Work in the Kelly Gebo Lab focuses on topics such as evidence-based practice, health utilization, policy generation, health disparities in patient access to health care, HIV/AIDS, aging and hepatitis. As part of the HIV Research Network (HIVRN), our lab gathers clinical and demographic data on HIV-infected patients to help develop a single, nationwide research database. In addition, our ongoing research explores evidence-based practice in relation to the management of hepatitis C as well as HIV/AIDS in mentally ill patients. We also investigate racial and gender disparities in patients who receive highly active antiretroviral therapy.

The Hui lab performs basic, translational and clinical research on genetics and genomics of neurogastroenterological disorders.

The Ken Witwer Laboratory investigates extracellular vesicles and RNA in the context of HIV infection and inflammatory disease. We are also actively assessing the effects of diet on extracellular RNA as a potential therapeutic approach.

Research in the Kendall Moseley Lab is focused on the interplay between type 2 diabetes, aging and osteoporosis. We also study the function of bone stem cells in the regulation of bone remodeling.

The Kenneth J. Pienta laboratory has championed the concept that cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis can best be understood utilizing the principles of Ecology. As a result, the Pienta laboratory is working to develop new treatments for cancer utilizing network disruption.

Dr. Kinzler’s laboratory has focused on the genetics of human cancer. They have identified a variety of genetic mutations that underlie cancer, including mutations of the APC pathway that appear to initiate the majority of colorectal cancers and IDH1/2 mutations that underlying many gliomas. In addition, they have developed a variety of powerful tools for analysis of expression and genetic alterations in cancer. Most recently, they have pioneered integrated whole genome analyses of human cancers through expression, copy number, and mutational analyses of all the coding genes in several human cancer types including colorectal, breast, pancreatic and brain. The identification of genetic differences between normal and tumor tissues provide new therapeutic targets, new opportunities for the early diagnosis of cancer, and important insights into the neoplastic process.

Research in the Kimberly Gudzune Lab examines how obesity affects patient-provider relationships and how physical and social environments impact body weight. We recently conducted a cohort study of married couples and found that having a spouse who become obese nearly doubles one's risk of becoming obese.

The King-Wai Yau Laboratory is interested in the area of sensory transduction. Specifically, we study visual and olfactory transductions, which are the processes by which the senses of vision and olfaction are initiated. Rods and cones are the retinal photoreceptors that absorb light for initiating image vision. We are studying the cellular and molecular details underlying rod and cone phototransduction.

Malfunction and malformation of blood vessels are associated with a broad range of medical conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disorders. The ultimate goal of the Komatsu lab is to find a way to reverse the process of abnormal vessel formation and restore normal function to these vessels. In cancer, normalization of tumor blood vessels facilitates lymphocyte infiltration, potentiating anti-tumor immunity, and enhances the efficacy of immunotherapies as well as conventional cancer treatments. Normalization of regenerating blood vessels is also necessary for reestablishing blood flow to ischemic hearts and limbs, and preventing blindness caused by diabetic retinopathy or macular degeneration. Komatsu lab’s research is uncovering key molecular pathways important for the normalization of pathological vasculature.

The Konig Lab focuses on chimeric T cell- and antibody-based strategies for the treatment of autoimmune rheumatic diseases and cancer. A primary goal of the translational research program is the development of antigen-specific and personalized immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases, with the intent to achieve sustained disease remission and functional cure. The lab further aims to establish precision T cell-targeting therapies for the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. Applying these tools to immuno-oncology, the lab utilizes cellular engineering strategies to augment the cytotoxic killing of solid cancers by the immune system.