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Our lab is interested in understanding how viruses interact with their hosts to cause pathogenesis and disease. Our current work is aimed at elucidating herpesvirus-host interactions, with a particular focus on the human herpesvirus, cytomegalovirus (CMV). We are interested in how CMV usurps cellular processes to maintain long-term latency, drive reactivation given proper cues, and efficiently lytically replicate and spread.

Research in my lab is focused on understanding T cell differentiation and function within the tumor microenvironment with an emphasis on (1) the differentiation, in-situ localization, and spatial relationships between subsets of CD8 T cells and other immune markers in the tumor microenvironment; (2) the formation and role of tertiary lymphoid structures in antitumor immunity; (3) strategies to improve PD-1 targeted therapy for patients with cancer; and (4) identification of predictive biomarkers to improve patient selection and prognosis for cancer immunotherapy.

Rebecca Obeng's Biography 

The Panicker lab investigates the molecular mechanisms that drive pathology in Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), with the eventual goal of developing therapeutics that block or slow disease progression. We study cell-death pathways in neurodegenerative diseases, and how neuroinflammation (primarily mediated by microglial cells in the brain) contributes to the pathogenesis of neurologic disorders.

I develop new tools for cancer immunotherapy including adoptive Natural Killer (NK) and CAR-T therapies. I also research mechanisms of drug resistance in leukemia and lymphoma, and understand mechanisms of NK cell cytotoxicity to improve NK therapy.

Reshmi Parameswaran

My research is in structure-function studies of rhodopsin, molecular mechanisms of retinal degeneration, and rhodopsin dysfunction in retinal disease. 

Methods to stimulate regeneration of damaged or diseased neurons represents a major therapeutic goal for neurodegenerative diseases. Zebrafish have the capacity to regenerate lost neurons and our goal is to understand how the fish regenerates cells of the retina so that we can perhaps one day mimic the same process in order to restore vision. We will study retinal degeneration in zebrafish carrying mutations that lead to progressive neuronal degeneration and determine the role of microglia and Notch signaling in promoting neuronal regeneration.

I research molecular mechanisms of neural circuit assembly during development, genetic control of phrenic motor neuron identity; synaptic specificity in respiratory circuits; Hox genes.

Polyxeni (Pola) Philippidou's Biography

Neuropsychiatry with particular focus on neurodegeneration in disease, injury, and aging; translational basic science leading to new therapies for patients. 

Studies of cholesterol maintenance in the retina and brain to delineate the importance of cholesterol-related pathways for retinal and brain functions and whether pharmacologic modulation of these pathways could lead to disease-modifying treatments for retinal and brain disorders.

Irina Pikuleva's Biography