UNMC_Acronym_Vert_sm_4c
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Faculty

Faculty Departments

  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Cellular and Integrative Physiology
  • College of Dentistry, College of Pharmacy
  • College of Public Health
  • Eppley Institute
  • Genetics Cell Biology and Anatomy
  • Internal Medicine
  • Munroe-Meyer Institute
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
  • Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
  • Radiation Oncology

A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X    Y    Z

Faculty

Maher Abdalla

Maher Abdalla, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and immune cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and prostate cancer.

Yazen Alnouti

Yazen Alnouti, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research focus: Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), with a focus on the application of Bioanalytical Chemistry, in vitro and in vivo animal models to support ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity) and pharmacokinetic (PK) studies; Biomarkers for hepato-biliary diseases based on bile acid metabolism by sulfation.

Return To Top

Hamid Band

Hamid Band, MD, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Regulation of receptor signaling by endocytic traffic; Cbl-family and CHIP ubiquitin ligases; EHD-family endocytic recycling regulators; mouse genetic models; cancer biology;and stem cell biology.

Vimla Band

Vimla Band, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Delineate molecular mechanisms of early steps in transformation of mammary epithelial cells with the goal of identifying novel molecular diagnostic/prognostic markers and potential therapy targets of breast cancers.

Surinder Batra

Surinder K. Batra, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Structure/function analysis of tumor-associated genes; cancer diagnostics, cancer vaccines; monoclonal antibodies, genetic engineering of antibodies.

Robert Bennett

Robert Bennett, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (DEM)

Research focus: Antifibrotic effects of the hormone relaxin and related peptides; expression and signaling of relaxin receptors; internalization and degradation of relaxin, insulin and related hormones; the role of relaxin in adipose function.

Raymond Bergan

Raymond Bergan, MD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Oncology & Hematology

Research focus: Understanding how cancer cells regulate transformation to a high motility metastatic phenotype, and how that process can be therapeutically modulated.

Kishor Bhakat, PhD

Kishor K. Bhakat, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Understanding the molecular mechanisms and alter the damage repair pathways and gene expression in tumor cells to promote therapy resistance and tumor recurrence, and develop second line of interventions to prevent tumor recurrence and metastasis.

Piero Bianco

Piero Bianco, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research focus: Stalled DNA replication fork rescue to maintain genome stability

Jennifer Black

Jennifer Black, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Colon cancer; endometrial cancer; pancreatic cancer; cell signaling (kinases and phosphatases) cell cycle regulation; control of protein translation in cancer; protein kinase C; PP2A.

Gloria Borgstahl

Gloria Borgstahl, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Structural biology, structure-based drug design, superoxide dismutase and double-strand DNA repair by homologous recombination.

Sandipan Brahma, PhD

Sandipan Brahma, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Mechanisms regulating chromatin structure, how cells use these mechanisms to establish and maintain gene expression programs, and the implications of these mechanisms for human health.

Shilpa Buch

Shilpa Buch, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience

Research focus: Therapeutic strategies that may enhance neural function and survival in NeuroAIDS, with possible implications in other neurodegenerative diseases.

Sid Bryrareddy 

Siddappa Byrareddy, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience

Research focus: Understanding and developing therapeutics for emerging/re-emerging viruses, focusing on HIV, Zika and SARS-CoV-2.

Return To Top

Steve Caplan

Steve Caplan, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Study of endocytic membrane trafficking, receptor recycling, vesicular transport, endosomes, mechanisms of mitochondrial fission/fusion, ciliogenesis and mechanisms by which primary cilia are generated, and centrosome biology.

Rey Carabeo

Rey Carabeo, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Cytoskeletal dynamics and mechanostransduction in Chlamydia invasion and pathogen modulation of host epithelial cell-extracellular matrix interaction; Transcriptomic studies of Chlamydia stress adaption.

Carol Casey

Carol A. Casey, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Research focus: Biochemistry of alcoholism and digestive system diseases.

Kishore Challagundla

Kishore Challagundla, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Role of extra cellular vesicles (EV's) and the non-coding RNAs in affecting immunotherapy response and escaping immune surveillance in pediatric cancers, in particular neuroblstoma and acute myeloid leukemia.

Nagendra Chaturvedi

Nagendra Chaturvedi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology

Research focus: Medulloblastoma; Neuroblastoma; Oncogenic signaling pathways; Small molecule therapeutics; Development of clincally relevant animal models; Stem cell biology; Epigenetic regulation of peadiatric cancers.

