BIO5 Institute

The personalized diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer.

..

Dr. Alicia Allen is a behavioral epidemiologist and her current research focuses on topics that occur in the intersection between substance misuse (e.g., nicotine/tobacco, cannabis, opioids) and women's health (e.g., pregnancy, postpartum, hormonal contraceptive use).

Depression is a major health problem that is often chronic or recurrent. Existing treatments have limited effectiveness, and are provided wihtout a clear indication that they will match a particular patient's needs. In this era of precision medicine, we strive to develop neurally-informed treatments for depression and related disorders.

We are interested in understanding the genetic basis for bacterial interactions with other organisms (be they plants, insects, fungi, other bacteria), and on how evolution shapes these interactions. By better understanding the rules and molecules that structure such relationships, we hope to develop new ways to manipulate these interactions (e.g. through the development of specific antimicrobial compounds) or shape their evolutionary dynamics through time.

I develop new optical imaging devices that can detect cancer at the earliest stage. Optics has the resolution and sensitivity to find these small, curable lesions, and we design the endoscope that provide access to organs inside the body. .

Unravel the phylodynamics and transmission-specific determinants of emerging plant virus/fastidious bacteria-insect vector complexes, and translate new knowledge to abate pathogen spread in food systems.

The Buchan lab studies how cells regulate gene expression at the level of cytoplasmic messenger RNA (mRNA), the templates of protein synthesis. Areas of particular interest include mRNA-protein bodies called stress granules and P-bodies, which regulate mRNA function, cell signaling, and are implicated in the pathology of viral replication, various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS.

Dr. Winslow Burleson is a social inventor, a scholar, researcher, artist, and educator with expertise in Human Computer Interaction and the Learning Sciences. He has been recognized as a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a pioneering innovator advancing the digital age. The National Academy of Engineering recognized him as one of the “nation's brightest young engineering researchers and educators.” Prior to joining University of Arizona he was an Associate Professor at New York University where he served as PI for the NSF Experiential Supercomputing: A Transdisciplinary Research and Innovation Holodeck grant, the only large-scale NSF CISE MRI awarded nationally in 2016. He earned a BA in Bio-Physics from Rice University, MSE in Product Design from Stanford University, and PhD in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT. He has authored over 100 scholarly articles, holds eleven patents, and twice received Time Magazine’s Top Inventions of the Year Awards.

We aim to understand the mechanisms of HPV infection, the cellular responses to HPV infection, and how the interplay between host and virus influences the outcome

Dr. Cooper’s research is One Health based and involves an interdisciplinary approach encompassing the various food industries, numerous researchers from different disciplines, and federal regulatory agencies to solving challenging global food safety issues. The Cooper laboratory’s research focuses more specifically on the genomics, pathogenesis and epidemiology of various bacterial foodborne pathogens. Dr. Cooper earned his doctorate degree at the University of Arizona (UA), post-doctorate researcher at UA, post-doctorate researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge for 4 years, prior to returning to UA as an assistant professor in 2017.

We investigate how the chemicals in our daily lives interact with the female reproductive system and influence fertility. We hope that our discoveries will help reduce the incidence of infertility and improve women's health.

Working at the nexus of functional genomics, computational biology, and cellular biology, our group is both experimental and computational. We develop novel single-cell genomic technologies and apply them to better understand lung development and disease.

I am investigating a human connective tissue disorder in mice. I am also investigating the role of gut bacteria in colon cancer risk in both a mouse model of colon cancer and in humans with colon cancer.

Dr. Solange Duhamel is an aquatic microbiologist and biogeochemist, specializing in the abundance, diversity and activity of aquatic microbes in the ocean, as well as in lakes, rivers, wetland ecosystems, and extreme environments. Her work applies to both life in Earth aquatic ecosystems and the potential for life on other planets, Astrobiology.

My laboratory studies how the retina takes visual information about the world and transmits it to the brain. We are trying to understand how this signaling responds to changing amounts of background light and becomes dysfunctional in diabetes.

