The main focus of Dr. Gilotra's research is understanding the pathophysiology and outcomes in inflammatory cardiomyopathies including myocarditis and sarcoidosis, as well as improvement of heart failure patient care through noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring and studying novel strategies to reduce heart failure hospitalizations. Additional investigations involve clinical research in advanced heart failure therapies including heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Gilotra is the site Principal Investigator for the NIH/NHLBI funded Heart Failure Network trials.

Dr. Meltzer is an internationally renowned leader in the molecular pathobiology of gastrointestinal malignancy and premalignancy. He invented molecular methods to detect loss of heterozygosity in tiny biopsies, triggering an avalanche of research on precancerous lesions. He was the first to comprehensively study coding region microsatellite instability, leading to the identification of several important tumor suppressor genes. He performed several groundbreaking genomic, epigenomic and bioinformatic studies of esophageal and colonic neoplasms, shifting the GI research paradigm toward genome-wide approaches. He directed an ambitious nationwide validation study of DNA methylation-based biomarkers for the prediction of neoplastic progression in Barrett’s esophagus. Dr. Meltzer founded and led the Aerodigestive Cancer and Biomarker Interdisciplinary Programs at the University of Maryland, also becoming associate director for core sciences at that school’s Cancer Center. He currently holds an endowed professorship and is the director of GI biomarker research at Johns Hopkins. The laboratory group focuses its efforts on the molecular genetics of gastrointestinal cancers and premalignant lesions, as well as on translational research to improve early detection, prognostic evaluation, and treatment of these conditions. Below, some examples of this work are described.

The long-term objectives of our research team are: a. to understand the molecular etiology in the development of human cancer, and b. to identify and characterize cancer molecules for cancer detection, diagnosis, and therapy. We use ovarian carcinoma as a disease model because it is one of the most aggressive neoplastic diseases in women. For the first research direction, we aim to identify and characterize the molecular alterations during initiation and progression of ovarian carcinomas.

Research conducted in the Gary Wand Lab focuses on neuropsychoendocrinology; the neurobiology of substance abuse; physiogenetics and regulation of the stress response; and the relationship between stress and chemical dependency. Current studies seek to better understand the genetic determinants of the stress response and how excessive stress hormone production contributes to neurobiological disorders, including addiction.

Research in the Gail Daumit Lab is devoted to improving overall health and decreasing premature mortality for people with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We have conducted observational studies to determine and convey the burden of physical health problems in this vulnerable population, and are currently leading a randomized trial funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to test a comprehensive cardiovascular risk reduction program in people with serious mental illness.

The Greider lab uses biochemistry to study telomerase and cellular and organismal consequences of telomere dysfunction. Telomeres protect chromosome ends from being recognized as DNA damage and chromosomal rearrangements. Conventional replication leads to telomere shortening, but telomere length is maintained by the enzyme telomerase. Telomerase is required for cells that undergo many rounds of divisions, especially tumor cells and some stem cells. The lab has generated telomerase null mice that are viable and show progressive telomere shortening for up to six generations. In the later generations, when telomeres are short, cells die via apoptosis or senescence. Crosses of these telomerase null mice to other tumor prone mice show that tumor formation can be greatly reduced by short telomeres. The lab also is using the telomerase null mice to explore the essential role of telomerase stem cell viability. Telomerase mutations cause autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita. People with this disease die of bone marrow failure, likely due to stem cell loss. The lab has developed a mouse model to study this disease. Future work in the lab will focus on identifying genes that induce DNA damage in response to short telomeres, identifying how telomeres are processed and how telomere elongation is regulated.

Chordoma research is led by a comprehensive team including Gary Gallia, M.D., director of the Neurosurgery Skull Base Tumor Center. The laboratory focuses on developing new therapies for brain and skull base tumors, and has established the first primary skull base chordoma xenograft mouse model. The team is also exploring high throughput drug screening using the chordoma model, and the molecular pathways responsible for tumor maintenance and growth.

Researchers in the Claire Snyder Lab study the quality of cancer care, with a special focus on two areas: the quality of life for cancer patients undergoing treatment and the coordination of care between cancer specialists and primary care providers. As part of our quality-of-life research, we're investigating the use of patient-reported outcome questionnaires in routine oncology practice as well as developing a website for collecting the questionnaires and linking them with the electronic medical record. As part of our cancer-survivorship research, we've conducted large database studies to identify the physician specialties involved in the care of cancer survivors and to determine how that relates to survivors receiving recommended follow-up care. We're also working with investigators in the Sydney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center to develop care strategies for breast cancer survivors.

Research in the Craig W. Hendrix Lab concentrates on the chemoprevention of HIV infection, clinical pharmacology of antiviral drugs, drug interactions, and oral, topical and injectable HIV microbicide development. Our lab conducts small, intensive sampling studies of PK and PD of drugs for HIV prevention with a focus on developing methods to better understand HIV and drug distribution in the male genital tract, female genital tract and lower gastrointestinal tract. We also support numerous HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis development studies from phase I to phase III, largely as leader of the Pharmacology Core Laboratory of both the Microbicide Trial Network and HIV Prevention Trials Network.

The Charles Wiener Lab primarily conducts research on pulmonary circulation and hypoxia as well as respiratory muscle function in patients with neuromuscular diseases. Our recent studies have included investigating the treatment of pericardial effusions in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and examining the use of non-invasive ventilation in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We also have an interest in medical education research. Our work in this area has included reviewing the role of academic medical centers in emerging health care markets.