RESEARCH & FACULTY
RESEARCH AREAS
CANCER BIOLOGY
Faculty are at the forefront of this research
with the broad goal of developing a detailed understanding of the underlying
molecular mechanisms that drive cancer cell behavior and then applying this
understanding to develop better, more tailored treatments for cancer. Faculty
are also members of the University of Colorado Cancer Center to translate
findings into the clinic.
Specific areas of cancer biology research include the study of mechanisms of
cancer drug resistance, metastasis, and tumor cell growth and death using cell
biological, structural, biochemical, genetic, and systems biology approaches.
Additionally, we leverage cutting-edge technologies, such as single cell
multi-omic approaches and multispectral imaging to advance precision oncology.
CARDIOVASCULAR & PULMONARY BIOLOGY
The cardiovascular system includes the heart and all blood vessels delivering oxygen to tissues and the transporting metabolic waste products to be cleared from the body. The pulmonary system includes the trachea (windpipe), the lungs, the muscles and bones of the rib cage, and the diaphragm. It transports oxygen to the blood and extracts carbon dioxide, along with directly interacting with external pollutants, bacteria, and viruses. Faculty study the molecular features that lead to diseased tissue and aim to leverage this information to design novel treatments and therapeutic strategies.
DRUGS OF ABUSE
The Department of Pharmacology and its integration of pharmacologists, classical geneticists, molecular biologists, electrophysiologists, and neurochemists is entering a new era with the hope that the most exciting times are yet to come and that the molecular and genetic mechanisms of alcohol intoxication, tolerance, and dependence will be revealed in much greater detail in the future.
Understanding genetic differences in alcohol action also requires information about the neuropharmacology of the drug. Only recently have we begun to understand which synaptic signaling systems are affected by alcohol. Faculty within the Department of Pharmacology are leaders in this area showing actions of ethanol on the excitatory glutamate receptors (NMDA, AMPA, and kainate subtypes) and the inhibitory GABA and glycine receptors.
NEUROPHARMACOLOGY
Faculty working in the area of neuroscience and neuropharmacology focus their research on characterizing the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie neuronal function and behavior. Because neuroscience/neuropharmacology is an increasingly integrative discipline, we incorporate cutting-edge multidisciplinary approaches including animal behavior, advanced microscopy, in vivo measurements of neural activity, electrophysiology, optogenetics and molecular and cell biology. One of the strengths of our faculty lies in the fact that they have experience in a number of different scientific disciplines.
Specific areas of neuropharmacology research at CU Anschutz include the study of molecular memory and synaptic plasticity, neurodegenerative diseases and molecular mechanisms that control synaptic transmission and neuromodulation. In addition, the pharmacology faculty has a particularly strong interest in the neuropharmacology of psychedelics and drugs of abuse.
COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
Faculty utilize the human genome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, and molecular structure to define how and where pharmacological processes occur. Studying biological systems is complex and drawing statistical inferences from large compendium data of genetic factors requires novel computational methodology and compute infrastructure. Faculty are designing the methods to translate these large datasets into knowledge.
Specific areas of computational biology include systems pharmacology, development of network inference methods, prediction of novel gene function, genome and transcriptome-wide association studies, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and structure modeling. Faculty also have a strong interest in the ethical concerns raised with applying artificial intelligence models and the collection of large training and testing datasets.
SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
How the activities of different cell types are harmonized to provide integrated responses in an organism is the key feature that allows multi-celled organisms to flourish. This coordination is achieved by the activities of a dazzling array of neurotransmitters, hormones, and growth factors, which operate on timescales of milliseconds to days. The study of these processes is known as signal transduction, or cellular signaling, which is one of the key areas of biomedical research, because of what it tells us about normal functions and the therapeutic opportunities that it identifies. The majority of faculty study cellular signaling at some level, including ion channels, signal transduction pathways, second messengers, growth factor-signaling, and the cell cycle.
STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
Many of the faculty members in the Department of Pharmacology utilize the human genome sequence and molecular structure to define how and where pharmacological processes occur. Knowledge of the human genome allows our faculty to define the target of pharmacologically important molecules. Defining the molecular structure of the target protein allows pharmacological mechanisms of molecules to be defined. The centers and facilities that aid in this research include the DNA Array Facility, the Center for Computational Pharmacology, the Mass Spectrometry Center, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center, and the X-ray Crystallography Center.
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Jason Aoto PhD
Associate Professor
Director, Pharmacology Program
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Drugs of Abuse
Neuropharmacology
Optogenetics
Psychiatric Disorders & Functional Imaging
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
We employ cutting-edge approaches including mouse genetics, optogenetics, viral circuit tracing, ex vivo slice electrophysiology, CRISPR/cas9 genome editing, single-cell RNA-sequencing and super-resolution microscopy to investigate how disease-relevant synaptic molecules are utilized in a cell-type- and synapse-specific manner in neural circuits implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders and addiction.
John Bankston PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Neuropharmacology
Signal Transduction
Structural Biology
We are interested in the molecular mechanisms of sensory transduction in the brain. One of the goals of our work is to understand somatosensation: the process through which the body (Skin, cornea, etc.) experience the external environment. This can be broken down into three major components: mechanosensation (touch or sensing of pressure), thermosensation (sense of heat or cold), and nociception (sense of pain).
Emily Bates PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cellular Physiology
Development
Developmental Biology
Developmental Neuroscience
Gene Regulation
Genomics Bioinformatics
Neuropharmacology
Other Developmental Disorders
Understanding how ion channels contribute to morphological development and microtubules are regulated for brain development.
Ulli Bayer PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Down Syndrome & Alzheimer's
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Motor and Cognitive Disorders
Neurobiology of Stroke
Neuropharmacology
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
Our field is molecular and cellular neuroscience. Specifically, we are interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying learning, memory and cognition.
Timothy Benke MD, PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Developmental Neuroscience
Epilepsy
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Neuropharmacology
Other Developmental Disorders
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
My laboratory studies the function of synapses, the primary means of communication between neurons in the brain. Discoveries include mechanisms for synaptic changes that are likely associated with learning and memory. Research is directed at discovering how synapses change with development and following seizures. Our results are specifically directed to help prevent and treat the effects of early-life seizures (ELS), which can include autism, learning impairment and epilepsy.
Email:tim.benke@cuanschutz.edu
Benjamin Bitler PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Dr. Bitler is committed to the fight against cancer through his work to elucidate the impact of cancer-related signaling and epigenetic regulation.
Joshua Black PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Genomics Bioinformatics
My lab studies how cells use epigenetics to control gene amplifications. We have identified epigenetic pathways that cells use to create transient increases in gene copy number. These copy number changes play roles in tumor development, progression and drug resistance. By understanding the fundamental mechanisms that govern copy number control we hope to allow better cancer therapies.
M. Cecilia Caino PhD
(she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Cellular Structure
Signal Transduction
Our group aims to understand how mitochondria reprogramming in tumors impact cellular behaviors that drive progressive and lethal cancer. We use a broad repertoire of biochemistry, cell biology, live cell imaging and animal models to study the impact of mitochondria shape, number and subcellular distribution in metastatic dissemination.
Jason Christie PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Motor and Cognitive Disorders
Neuropharmacology
Optogenetics
Other Systems
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
The Christie Lab endeavors to understand the neural-circuit-mechanisms that underlie the learning-dependent optimization of behavior. The lab’s approach mainly focuses on the cerebellum, a brain region that guides adaptive updating of simple reflexive movements as well as experience-driven refinement of high-order brain function (e.g., thinking, planning, and decision making).
Mair Churchill PhD
Professor
MOLB Non-Training Faculty
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Chromosome Biology
Gene Regulation
Genomics Bioinformatics
Macromolecular Structure
Microbiology Virology
My lab is interested in understanding the molecular basis of essential processes that regulate gene expression. We use biophysical, biochemical methods, and structural methods, including X-ray crystallography. Our insights into these fundamental mechanisms will contribute to a better understanding and ability to regulate gene expression processes involved in human diseases and will assist in drug development efforts.
Our studies focus on the following questions: (1) How is chromatin structure modulated for DNA-dependent processes? and (2) How do transcription factors and pioneering factors activate gene expression?
James Costello PhD
(he/him/his)
Associate Professor
Director, Pharmacology Program
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Genomics Bioinformatics
Within the broad scope of systems biology, my lab focuses on 3 research areas: 1) Network inference for identifying drug targets, 2) Predicting drug sensitivity from -omics datasets, and 3) Modeling temporal effects of drug combinations.
Scott Cramer PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Genomics Bioinformatics
Prostate Cancer Tumor Suppressors, Stem Cells, Tumor Initiating cells, Signal Transduction, Receptor Signaling.
Fabrice Dabertrand PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Neurobiology of Stroke
Neuropharmacology
Psychiatric Disorders & Functional Imaging
Signal Transduction
The control of cerebral blood flow by ion channels and calcium signaling in the pericytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells that constitute the parenchymal microcirculation, and use this information to combat brain diseases with a vascular component.
Mark Dell'Acqua PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Down Syndrome & Alzheimer's
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Motor and Cognitive Disorders
Neuropharmacology
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
My laboratory’s specific research in the area of neuropharmacology focuses on understanding how cAMP and calcium second messenger signaling pathways are organized at the postsynaptic specializations of excitatory neuronal synapses.
Robert Dietz MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Neurobiology of Stroke
Neuropharmacology
Strategies for restoration of synaptic plasticity following cerebral ischemia.
David DiGregorio PhD
Visiting Professor and Chair
Research Focus:
Motor and Cognitive Disorders
Neuropharmacology
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
The DiGregorio laboratory studies the role of synaptic and neuronal mechanisms influencing how the brain represents time for executing precise behaviors. Projects in the lab span multiple scales (from molecules to circuits to behavior) but also across multiple disciplines (cellular and molecular neurobiology to theoretical neuroscience).
Robert Doebele MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Cancer Biology
My research interests are primary focused on oncogene-driven cancer (ALK, ROS1, RET, NTRK1/2/3, MET, EGFR) and drug-resistance to targeted therapies. My laboratory derives new cancer models by making human cell lines and interrogating these models to understand how to better treat cancers with combination targeted therapies.
Charles Edelstein MD, PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Signal Transduction
Caspases and apoptosis in Polycystic kidney Disease (PKD).
Elan Eisenmesser PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Signal Transduction
The Eisenmesser lab takes a unique approach to understand protein function, and particularly enzyme function, by utilizing molecular engineering methods to control both structural interactions and the underlying movements that underlie their conformational changes. The ultimate goal of the Eisenmesser lab is to fully characterize molecular interactions at both atomic resolution and biological levels with a particular emphasis on medically relevant systems that may be exploited to either block or promote events underlying disease progression.
Patricia Ernst PhD
(she/her/hers)
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Gene Regulation
Our group focuses on epigenetic mechanisms regulating normal hematopoiesis and leukemia focusing on MLL-family histone methyltransferases.
Joaquin Espinosa PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Our main research goal is to understand how gene networks control cell behavior in homeostasis and human disease. Our two main focus areas are cancer biology and Down syndrome.
Christopher Ford PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Drugs of Abuse
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Motor and Cognitive Disorders
Neuropharmacology
Optogenetics
Psychiatric Disorders & Functional Imaging
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
Our lab examines how neuromodulators are encoded in the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal systems and how circuit dysfunctions in these areas contribute to neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Heide Ford PhD
(she/her/hers)
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Gene Regulation
Genomics Bioinformatics
Signal Transduction
Our laboratory focuses on a specific family of homeoproteins, the Six family, and their transcriptional cofactors, Eya and Dach. The Six1 homeobox gene is overexpressed in 50% of primary breast cancers and 90% of metastatic lesions, and its overexpression.
David Jones PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Structural Biology
Research in my lab uses NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, molecular biology and biophysical approaches to answer the fundamental questions of how mediators of signal transduction interact with proteins of neuronal signaling pathways.