There are over 30,000 undergraduates on our campus, and the skills and knowledge they gain here will shape their future careers and their lives. My work focuses on helping faculty members to reach their potential as teachers, and working to support them in the critical work they do.

Dr. Leslie V. Farland's research program focuses broadly on women’s health and can be categorized into three major themes: i) the intersection between women’s reproductive health and chronic disease risk ii) etiology and risk factors for endometriosis, infertility, and polycystic ovary syndrome iii) disparities in access to infertility care and fertility treatment utilization

Kathryn Farell-Poe's work focuses on developing extension environment education programs including: Composting: On-Farm, Backyard, and Municipal; Groundwater; Hazardous Chemicals in the Home - Use, Storage, and Disposal; Nonpoint Source Pollution; Recycling, Precycling; Safe Drinking Water; Onsite Wastewater/Septic Education

Fabian-Xosé Fernandez's work includes a focus on parsing the logic used by the circadian pacemaker to interpret multidimensional light patterns, developing light-emitting diode (LED) photo-stimulation protocols to improve mental and physical health across the lifespan, and understanding the role that nocturnal wakefulness plays in suicide risk and developing countermeasures centered around light exposure.

Dr. El-Kareh’s background is in chemical engineering, with a B.S. from the University of Colorado (Boulder) and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology. Her research has generally been in mathematical modeling in biology, with a primary focus on cancer-related problems. She has modeled cancer treatment and growth, including cellular pharmacology and drug transport, as well as tumor-immune interactions and how they are affected by therapy. Because cancer is a disease of cell cycle dysregulation, and this affects treatment, she is also involved in developing models for the mammalian cell cycle. Additional interests have been modeling microcirculatory blood flow, and human memory.

I examine the molecular functions of the different cells found in the tissues and organs of plants and animals and how they combine these functions to optimize the health and vigor of the organism.

Valley Fever (coccidioidomycosis) occurs more in Arizona than anywhere else. My research and others at the Valley Fever Center for Excellence involve understanding how disease is caused by infection, how the immune system stops or prevents illness, and how we can better diagnose, treat, or prevent this public health problem.

The Gallitano Lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying the dual genetic and environmental risk for neuropsychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and mood disorders. We focus on immediate early genes that are activated in the brain by environmental stimuli, including stress, and regulate processes disrupted in mental illnesses. Ongoing studies examine how Egr3 regulates effectors including Arc and the serotonin 2A receptor to influence synaptic plasticity, memory, and behavior.

I moved to UA COMP after many years at San Diego State University as the Director of the SDSU Heart Institute. Here, I am the inaugural Director of the Translational Cardiovascular Research Center. I am also the Associate Dean for Research at UA COMP. My main goal in both of these positions is to continue to build current and develop new translational biomedical research programs that bridge UA COMP with clinical partners in Phoenix and with research partners at UA COMP.

Vijay Gokhale's work includes the use of medicinal chemistry in the development of small molecule therapeutics for neuropathic pain, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and acute lung injury and cancer.

Judith S. Gordon, Ph.D., is a professor and Associate Dean for Research in the University of Arizona College of Nursing. She is also a professor in the University of Arizona Department of Family and Community. Dr. Gordon has 25 years of experience in tobacco cessation and prevention research. Dr. Gordon has been Principal or Co-Investigator on more than 40 projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, NASA, private foundations, and the University of Arizona. She has authored or co-authored over 120 books, products, and publications in peer-reviewed journals, and presented at numerous local, regional, national and international scientific conferences.

The broad goal of Katalin Gothard's research is to understand the neural basis of emotion and social behavior. Her lab work reveals the real-time dynamic interactions in multiple systems implicated in emotion regulation and the mechanisms by which emotional responses produce immediate behavioral effects.

Dr. Grandner is a licensed clinical psychologist board-certified in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson. His work focuses on real-world implications of sleep health. He has over 150 journal publications, holds leadership in several national organizations, serves on the editorial boards of several journals in the field, and has served as a scientific advisor to health, technology, athletics, nutritional, and pharma companies.

