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.
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
Visit the Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics website
Subcellular organization and distribution; subcellular analytical techniques
Metabolic control and regulation in adipocytes, obesity/insulin action, lipid metabolism, protein-lipid association, lipid oxidation, proteomics
DNA replication
Cytoskeletal dynamics, protein biochemistry, single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, thermodynamic modeling
Ketone body metabolism in obesity and cardiovascular disease
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
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, experimental, 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.