Chen, Jeannie
Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience
The major focus of my laboratory is to study sensory neuron signaling and mechanisms of retinal degeneration and neurodegeneration using cell culture and rodent models. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, we deciphered basic mechanisms of sensory neuron signal transduction and disease pathogenesis in retinal degeneration and neurodegeneration where protein mis-folding and aggregation is an underlying cause of disease.
Coba, Marcelo
Neurodevelopmental neurodegenerative and psychiatric disease are complex brain disorders, and a multitude of genes have been described to contribute to their pathology with different penetrance. Human genetic studies have discovered many genes associated with disease susceptibility that are usually described as risk factors. For each of these disorders, synaptic proteins have been implicated, in particular those involved in synaptic plasticity and protein complexes associated to the post-synaptic density (PSD). Despite these discoveries, there has been a gap in understanding the underlying mechanisms that contribute to cellular dysfunction in these disorders. Our long-term goal is to determine how candidate risk factors are functionally integrated and how mutations affect their function, not individually, but in developmental signaling networks.
Cohen, Pinchas
Distinguished Professor of Gerontology, Medicine and Biological Sciences
The Cohen lab studies mitochondrial microproteins. We take a systems biology approach to mitochondria, looking at mitochondrial ORFomics, mito-genomics, mitochondrial-epigenetics, mito-transcriptomics and mitochondrial-proteomics. Our discovery pipeline involves novel bioinformatic approaches to clone and advance disease-relevant mitochondrial-derived peptides. We utilize MiWAS (mitochondrial GWAS), MDPseq (mitochondrial RNAseq) and related tools, to identify new microproteins involved in diseases of aging. Over the last two decades we described multiple novel genes including humanin and its cytoprotective and neuroprotective roles; MOTS-c, which is an exercise-mimetic peptide in which a loss-of-function mutation predisposes to diabetes, that has been advanced to clinical trials in humans; SHLP2, which is involved in neurodegenerative diseases; SHMOOSE, a neuroprotective microprotein that harbors a mutation that predisposes to Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple other previously unrecognized microproteins. Our goal is to continue to develop diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets for health aging
Cortes, Constanza
Assistant Professor of Gerontology
We investigate the mechanisms of exercise-associated neuroprotection in the context of aging and Alzheimer's disease. We utilize transgenic exercice-mimetic transgenic mice in combination with running interventions to isolate and prioritize novel 'exerkines' to move into pre-clinical trials. We are also building an 'exercise atlas' of the brain across the lifespan, with the ultimate goal of developing exercise in a pill as a novel intervention for Alzheimer's disease
Craft, Cheryl Mae
My well established vision research program encompasses my passion for discovery and deciphering rod and cone phototransduction mechanisms in health and disease using animal models for retinal degeneration. Throughout my academic career my research discoveries identified key genes in the pineal and retina, including arrestins to maintain normal high acuity vision. Currently, my personal goals include developing alternative therapeutic rescue treatment strategies with replacement gene therapy and in vitro stem cell technology. With Cobrinik and collaborators, we identified key developmental cone regulators controlling retinoblastoma genesis. I strongly believe in the importance of mentoring vision and clinician scientists and providing medical ethical training doctoral and medical students, and society.
Dewey, James
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
The Dewey Lab studies the mechanical processes that underlie normal hearing and how these processes are affected in hearing-impaired ears. Current topics of investigation include (1) how sound causes the structures within the cochlear spiral to vibrate, (2) how these vibrations are amplified by the sensory outer hair cells, and (3) how this amplification process leads to the emission of sound by the ear.
