The Dölen lab studies the synaptic and circuit mechanisms that enable social behaviors. We use a variety of techniques including whole cell patch clamp electrophysiology, viral mediated gene transfer, optogenetics, and behavior. We are also interested in understanding how these synaptic and circuit mechanisms are disrupted in autism and schizophrenia, diseases which are characterized by social cognition deficits. More recently we have become interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs for diseases like addiction and PTSD that respond to social influence or are aggravated by social injury, We are currently using both transgenic mouse and octopus to model disease.

The Ultra Low Vision Lab is interested in assessing and enhancing the functional visual abilities of individuals with ultra-low vision. The lab uses psychophysical experiments to investigate innovative methods for improving visual prostheses.

Research in the Deborah Schwengel Lab focuses on perioperative care of pediatric patients with obstructive sleep apnea as well as anesthetic care for patients undergoing ethanol embolization of vascular malformations. Our team also explores topics within graduate medical education. In this field, our work has involved evaluating both an educational curriculum and a disaster preparedness curriculum for anesthesiology residents. We also have a long-standing interest in international adoption medicine.

Research conducted in the Dhananjay Vaidya Lab focuses on the prevention of heart disease, with special emphasis on cardiometabolic risk factors, genetics in high-risk families, cardiovascular epidemiology, statistics and vascular biology. We also provide consultation on study design as well as plan and oversee data analyses for projects supported by the Center for Child and Community Health Research.

Research in the Diane Griffin Lab focuses on the viral, cellular and immunologic determinants of diseases caused by alphaviruses and the measles virus. Our current studies aim to understand the immune-system mechanisms behind viral clearance and disease enhancement. Our team is also working to understand the pathogenesis of the measles virus, with a focus on developing new vaccines and learning how the virus induces immunosuppression.

Work in the Donald Shaffner Lab investigates several topics within critical care medicine. Our team conducts research on the mechanisms involved in neurologic injury from global ischemia as a result of cardiac arrest and resuscitation. We also study neurologic outcomes of pediatric patients who experience cardiac arrest.

Auditory hair cells, located in the inner ear cochlea, are critical for our ability to detect sound. Research in Dr. Doetzlhofer's laboratory focuses on ways to identify and characterize the molecular mechanisms of hair cell development in the mammalian auditory system. She is also seeking to identify the molecular roadblocks preventing mammalian hair cell regeneration.

The Douglas Ball Lab conducts clinical trials and pre-clinical laboratory studies of thyroid cancer. Our clinical trials, performed in collaboration with research staff in the upper aero-digestive group in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, have included protocols for advanced radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer and medullary thyroid cancer. Our pre-clinical research, conducted with Dr. Nelkin, Dr. Agrawal and other Kimmel Cancer Center researchers, includes pathogenesis and mechanisms of treatment resistance in medullary thyroid cancer, and pathogenesis and immune-directed therapy of anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Research in the Daniel Ford Lab seeks to understand the relationships between depression and various chronic medical conditions. Recently, we've focused on depression and coronary artery disease as well as tactics for improving care for patients with medical comorbidity. Our research was among the first to document depression as a risk factor for myocardial infarction and stroke. Our team is also interested in exploring how information technology can be used to improve the care of patients with depression and tobacco abuse.

Researchers in the David Thompson Lab examine the outcomes of patients treated in intensive care units (ICUs), patient safety efforts, quality improvement efforts, and multidisciplinary teamwork and safety curriculum development. We're taking part in a study aimed at reducing hospital-acquired infections among cardiovascular surgery patients. Our investigators also participated in a clinical research collaboration that saw an 81 percent reduction in bloodstream infections related to central lines.