Investigators in the Lakshmi Santhanam Lab examine the fundamental mechanisms behind cardiovascular disease. They are particularly interested in better understanding how nitric oxide-mediated S-nitrosylation (a post-translational protein modification) impacts protein function and trafficking in the vasculature as well as how this relationship influences matrix remodeling and vascular stiffening.

Our research focuses on the biology of the peptidoglycan of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis, and Mycobacteroides abscessus, a related bacterium that causes opportunistic infections. We study basic mechanisms associated with peptidoglycan physiology but with an intent to leverage our findings to develop tools that will be useful in the clinic to treat mycobacterial infections. Peptidoglycan is the exoskeleton of bacteria that not only provides structural rigidity and cell shape but also several vital physiological functions. Breaching this structure is often lethal to bacteria. We are exploring fundamental mechanisms by which bacteria synthesize and preserve their peptidoglycan. Although our lab uses genetic, biochemical and biophysical approaches to study the peptidoglycan, we pursue questions irrespective of the expertise required to answer those questions. It is through these studies that we identified synergy between two beta-lactam antibiotics against select mycobacteria.

The Lana Lee Lab works to create successful patient-centered care strategies for young individuals living with HIV. We focus in particular on decision making in HIV treatment for youth and on the availability of services for young people living with HIV in the United States and Uganda.

The Landon King Lab studies aquaporins water-specific membrane channel proteins. We hope to understand how these proteins contribute to water homeostasis in the respiratory tract and how their expression or function may be altered in disease states.

Research in the Larissa Shimoda Lab focuses on several important topics within pulmonary and critical care medicine. We primarily study pulmonary arterial responses to chronic hypoxia as well as hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and oxidant-mediated lung injury. Our recent research has included investigating the effects of chronic hypoxia on pulmonary circulation and the ways in which hypoxia-inducible factors impact pulmonary vascular responses to hypoxia. We have also studied vascular remodeling in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Research in the Larry Chang Lab focuses on innovative, multidisciplinary and pragmatic approaches to impacting the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Our research investigates ways to improve HIV/AIDS care in low- and middle-income settings through strategies that include quantitative methods, qualitative methods, community-based trial designs, and behavioral science and economic evaluations. In addition, we research mobile technologies for health (mHealth) strategies for improving global public health and clinical care, including novel applications for intimate-partner violence intervention, dengue surveillance, and HIV care, surveillance and prevention.

The Laura Hummers Lab participates in a number of clinical trials and clinical investigations at the Scleroderma Center at Johns Hopkins. We have a particular interest in the predictors of outcomes in scleroderma. We’ve established a prospective cohort of 300 scleroderma patients to identify incident vascular outcomes in the hopes of identifying new biomarkers for disease development and progression.

Research in the Lee Bone Lab uses community-based participatory approaches to promote health in underserved urban African-American populations. We conduct randomized clinical trials on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer detection and control in order to test the success of community interventions. We focus in particular on making interventions sustainable and on implementing electronic education to improve communication.

In the Lee Martin Laboratory, we are testing the hypothesis that selective vulnerability--the phenomenon in which only certain groups of neurons degenerate in adult onset neurological disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease--is dictated by brain regional connectivity, mitochondrial function and oxidative stress. We believe it is mediated by excitotoxic cell death resulting from abnormalities in excitatory glutamatergic signal transduction pathways, including glutamate transporters and glutamate receptors as well as their downstream intracellular signaling molecules. We are also investigating the contribution of neuronal/glial apoptosis and necrosis as cell death pathways in animal (including transgenic mice) models of acute and progressive neurodegeneration. We use a variety of anatomical and molecular neurobiological approaches, including neuronal tract-tracing techniques, immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting, antipeptide antibody production, transmission electron microscopy and DNA analysis to determine the precise regional and cellular vulnerabilities and the synaptic and molecular mechanisms that result in selective neuronal degeneration.

Zheng’s research focuses on two R01-funded projects; first, the group has developed a pancreatic cancer immunotherapy research program on a neoadjuvant therapy platform as well as a number of preclinical models of pancreatic cancer for developing innovative immunotherapy strategies. The group has applied the knowledge gained from pancreatic cancer immune-based therapies to the development of a colorectal cancer GVAX vaccine. Second, the group is aimed at understanding the mechanistic roles of the tumor microenvironment in cancer development and metastasis and identifying new targets for pancreatic cancer therapies by dissecting the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer.