Medicine

My research has focused primarily on the cognitive and clinical neuroscience of aging and neurodegenerative disorders. Within this framework, my laboratory is particularly interested in integrating brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) techniques to 1) develop image-guided therapeutic TMS protocols and 2) explore TMS-derived and image-based biomarkers for early diagnosis and prediction of therapeutic outcomes for individuals with mild cognitive impairment as well as Parkinson’s disease. For past few years, I have been involved in a number of NIA-funded studies investigating brain function and its relation to cognitive performance. I am currently the Director of Brain Imaging and TMS Laboratory and teach undergraduate and graduate level courses in cognitive neuroscience, brain rehabilitation, and brain connectivity at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Zenhausern research interests encompass multiple scientific themes combining engineering and medicine to develop platform technologies with global impact for improving human life and the delivery systems of more comprehensive and personalized cares. In alignment with the fourth industrial revolution, Zenhausern and his team at the Center for Applied Nanobioscience and Medicine (ANBM) provides an interdisciplinary framework for advancing technological innovation from discoveries to medical products by partnering with governmental, clinical and industrial institutions across the globe, while training the next generation of students and professionals. Keywords: Technology Platforms Development; Integrated Biomedical Systems

Fragile-X syndrome, which includes mental and physical defects and is the most common form of inherited mental retardation. Keywords: Neurodegeneration, ALS, Aging

Jeong-Yeol Yoon, PhD, is Associate Professor in Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering, with joint appointment in Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. Dr. Yoon obtained his first PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from Yonsei University, South Korea, and his second PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Yoon’s research is focused on the design and the development of micro- and nanotechnology-based biosensors, which can be applied to medical diagnostics, veterinary diagnostics, food safety and environmental monitoring. He is equally interested in designing better biomaterial surfaces with micro- and nanotechnology, which can be used for medical implants and tissue engineering applications.Dr. Yoon has published over 50 original peer-reviewed journal articles and authored a textbook “Introduction to Biosensors” published by Springer. He serves as associate editor or editorial board member for several journals, including Journal of Biological Engineering, Biological Engineering Transactions, and Resource Magazine.

Michael Worobey, PhD, uses the genomes of viruses to trace the evolution of major communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and influenza. He employs an evolutionary approach to understand the origins, emergence and control of pathogens, in particular RNA viruses and retroviruses such as HIV and influenza virus. The research program integrates fieldwork, theory and methodology, molecular biology, and molecular evolutionary analysis of gene sequences in a phylogenetic framework.Current wet-lab projects in Dr. Worobey’s Biosafety Level 3 facility involve recovery of damaged and/or ancient DNA from a variety of sources including paraffin-embedded human tissue specimens, blood smears, and museum specimens. The two main efforts are: 1) reconstructing the emergence of HIV-1 group M in central Africa and North America using fossil HIV-1 sequences, and 2) investigating the evolution of AIDS-related viruses in wild-living African primates using non-invasively-collected samples.

Raymond L. Woosley, M.D., Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Az and Flinn Visiting Scholar for the UA College of Medicine, Phoenix. He is also founding President of the Arizona Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics, a non-profit organization dedicated to safe medication use. Dr. Woosley received his medical degree from the University of Miami, FL, his doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Louisville, KY, and his bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University. After an internship and residency in internal medicine, he completed a fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Vanderbilt University before joining the faculty and rising to the rank of Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology. In 1988, Dr. Woosley was appointed Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. In 2001, Dr. Woosley joined the faculty at The University of Arizona as Vice President of the Arizona Health Sciences Center and the Dean of the College of Medicine. In 2005, he founded Critical Path Institute (C-Path), an independent, non-profit organization created jointly by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the University of Arizona to help implement the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative. Dr. Woosley’s research has been reported in more than 280 peer-reviewed publications and in eleven patents. For his contributions to medicine, Dr. Woosley has received numerous awards from academic institutions, government agencies and professional organizations.

