Nadav Ahituv
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Nadav Ahituv s a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and the Interim Director for the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco. The Ahituv lab is focused on identifying gene regulatory elements and linking nucleotide variation within them to various phenotypes including morphological differences between species, drug response and human disease. In addition, our lab is developing massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) that allow for high-throughput functional characterization of gene regulatory elements and the use of gene regulatory elements as therapeutic targets or disease diagnostic markers.
Christopher Allen
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Dr. Allen is an Investigator of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and the SABRE Center, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy at UCSF. Dr. Allen’s research in the SABRE center focuses on the cellular immune response in asthma. He is using his expertise in cutting-edge two-photon microscopy to visualize interactions among cells in the lungs as well as in lymphoid organs that ‘prime’ cells for immune responses in the respiratory tract. A particular emphasis of his research is on the development and function of IgE antibodies that contribute to allergic responses. IgE has been shown to be important in human asthma, yet little is known about the events leading to IgE production after inhaling allergen.
Mark Ansel
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Mark Ansel is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. He is a co-founder of the Bakar ImmunoX Initiative, a new UCSF initiative to harness immunology to improve human health. His laboratory in the Sandler Asthma Basic Research Center focuses on the regulation of gene expression in the immune system. MicroRNAs (miRNA), RNA binding proteins (RBP), transcription factors, and epigenetic regulation shape the gene expression programs that determine cell identity and function. The Ansel lab studies how these molecular mechanisms work together to control lymphocyte development, differentiation, and function in immunity. We use in vitro cell differentiation systems, biochemistry, mouse genetics, disease models, and gene expression analyses in cells from human clinical samples to unravel the regulatory networks that underlie immunity and immune pathology, especially allergy and asthma.
Paola Betancur
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Dr. Paola Betancur is an expert in gene regulation and genomics. She is interested in understanding the mechanisms encoded in the DNA by which cancerous cells avoid being detected and destroyed by the host’s immune system. Toward this goal, her lab examines the interactions between epigenetic modifiers, transcription factors and the genomic enhancers of target genes that in response to inflammation abnormally activate the immune escape program within tumor or damaged cells during aging, after radiation and in response to infectious diseases. To accomplish our goal, she has long lasting collaborations across campus, at Stanford University and other recognized national and international institutions.
Sophie Dumont
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Sophie Dumont is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UCSF. The Dumont Lab aims to understand how cells generate, detect, and respond to mechanical forces to accurately segregate their chromosomes when they divide. While we have a nearly complete list of molecules essential to cell division, very little is known about the underlying mechanical interactions and principles. To probe the mechanical architecture of the machines of chromosome segregation (kinetochore and spindle), the Dumont Lab combines mechanical perturbations and readouts with high resolution imaging and molecular perturbations. The overall goal of this work is to uncover the mechanical requirements of accurate chromosome segregation and mechanical failures of disease states such as cancer.
Ryan Hernandez
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Dr. Ryan Hernandez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences. His research focuses on computational genomics and complements the department’s emerging strengths in quantitative sciences and genomics: First, he seeks to characterize the patterns of genetic variation within and between populations using large-scale genome resequencing data. A second branch of research in his lab focuses on developing novel population genetic simulation techniques. Such simulations are used to lend insight into the plausible evolutionary forces that have shaped patterns of genetic variation, including the implications of complex interactions among selected alleles in non-stationary demographic environments. His third branch of research seeks to exploit population genetic models of demographic history and natural selection to interrogate the genetic basis of disease. By capitalizing on recent theoretical advances, Dr. Hernandez is constructing models of population dynamics that will utilize genomic re-sequencing data to discover novel regions of the genome that underlie genetic susceptibility to disease and drug response.
Martin Kampmann
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Dr. Kampmann is an Associate Professor in the UCSF Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and the IND. Dr. Kampmann's research aims to understand how human cells maintain their proteins in a functional and balanced state. The cellular pathways safeguarding proteome function and balance are termed the "proteostasis network." Dr. Kampmann research will elucidate how the proteostasis network dynamically adapts to the needs of the cell and how it is challenged and rewired in diseases, especially cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Identification of proteostasis factors that control formation, spread, and clearance of protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases will shed light on the disease mechanisms and reveal potential therapeutic targets.
Todd Nystul
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Todd Nysul is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Anatomy and OB/GYN. The Nystul laboratory uses the Drosophila ovary as a model for studying the fundamental properties of epithelial stem cells, their associated niche, and the connection between epithelial stem cells and cancer. The follicular epithelium in the Drosophila ovary is an ideal model for the study of epithelial biology. It possesses many classical epithelial features, such as a columnar cell shape, apical/basal polarity, and canonical cell adhesion complexes, and yet is a relatively simple tissue and is highly tractable for molecular and cell biological analysis. Combined with the powerful genetic tools available in Drosophila, this allows us to address questions in epithelial stem cell and tissue biology with single-cell resolution in the natural, in vivo context.
Sam Pleasure
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Dr. Samuel J. Pleasure is a neurologist who specializes in caring for patients with multiple sclerosis. The Pleasure Lab works on mechanisms controlling development of the cortex and hippocampus. The focus has been on the roles of morphogenic and developmental signaling pathways on the stem cell behavior, cell fate, migration and axon guidance during embryonic and postnatal development. In this area, previous work focused on the roles of Wnt, chemokines and BMP signaling pathways in the developing cortex. More recently, this work has focused on the role of the Sonic Hedgehog pathway in cortical and hippocampal development and function. Dr. Pleasure is the Glenn W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Endowed Chair in Neurology at UCSF.
Jason Sello
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Jason K. Sello is a full professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to his appointment at UCSF, Prof. Sello was a professor in the department of chemistry at Brown University. Professor Sello develops chemical tools to probe the complex phenomena underlying disease. He has been synergistically using experimental methods from chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, and genetics to study biological phenomena and to develop new therapeutics for infections, cancer, and neurological disorders. He has also worked on technologies for the conversion of plant biomass into commodity chemicals.
Anita Sil
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Anita Sil is a Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and an Early Career Scientist of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She has been studying thermally dimorphic fungi for 15 years. Dr. Sil’s efforts in genomics and molecular genetic analysis have been internationally recognized, resulting in her role as co-chair or chair of six international conferences on fungal pathogenesis. She continues to study the unique biology of thermally dimorphic fungi in an effort to challenge existing paradigms and shed light on how a eukaryotic intracellular pathogen has evolved to sense temperature and cause disease in healthy individuals.