The research in my laboratory is focused on identifying the components and molecular mechanisms regulating actin architecture in cardiac and skeletal muscle during normal development and disease. Control of actin filament lengths and dynamics is important for cell motility and architecture and is regulated in part by capping proteins that block elongation and depolymerization at both the fast-growing (barbed) and slow-growing (pointed) ends of the filaments.

Stefano Guerra's work includes an epidemiologic study, which used a household-based approach to assess prevalence and longitudinal changes in respiratory health. Other biomarker projects include a study on molecular biomarkers of asthma and COPD from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

I recently joined the U. of A community as the Vice Chair of Research for OB-GYN. I consider myself a clinical trialist and have conducted multiple randomized controlled trial. The most important contributions of my work has been to the use of antenatal corticosteroids for pregnancies at risk for preterm delivery. Prematurity prevention, optimizing outcomes, and developing evidence based strategies to reduce the burden of prematurity.

I am generating human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells kidney and liver organoids. Further, I am investigating in vivo maturation and functional properties of organoids after implantation in rodents. I am also involved in rodent kidney and liver bio-scaffolds cellularization with stem cells derived progenitors, differentiation, and characterization of their physiological properties.

Michael Hammer has headed a productive research lab in human evolutionary genetics. His lab were early adopters of next generation sequencing (NGS) technology successfully employed NGS methods to identify molecular lesions causing neurodevelopmental disorders in undiagnosed children. His lab is also currently pursuing studies to identify modifier genes that alter the expression of major genes and how they contribute to phenotypic heterogeneity in Mendelian disorders.

...

The Horton lab uses biophysical, biochemical, and molecular biology to study protein-DNA interactions and filament formation by enzymes. Current projects include the investigation of mechanisms of disease caused by the Human Parvovirus B19, and advantages of filament formation by enzymes such as the sequence specific DNA endonuclease SgrAI, and the important metabolic enzyme PFK.

Our research is centered on the prevention and treatment of our major degenerative diseases. We concentrate on peptide hormones and neurotransmitters and their receptors that are involved in these major diseases. Specific potential applications include pigmentary disorders, melanoma cancer, feeding disorders, pain, sexual function and motivation, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc.

Professor Betül Kaçar is an astrobiologist exploring the origins of life on Earth and finding life on other planets in the Universe. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona in the Departments of Molecular & Cellular Biology as well as Astronomy and the Lunar & Planetary Laboratories. Prior to Arizona, she was a NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University where she developed molecular systems to bring ancient DNA sequences into the laboratory for physical, chemical and biological characterization. Her research is supported by NASA Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology Programs, NASA Astrobiology Program, the John Templeton Foundation, the National Science Foundation, Harvard University Origins Initiative as well as the University of Arizona Foundation. Betul is one of the Principal Investigators of the NASA Astrobiology Institute Reliving the Past node, is an associate member of the NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in the search for life on exoplanets, and currently holds an Adjunct Professor position at Earth-Life Science Institute in Tokyo, Japan, which is dedicated to understanding the origins of life. She was named a Scialog Fellow of the Heising-Simons Foundation and Kavli Foundation to study the Biosignatures and Life in the Universe in 2020, a NASA Early Career Fellow in 2019, and a Way Cool Scientist by the Science Club for Girls in 2017. Her research has gained national and international attention, and has been featured by CNN, BBC, NOVA Science, Discover Magazine, NPR Science Friday and Scientific American.

We are developing low-cost in vivo microscopy devices that can visualize cellular details of human tissues in vivo and help disease diagnosis and treatment in low-resource settings, high-speed tissue microscopy technologies that can examine entire organ under risk of having malignant diseases and detect small, early-stage lesions, and miniature microscopy devices that have the potential to examine anatomically-challenging human organs and facilitate integration of microscopic imaging with other imaging modalities.

John Kececioglu's research is in applied algorithms, with an emphasis on bioinformatics and computational biology, including: multiple sequence alignment, inverse parametric alignment, sequence assembly, and genome rearrangement. Software developed by his group includes Opal, a tool for multiple sequence alignment, Facet, a tool for alignment accuracy estimation, InverseOpt, a library for inverse parametric optimization, Ipa, a tool for inverse sequence alignment, and AlignAlign, a tool for optimally aligning alignments.

Dr. Khanna has worked in the areas of RNA, RNA-protein, and protein-protein interactions for over 10 years. Dr. Khanna's has a background in chemistry, structural biology, biophysics and drug discovery in neurodegenerative diseases. In her laboratory, she hsa several exciting ongoing projects that all focus on drug discovery using small molecules, peptides and aptamers. The Khanna laboratory develops inhibitors for difficult to target RNA-protein and protein-protein interfaces.

Chelsea Kidwell specializes in prevention and treatment of stroke. She has special interests in medical imaging and stroke as well as ethnic and racial disparities among stroke patients.

My research examines neural factors which affect language functions, and how these change across life-span and are influenced by stroke, brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders. In my work, I use combination of cognitive measures and multimodal neuroimaging techniques (fMRI, EEG/ERPs, MEG). I am also interested in recovery of function, and treatment approaches involving speech-language therapy in combination with noninvasive brain stimulation techniques.

Dr. Killgore is the Director of the Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Lab in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona. He is a clinical neuropsychologist and research neuroscientist whose research focuses on understanding the brain systems involved in emotional processes and cognitive performance. For the past decade, his work has focused nearly exclusively on the factors affecting the mental health, wellbeing, and performance of military personnel and combat Veterans. His work combines neurocognitive assessment with state-of-the-art neuroimaging methods to study the role of emotion in complex cognitive processes such as moral judgment, decision-making, and risk-taking. He is also interested in how these brain-behavior systems may be affected by environmental and lifestyle factors such as insufficient sleep, nutrition, light exposure, physical activity, and stimulants such as caffeine. In particular, Dr. Killgore has explored the role of sleep as a mediator of psychological and emotional health and the potential role of insufficient sleep as a contributor to psychiatric disturbance, emotional dysregulation, and risk-related behavior. He is currently conducting several Department of Defense funded studies on problems affecting military personnel including mild traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I use human genetic data to find associations of genetic markers with complex traits and diseases, to shed light on disease pathophysiology, causal pathways, and health disparities, and to inform precision medicine.

We study how a common intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, persists in, and potentially changes, the mammalian brain. Understanding the Toxoplasma-brain interaction offers the opportunity to develop better therapies to treat toxoplasmosis as well as giving new insights into how to manipulate the brain immune response which has been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases.

Raymond Kostuk's research is focused on Optical imaging and systems, photovoltaic devices and systems, holography, electro-optics, and fiber optic systems

We are a plant genomics lab who specialize in whole genome sequencing and assembly; with analyses of structural variation, gene modeling and transcriptomes. Our work on major projects of rice, corn, barley, etc, allows us to share our technical expertise with other researchers.

Michael Kuhns' research program is focused on (i) increasing our basic understanding of how T cell fate decisions are made (e.g. development, activation, differentiation, effector functions), and (ii) increasing their working knowledge of how to manipulate these decisions to direct T cells towards a desired outcome, such as increasing responses to vaccines or tumors, preventing transplant rejection, or attenuating autoimmunity.

Dr. Lai uses behavioral and neuroscience methods to study contextualized language meaning. Her current research include figurative language, emotion and language, and language and thought about motion and time. Dr. Lai received her PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics first and then at the University of South Carolina. She has been a faculty in Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Arizona since Fall 2016. She is an elected fellow at the Psychonomic Society.

https://www.engr.arizona.edu/~klaksari/

Dr. Lega's research aims to understand nonlinear phenomena and how they affect physical or biological systems around us. Her work, which is collaborative in nature, combines data-informed mathematical modeling with mathematical analysis of the models and numerical simulations. Her scientific contributions span the areas of nonlinear science, fluid dynamics, nonlinear optics, molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, geosciences, and more recently, mosquito-borne diseases. Dr. Lega is a Professor of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics (GIDP), and Public Health at the University of Arizona. She is a member of the UA Bio 5 Institute, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK), and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. Li is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona in 2019. He is the associate director of Center to Stream Healthcare in Place regarding the development of in-home technologies for managing chronic diseases. Dr. Li is an expert in machine learning and sleep disorders with a primary focus on design home-based healthcare systems. His research projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation.

My laboratory focuses on both basic and translational sciences. In basic science part, we investigate the structures, functions and mechanisms of essential macromolecules involved in various cellular actions and disease processes. The knowledge gained from these basic science studies leads to the second category, the drug discovery part where we develop novel biochemical and cellular assays for different drug targets, carry out high throughput screening (HTS) assays to identify novel target-based inhibitors, perform cellular antiviral/antifungal/anti-cancer assays, and conduct ADMET profiling and mouse model efficacy studies for lead compounds.

Zong-Ming Li, PhD, is currently the William and Sylvia Rubin Endowed Chair of Orthopedic Research at The University of Arizona, and a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Li is also the Vice Chair for Research in Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Director of Robert G. Volz, MD Orthopedic Research Laboratories, Associate Director of University of Arizona Arthritis Center, and Director of the Hand Research Laboratory. Prior to moving to University of Arizona, Dr. Li was a Professor in Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, and held appointments as Full Staff in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Orthopedic Surgery, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Cleveland Clinic. While in Cleveland, Dr. Li was an Adjunct Professor in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Cleveland State University where he served as the Co-Chair of the Applied Biomedical Engineering PhD Program, a joint educational establishment between Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland State University. Dr. Li has more than 30 years of experience in musculoskeletal research and education, including (1) his current position as an Endowed Chair of Orthopedic Research (2019-); (2) Professor and Staff at the Cleveland Clinic in Biomedical Engineering, Orthopedic Surgery, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (2009-2019); (2) Assistant/Associate Professor in Orthopedic Surgery, Bioengineering, and Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh (2001-2009); (3) Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy at Walsh University (1998-2001); (4) doctoral studies in biomechanics at the Pennsylvania State University (1995-1998); (5) research experience in orthopedic biomechanics at the Shanghai Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Ruijin Hospital (1992-1995); (6) graduate studies for a Master’s degree in musculoskeletal biomechanics from the Sichuan University (1989-1992); and (7) undergraduate studies in engineering mechanics and a bachelor’s thesis in sports biomechanics from the Southwest Jiaotong University in China (1985-1989). As an enthusiastic supporter and contributor to his profession, Dr. Li has served on the editorial boards of 18 journals related to bioengineering and orthopedics and has reviewed manuscripts for more than 30 professional journals. He has extensively contributed to organizing national and international conferences related to orthopedics, bioengineering, rehabilitation, kinesiology, and biomechanics. In his service to professional societies, Dr. Li was the President of the World Association for Chinese Biomedical Engineers (WACBE, 2013-2015), a member of the Executive Board of the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB, 2009-2012), Co-Chair of the Upper Extremity Topic Committee of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS, 2007-2009), and a Member of the Research Management Committee of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH, 2014-2017). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors, Asian-American Institute for Research and Education (ASIAM 2017-), and the President of Hand and Wrist Biomechanics International (HWBI, 2012-).

Jonathan Lifshitz's research questions primarily investigate traumatic brain injury as a disease process that dismantles, repairs and regenerates circuits in the brain. The underlying principle is that adaptive repair and regeneration fail, leaving a miswired brain and neurological impairments that decrease quality of life.

Sol Lim is an assistant professor of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. She directs the Smart Life In Motion (SLIM) Lab leading research in the field of human factors & ergonomics. Her research combines principles from human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) and data analytics to develop new methods that can be used to improve human performance and well-being in daily lives, occupational settings, and constructed environments for diverse populations.

Developing safer, more stable sunscreens

Precise diagnosis and treatment of disease requires an ability to target agents to specific tissues and cell types within those tissues. We are developing agents that exhibit cell type specificity for these purposes.

Purnima Madhivanan is an epidemiologist and biomedical researcher examining the intersection of infectious diseases and cancer using -omics technology. Her current work is examining the vaginal and gut microbiome and their role in women's reproductive health. She has conducted several large mixed methods epidemiological studies in the US and internationally.

Prof. Euan McLeod studies optical systems for sensing and imaging objects at the nanoscale. His lab uses optical tweezers to "print" photonic devices at higher resolution out of more types of materials than other 3D printers. Euan also works on cost-effective field-portable lensfree holographic microscopes that provide high resolution across an ultra-large field of view. These microscopes are used for biomedical sensing and environmental air quality monitoring.

We aim to constrain the microbial drivers of soil-atmosphere trace gas fluxes across a range of scales. We constrain the genetic traits for trace gas metabolism and develop new tools for measuring genes and gases in heterogenous soil systems. New understanding is evaluated across a range of model to natural ecosystems where microbial trace gas cycling occurs in the context of environmental forcings and interactions. Lab website: www.laurameredith.com

We seek to produce new drugs that harness molecules produced during the natural immune response in order to treat cancer and pain. Such compounds may also provide new treatments for heart failure and alcoholism.

Dr. Parthasarathy has expertise in noninvasive home ventilation for sleep-related breathing disorders and invasive ventilation in critically ill patients. His major areas of focus have been in promoting adherence to nonivasive ventilation devices in the home setting and patient-ventilator interaction during critical illness. He serves as Chief of Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at COM-T and as a Special Advisor to NH/NHLBI.

Data science for environmental and public health applications, with emphasis on environmental risk assessment and informatics for precision medicine.

Renquist Lab Research aims to address the causes and consequent diseases of obesity. To this end we have research focused on 1) type 2 diabetes and obesity associated hypertension, 2) development of effective, ligand-directed, chemotherapeutic for cancer, and 3) central nervous system control of visceral blood flow and food intake.

The aims of our efforts are to elucidate the science of nutrient-responsive sensing and signaling processes in human systems and to rationally apply this knowledge in development of effective interventions. We apply three approaches in these endeavors; namely: 1. Integrative omics to: a) characterize | catalog structural chemistry and molecular dynamics of nutrient-responsive human systems (receptors, transporters, enzymes and hormones); and, b) determine functional implications of structural variation in elements of these systems. 2. Physiological optics to characterize in vivo human response to nutrient intake (tissue status change and retinal | visual function). 3. Ultra-structural | membrane | organoid biophysics to identify modifiable ('druggable') mechanisms and rate-limiting steps of nutrient sensing | signaling in human retina and brain.

Suchol’s work includes the use of soft materials mechanics and device engineering in the development of chemical and biosensors for health and environmental monitoring.

Our laboratory focuses on the role and regulation of sphingolipids and their metabolizing enzymes in the pathobiology of inflammation. Specifically, our interests are in gastrointestinal inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease. We employ both in vitro and in vivo model systems to examine the role of dietary modulation on sphingolipid metabolism and inflammation. In our pursuits, we utilize cell lines, intestinal organoids, in vivo models, and biobanked samples from patients with IBD and colorectal cancer to determine the effects of high fat diets and dietary fatty acids on sphingolipid metabolism and intestinal pathobiology. Moreover, we utilize unbiased “Omics” approaches in our research efforts, specifically lipidomics, proteomics and phospho-proteomics, in order to define novel mechanisms, interventions, therapeutic targets and biomarkers for intestinal pathobiologies.

I am an Environmental Engineering with training in Toxicology and Chemistry. My primary field of expertise is identification, health assessment, and fate of environmental pollutants. I also work in the field of drug discovery from natural products. My team and I also develop novel analytical techniques for ultra-trace analysis, including on-line sensor systems.

Armin's research focuses on the effect of aerosol particles on the environment, clouds and rainfall, climate, and public health/welfare. A suite of synergistic methods are used for this research, including laboratory experiments, ground and airborne field measurements, modeling, and remote sensing observations. Since 2004, he has participated in 15 airborne field projects, including six as a mission PI with the CIRPAS Twin Otter (sponsored by ONR). Currently, Armin is involved with a multi-year NASA project called CAMP2EX (Cloud and Aerosol Monsoonal Processes-Philippines Experiment; https://espo.nasa.gov/camp2ex/content/CAMP2Ex) and is serving as the PI of a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital-3 (EVS-3) mission called ACTIVATE (Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment; https://activate.larc.nasa.gov/).

