School of Medicine


Showing 601-650 of 883 Results

  • Meghna Patel

    Meghna Patel

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Cardiology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy current academic focus is in chronic heart failure and ventricular assist device.

  • Francis Pearman

    Francis Pearman

    Assistant Professor of Education

    BioFrancis A. Pearman is an Assistant Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. His research focuses on how poverty and inequality shape the life chances of children, especially in rapidly changing cities. Pearman holds a Ph.D. and M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University and a B.S. from the University of Virginia.

  • Gary Peltz

    Gary Peltz

    Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe laboratory develops and uses state of the art genomic methods to identify genetic factors affecting disease susceptibility, and to translate these findings into new treatments. We have developed a more efficient method for performing mouse genetic analysis, which has been used to analyze the genetic basis for 16 different biomedical traits. We are developing novel methods, and have developed a novel experimental platform that replaces mouse liver with functioning human liver tissue.

  • Jon-Paul Pepper, MD

    Jon-Paul Pepper, MD

    Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFacial paralysis is a debilitating condition that affects thousands of people. Despite excellent surgical technique, we are currently limited by the regenerative capacity of the body. The mission of our research is to identify new treatments that improve current facial paralysis treatments. We do this by exploring the regenerative cues that the body uses to restore tissue after nerve injury, in particular through pathways of neurogenesis and nerve repair in small mammals.

  • Claudia Katharina Petritsch

    Claudia Katharina Petritsch

    Associate Professor (Research) of Neurosurgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Petritsch lab broadly investigates underlying causes for the intra-tumoral heterogeneity and immune suppression in brain tumors from a neuro-developmental perspective. Defective cell fate decisions fuel the intra-humoral heterogeneity and plasticity in human brain tumors and may contribute to immune suppression. We use patient-derived models as avatars to study how brain cells control the fate of their progeny, whereby we unravel novel points of vulnerabilities in brain tumor cells.

  • Dmitri Petrov

    Dmitri Petrov

    Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEvolution of genomes and population genomics of adaptation and variation

  • Trung Hoang Minh Pham

    Trung Hoang Minh Pham

    Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsUncovering mechanisms of tissue immunity and immunophysiology during persistent infection

    The immune system safeguards the health of complex organisms by rapidly eliminating invading pathogens, curbing infection-induced tissue disruptions, and maintaining tissue homeostasis. Many bacterial pathogens evade host antimicrobial mechanisms and persist in infected tissues at low levels for long periods of time even in the presence of innate and adaptive immune resistance. During persistent infection, the immune system simultaneously orchestrates antimicrobial responses to contain the pathogen, repairs damaged tissue, regulates nutrient resources, and maintains other tissue physiologic functions to ensure host survival. Failure of any of these tasks leads to uncontrolled infection, devastating disease, and even death. The goals of our research are to understand:

    1)What are the innate and adaptive immune cellular mechanisms that contain pathogens during persistent infection?
    2)How are tissue physiological functions, such as tissue repair and nutrient regulation, maintained during persistent infection?
    3)How do pathogens survive innate and adaptive antimicrobial mechanisms in infected tissues?
    4)How does persistent infection impact host immunity to secondary infections of a similar or different pathogen?

    Through investigating these fundamental questions, we may be able to decode the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms that can be harnessed to eradicate infections and help restore health after an infectious insult. We employ animal infection models and bring together immunology, tissue biology, microbiology, and genetics to uncover the mechanisms of tissue immunity and immunophysiology during persistent infection from the molecular to organismal level.

    Current areas of research:
    •Development, maintenance, and plasticity of macrophage functional diversity in infected tissue
    •Tissue repair and nutrient regulation during persistent infection
    •Cellular dynamics and bacterial persistence in lymphoid organs

    We are looking for highly motivated team members who are passionate about making impactful scientific discoveries to join our group at all levels. For opportunities and positions available for pre-doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, please contact tpham8@stanford.edu!

  • Harold Westley Phillips

    Harold Westley Phillips

    Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery (Pediatric Neurosurgery)

    BioH. Westley Phillips, MD is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University where he is a neurosurgeon-scientist specializing in pediatric neurosurgery with a special interest in epilepsy. Dr. Phillips received his undergraduate degree at Yale University where he was a member of the Varsity Football Team and received a Fulbright Scholarship. He completed an MD at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a certificate of distinction in the Clinical Neuroscience Training Program. He completed neurosurgical residency at UCLA where he received 2 years of NIH funding to investigate the genetic underpinnings of epilepsy. He received fellowship training in pediatric epilepsy surgery and genetics research at Boston Children’s Hospital as well as pediatric neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh before his arrival at Stanford. At Stanford, Dr. Phillips leads a molecular genetics laboratory and has a particular interest in defining and further understanding somatic mosaicism and its role in epileptogenesis. He has published manuscripts in leading academic journals including Nature: Genetics, JAMA Neurology, Journal of Neuroscience, Scientific Reports, Epilepsia and Neurology. He is dedicated to improving the treatment and outcomes for children with drug resistant epilepsy through innovative research and cutting-edge surgical techniques.

  • Benjamin Pinsky

    Benjamin Pinsky

    Professor of Pathology, of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDevelopment and application of molecular assays for the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases.

  • Celeste Poe, Ph.D., LMFT

    Celeste Poe, Ph.D., LMFT

    Clinical Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development

    BioDr. Celeste Poe is a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist. She is a Clinical Instructor and Attending NICU and Perinatal Psychologist at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is the director of the NICU Psychology Program at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital where she provides psychological consultation and psychotherapy to parents of infants and young children hospitalized in the NICU, CVICU, and other departments of the hospital.

    Dr. Poe’s research and clinical specialties include perinatal and early childhood mental health, pediatric behavioral health, ethnic minority mental health, and grief, trauma, and bereavement. Dr. Poe is an alumna of the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program and is currently a Zero to Three Fellow. Dr. Poe is a registered Circle of Security Parenting facilitator and is a rostered Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) provider.

    She also holds an appointment as a Clinical Instructor at the Yale Child Study Center where she works on the Grief-Sensitive Healthcare Project which aims to enhance medical providers’ capacities to meet the needs of grieving families.

  • Matthew Porteus

    Matthew Porteus

    Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine

    BioDr. Porteus was raised in California and was a local graduate of Gunn High School before completing A.B. degree in “History and Science” at Harvard University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and wrote an thesis entitled “Safe or Dangerous Chimeras: The recombinant DNA controversy as a conflict between differing socially constructed interpretations of recombinant DNA technology.” He then returned to the area and completed his combined MD, PhD at Stanford Medical School with his PhD focused on understanding the molecular basis of mammalian forebrain development with his PhD thesis entitled “Isolation and Characterization of TES-1/DLX-2: A Novel Homeobox Gene Expressed During Mammalian Forebrain Development.” After completion of his dual degree program, he was an intern and resident in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and then completed his Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship in the combined Boston Chidlren’s Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute program. For his fellowship and post-doctoral research he worked with Dr. David Baltimore at MIT and CalTech where he began his studies in developing homologous recombination as a strategy to correct disease causing mutations in stem cells as definitive and curative therapy for children with genetic diseases of the blood, particularly sickle cell disease. Following his training with Dr. Baltimore, he took an independent faculty position at UT Southwestern in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry before again returning to Stanford in 2010 as an Associate Professor. During this time his work has been the first to demonstrate that gene correction could be achieved in human cells at frequencies that were high enough to potentially cure patients and is considered one of the pioneers and founders of the field of genome editing—a field that now encompasses thousands of labs and several new companies throughout the world. His research program continues to focus on developing genome editing by homologous recombination as curative therapy for children with genetic diseases but also has interests in the clonal dynamics of heterogeneous populations and the use of genome editing to better understand diseases that affect children including infant leukemias and genetic diseases that affect the muscle. Clinically, Dr. Porteus attends at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital where he takes care of pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

  • Manu Prakash

    Manu Prakash

    Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Oceans and of Biology

    BioWe use interdisciplinary approaches including theory and experiments to understand how computation is embodied in biological matter. Examples include cognition in single cell protists and morphological computing in animals with no neurons and origins of complex behavior in multi-cellular systems. Broadly, we invent new tools for studying non-model organisms with significant focus on life in the ocean - addressing fundamental questions such as how do cells sense pressure or gravity? Finally, we are dedicated towards inventing and distributing “frugal science” tools to democratize access to science (previous inventions used worldwide: Foldscope, Abuzz), diagnostics of deadly diseases like malaria and convening global citizen science communities to tackle planetary scale environmental challenges such as mosquito surveillance or plankton surveillance by citizen sailors mapping the ocean in the age of Anthropocene.

  • Janey S.A. Pratt, MD

    Janey S.A. Pratt, MD

    Clinical Professor, Surgery - Pediatric Surgery

    BioDr. Janey S.A. Pratt, MD, FACS, FASMBS is a general surgeon who specializes in Laparoscopic and Robotic General and Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (MBS). She began her career in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was a founding member of the MGH Weight Center. As surgical director she introduced minimally invasive MBS and adolescent MBS to MGH in 2001 and 2007 respectively. In 2011 Dr. Pratt took over as Director at the MGH Weight Center and continued to work on several national committees towards improving access and care for adolescents with severe obesity. Dr. Pratt continued to practice general surgery throughout her tenure at MGH seeing patients with breast cancer, hernias, and obesity. She performed advance minimally invasive surgery (MIS) as well as advanced endoscopy.

