Brendan Antiochos is a physician scientist in the Division of Rheumatology. His main interest is the role of the innate immune system in the pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases. Current work focuses on the identification of specific endogenous nucleic acids that drive pathogenic innate immune responses in these conditions. More information about his group and work can be found at his lab website.

VISION: To make MRI more equitable and inclusive

MISSION: To develop and deploy MRI tools and methods to enable accessible imaging of underserved populations

The mission of the Lemberg research group is to understand metabolism in childhood/young adult cancers in order to develop a better understanding of how these cancers develop, how they respond to treatments, and how children can go on to live healthy lives with or after a cancer history. We aim to investigate how tumors and the surrounding physiologic environments interact to drive nutrient use so that the tumor can grow and spread, and how the presence of a cancer affects the development of the whole child. Our ultimate goal is to improve outcomes for children and young adults with cancer.

Our mission is to reveal the molecular logic of our intelligence in health and disease. We use advanced molecular biological tools and state-of-the-art neuroscience to test the role of synaptic and neuronal molecules in the dynamics of the living brain.

Artificial neural networks have been heavily inspired by the brain’s architecture, guiding our journey to discovering the keys to intelligence. We now find ourselves at a pivotal moment: today's AI systems surpass biological circuits in certain tasks, yet we still lack a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms behind the brain’s superior cognitive flexibility and efficiency. At Ingie Hong’s Quantitative Intelligence Lab, we are dedicated to unraveling the principles that enable the mammalian cortex to achieve remarkable feats of intelligence, including rapid learning, generalization, and inference across vast stores of memory.

A single neuron’s response depends on its synaptic connections and intrinsic properties, which are dictated by the expression of neuronal genes. However, the role of these molecules in brain computations remains largely uncharted territory. Focusing on the mouse visual cortex as a starting point for broader generalization, and using large-scale electrophysiology, advanced microscopy, and machine learning, we have begun to uncover the impact of key synaptic genes on cortical processing and their role in the brain’s “working algorithm” (Hong et al., Nature, 2024). Our molecular tools, including gene therapy vectors and antisense oligonucleotides, show promise as effective therapeutic candidates.

Our research will advance the nascent field of 'neurocomputational therapeutics'—innovative genetic and pharmacological tools that address biases in neural activity. These tools will not only facilitate the development of novel mechanism-based treatments for brain disorders but also inspire the next generation of intelligent artificial neural networks.

Dr. Dispenza’s laboratory focuses on allergies and IgE-mediated allergic reactions including anaphylaxis.  Overall goals of the lab include understanding the mechanisms driving anaphylaxis severity and phenotypes, discovering new biomarkers for the accurate diagnosis of anaphylaxis, and developing novel strategies for the prevention of IgE-mediated reactions.  One major project focuses on the prevention of anaphylaxis, for which there are no known reliable preventative therapies.  They found that small molecule inhibitors of the enzyme Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), which is a key component of the IgE signaling pathway, completely suppress IgE-mediated human mast cell and basophil activation and significantly protect against death from severe anaphylaxis in humanized mice.  Further, in an investigator-initiated clinical trial, they demonstrated in an investigator-initiated trial that treatment with just 2 days of the oral BTK inhibitor acalabrutinib completely prevents clinical reactivity from eating peanut in the majority of peanut-allergic adults and markedly increases the tolerance level of the remainder.  These exciting data suggest that a long sought-after preventative therapy for anaphylaxis may finally be within reach.

Research in the Adam D. Sylvester Lab primarily focuses on the way in which humans and primates move through the environment, with the aim of reconstructing the locomotor repertoire of extinct hominins and other primates. We use a quantitative approach that involves the statistical analysis of three-dimensional biological shapes, specifically musculoskeletal structures, and then link the anatomy to function and function to locomotor behavior.

Researchers in the Adam Sapirstein Lab focus on the roles played by phospholipases A2 and their lipid metabolites in brain injury. Using in vivo and in vitro models of stroke and excitotoxicity, the team is examining the roles of the cytosolic, Group V, and Group X PLA2s as well as the function of PLA2s in cerebrovascular regulation. Investigators have discovered that cPLA2 is necessary for the early electrophysiologic changes that happen in hippocampal CA1 neurons after exposure to N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA). This finding has critical ramifications in terms of the possible uses of selective cPLA2 inhibitors after acute neurologic injuries.

Over the last few decades, a growing body of evidence has shown that the immune system is intimately connected with cardiac development, function and adaptation to injury. However, there is still much to learn and currently there are no immunomodulatory treatments to prevent or treat heart dysfunction. The Adamo Lab aims to study applied immunology in the context of cardiac function and dysfunction, to both elucidate fundamental properties of the immune systems and to develop novel therapeutic options for the rapidly growing number of patients living with heart disease.

Researchers in the Adrian Dobs Lab study topics that include gonadal dysfunction, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and the relationship between sex hormones and heart disease. We currently are investigating male gonadal function—with particular interest in new forms of male hormone replacement therapy—and hormonal changes related to aging.