Sujata Chaudhari

Sujata Chaudhari, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: rthropod physiology and bacterial pathogenesis; study of tick vector physiology with focus on cuticle development and pathogen transmission; chitin metabolism in arthropods using Tribolium castaneum as a genetic model system; Staphylococcal metabolism and stress response.   

Pi-Wan Cheng

Pi-Wan Cheng, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Study of the mechanism of altered glycosylation in human disease.

Vinai Chittezham Thomas

Vinai Chittezham Thomas, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Staphylococcal physiology and metabolism; staphylococcus stress response.

suyongchoi_t.png

Suyong Choi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Phosphoinositide signaling pathways in cancer and immunology.

Martin Conda Sheridan

Martin Conda-Sheridan, PhD
Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy

Research focus: Design of complex multifunctional biomaterials and bioactive small molecules for medicinal applications.

Return To Top

John Davis

John S. Davis, PhD
Professor, Director of Research and Development - Olson Center for Women's Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Research focus: Women's health; Reproductive endocrinology and cancer; Mechanisms of hormone action.

Rebecca Oberley-Deegan

Rebecca Oberley-Deegan, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Role of free radicals signaling to transform fibroblasts and inflammatory cells in normal tissue, which results in damage to these tissues; understanding the mechanisms by which ROS promote radiation induced fibrosis and prostate cancer progression.

Paul Denton, PhD

Paul Denton, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology (UNO)

Research focus: Improving immunotherapies to treat malignancies.

Punita Dhawan

Punita Dhawan, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Development of novel therapeutic targets for Gastrointestinal Cancer progression and chemoresistance; Role of signaling pathways and cancer stem cells involved in this process using cell culture, mouse and organoid models.

Jixin Dong

Jixin Dong, PhD
Associate Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Hippo signaling and cancer; Chemotherapeutic drug resistance.

Andrew Dudley

Andrew Dudley, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Mechanisms that regulate the development and homeostasis of musculoskeletal tissue using methods from embryology, molecular biology, cell biology, genetics and tissue engineering, with the goal of generating novel therapies for regenerative medicine.

Anna Dunaevsky

Anna Dunaevsky, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences

Research focus: Synaptic plasticity and neuron-glia interactions in neurocognitive disorders.

Return To Top

Dalia ElGamal, PhD

Dalia Elgamal, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies, including immunosuppressive microenvironmental interactions and the gut microbiome, and evaluating novel anti-tumor therapeutics strategies.

Return To Top

Howard Fox, MD, PhD

Howard Fox, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences

Research focus: Neurodegeneration, viral infections, single cell analyses of the brain, translational research in neuroscience.

Return To Top

Jered Garrison

Jered Garrison, PhD
Professor, College of Pharmacy

Research focus: Targeted molecular imaging and radiotherapeutic agent design; development of cancer-specific prodrugs; polymer based drug delivery systems.

Howard Gendelman

Howard E. Gendelman, MD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience

Research focus: Development and testing of HIV-1 cure strategies; Basic and clinical studies on novel medicines to treat Parkinson's disease.

Gargi Ghosal, PhD

Gargi Ghosal, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Understand the basic science underlying replication stress response in cancer and aging, identify new targets and bio-markers for cancer therapy and facilitate the development of strategies to overcome drug resistance and improve cancer therapies.

Santhi Gorantla

Santhi Gorantla, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience

Research focus: Humanized mouse models for HIV brain infection; influence of substance use on brain HIV latency, inflammation and pathogenesis.

Return To Top

Tony Hollingsworth

Michael A. (Tony) Hollingsworth, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Basic and transactional research in pancreatic cancer, including investigation of the biology of tumor progress, discovery and validation of biomarkers of early detection and disease progression, development and testing of novel therapeutics, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies.

Sarah Holstein

Sarah Holstein, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Oncology and Hematology

Research focus: Development of novel agents for the treatment of multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer, with a particular focus on Rab inhibitors of the isoprenoid biosynthetic.

Kate Hyde

R. Katherine (Kate) Hyde, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Understand the mechanisms that regulate leukemia development; develop treatments for hematological malignancies.

Return To Top

Maneesh Jain

Maneesh Jain, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Development of genetically engineered antibody fragments for improved radioimmunotherapy for solid tumors; development of serum assays for the early diagnosis of lethal pancreatic cancer.

Keith Johnson

Keith R. Johnson, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: The role the cell adhesion molecules (cadherins) play in metastasis.

