Pharmacology and Toxicology Faculty
- Arash Bashirullah, PhD, Associate Professor
- Genetics of endocrine and exocrine biology: the molecular, cellular, and physiological control of post-embryonic development.
- Ron Burnette, PhD, Professor
- Developing a molecular level mechanistic understanding of the delivery and stability of drugs by physical chemical characterization of guest-host interactions using computational chemistry and NMR as well as studies in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
- Margaret Clagett-Dame, PhD, Professor
- Therapeutic applications of vitamin A and vitamin D analogs; retinoids in embryonic and nervous system development.
- Lara Collier, PhD, Associate Professor
- Genetic and pharmacologic approaches to study disease development and treatment, focusing on cancer and central nervous system diseases.
- Jun Dai, PhD, Assistant Professor
- Understanding the transcriptional networks that control keratinocyte proliferation/differentiation and epidermal barrier functions during development and under pathological conditions. Developing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases and skin cancer.
- Warren Heideman, PhD, Professor
- Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the cellular transition from quiescence to growth; identifying critical mechanisms regulating vertebrate development that are disrupted by environmental contaminants; evaluating the impact of nanomaterials on early development; creating strategies for the fermentative production of biofuels.
- Seungpyo Hong, PhD, Professor
- Biomimetic nanotechnology; polymeric nanomaterials; dendritic polymers; targeted drug delivery; cancer diagnostics/prognostics; liquid biopsy technology.
- Jeffrey Johnson, PhD, Professor
- Faculty Director of the Pharmacology and Toxicology Program
Signal transduction, transcriptional control of neuroprotective genes and neurotoxicity in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Neuromuscular disease. - Lingjun Li, PhD, Professor
- Analytical neurochemistry; neuropeptides; proteomics and peptidomics; biomarker discovery in neurodegenerative diseases; quantitative system biology; metabolomics; microseparations; imaging mass spectrometry and its application to drug delivery and biodistribution; biological mass spectrometry
- Paul Marker, PhD, Professor
- Molecular basis of prostate development; prostate cancer progression; benign prostatic hyperplasia; roles of cell-cell signaling pathways and the use of mouse genetics to discover novel pathways that underlie prostatic diseases.
- Michael Taylor, PhD, Assistant Professor
- Modeling blood-CNS barriers in zebrafish; developing new strategies for drug delivery to the brain; understanding the regulation of multidrug resistance transporters.
Affiliate Faculty
- Ralph Albrecht, PhD, Professor
- Use of inductively heated, antibody-targeted, core-shell nanoparticles for selective removal of targeted cells in vitro and in vivo. Developmenet of high resolution nanoparticle labeling systems for correlative microscopy.
- Adnan Elfarra, PhD, Professor
- Bioactivation and detoxification of drugs, industrial chemicals, and environmental toxicants; biochemical basis for target organ selectivity; and biomarkers of toxicant exposure.
- Colin Jefcoate, PhD, Professor
- Physiological Mechanisms Associated with P450 Cytochromes
- William Ricke, PhD, Associate Professor
- Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved with hormone therapy in the prevention and treatment of urologic cancers and benign diseases. Focus areas include translational research, steroids and small molecules, stromal-epithelial interactions, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and mouse models of disease progression.
- Lauren Trepanier, PhD, DVM, Professor
- Pharmacogenetics of xenobiotic toxicity, including both therapeutic drugs and environmental carcinogens. Mechanisms of familial and acquired risk for sulfamethoxazole drug hypersensitivity (“sulfa allergy”). Examining the links between genetic variability in phase II detoxification pathways (GSTs and b5 reductase) and cancer risk in both humans and dogs.
- Chad Vezina, Associate Professor
- Molecular basis of prostate and urinary tract development, physiology, and toxicology.