Craig Jordan PhD
(he/him/his)
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Developmental Biology
Dr. Jordan serves as the Chief of the Hematology Division and directs a research program focused on the development of novel therapies for the treatment of leukemia.
Matthew Kennedy PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Down Syndrome & Alzheimer's
Neuroengineering
Neuropharmacology
Optogenetics
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
We study how synapses in the central nervous system are modified by experience, with the ultimate goal of understanding how these mechanisms contribute to normal cognitive function and how they break down in various brain diseases and disorders.
Tatiana Kutateladze PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Chromosome Biology
Gene Regulation
Macromolecular Structure
Structural Biology
My laboratory investigates molecular mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and the role of chromatin modifications in human diseases. We use high field NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography to obtain atomic-resolution structures of chromatin-binding proteins and complexes involved in transcription and DNA damage repair.
Tim Lahm MD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Signal Transduction
Dr. Lahm is a physician scientist in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine with a focus on the study of sexual dimorphisms in lung vascular remodeling and right ventricular (RV) adaptation in pulmonary hypertension (PH).
Email:tim.lahm@cuanschutz.edu
Edward Lau PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal/GI Physiology
Cell Biology
Genomics Bioinformatics
We are interested in the regulation and function of protein turnover, homeostasis, and secretion in development, senescence, and diseases. Our work leverages advances in proteomics, bioinformatics, and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models.
Timothy McKinsey PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Signal Transduction
Epigenetic regulation of heart failure; signaling and transcriptional mechanisms of muscle disease.
Raphael Nemenoff PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Cancer Biology
Signal Transduction
My laboratory is focused on examining molecular pathways that regulate the progression and metastasis of lung cancer.
Won Chan Oh PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Developmental Neuroscience
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Neuropharmacology
Optogenetics
Other Developmental Disorders
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
We use advanced optical imaging techniques to examine the spatiotemporal mechanisms that govern activity-dependent excitatory and inhibitory synaptic and circuit plasticity in the developing cortex.
Philip Owens PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
The role of BMP signaling in tumor induced bone disease; The role of BMP signaling in tumor associated lymphatics; The role of BMP signaling in tumor associated myeloid cells.
Irina Petrache MD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Research interests include: Alpha 1 antitrypsin biology; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); Lung Cell Biology; Lung Inflammation; Lung Injury and Repair; Pulmonary Vascular Disease; Regenerative Medicine; Sphingolipid signaling and metabolomics; and Vascular Biology.
J. David Port PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Genomics Bioinformatics
Signal Transduction
G-protein linked receptors and their regulation; regulation of mRNA stability.
Catherine Proenza PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal/GI Physiology
Ion Channels & Biophysics
One major focus of the lab is to understand the molecular basis for pacemaker activity within individual sinoatrial node myocytes (SAMs). To this end, we use patch clamp electrophysiology to record spontaneous action potentials and membrane currents from isolated SAMs from mice. We also use advanced patch clamp techniques like AP clamp and dynamic clamp to isolate and manipulate individual currents in SAMs.
Nidia Quillinan PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Neurobiology of Stroke
Neuropharmacology
Signal Transduction
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
The Quillinan laboratory studies excitability and plasticity changes in the brain following cerebral ischemia. We are particularly interested in cerebellar networks that are affected by stroke and cardiac arrest. We also investigate the role of sex hormones and their receptors in acute neuronal injury and longterm hippocampal function.
Laura Saba PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Genomics Bioinformatics
We utilize and develop systems genetics tools to explore biological mechanisms responsible for disease.
Rebecca Schweppe PhD
(she/her/hers)
Professor
Director, Cancer Biology Program
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
Signal Transduction
The focus of my lab is to identify novel molecular targets relevant to papillary and anaplastic thyroid cancer (PTC and ATC) with the ultimate goal of advancing these studies to clinical trials for thyroid cancer patients who do not respond to standard treatment.
Natalie Serkova PhD
Professor
STBB Affiliated Faculty
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Neuropharmacology
Our research interests are in developing physiologically-based imaging end-points for cancer detection and response to novel anti-cancer therapies. We are also interested in developing novel molecular probes and protocols for non-invasive imaging of inflammation proteins, oncoproteins and endogenous metabolites (so-called "molecular imaging").
