MSTP Participating Faculty

Members of the participating faculty are Duke faculty members who are currently mentoring MSTP students, who previously mentored (within the last year) MSTP students, or who are on Duke MSTP committees. 

Students may choose mentors from among the many Duke faculty members with appointments to the Graduate Faculty. Training in a wide range of areas is available to MSTP students, and interdisciplinary collaboration across department lines occurs frequently. When faculty members are chosen as mentors by MSTP students, they are added to the membership of the Duke MSTP participating faculty.

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


R. Alison Adcock, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
To understand how brain systems for motivation support learning and to use mechanistic understanding of how behavior changes biology to meet the challenge of developing new therapies appropriate for early interventions for mental illness
alison.adcock@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Hashim M Al-Hashimi, PhD

Recent mentee: Megan Kelly


Staci Bilbo, PhD
Haley Family Professor, Psychology & Neuroscience
Understand the important role of the immune system during brain development, and thereby the ways in which immune activation during early brain development can affect the later-life outcomes of neural function, immune function, mood and cognition.
staci.bilbo@duke.edu

Current mentee: Seneca Oxendine


Karl-Dimiter Bissig, MD, PhD
Chen Family Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Our group is interested in diseases of the liver, ranging from viral hepatitis to metabolic liver disorders and liver cancer. The lab specializes in human liver chimeric mice and created the first xenograft model for metabolic liver disease as well as a novel patient derived cancer model. We use these next generation humanized mouse models to develop new therapeutic approaches, such as metabolic pathway reprogramming - a CRISPR based gene therapy approach.
karldimiter.bissig@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Gerard Blobe, MD, PhD
Professor, Medicine (Oncology), and Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
The role of transforming growth factor beta in cancer biology and vascular biology
gerard.blobe@duke.edu

Admissions Committee
Steering Committee


Diego Bohorquez, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine (Pathology)
Unveiling how the brain perceives what the gut feels, how food in the intestine is sensed by our body, and how a sensory signal from a nutrient is transformed into
an electrical signal that alters behavior

diego.Bohorquez@duke.edu

Current mentee: Winston Liu, Peter Weng, Emily Alway


Catherine Bowes-Rickman
George and Geneva Boguslavsky Distinguished Professor of Eye Research, Professor, Ophthalmology
Interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Currently our studies are focused on development and studies of animal models of AMD, AMD pathogenesis and pre-clinical studies of novel therapies for AMD.
bowes007@duke.edu

Current mentee: Lindsey Chew


Daniel Buckland, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Development of medical devices for the diagnosis and treatment of medical issues that develop in remote environments ranging from outer space to rural America
dan.buckland@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Nenad Bursac, PhD
Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Medicine, Cell Biology
Stem cell, tissue engineering, and gene based therapies for heart and muscle regeneration; Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias; Organ-on-chip and tissue engineering technologies for disease modeling and therapeutic screening; Small and large animal models of heart and muscle injury, disease, and regeneration.
nenad.bursac@duke.edu

Current mentee: Jacob Scherba


Pranam Chatterjee, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
We develop diverse algorithmic modalities to discover, characterize, and engineer novel proteins for applications in genome editing, targeted protein modulation, and reproductive bioengineering.
pranam.chatterjee@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Genomic approaches to analyze biological systems and disease
jentsan.chi@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Ashutosh Chilkoti, PhD
Alan L. Koganov Professor and Chair, Biomedical Engineering
Biomolecular materials, genetically encoded synthesis, biotechnology, drug delivery, biological surface science, micropatterning of proteins and peptides, nanostructured materials and surfaces
ashutosh.chilkoti@duke.edu

Steering Committee
Current mentee: Rachael Putman, Aine O'Sullivan


Jorn Coers, PhD
Assistant Professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Cytokine-induced cell-autonomous immunity and its role in infectious and autoimmune diseases
jorn.coers@duke.edu

Current mentee: Stephen Kirchner
Recent mentee: Jacob Dockterman


Leonor Corsino, MD, MHS
Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition)
Research focuses on diabetes, obesity and related complications and health disparities with a particular interest in Hispanic/Latino populations
corsi002@mc.duke.edu

Steering Committee


Greg Crawford, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics
Research involves identifying gene regulatory elements across the genome to help us understand how chromatin structure dictates cell function and fate.
greg.crawford@duke.edu

Current mentee: Makenzie Beaman


Lawrence David, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Seeks to understand, predict, and manipulate how human microbiota behave over time
lawrence.david@duke.edu

Current mentee: Brianna Petrone


Gayathri Devi, PhD
Associate Professor, Surgery
Functional genomics, anti-cancer drug discovery and development, mechanisms of cancer cell signaling, tumor immunity and applications thereof for overcoming therapeutic resistance in cancer.
gayathri.devi@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Yarui Diao, PhD
Assistant Professor, Cell Biology
We are a functional genomics lab focusing on the fundamental gene regulation mechanism that control tissue repair and cancer development.
yarui.diao@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Colin S. Duckett, PhD
Vice Dean for Basic Science, Professor, Pathology
Molecular mechanisms of cellular transformation of Hodgkin’s disease and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, regulation of apoptotic cell death and proliferation in cancer, characterization of the canonical and noncanonical NF-kappaB signaling pathways in normal and malignant cells and homeostatic regulation of intracellular copper in mammalian cells.
colin.duckett@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD
K. Kanga Rama Krishnan Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
How neuropsychiatric risk genes interact with environmental stress to modify neural circuits that underlie normal emotional and cognitive function.
kafui.dzirasa@duke.edu

Current mentee: Dalton Hughes


Steven Eliades, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences
Research in my group focuses on the neural basis of vocal communication. Communication is a dynamic process that encompasses both production and perception, occurring in an interactive and contextually-dependent fashion.
steven.edliades@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Mai El-Mallah, MD
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Control of breathing and pulmonary mechanics in murine models of several genetic diseases.
mai.elmallah@duke.edu

House Faculty Advisor


Cagla Eroglu, PhD
Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology
Understanding how central nervous system (CNS) synapses are formed.
cagla.eroglu@duke.edu

Current mentee: Helen Heo, Gabrielle Sejourne


Christine Eyler, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Understanding the genetic, epigenetic, and molecular characteristics of cancer cells that resist typical treatments and finding ways to treat them more effectively. Goal to apply this information to design personalized treatment strategies to effectively treat both sensitive and resistant tumor cells.
christine.eyler@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Peter Fecci, MD, PhD
Professor, Pathology
Brain Tumor Immunotherapy.
peter.fecci@duke.edu

Current mentee: Lucas Wachsmuth


Guido Ferrari, MD
Professor, Surgery, Associate Research professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Independent basic research and immune monitoring studies. The research revolves around three main areas of interest: class I-mediated cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), gene expression in NK and T cellular subsets upon infection with HIV-1.
gflmp@duke.edu

Current mentee: Danielle (Rosenthal) Nettere


Don Fox, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Genomic extremes in organ development and repair.
don.fox@duke.edu

Current mentee: Jane Blackmer


Kevin Franks, PhD
Associate Professor, Neurobiology
Our research is driven by the idea that nervous systems evolved relatively simple neural circuit motifs to perform specific types of computational operations, and that these motifs are combined and repeated throughout the nervous system, using similar types of operations to solve different types of problems.
franks@neuro.duke.edu

Current mentee: Carolyn Diaz


Johnna Frierson, PhD
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Medical Education, Assistant Dean for Graduate and Postdoctoral Diversity and Inclusion
johnna.frierson@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Rasheed Adebayo Gbadegesin, MD, MBBS
Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Development, Wilbert C. Davison Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics
Molecular genetics of glomerular disease; Genetic risk factors for childhood onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.
rasheed.gbadegesin@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Bradley Goldstein, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Head & Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences, Neurobiology
bradley.goldstein@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Warren Grill, PhD
Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School Distinguished Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research employs engineering approaches to understand and control neural function. We work on fundamental questions and applied development in electrical stimulation of the nervous system to restore function to individuals with neurological impairment or injury.
warren.grill@duke.edu

Current mentee: Jahrane Dale


Jennifer Groh, PhD
Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience, Neurobiology, Computer Science
Research in my laboratory concerns how sensory and motor systems work together, and how neural representations play a combined role in sensorimotor and cognitive processing (embodied cognition)
jennifer.m.groh@duke.edu

Current mentee: Jesse Herche


Rana Gupta, PhD
Professor, Medicine - Endocrinology and Metabolism
Understanding the mechanisms governing mammalian cell differentiation and tissue remodeling under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.
rana.gupta@duke.edu

Current mentee: Ashley Truong


Gentzon Hall, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine-Nephtology
My research is focused on defining the molecular underpinnings of podocyte injury and dysfunction in nephrotic syndrome (NS) with a primary focus on focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).
gentzon.hall@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Brent Hanks, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine - Oncology
We are interested in understanding the mechanisms that cancers have evolved to suppress the generation of tumor antigen-specific immune responses and how this knowledge can be exploited for the development of novel and more effective cancer immunotherapy strategies.
hanks004@mc.duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Amanda Hargrove, PhD
Associate Professor, Chemistry
The Hargrove lab harnesses the unique properties of small organic molecules to study the structure, function and therapeutic potential of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs).
amanda.hargrove@duke.edu

Current mentee: Marek Zorawski


Bart Haynes, MD
Frederic M. Hanes Distinguished Professor, Medicine, Integrative Immunology
Studying host innate and adaptive immune responses to HIV, TB, and Influenza in order to find the enabling technology to make preventive vaccines against these three major infectious diseases.
hayne002@mc.duke.edu

Current mentee: Christopher Stringham


You-Wen He, MD, PhD
Professor, Integrative Immunobiology
Regulation of T-cell development and the role of innate immunity in bacterial infections
youwen.he@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Nicholas Heaton, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Genetic engineering of negative sense RNA viruses, particularly respiratory viruses such as influenza viruses.
nicholas.heaton@dm.duke.edu

Current mentee: Vishwas Rao


Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD
James B. Duke Professor and Chair, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis
heitm001@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Christopher Holley, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine (Cardiology)
Focses on the role of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) in cardiovascular health and disease, with a special emphais on snoRNA (small nucleolar RNA)
cholley@duke.edu

Admissions Committee
Faculty House Advisor


Erich Huang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biostatistics & Bioinformatics
Breast cancer; research interest in solid-tumor gene-expression analysis; oncogenic pathway analysis; computational and systems biology
erich.huang@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Josh Huang, PhD
Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Professor, Neuroscience
Study the development and function of cortical circuits underlying motor control and cognitive processing. Our research program integrates multi-faceted approaches from genetic engineering to single-cell genomics, developmental neurobiology, imaging, electrophysiology, and behavioral analyses, and aims to link fundamental neuroscience to the understanding and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.
josh.huang@duke.edu

Current mentee: Patrick Mulcahey


Kim Huffman, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology and Integrative Immunobiology)
Determining the role of physical activity in modulating health outcomes (Cardiovascular disease risk) in persons with rheumatologic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, gout, osteoarthritis)
huffm007@mc.duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Joseph Izatt, PhD
Michael J. Fitzpatrick Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Development and application of cutting-edge optical technologies for non-invasive, high-resolution imaging and sensing in living biological tissues
joseph.izatt@duke.edu

Current mentee: Harvey Shi


Ravi Karra, MD
Associate Professor, Medicine-Cardiology
The intersection of regenerative biology with cardiovascular disease. ​​​​​​
ravi.karra@duke.edu

Admissions Committee
Current mentee: Lauren Parker


Michael Kastan, MD, PhD
Executive Director, Duke Cancer Institute
William and Jane Shingleton Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, Pediatrics
Elucidating molecular mechanisms involved in cellular responses to DNA damage and other stresses
michael.kastan@duke.edu

Steering Committee


David G Kirsch, MD, PhD

Current mentee: Jonathon Himes, Chang Su


Priya Kishnani, MD
Professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
A multidisciplinary approach to care of individuals with genetic disorders in conjunction with clinical and bench research that contributes
kishn001@mc.duke.edu

Current mentee: Rebecca Gibson


Mary Klotman, MD
R.J. Reynolds Professor and Dean of Medicine
Molecular pathogenesis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) infection
mary.klotman@duke.edu

Dean, School of Medicine


Dennis Ko, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Human genetic variation regulating infection and inflammation
dennis.ko@duke.edu

Current mentee: Trisha Dalapati


Christopher Kontos, MD
Professor, Medicine (Cardiology)
Regulation of angiogenesis
cdkontos@duke.edu

MSTP Director
Admissions Committee
Steering Committee

Recent mentee: Shree Bose


Kevin LaBar, PhD
Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
Cognition-emotion interactions in the human brain. The lab uses functional neuroimaging, psychophysiological, and behavioral methods in healthy adults and in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.
klabar@duke.edu

Current mentee: Nimesha Gerlus


Andrew Landstrom, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Exploring the genetic and molecular causes of sudden cardiac death in children and young adults
andrew.landstrom@duke.edu

Admissions Committee
Current mentee: Minu Tshyeto Bidzimou


Robert Lefkowitz, MD
James B. Duke Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine), Biochemistry
Signaling of G protein-coupled receptors
lefko001@receptor-biol.duke.edu

Steering Committee
Current mentee: Sunag Udupa
Recent mentee: Anthony Nguyen


Stephen Lisberger, PhD
George Barth Geller Professor and Chair, Neurobiology
Understanding the general principles of brain operation, through analysis of a relatively simple sensory-motor system in a complex animal
lisberger@neuro.duke.edu

Recent mentee: Timothy Darlington


Giselle Lopez, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology
Brain Tumors
giselle.lopez@duke.edu

House Faculty Advisor


Micah Luftig, PhD
Professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Viruses that cause cancer with an overarching goal of defining the basic molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis and leveraging these findings for diagnostic value and therapeutic intervention.
micah.luftig@duke.edu

Current mentee: Danielle Burner


Xunrong Luo, MD, PhD
Professor, Medicine (Nephrology)
Focuses on the induction and mechanisms of transplantation tolerance, using innovative donor-specific negative vaccination strategies to target the host machineries involved in clearance of cellular apoptotic debris in an immunotolerogenic manner.
xunrong.luo@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Donald McDonnell, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Chair, Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
The research is focused on the development and application of mechanism based approaches to identify novel therapeutics for use in the treatment and prevention of hormonally responsive cancers.
donald.mcdonnell@duke.edu

Recent mentee: Patrick Juras


Cameron McIntyre, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurosurgery
Research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of deep brain stimulation
cameron.mcintyre@duke.edu

Current mentee: Andreas Seas


Manoj Mohanan, PhD
Associate Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Global Health
manoj.mohanan@duke.edu

Current mentee: Christopher Behrer, Laura Stilwell


Ashley Moseman, PhD
Assistant Professor, Integrative Immunobiology
Understand central nervous system (CNS) immunity, with a specific focus on antimicrobial protection at the olfactory barrier.
ashley.moseman@duke.edu

Current mentee: Skye Tracey


Opeyemi Olabisi, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Patient-stem cell-derived podocytes and reprogrammed mammalian cell lines as tools for uncovering disease mechanisms of APOL1 nephropathy.
opeyemi.olabisi@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Trudy Oliver, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Understanding the biology of under-studied subtypes of lung cancer, specifically squamous and small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
trudy.oliver@duke.edu

Current mentee: Margaret Weber


Mark Palmeri, MD, PhD
Professor of the Practice, Biomedical Engineering
Ultrasonic imaging, specifically using acoustic radiation force to characterize tissue properties, and finite element analysis of soft tissue response to impulsive radiation force excitation
mark.palmeri@duke.edu

Steering Committee
Current mentee: Ouwen Huang
Recent mentee: Felix Jin


John Pearson, PhD
Associate Professor of Practice, Biomedical Engineering
Application of machine learning methods to analysis of brain data and behavior. Special interest in neurobiology of reward and decision-making, particularly issues surrounding foraging, impulsivity, and self-control. More generally: computational principles underlying brain organization at the mesoscale, and work in lab studies phenomena that range from complex social behaviors to coding principles of the retina.
john.pearson@duke.edu

Current mentee: Daniela De Albuquerque


Ann Marie Pendergast, PhD
Anthony R. Means Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Regulation of cellular signaling pathways by tyrosine kinases and adaptor proteins in normal development and pathological conditions, including cancer, immune deficiencies and neurological disorders
ann.pendergast@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Sallie R. Permar, MD, PhD

Recent mentee: Eleanor Semmes


Sudarshan Rajagopal, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine (Cardiology), Biochemistry
Pulmonary hypertension; right heart failure
sudarshan.rajagopal@duke.edu

Admissions Committee
Current mentee: Preston Anderson
Recent mentee: Dylan Eiger


John Rawls, PhD
Professor, Director, Duke Microbiome Center
Understand how the intestinal microbiome contributes to vertebrate physiology and disease.
john.rawls@duke.edu

Current mentee: Margaret Morash


Zachary Reitman, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology
Radiotherapy for primary and metastatic tumors of the brain and spine. Interested in basic and translational research studies to develop new treatment approaches for pediatric and adult brain tumors. Uses genomic analysis, radiation biology studies, and genetically engineered animal models of cancer to carry out this research.
zjr@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


John Sampson, MD, PhD
Robert H., M.D. and Gloria Wilkins Professor of Neurosurgery
Immunotherapeutic targeting of a tumor-specific mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor
john.sampson@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Gillian Sanders Schmidler, PhD
Professor, Population Health Sciences and Medicine
Focuses on the development of evidence-based decision models to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of alternative prevention, treatment, and management strategies for chronic diseases – and the translation of such models into formats/tools that patients, healthcare providers, and policymakers can use in their decision-making process.
gillian.schmidler@duke.edu

Recent mentee: Ethan Borre


Laurie Sanders, PhD
Assistant Professor in Neurology
Research pursues the novel hypothesis that defective maintenance of genome integrity is an upstream mechanism contributing to the progressive neurodegeneration that occurs in Parkinson's disease
laurie.sanders@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Stephanie Sarantopoulos, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy
stephanie.sarantopoulous@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Tatiana Segura, PhD
Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Neurology
We engineer therapeutic materials to promote wound healing and tissue regeneration (think Wolverine without the blades).
tatiana.segura@duke.edu

Current mentee: Sydney Jeffs


Mari Shinohara, PhD
Associate Professor, Integrative Immunobiology
Uses mouse models for infectious and autoimmune diseases to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of; pathogen recognition by PRRs in macrophages and DCs, initiation of inflammatory responses in the innate immune system, and the impact of innate immune inflammation on the development and regulation of T cell-mediated adaptive immune responses
mari.shinohara@duke.edu

Current mentee: Devon DiPalma, Jonathan Messerschmidt


Gustavo Silva, PhD
Associate Professor, Biology
Understand and be able to control how cells respond to stressful and harmful conditions, which are the underlying causes of many human diseases. Study cellular response to stress at the protein level and aim to characterize the different regulatory functions mediated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), essential machinery involved in modulating protein dynamics.
gustavo.silva@duke.edu

