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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Research in the David Sack Lab focuses on enteric infections. Our team has worked to develop laboratory detection methods to better understand the epidemiology of these agents. We also work to create appropriate clinical management strategies, such as antibiotics and rehydration methods, for enteric infections. Our work has included participating in the development of vaccines for a range of bacterial infections, including rotavirus, cholera and enterotoxigenic E. coli.

The Dara Kraitchman Laboratory focuses on non-invasive imaging and minimally invasive treatment of cardiovascular disease. Our laboratory is actively involved in developing new methods to image myocardial function and perfusion using MRI. Current research interests are aimed at determining the optimal timing and method of the administration of mesenchymal stem cells to regenerate infarcted myocardium using non-invasive MR fluoroscopic delivery and imaging. MRI and radiolabeling techniques include novel MR and radiotracer stem cell labeling methods to determine the location, quantity and biodistribution of stem cells after delivery as well as to noninvasively determine the efficacy of these therapies in acute myocardial infarction and peripheral arterial disease. Our other research focuses on the development of new animal models of human disease for noninvasive imaging studies and the development of promising new therapies in clinical trials for companion animals.

The Daniel Weinberger Laboratory focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of genetic risk for developmental brain disorders. We study the genetic regulation of the transcriptome in normal human brain across the human life span and in brains from patients with various psychiatric disorders. We also study the impact of genetic variation on aspects of human brain development and function linked with risk for schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders. Our lab uses unique molecular and clinical datasets and biological materials from a large sample of families with affected and unaffected offspring and normal volunteers. These datasets include DNA, lymphoblast and fibroblast cell lines, and extensive quantitative phenotypes related to genetic risk for schizophrenia, including detailed cognitive assessments and various neuroimaging assays. In other research, we are working on a human brain transcriptome project that is RNA sequencing over 1,000 human brain samples in various regions and based also on sorting of specific celliular phentypes. We are exploring the molecular processing of the gene and its implications for cognition and aspects of human temperament.

The David Dowdy Lab conducts research in the field of infectious disease epidemiology. We use an interdisciplinary approach that involves infectious disease modeling, health economics, classical epidemiology, and operational and implementation science. Much of our work explores the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. We also have a longstanding interest in “translational epidemiology,” with a goal of developing methods to help medical professionals who use epidemiological data make decisions that are in the best interest of patients and public health.

Dr. Geetha’s team focuses on renal diseases in patients with systemic vasculitis as well as BK virus nephropathy in patients who have undergone renal transplant. Our studies include clinical trials on the effectiveness of rituximab versus cyclosporine in treating idiopathic membranous nephropathy and a multinational study of belimumab with azathioprine for maintaining remission of granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis. We also have conducted research on the treatment of ANCA vasculitis, particularly in kidney transplant patients.