Matthew Sikora PhD
(he/him/his)
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
The overall goal of the Sikora Laboratory is to understand mechanisms of response and resistance to steroid hormones and anti-estrogen therapies in breast cancer, with a special emphasis on invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast.
Katharine Smith PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Motor and Cognitive Disorders
Neurobiology of Stroke
Neuropharmacology
Psychiatric Disorders & Functional Imaging
Synaptic Signaling and Plasticity
Research in our lab is focused on understanding how the excitability of neurons is regulated by excitatory and inhibitory synaptic plasticity. Many neuropsychiatric diseases and brain pathologies exhibit alterations in neuronal excitability in key brain regions associated with learning and memory. Our goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms of how excitatory and inhibitory synapses function together to maintain appropriate excitability of the neuron, and how this is disrupted in diseases such as autism and schizophrenia. To reach this goal we image both excitatory and inhibitory synapses using cutting-edge microscopy, including super-resolution imaging, supported by electrophysiology and biochemical analysis.
Kunhua Song PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Cell Biology
Development
The goal of research in our lab is to understand mechanisms governing cardiac lineage commitment and pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies, which forms bases to develop therapeutic strategies for heart disease. We actively collaborate with scientists in the field with the long-term goal of improving human health.
Carmen Sucharov PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal/GI Physiology
Our main goal is to identify potential new therapeutic agents for the treatment of heart failure.
Slobodan Todorovic MD, PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Neuropharmacology
Sensory Systems
Signal Transduction
The role of T-type (low-voltage-activated, LVA) calcium channels in the molecular mechanisms of anesthesia and analgesia.
Raul Torres PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Cancer Biology
We have a long-standing interest in investigating the mechanisms by which B lymphocytes develop and subsequently mount antibody responses to foreign antigens and pathogens. In the recent past we have particularly focused on understanding how the distinct B cell populations that exist in humans and mice act in concert to provide humoral immunity. To address these issues, we rely on molecular, genetic and biochemical in vitro and in vivo approaches that often rely on genetically-engineered mouse models. More recent work in our lab has revealed that a bioactive lipid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), is able to suppress signaling by both B and T lymphocyte antigen receptors and specifically upon engagement with the LPAR5 receptor.
Ming-Feng Tsai PhD
Assistant Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Ion Channels & Biophysics
Signal Transduction
My research focuses on molecular mechanisms and physiological functions of transporters and ion-channels, particularly those in mitochondria. We approach questions using a wide range of tools, including membrane-biochemistry, electrophysiology, cryo-electron microscopy, animal models, and imaging.
Chandra Tucker PhD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cellular Structure
Gene Regulation
Genomics Bioinformatics
Signal Transduction
Research in the Tucker Lab focuses on developing new tools to sense and manipulate the intracellular environment, and using these tools to understand dynamic cellular processes. A major focus is in developing ways that we can inducibly regulate and control fundamental molecular events such as protein trafficking, proteolysis, gene expression, and intracellular signaling using inducers such as light (optogenetic tools) or chemicals.
Michael Verneris MD
Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cancer Biology
My research studies are aimed at developing cellular therapy to reduce leukemia recurrence by enhancing immune recovery and by more effectively treating sites of leukemia (with a newly developed method of bone marrow irradiation).
Mary Weiser-Evans PhD
Professor
Director, Integrated Physiology Program
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Biology
Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal/GI Physiology
Signal Transduction
Our laboratory focuses on vascular biology, with particular emphasis on smooth muscle cell (SMC) signaling and understanding the regulation of SMC phenotypic modulation in disease.
Hongjin Zheng PhD
Associate Professor
Research Focus:
Accepting Students
Signal Transduction
Structural Biology
The biological functions of a cell are heavily influenced by its surrounding environment. This influence is achieved mostly through membrane proteins that mediate various informational exchange between the two bodies. Thus, it is vitally important to understand how these membrane proteins function, which is the overarching goal of our research. The main tools we use in the laboratory are cryo electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography.