Our Faculty

Associate Members

R. Graham Barr, MD, Dr.PH
Florence Irving Associate Professor of Medicine Associate Professor of Epidemiology Chief, Division of General Medicine

Research Interests:
Developmental genes in chronic lung disease; respiratory epidemiology with a focus on obstructive lung disease and emphysema; integration of advanced imaging with genomic, cellular and biomarker information in large cohorts.

PubMed
Barr Research: Chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD);   Barr Laboratory

Jahar Bhattacharya, MD, DPhil
Professor of Medicine and Physiology & Cellular Biophysics; Director, Lung Research, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care

Research Interests:
Development of innate immunity, mechanisms of acute lung injury and regeneration, imaging, macrophage-epithelial interactions, mitochondrial transfer between cells.

PubMed
Bhattacharya Research:Bhattacharya Laboratory;   Faculty Profile

William Blaner, PhD
Professor of Nutritional Medicine (in Medicine and in the Institute of Human Nutrition)

Research Interests:
Retinoid metabolism and actions, retinoid-dependent effects in organogenesis and cancer prevention. Development of methodologies for assessing retinoid status in infants and adult subjects

PubMed

Frank Costantini, PhD
Professor of Genetics & Development; Department of Genetics & Development and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

Research Interests:
Role of cell-cell signaling and signal transduction in renal organogenesis; GDNF-Ret receptor tyrosine kinase in kidney branching morphogenesis; development of new mouse reporter strains for visualizing cell migration, changes in cell shape and cell division in developing kidneys; characterization of the properties of stem cells for the ureteric bud and nephron lineages during kidney formation.

PubMed

Jeanine D’Armiento, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine in Anesthesiology; Director, Center for LAM and Rare Lung Disease

Research Interests:
Role of matrix metalloproteases in lung diseases and repair; development of transgenic mice to model proteolytic imbalances and study the contribution of matrix metalloproteases to the pathogenesis of emphysema and cardiovascular conditions.

PubMed
D’Armiento Research: D'Armiento Laboratory;   The Center for LAM and Rare Lung Diseases

Ellen Ezratty, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology

Research Interests:
Study how primary cilia temporally and spatially regulate cell signaling and proliferation in tissue stem cells during epidermal and hair follicle development, homeostasis and regeneration; molecular mechanisms underlying cilia-mediated control of Notch signaling and regulation of cell proliferation during epidermal morphogenesis.

PubMed
Ezratty Research: Faculty Profile

James A. Lee, MD
Chief, Endocrine Surgery; Vice Chair, New Media; Associate Professor of Surgery

Research Interests:
Genetics of inherited forms of neuroendocrine neoplasias and how phenotypic differences impact systemic therapies. Outcomes research into benign and malignant thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal disease.

PubMed

Cathy L Mendelsohn, PhD
Professor of Urology, Pathology & Cell Biology (Institute of Human Nutrition); Professor of Genetics & Development

Research Interests:
Urothelial development, regeneration, and cancer; developmental studies to understand the etiology of urinary tract birth defects; use of mouse models in fate mapping studies to identify progenitors that give rise to the urothelium during development and regeneration and to identify cells of origin of papillary carcinoma, carcinoma in situ, squamous cell carcinoma and invasive bladder cancers; investigate the role of retinoids in urothelial development and regeneration, and on pancreatic islet cell differentiation.

PubMed
Mendelsohn Research: Faculty Profile; Stem Cell Faculty Profile

Rachel L. Miller, MD
Professor of Medicine (in Pediatrics) and Environmental Health Sciences; Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine; Chief, Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology; Director, Allergy and Immunology Fellowship

Research Interests:
Mechanisms for the onset of asthma; developmental exposures to environmental allergens, traffic-related pollutants, and phthalate and bisphenol A exposure in asthma and allergic immune responses; mouse models of environmental exposures that complement human epidemiological findings; environmental epigenetics and asthma and obesity.

PubMed
Miller Research: Miller Laboratory

Kimara L Targoff, MD
Assistant Professor; Department of Pediatrics

Research Interests:
Heart development, role of Nkx genes in cardiac chamber morphogenesis, regulation of cardiomyocyte differentiation, mechanisms of human congenital heart disease, modeling of cardiovascular development and disease in zebrafish.

PubMed
Targoff Research: Stem Cell Faculty Profile

Stephen H Tsang, MD, PhD
Associate Professor; Ophthalmology; Pathology and Cell Biology

Research Interests:
Use of embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells to model and replace diseased human retinal cells in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) development of stem cell-based therapies for retinal degeneration.

PubMed
Tsang Research: Stem Cell Faculty Profile;   Ophthalmology Faculty Profile

Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine); Director, Laboratory for stem cells and tissue engineering

Research Interests:
Regenerative medicine; precision medicine; innovative scaffold/bioreactor technologies for engineering human tissues – including bone, heart and lung; tissue models for stem cell research; “organs-on-a-chip” platforms for modeling of disease and drug screening.

PubMed
Vunjak-Novakovic Research: Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering

Timothy Wang, MD
Silberberg Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases Chair, Gastroenterology, Columbia University Medical Center e

Research Interests:
Study bone marrow-derived stem cells and resident tissue stem cells in the gastrointestinal tract, and the events that lead to conversion to cancer stem cells; role of chronic inflammation in modulating stem cell behavior and the tissue microenvironment in gastrointestinal cancers

PubMed
Wang Research: Stem Cell Faculty Profile

Xin Zhang, PhD
Associate Professor of Ophthalmic Sciences (in Ophthalmology & Pathology & Cell Biology)

Research Interests:
Mechanisms of cell signaling during eye development. FGF regulation of cellular interactions in the eye. Role of extra cellular matrix proteins in eye formation. Development of mouse genetic tools to determine the signaling pathways governing eye development.

PubMed
Zhang Research: Ophthalmology Faculty Profile