Shantaram Joshi

Shantaram S. Joshi, PhD
Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Improve therapy for human B lymphocytic malignancies and pediatric cancers by means of translational research involving molecular characterization of progressive/therapy resistant maliganant cells.

Return To Top

Adam Karpf

Adam R. Karpf, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Ovarian cancer biology and therapeutics; Cancer epigenetics.

Kusum Kharbanda

Kusum Kharbanda, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Research focus: Alcohol liver injury with emphasis on alcohol's deleterious effect in altering the methionine metabolic pathway and lowering the ratio of the methyl dontor, SAM, to its product, SAH.

Kim_SoYoun.jpg

So-Youn Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Research focus: Oncofertility, cachexia, ovarian cancer.

Zeljka Korade

Zeljka Korade, DVM, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Research focus: Cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system; study of an inborn error of metabolism Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome; desmosterolosis; development of neuronal cell lines with defects in different enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and their characterization.

 

Mohan Krishnan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Pathophysiology of Tranfusion-associated Necrotizing Enterocolitis (TA-NEC) and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome(SIRS) in premature infants.

Sushil Kumar, PhD

Sushil Kumar, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Tumor microenvironment; Pancreatic pathologies including pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis using multiple murine models, organoid, and 3D cell culture-based technologies.

Return To Top

Marilynn Larson

Marilynn Larson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Host and intracellular pathogen interactions, and determining the mechanisms that allow the Tier 1 select agent Francisella tularensis to persist and rapidly replicate within infected macrophages.

Rob Lewis

Robert Lewis, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Defining intracellular mechanisms required for the epithelia-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the formation and maintenance of cancer stem cells.

Brian Lowes

Brian Lowes, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Cardiology

Research focus: Novel education clinical trainees and education program with a goal to develop clinicians and scientists in sub-Saharan Africa.

Xu Luo

Xu Luo, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways in cell death and survival in cancer cells.

Return To Top

 Sidharth Mahapatra

Sidharth Mahapara, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Research focus: Elucidating pathophysiologic mechanisms triggering aggressive pediatric brain tumors using transcriptomic analyses to hone in on essential signaling pathways and to test synthetic inhibitors of these pathways; Repurposing FDS-approved drugs for treatment of aggressive pediatric brain tumors.

Luis Marky

Luis Marky, PhD
Professor, College of Pharmacy

Research focus: Biophysical chemistry and molecular forces that control the conformational stability and flexibility of nucleic acids, including Okazaki fragments, hairpin loops, intramolecular triplexes, G-quadruplexes, C-quadruplexes, and three- & four-arm DNA junctions and their interaction with drugs.

Grinu Mathew

Grinu Mathew, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Genetic and epigentic regulation of prostate cancer metastasis.

Benita McVicker

Benita McVicker, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology-Hepatology

Research focus: Alcohol liver injury and mechanisms.

Karoly Mirnics

Karoly Mirnics, MD, PhD
Director, Munroe-Meyer Institute

Research focus: Animal models of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders; effects of Gene-Environmental-Drug interactions on the developing brain; role of disrupted cholesterol biosynthesis of brain function - all using genetic, molecular, cellular and biochemical tools in our studies, coupled with drug screening and mouse behavioral assessments.

Justin Mott

Justin L. Mott, PhD, MD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Receptor tyrosine kinase and microRNA regulation of apoptosis in liver cancer and bile duct injury.

DJ Murry

DJ Murry, PharmD
Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science

Research focus: Ways to individualize drug therapy using pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomics information; from in vitro metabolism and transport studies, animal pharmacokinetic studies, to clinical studies evaluating drug therapy in patients.

Return To Top

Praba Narayanasamy

Prabagaran (Praba) Narayanasamy, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Drug design, discovery and development (including drug delivery by nanomedicine) for infectious diseases; study of physiology and pathogenesis of bacteria and virus towards drug discovery; design, synthesis and characterization of substrates, inhibitors, intermediates, products and mechanisms for drug discovery and development.

Naava Naslavsky

Naava Naslavsky, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Development of new strategies to treat diseases involving traffic and recycling events related to the control of receptor localization to the plasma membrane that is central to normal cell function, and dysregulation as the underlying cause for diseases as diverse as atherosclerosis, diabetes and cancer.

Wasim Nasser, PhD

Wasim (Mohd) Nasser, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Research focus: Novel therapeutic strategies for immunosuppressive and tumor-supportive microenvironments of metastatic breast and lung cancers.

Amar Natarajan

Amarnath (Amar) Natarajan, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Developing novel target and mechanism specific therapeutics.

Caroline Ng

Caroline Ng, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Biology and pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum, genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying drug resistance.

Return To Top

Michael Ouellette

Michael M. Ouellette, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Research focus: Molecular mechanisms that determine the lifespan of human cells, including telomeres and telomerase.  Role of the small GTPases K-Ras and Rac1 in the development of pancreatic cancer and its response to conventional therapies.

Scot Ouellette

Scot Ouellette, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Chlamydial microbiology: bacterial cell division, gene regulation, host-pathogen interactions.

David Oupicky

David Oupicky, PhD
Professor, College of Pharmacy

Research focus: Design of multifunctional nanoparticles and polymers with application in the treatment of metastatic cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and acute kidney injury.

Return To Top

Youri Pavlov

Youri Pavlov, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Cellular systems of mutagenesis and antimutagenesis.

Palsamy Periyasamy

Palsamy Periyasamy, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience

Research focus: Investigate the epigenetic changes that occur during HIV-1 infection and drug abuse, leading to glial cells (microglia and astrocytes) activation; identify potential therapeutic strategies for HAND treatment.

Armen Petrosyan

Armen Petrosyan, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Mechanism of Golgi alteration in advanced prostate cancer: focus on aberrant glycosylation; role for non-muscle Myosin IIA in alcohol-induced Golgi fragmentation.

Moorthy Ponnusamy

Moorthy Ponnusamy, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Cancer stem cells; metastasis; progression of pancreatic cancer.

Return To Top

Subu Ramanathan

Subu Ramanathan, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy

Research focus: Principles that underpin how cells with divergent sizes pack into epithelial tissue and how alterations in cellular packing influence tissue homeostasis.

William Rizzo

William Rizzo, MD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Research focus: Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome and other inherited metabolic diseases.

Don Ronning

Don Ronning, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research focus: Discovery and development of anti-infective and anti-cancer compounds.

Shyamal Roy

Shyamal K. Roy, PhD
Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Research focus: Endocrine regulation of follicular development, growth factors, signal transduction in ovarian cells and biochemistry of granulosa cells.

Return To Top

Micah Schott

Micah Schott, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Research focus: Cell biology of lipids in metabolic disease.

Polina Shcherbakova

Polina Shcherbakova, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Mechanisms controlling genome stability in eukaryotic cells, particularly the functions of DNA polymerases, DNA replication fidelity and the relationship between DNA polymerase defects and cancer.

Jawed Siddiqui

Jawed Siddiqui, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Bone metastasis, bone microenvironment, chemokines and cytokines, osteoimmunology, bone-muscle cross-talk, and cancer therapeutics.

Amar Singh

Amar Singh, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Molecular mechanisms inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer; renal pathobiology.

Rakesh Singh

Rakesh K. Singh, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Tumor growth and metastasis, angiogenesis, tumor immunology, cytokine biology.

Joyce Solheim

Joyce Solheim, PhD
Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Mechanisms regulating the immune response to tumors and infectious pathogens, and development of new immunotherapies.

Paul Sorgen

Paul Sorgen, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Advancing our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of gap junction regulation in the heart, with particular interest and expertise in protein-protein interactions mediated by the carboxylterminal domain of connexins.

Kelly Stauch, PhD

Kelly Stauch, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences

Research focus: Role of mitrochondrial dysfunction and altered energy metabolism in the context of neurodegerative diseases and aging.

Return To Top

Melissa TeohFitzgerald

Melissa Teoh-Fitzgerald, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research focus: Role of oxidative tumor microenvironment in regulating the reciprocal tumor-stroma interactions.

Geoffrey Thiele

Geoffrey M. Thiele, PhD
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Rheumatology

Research focus: Autoimmunity, immune system disorders, immunopathology; infectious diseases/agents; Rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, breast cancer and the immune system, bone loss and erosion, alcoholic liver disease.

Return To Top

Saraswathi Viswanathan

Saraswathi Viswanathan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine - Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism

Research focus: Determine the role of obesity in modulating the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, alcohol-associated liver injury, and pancreatic cancer.

Return To Top

Gus Wang

Guangshun (Gus) Wang, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research focus: Develop novel antimicrobials by combining structural biology and database with in vitro and in vivo toxicity and efficacy studies.

Nicholas Woods

Nicholas Woods, PhD
Assistant Professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Research focus: Systems biology based analysis of cancer signaling pathways.

Return To Top

Ying Yan Ying Yan, PhD

Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology

Research focus: Tumorigenesis, cancer progression and metastasis, and development of new anticancer agents.

Return To Top