Jorge Benitez, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Our research focuses on the pathogenesis of Vibrio cholerae and the use of attenuated Cholera strains as antigen delivery systems.

Vincent C. Bond, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Understanding of host-HIV-1 interactions. We focus mainly on host systems being manipulated by HIV-1.

Francis O. Eko, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor. Our laboratory is focused on designing/developing candidate vaccines against chlamydia and HSV-2 based on the novel recombinant Vibrio cholerae ghost (rVCG) platform technology.

Ruben Rene Gonzalez, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor. Our laboratory is focused on the study of the roles of leptin and cytokines/growth factors in reproductive immunology and cancer.

Jacqueline Hibbert, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. Research focus is intermediary metabolism of macronutrients.

Joseph U. Igietseme, Ph.D., Professor. Investigation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the immunity and pathogenesis of chlamydia trachomatis.

James W. Lillard Jr., Ph.D., M.B.A., Associate Professor. The Role of Chemokines in Mucosal Immunity, Inflammation, and Tolerance.

Deborah Lyn, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Signal transduction in cardiac ischemia, development of genetic markers associated with hypertension.

Julian M. Menter, Ph.D., Research Professor. The overall interest in our laboratory concerns the interaction between solar ultraviolet radiation and mammalian skin.

Gale W. Newman, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Study of the pathogenesis of infectious diseases, specifically: Mycobacterium avium in HIV-positive patients, and Helicobacter pylori.

Michael D. Powell, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director, Proteomics Core Lab. Characterization of the Active Reverse transcription complex of HIV-1. The role of Nef in proviral DNA formation and host restriction.

Veena N. Rao, Ph.D., Professor and Co-director, Cancer Biology Program. Molecular and functional dissection of ELK-1 and BRCA1 tumor suppressor genes: Role in cell growth, differentiation, signal transduction, apoptosis, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.

E. Shyam P. Reddy, Ph.D., Professor and Co-director, Cancer Biology Program. Functional role of ets, fusion onco-proteins and tumor suppressors in leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas. Function-based therapeutic approaches to human cancer.

Gary L. Sanford, Ph.D., Professor. Understanding the molecular mechanisms occurring in the initial stages of vascular remodeling and during the adaption of vascular cells to models of altered gravity environments. We also have an interest in cell and tissue engineering by three-dimensional growth of vascular cell co-cultures.

Anisia Silva-Benitez, Ph.D., Research Instructor. Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of Asiatic cholera, colonizes the human small bowel and causes a potentially life-threatening watery diarrhea. V. cholerae of serogroups O1 and O139 continues to cause seasonal cholera outbreaks that affect highly populated regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We are studying the mechanisms by which the bacterium colonizes the small intestine and cause disease.

Jonathan K. Stiles, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Molecular pathogenesis of neglected diseases that affect the central nervous system (CNS) with emphasis on cerebral malaria and African trypanosomiasis ("Sleeping Sickness").

Myrtle J. Thierry-Palmer, Ph.D., Professor (Interim Chair). The relationship between the vitamin D endocrine system and salt-sensitivity, using Dahl salt-sensitive and salt-resistant rats.