Overview of Pharmacology Program Faculty Research

The research activities of the Pharmacology Program are directed at understanding how drugs and chemicals modify biological systems. Researchers are also focused on using and developing new drugs to treat diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, epilepsy, anxiety disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, and autism.

· Dr. Abbott's research is focused on the functions of protein subunits of the potassium channels; mutations in some of these proteins lead to cardiac arrhythmia.

· Drs. Buck and Levin collaborate. They discovered a new signaling pathway via an intracellular, soluble adenylyl cyclase. This signaling pathway plays a role in cell metabolism, insulin action, axonal guidance, and in sperm activation. 

· Dr. Cartegni is developing a pharmacological approach to control/correct aberrant pre-mRNA splicing events in tumors. 

· Dr. Chiosis uses chemical biology approaches to understand the role of molecular chaperones in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

· Dr. Danishefsky's laboratory focuses on synthesizing new drugs for cancer therapy. 

· Dr. Felsen examines the mediators of inflammation in the genitourinary tract, the receptors involved, and new drug therapies designed for renal and bladder diseases.

· Dr. Giannakakou’s laboratory studies mechanisms of how various anti cancer drugs function.

· Dr. Gin synthesizes complex natural products and glycoconjugates for novel drug discovery and vaccine development.

· Dr. Gross is defining signal transduction processes involving nitric oxide, a reactive gas that is produced by mammalian cells and signals by chemical modification of protein targets. Dr. Gross has discovered a new class of drugs which inhibit nitric oxide synthetase. 

· Dr. Gudas analyzes how derivatives of vitamin A (retinoids) regulate both cellular differentiation and cellular proliferation during development and in the process of tumor formation.

· Dr. Harrison is studying how ion channels are activated by neurotransmitters and regulated by drugs. 

· Dr. Hemmings studies neuronal cell signaling with a focus on regulation of protein phosphorylation by protein phosphatases, presynaptic mechanisms of general anesthetics including the role of sodium channels, neuroprotection, and novel analgesia therapies.

· Dr. Inturrisi studies the role of glutamate receptors pain signaling and in morphine tolerance.

· Dr. Jaffrey uses molecular and chemical biology approaches to study axon guidance and neuronal development.  An additional focus of his laboratory is proteomics, the systematic identification and quantitation of proteins in a cell or tissue.  

· Dr. Kolesnick discovered a new signal transduction pathway, the sphingomyelin pathway, and is identifying how this pathway signals in response to receptor activation.

· Dr. Kraus is interested in the basic mechanisms of nuclear signaling and gene regulation by small molecules, and how these signaling pathways relate to human diseases, including cancers.

· Dr. Lee is studying how trafficking of neurotrophins and their receptors regulates central nervous system function.

· Dr. Levi is investigating the role of mast cell-derived renin in cardiac diseases and the cardioprotective effects of a novel histamine receptor subtype (the H3-receptor), which he discovered is activated in myocardial ischemia. 

· Dr. Li is decoding the molecular logic of intramembrane proteolysis that has emerged as a novel signaling paradigm, such as the gamma-secretase-mediated signal transduction of APP, Notch and ErbB4. 

· Dr. Nimer is interested in the molecular basis of human acute leukemia and in defining the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of genes critical for normal and leukemic hematopoiesis.

· Dr. Pasternak uses molecular and biochemical techniques to characterize the receptors for analgesic drugs such as morphine.

· Dr. Reidenberg is focused on issues of general interest to clinical pharmacology, for example: identifying issues related to the World Health Organization Essential Medicines program.

· Dr. Rifkind is using the environmental toxin 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) as a probe to investigate the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and P4501A enzyme induction in cell signaling leading to dysregulated glucose and lipid homeostasis and energy failure. 

· Dr. Rosen’s laboratory is identifying and characterizing signal transduction pathways that cause the dysregulation of growth and inhibition of apoptosis that typify advanced human cancer. 

· Dr. Sauve is studying enzymes that use nicotinamide to regulate the processes of DNA repair, gene silencing and longevity.

· Dr. Scheinberg is developing immunotherapeutic drugs using monoclonal antibodies conjugated to alpha emitting elements and other toxic compounds that specifically target sites on tumor cells.

· Dr. Szeto is developing novel opioid drugs for use as obstetrical analgesics. She evaluates drugs for their effects on the mother and the fetus.

· Dr. Tan uses diversity-oriented synthesis and rational drug design to identify new small molecule probes for studying biological systems and as potential therapeutic leads in cancer and infectious diseases.

· Dr. Toth studies how dysfunction in specific genes leads to the development and manifestation of psychiatric symptoms and conditions associated with anxiety.

Updated: 10/23/07