replacement therapy; diastolic heart failure; sudden cardiac death

James Ervasti
The structure and cellular function of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex

Daniel Garry
Regenerative medicine, cardiogenesis, and stem-cell biology

David Ingbar
Alveolar epithelial repair and clearance of alveolar edema fluid

Peter Kang    
Genetics of muscular dystrophy and mechamisms of rare muslce diseases

Catherine Kotz  
Brain sites and substrates mediating energy balance in obesity-prone and obesity-resistant animal models

Dawn Lowe    
Skeletal muscle biology in in aging, health and disease

Douglas Mashek 
Lipid metabolism and the development of metabolic and aging-related diseases

Joseph Metzger
Integrative systems biology and genetic engineering studies of cardiovascular function

Laura Niedernhofer    
Impact of DNA damage on cell function & organism health

John Osborn
Pathophysiology of hypertension

Christina Pacak    
Mitochondrial dysfunction 

Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari 
Bone-marrow transplant-related lung injury, biology of graft versus host disease

Rita Perlingeiro  
Molecular mechanisms controlling lineage-specific differentiation of pluripotent stem cells

Xavier Revelo    
Role of immune system and inflammation in the pathophysiology of cardio metobolic diseases

Hai-Bin Ruan    
Metabolic processses in health and disease

Elizabeth Seaquist
Impact of diabetes on cerebral structure and function, hypoglycemia in diabetes

Clifford Steer
Gene therapy utilizing the Sleeping Beauty transposon system, ursodeoxycholic acid as an antiapoptotic agent, role of microRNAs in gene regulation in target organs and stem cell populations

David Thomas
Molecular dynamics in muscle

Jop van Berlo
Cardiac regeneration

Christine Wendt
Identification of biomarkers and pathways of disease in obstructive lung disease

Jesse Williams 
Myeloid cells in the pathogenesis of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases

Medicinal Chemistry

Visit the Medicinal Chemistry website

Courtney Aldrich
Design of new antibacterial agents based on novel mechanisms of action

Gunda Georg
Design, synthesis, and evaluation of synthetic and natural product-derived medicinal agents; drug discovery by HTS; new synthetic methods; combinatorial chemistry. Therapeutic areas: cancer, male contraception, Alzheimer's disease

Stephen Hecht
Chemical mechanisms by which carcinogens cause cancer

Natalia Tretyakova
Chemical carcinogenesis and DNA repair

Carston R. Wagner
Mechanism of action of novel biologically active substances and their application to the development of potential pharmaceuticals

Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology

Visit the Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology website

Matthew Aliota 
Patterns of arbovirus population evolution in emergence and epidemics

Anthony Baughn
Metabolic requirements for bacterial persistence

Bryce Binstadt
Mechanisms by which systemic autoimmune diseases lead to tissue damage

Bruce Blazar
Immunobiology of transplantation

Paul Bohjanen
T lymphocyte mRNA stability

Tyler Bold    
Tuberculosis, vaccines

David Boulware 
Diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and quality improvement initiatives of meningitis in resource-limited areas

Scott Dehm
Role of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer development and progression

Justin Drake    
Signaling networks in lethal metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer

Michael Farrar
Signal transduction and lymphocyte development

Brian Fife
Mechanisms of autoimmune tolerance

Tanya Freedman 
Regulation of the Src-family kinases in macrophage hypersensitivity

Thomas Griffith
Tumor immunology, apoptosis

Geoffrey Hart 
Understanding the mechanism of antibody mediated immunity and innate regulatory mechanisms (or lack thereof) in pathological immune responses

Kristin Hogquist
T-cell development

Ryan Hunter
Host-microbe interactions, microbial community dynamics

Stephen Jameson
Regulation of T lymphocyte survival, development and activation by the T cell receptor and by cytokines

Marc Jenkins
CD4 T cell biology

Alexander Khoruts
Mucosal immunopathobiology and immunologic tolerance

Carol Lange
Signal transduction in breast cancer

Ryan Langlois
Immunity to influenza virus infections

David Largaespada 
Use of mouse genetics and insertional mutagenesis to identify and understand the genes that play a role in cancer

Louis Mansky
Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV; HIV drug resistance; HTLV particle assembly and release; evolution of emerging viruses

David Masopust
T cell migration, differentiation, and memory development in response to infections

Jeffrey Miller
Natural killer cell development

Jaime Modiano 
Cell growth regulation in the context of cancer pathogenesis

Daniel Mueller
Molecular control of T-cell immune self-tolerance

Kristen Nielsen
Central nervous system penetration by Cryptococcus neoformans

David Potter
Regulation of calpain proteases and their roles in cytoskeletal remodeling; the roles of cytochrome P450 in breast cancer progression

Xavier Revelo    
Role of immune system and inflammation in the pathophysiology of cardio-metabolic diseases

Hai-Bun Ruan    
Metabolic processes in health and disease

Zohar Sachs 
Acute myeloid leukemia stem cells

Kaylee Schwertfeger
Inflammation in breast cancer

Yoji Shimizu
Molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion and migration

Pamela Skinner 
HIV and prion diseases

Ingunn Stromnes 
Antigen-specific T lymphocyte migration and function in tumors and the tumor miroenvironment

Jakub Tolar 
Stem cell gene therapy

Andrew Venteicher 
Chemotherapy and radiation treatment resistance in brain tumors

Greg Vercellotti
Vascular biology; inflammation; atherosclerosis; sickle cell anemia

Jesse Williams 
Myeloid cells in the pathogenesis of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases

Masato Yamamoto
Cancer gene therapy and virotherapy

Doug Yee
Growth regulation of breast cancer

Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics

Vist the Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics website

Bruce Blazar 
Immunobiology of transplantation

Naomi Courtemanche 
Cytoskeletal dynamics, protein biochemistry, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, thermodynamic modeling

James Ervasti
The structure and cellular function of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex

Michael Farrar
Signal transduction and lymphocyte development

Melissa Gardner
Biophysical studies of mitotic microtubule dynamics and spindle formation

Daniel Garry 
Regenerative medicine, cardiogenesis, and stem-cell biology

Reuben Harris 
Mechanisms of purposeful mutation relating to innate and adaptive immunity

Kristin Hogquist 
T-cell development

Peter Igarashi
Kidney development, transcription regulation, and polycystic kidney disease (PKD)

Stephen Jameson 
Regulation of T lymphocyte survival, development and activation by the T cell receptor and by cytokines

Yasuhiko Kawakami
Organ development, maintenance and regeneration in vertebrates

Carol Lange    
Biology of steriod receptors in breast & ovarian cancers

David Largaespada 
Use of mouse genetics and insertional mutagenesis to identify and understand the genes that play a role in cancer

Louis Mansky 
Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV; HIV drug resistance; HTLV particle assembly and release; evolution of emerging viruses

Linda McLoon
Muscle diseases, and mechanisms of muscle repair and remodeling

Harry Orr
Molecular genetics of mammalian development

Rita Perlingeiro  
Molecular mechanisms controlling lineage-specific differentiation of pluripotent stem cells

Mary Porter
Cell and molecular biology of microtubule motors

Yoji Shimizu
Molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion and migration

Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan 
Novel mechanisms for emergence in collective protein interactions

Clifford Steer
Gene therapy utilizing the Sleeping Beauty transposon system, ursodeoxycholic acid as an antiapoptotic agent, role of microRNAs in gene regulation in target organs and stem cell populations

Margaret Titus 
The actin cytoskeleton and extracellular cues in amoeboid motility

Jakub Tolar
Stem cell gene therapy

Jop van Berlo 
Cardiac regeneration

Masato Yamamoto
Cancer gene therapy and virotherapy

Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Visit the Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics website 

Emilyn Alejandro    
Developmental origins of insulin-producing beta-cell dysfunction

Tyler Bold    
Tuberculosis, vaccines

Julia Davydova 
Oncolytic-virus based therapeutic and imaging modalities for pancreatic cancer, combination of oncolytic virus with immunotherapy and/or chemo-radiation in treatment-resistant cancer, in vivo cancer models

Scott Dehm 
Role of the androgen receptor in prostate cancer development and progression

Justin Drake 
Kinase signaling pathways in prostate cancer

Tanya Freedman 
Regulation of the Src-family kinases in macrophage hypersensitivity

Melissa Gardner    
Mitotic microtubule dynamics and spindle formation

Gunda Georg    
Design, semisynthesis, total synthesis & evaluation of biologically active agents

Rocio Gomez-Pastor    
Molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and cell death

Wendy Gordon    
Mechanotransduction

Stephen Hecht    
Tobacco smoke constituents & cancer 

Kristin Hogquist    
T cell development in the thymus

Esther Krook-Magnuson    
Brain circuitry & selective neuromodulation

Carol Lange
Signal transduction in breast cancer

Anna Lee 
Molecular mechanisms of addiction and the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in affective disorders

Julia Lemos
Neural mechanisms of stress, motivation, emotion, movement & motor planning & coordination

Nicholas Levinson 
Allosteric regulation mechanisms

Michael Lipscomb    
Myeloid cell biology

Louis Manksy 
Cell and molecular biology of HIV and HTLV; HIV drug resistance; HTLV particle assembly and release; evolution of emerging viruses

Hai Dang Nguyen 
DNA damage response in cancers, posttranslational modification (phosphorylation, ubiquitination), biochemistry, molecular biology

Laura Niedernhofer    
Impact of DNA damage on cell function & organism health

Laurie Parker    
Assay development for post-translational modifications

Patrick Rothwell    
Modulation of striatal circuits in health and disease 

Hai-Bin Ruan    
Metabolic processes in health and disease

Kaylee Schwertfeger
Breast cancer microenvironment

Michael Sheedlo    
Interactions at the host-pathogen interface

Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan    
Linking collective protein interactions to cellular function

Pamela Skinner    
HIV and prion disease immunopathogenesis

Sade Spencer  
Neural mechanisms that underlie the development of drug addiction and relapse

Laura Stone    
Mechamisms of pain, epigenetic regulation of chronic pain

Ingunn Stromnes    
Cancer immunology and immunotherapy

Stanley Thayer  
Modulation of processes that remove calcium from the cytoplasm, pharmacological strategies to prevent loss or induce recovery of synapses during neurotoxic processes, role of the endocannabinoid system in regulating synaptic transmission and neurotoxicity

Natalia Tretyakova    
Chemical carcinogenesis and DNA repair

Lucy Vulchanova    
Mechamisms underlying persistent pain

Li-Na Wei
Regulatory pathways and underlying mechanisms in differentiation and function of neurons and adipocytes

Kevin Wickman
Mechanisms and relevance of inhibitory G protein signaling in the heart and brain

Jesse Williams    
Myeloid cells in the pathogenesis of metabolic & cardiovascular diseases

Masato Yamamoto
Cancer gene therapy and virotherapy

Doug Yee
Growth regulation of breast cancer

Neuroscience

Visit the Neuroscience website

Alfonso Araque 
Mechanism and physiological consequences of the astrocyte-neuron signaling in synaptic physiology and brain fuction.

Karen Hsiao Ashe 
Transgenetics and cell biology of Alzehimer's and prion disease

Matthew Chafee 
Neural basis of spatial cognition and working memory, cortical system dysfunction in psychiatric disease

Clark Chen 
Developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for brain tumor patients

Kathryn Cullen 
Brain imaging to examine depression and related problems in adolescents

Marija Cvetanovic 
Glial cells in neurodegenerative disease

Timothy Ebner 
Electrophysiology of motor control in the CNS; voltage sensitive neuroimaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging

Jed Elison    
Developmental social neuroscience

Michael Georgieff 
The relation between nutritional deficits and brain development; neonatal intensive care follow-up

Geoffrey Ghose 
Effect of cognitive phenomena on the neuronal signals underlying visually guided behaviors

Rocio Gomez-Pastor 
Molecular pathways that drive neuronal death in Huntington´s Disease (HD)

Benjamin Hayden  
The study of decision-making and executive control

Sarah Heilbronner 
Tract-tracing of neural circuits underpinning motivation and decision-making

Suma Jacob 
Advancing the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD)

Matthew Johnson  
Neuromodulation technologies to improve quality of life for people with neurological disorders

Peter Kang    
Genetics of muscular dystrophy and mechanisms of rare muscle diseases

Catherine Kotz  
Brain sites and substrates mediating energy balance in obesity-prone and obesity-resistant animal models

Esther Krook-Magnuson   
Cellular interactions within a network, network to network interactions, and the physiological roles of neuronal populations

David Largaespada 
Use of mouse genetics and insertional mutagenesis to identify and understand the genes that play a role in cancer

Anna Lee 
Molecular mechanisms of addiction and the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in affective disorders

Julia Lemos  
Effect of stressors on the brain's ability to alter behavioral responses and outcomes

Kelvin Lim 
Innovative magnetic resonance imaging techniques to study brain disorders

Linda McLoon 
Muscle diseases, and mechanisms of muscle repair and remodeling

Paul Mermelstein 
Activity-dependent gene expression and neuronal plasticity

Yasushi Nakagawa    
Development of the mammalian forebrain

Tay Netoff 
Mechanisms of epilepsy

Eric Newman 
Physiology and functions of glial cells

Harry Orr 
Mechanisms underlying the development and aging of neurons in the cerebellum

John Osborn 
Pathophysiology of hypertension

Gulin Öz 
High field magnetic resonance spectroscopy, biomarkers of neurodegeneration, cerebral glucose and glycogen metabolism in diabetes

Christina Pacak    
Mitochondrial dysfunction

Ann Parr 
Spinal cord injury, neural stem cells, oligodendrocytes, cell transplantation

David Redish 
Neurophysiology of behavior, including computation, experiemental, theoretical and clinical approaches

Patrick Rothwell  
Modulation of striatal circuits in health and disease

Benjamin Saunders    
Neural circuits of motivation

Donald Simone 
Mechanisms underlying pain sensation

Gordon Smith     
Development of visual cortical circuits

Sade Spencer 
Mechanisms related to the development of addiction as well as relapse in the late stages of the disease; risk factors and psychiatric comorbidities associated with drug addiction

Laura Stone    
Mechanisms of pain, epigenetic regulation of chronic pain

Stanley Thayer   
Modulation of processes that remove calcium from the cytoplasm, pharmacological strategies to prevent loss or induce recovery of synapses during neurotoxic processes, role of the endocannabinoid system in regulating synaptic transmission and neurotoxicity

David Thomas 
Molecular dynamics in muscle

Mark Thomas 
Neurobiological basis of drug addiction

Andrew Venteicher 
Chemotherapy and radiation treatment resistance in brain tumors

Sophia Vinogradov 
Cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia

Jerrold Vitek  
Pathophysiology of movement disorders; mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of deep brain stimulation

Lucy Vulchanova 
Mechanisms of pain signaling

Kevin Wickman    
Mechanisms of controlling the excitability of cells in the heart and brain

Alik Widge 
Development of novel therapies to treat mental illness

Anna Zilverstrand 
Investigating how individual differences contribute to human drug addiction

Note: Many faculty preceptors are members of more than one graduate program. Please be sure to visit the web site of the graduate programs listed here.