Dr. Sun received his PhD degree from Industrial and Physical Pharmacy at Purdue University in 2016. He joined the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona in 2020 after completion of his postdoctoral training in nanomedicine and immunotherapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He published 9 papers in pharmaceutical journals, 1 book chapter and 1 licensed patent.

Dr. Xiaoxiao Sun's research focus is developing theoretically justifiable and computationally efficient methods for complex and big data arising in data-rich areas, such as medical imaging and genomics.

The Sutphin Lab studies the molecular basis of aging. Individual age is the primary risk factor for the majority of the top causes of death in the United States and other developed nations. As our population grows older, aging is increasingly a central problem for both individual quality of life and the economics of societal health. Understanding the molecular architecture that drives aging will reveal key intervention points to extend healthy human lifespan, simultaneously delay onset of multiple categories of age-associated disease, and develop targeted treatments for specific pathologies. We use a combination of systems biology, comparative genetics, and molecular physiology to identify new genetic and environmental factors in aging and characterize their molecular role in age-associated disease.

My current research is in globally emerging research avenues that transcend laboratory to field-based studies and use modern analytical approaches to advance ecosystem understanding of carbon turnover and storage through molecular characterization. While the majority of work on metabolomics focuses on clinical studies, my work focuses on the soil environment as whole, one of the most complicated but amazing systems on earth.

We combine chemical and computer vision approaches to discover how regenerative tissues process environmental information to promote accurate cell fate decisions and prevent uncontrolled cell growth.

Dr. Van Dyke conducts research on biomaterials and medical devices and works primarily in the application domains of trauma treatment, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. A particular area of focus for the past 20 years has been protein-based biomaterial systems and biomolecules related to the extracellular matrix. He has developed several biomaterial-based technologies and products, which have resulted in typical scholarly outputs including many US and international patents. His intellectual property has been licensed to several startup companies, in which Dr. Van Dyke has served as Chief Scientific Officer, as well as heads of manufacturing and regulatory affairs. He has deep experience in healthcare technology commercialization, including intellectual property strategy, bioprocess manufacturing, and regulatory affairs.

Our research efforts focus on bacteria that cause serious healthcare-associated infections, and those associated with antibiotic use. This infections disproportiOur federally-funded research focuses on infection prevention. Specifically, we study diseases such as Clostridium difficile Infection that affect populations worldwide ("One-Health" issue). Our current efforts are aimed at translating bench-research findings to the bedside. We have recently been awarded two patents for a novel biologic agent invention aimed at preventing bacterial infections in humans as well as food animals.onately affect the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. One overarching goal of our studies is to develop safe, cost-effective, non-antibiotic interventions to prevent and treat bacterial diarrheas.

We develop cutting-edge imaging technology, integrating light, ultrasound and electricity, to diagnose and treat diseases ranging from epilepsy to breast cancer. Novel sources for ultrasound contrast include optical and microwave absorption, mechanical strain, and electrical current. We visualize electrical brain “stormsˮ during uncontrollable seizures and envision “smartˮ photoacoustic agents that seek-and-destroy deadly tumors.

Dr. Wung is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and an acute care nurse practitioner. She has more than 20 years of clinical research experience in the effective and safe use of health technologies and big data to provide precision monitoring strategies for cardiovascular and acute illnesses.

The majority of my focus has been on Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) a beta herpesvirus that infects the majority of our species. My research has spanned endocytic trafficking, DNA damage and repair pathways, and growth factor signaling.

Our research approaches apply a combination of advances in nanoscience, molecular biology and omics to a new generation of biological tools and sensors based on nano and microscale technologies for breakthrough applications in healthcare delivery.

Our lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying the fetal sex-specific dysregulation of fetal endothelial function (such as disturbed angiogenesis and responses to TNF-α) in complicated pregnancies, and the maternal obesity-associated fetal endothelial dysfunction and future health risks of the offspring. Our research utilizing multiple model systems including human placenta tissue, human cell models, and in vivo animal models.