Current mentee: Austin Maduka


Dorothy Sipkins, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Studies the molecular characteristics of tissue microenvironments, or “niches,” that regulate the migration, survival and regeneration of cancerous cells.
dorothy.sipkins@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Joshua Snyder, PhD
Associate Professor, Surgery; Assistant Professor, Cell Biology
Determine how cancer cells adapt and grow before cancer is diagnosed.
joshua.snyder@duke.edu

Current mentee: Alejandra Patino


Kevin Southerland, MD
Assistant Professor, Surgery
My long-term research goal is to develop novel therapeutics for limb salvage. My strategy to accomplish this goal is to leverage functional genomics and molecular biology techniques to understand the cellular processes that drive tissue repair in the ischemic limb.
kevin.southerland@duke.edu

House Faculty Advisor


Bruce Sullenger, PhD
Joseph W. and Dorothy W. Beard Professor, Surgery, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Ribozymes (RNA enzymes) and RNA ligands (aptamers) in gene therapy
bruce.sullenger@duke.edu

Current mentee: Lyra Olson


Beth Sullivan, PhD
Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Research Training, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Focused on chromosome organization, with specific emphasis on the genomics and epigenetics of the chromosomal locus called the centromere and the formation and fate of chromosome abnormalities that are associated with birth defects, reproductive abnormalities, and cancer. The centromere is a specialized chromosomal site involved in chromosome architecture and movement, kinetochore function, heterochromatin assembly, and sister chromatid cohesion.​
beth.sullivan@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Neeraj K. Surana (Neil), MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Integrative Immunobiology
Research innovatively integrates gnotobiotic murine models, immunology, microbiology, and characterization of the microbiota with the ultimate aim of identifying specific commensal bacteria with immunomodulatory potential and subsequent characterization of their biologic effects.
neil.surana@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Purushothama Tata, PhD
Assistant Professor, Cell Biology
Understanding the ensemble properties of tissues in the context of development, homeostasis, regeneration and tumorigenesis in diverse epithelial tissues including lung
purushothamarao.tata@duke.edu

Recent mentee: Arvind Konkimalla


David Tobin, PhD
Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Tuberculosis: mycobacterial pathogenesis and host susceptibility
david.tobin@duke.edu

Current mentee: Colleen McClean


Peter Ubel, MD
Madge and Dennis T. McLawhorn Professor, Marketing and Public Policy
Research and writing explore the quirks in human nature that influence our lives -- the mixture of rational and irrational forces that affect our health, our happiness, and the way our society functions
peter.ubel@duke.edu

Steering Committee


Warren Warren, PhD
James B. Duke Professor, Chemistry
Focuses on the design and application of what might best be called novel pulsed techniques, using controlled radiation fields to alter dynamics. 
warren.warren@duke.edu

Current mentee: Shannon Eriksson


Anne West, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Neurobiology
Molecular mechanisms of activity-dependent synapse development.
west@neuro.duke.edu

MSTP Associate Director
Admissions Committee
Steering Committee


Kris Wood, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Develops state-of-the-art tools for large-scale, efficient, and information-rich mammalian functional genomics experiments
kris.wood@duke.edu

Current mentee: Christopher Bassil, Christian Cerda-Smith, Christopher Delaney, Shane Killarney, Jude Raj, Michael Aiduk


Colleen Wu, PhD
Assistant Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery
Studies how low oxygen tension (hypoxia), in the bone microenvironment influences bone homeostasis, hematopoietic development, and metastatic bone colonization.
colleen.wu@duke.edu

Admissions Committee


Jennifer Zhang, PhD
Professor, Dermatology
Gene regulation of epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation, Keratinocytes as instigators of inflammatory responses, Ubiquitination enzymes in melanoma.
jennifer.zhang@duke.edu

Current mentee: Stephen Kirchner