Dr. Russell Witte, a native Tucsonan, received a BS degree with honors in physics from the University of Arizona in Tucson (1993). Following travel abroad in Europe and Brazil, he began graduate studies in bioengineering at Arizona State University. His doctoral thesis (PhD, 2002) used chronic microelectrode arrays to describe sensory coding and learning-induced plasticity in the mammalian brain. He then moved to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and, as a post doc in the Biomedical Ultrasonics Laboratory, developed novel hybrid imaging techniques that integrate ultrasound, light, and/or microwaves for medical applications. In 2007, Dr. Witte returned to Tucson and is now Associate Professor of Medical Imaging, Optical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. Dr. Witte’s Experimental Ultrasound and Neural Imaging Laboratory (EUNIL) devises cutting-edge imaging technology, integrating light, ultrasound and microwaves to diagnose and treat diseases ranging from chronic tendon disorders (tendinopathies) and irregular cardiac rhythms (arrhythmias) to breast cancer. By integrating different forms of energy, special effects are created that enable ultrasound imaging of optical absorption deep in tissue (photoacoustic imaging), mapping current source densities in the beating heart (acoustoelectric imaging), and elasticity imaging of human muscle and tendon for quantifying tissue mechanical properties. Dr. Witte's research further extends into nanotechnology and smart contrast agents, which have applications to functional brain imaging, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Dr. Witte works closely with collaborators in the Colleges of Engineering, Optical Sciences and Medicine, as well as industry, to develop cutting-edge imaging technologies that potentially improve patient care. Dr. Witte is also a member of the Arizona Cancer Center, Sarver Heart Center and School of Mind, Brain, and Behavior, as well as the Neuroscience, Applied Mathematics, and Biomedical Engineering graduate interdisciplinary programs (GIDPs). Dr. Witte's vision is to develop a new generation of young investigators steeped in multiple disciplines branching from neuroscience, neural engineering, biochemistry, mathematics, biomedical imaging and, physics. He welcomes dreamers, brainstormers and problems solvers to join his team in search of the next great discovery in physics and medicine. Keywords: Biomedical Engineering/Medical Imaging

Jean M. Wilson, Ph.D. is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Arizona and member of the Arizona Cancer Center. Dr. Wilson’s work focuses on the establishment and maintenance of the mucosal barrier of the intestine. The cells of the intestine provide a selective barrier to pathogens and toxins, and loss of this barrier function is fundamental to pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease and bacterial infection. In addition, loss of cellular interactions important for barrier function may predispose these cells to cancer. Work in Dr. Wilson’s laboratory focuses on a protein that is highly expressed in developing intestine, implying a critical role in the formation of the intestinal epithelium. Disruption of this protein compromises junctional integrity and epithelial polarity. Furthermore, expression of this protein is decreased in a model of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease of newborns with high morbidity and mortality. These findings implicate this protein in the maintenance of intestinal barrier function in the neonate. In addition, continued expression in the adult intestine positions it to regulate epithelial permeability and polarity throughout life. Our studies focus on protein partners that interact with this protein with the goal of identifying the molecular machinery that regulates this pathway.

Microbe-host interactions Specifically microbial pathogenesis Concomitant immune response with respect to host age

Dr. Viswanathan’s research efforts over the past 12 years have focused on the mechanisms of pathogenesis of the diarrheal disease pathogens enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC). His laboratory characterized EPEC and EHEC virulence factors (specifically those secreted into host cells) and evaluates their effect on host cell physiology including barrier function, cell death pathways, and effects on innate immune responses. His specialization is innate immune signaling by intestinal epithelial cells in vitro and in vivo, and includes the use of cutting-edge technologies such as in vivo phosphoproteomics, and single-cell manipulation during bacterial infection. He also offers a very popular upper-division course in pathogenic bacteriology, and actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows at the UA. Keywords: Pathogenic E. coli, Clostridium difficile, infection, host-pathogen interactions