Our Labs
Since the founding of the School of Public Health, our Department's labs have worked to advance knowledge of biology at biochemical and molecular levels, in areas relevant to public health.
We continue to uncover new insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie normal and abnormal cellular processes, and explore their relevance as targets for improving health and preventing and treating disease. And our labs do more than just generate knowledge: We are committed to training our students and postdoctoral fellows to be the next generation of scientists who, through research, teaching, and service, will continue to provide new insights into biomedical issues with a profound impact on public health. Learn about our labs below.
The Scott Bailey Lab
Uncovering the molecular mechanisms that cells use to interact with and modify DNA and RNA, with a focus on CRISPR systems
The Danfeng (Dani) Cai Lab
Combining advanced techniques to understand the functions of biomolecular condensates in healthy and cancerous cells
The Valeria Culotta Lab
Examining the role of free radicals and micronutrients in the battle between host and pathogen during fungal infections
The Brittany Jenkins-Lord Lab
Investigating the interplay between molecular, genetic, environmental, and social contributors to cancer risk in diverse populations
The Jennifer Kavran Lab
Investigating how cells communicate with each other and their environment
The Anthony K.L. Leung Lab
Exploring the role of poly(ADP-ribose) in disease states and translating the findings to targeted drug discovery
The Michael Matunis Lab
Investigating how SUMO protein modification drives cellular pathways changes from stress response to DNA repair
The Utthara Nayar Lab
Applying functional genomics tools to understand and overcome tumor resistance to targeted therapies
The Vito Rebecca Lab
Studying acral lentiginous melanoma metastasis and therapy escape to develop therapies that increase cancer curability
The Fengyi Wan Lab
Investigating the host-pathogen-microbiota interactions during intestinal infection, inflammation, and tumorigenesis
The Jiou Wang Lab
Discovering how the birth and death of proteins is controlled and how the shape of DNA and RNA controls their function
The Ashani Weeraratna Lab
Studying how cancer cells move to distant sites and how changes in the cells around a tumor impact that movement