    In 2016 Dr. Pratt moved to California where she began her work at Stanford University, splitting her time between the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital and the Palo Alto VA. She performs Minimally Invasive MBS as well as endoscopy. Dr. Pratt has trained in robotic surgery as well. As a Clinical Professor of Surgery, Dr. Pratt is involved in training Stanford medical students and residents both in the OR, in clinic, in simulation labs and in the classroom. Dr. Pratt is the Director of the Adolescent Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. This is an MBSAQIP accredited program in a free-standing children's hospital dedicated to the multidisciplinary care of children with obesity. This program is one of the top 5 programs in the country. Dr. Pratt has been involved in creating and updated guidelines for Adolescent MBS since 2005. In 2018 she was first author on the ASMBS Pediatric Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Guidelines. Her research interests include MIS MBS, pediatric obesity treatment and the use of medications to improve outcomes of MBS. Dr. Pratt frequently lectures on the subject of Adolescent Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

  • Guillem Pratx

    Guillem Pratx

    Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology (Radiation Physics)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Physical Oncology Lab is interested in making a lasting impact on translational cancer research by building novel physical tools and methods.

  • James Priest

    James Priest

    Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Cardiology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Priest lab seeks a better understanding of the genetics and pathogenesis of congenital heart disease using translational genomics, big-data, and vertebrate models of cardiac development.

  • Charles G. Prober, MD

    Charles G. Prober, MD

    Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and, by courtesy, of Microbiology and Immunology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interest is in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of infections in children. Much of this research has focused on viral infections, especially those caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). I have conducted a number of studies concerned with the epidemiology of HSV-2 infections in pregnant women, their partners, and neonates.

  • Judith Prochaska

    Judith Prochaska

    Senior Associate Vice Provost, Clinical Research Governance and Professor of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Prochaska's research expertise centers on technology-mediated health behavior change interventions including targets of tobacco, physical activity, and dietary change. Working with Alaska Native and Latino communities, people with serious mental illness, alcohol and drug problems, or heart disease, and jobseekers and the unhoused, Dr. Prochaska’s research combines stage-tailored interventions with pharmacotherapy and utilizes interactive expert system interventions and social media.

  • Jochen Profit

    Jochen Profit

    Wendy J. Tomlin-Hess Endowed Professor

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsFunded by NIH R01 grants:

    1) Development and application of composite measure of NICU quality - Baby-MONITOR

    2) High reliability, safety culture and caregiver resilience as modifiers of care quality

    3) Modifiable racial/ethnic disparities in quality of care delivery

    4) Effectiveness of regionalized care delivery systems for preterm newborns

  • Stephanie Pun, MD

    Stephanie Pun, MD

    Clinical Associate Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Pun specializes in the treatment of complex hip disorders with surgical hip preservation options for children, adolescents, and adults. Her goal is to enhance hip function in active individuals and to prevent the early development of hip osteoarthritis.

  • Lei (Stanley) Qi

    Lei (Stanley) Qi

    Associate Professor of Bioengineering

    BioDr. Lei (Stanley) Qi is Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Sarafan ChEM-H, and a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. Dr. Qi is a principal contributor to the development of CRISPR technologies for genome engineering beyond gene editing. His lab created the first nuclease-deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) for targeted gene regulation in cells. His lab has invented a CRISPR toolbox for engineering the epigenome, including CRISPRi and CRISPRa for targeted gene repression and activation, epigenome editing, LiveFISH for real-time DNA/RNA imaging, CRISPR-GO for 3D genome manipulation, CasMINI as a compact CRISPR system for gene therapy, hyperCas12a for multi-gene engineering, and CRISPR antivirals aimed at treating broad RNA viruses.

    Dr. Qi obtained B.S. in Physics and Math from Tsinghua University in 2005, and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012. He was a Systems Biology Faculty Fellow at UCSF between 2012-2014, and joined Stanford faculty in 2014. His research focuses on mammalian synthetic biology, epigenetic engineering, immune cell engineering, directed evolution, and novel approaches for gene therapy.

  • Thomas Quertermous, MD

    Thomas Quertermous, MD

    William G. Irwin Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsUnderstanding genetic basis of cardiovascular function and disease.

  • Jennifer Anne Rabbitts

    Jennifer Anne Rabbitts

    Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine (Pediatric Anesthesia)

    BioJennifer Rabbitts, MD is Professor and Chief of Pediatric Pain Management at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Rabbitts directs an NIH-funded research laboratory focused on improving long-term pain and health outcomes in children and adolescents undergoing surgery. Her research is devoted to understanding and preventing chronic postsurgical pain, a disabling condition affecting 20% youth undergoing major surgery. Her current research studies investigate the role of biopsychosocial mechanisms including child psychosocial factors, parental/family factors, and psychophysical processes underlying acute to chronic pain transition. Current clinical trials focus on testing feasibility and efficacy of psychosocial and complementary and integrative interventions to improve acute postsurgical pain and prevent transition to chronic pain.

    Dr Rabbitts is passionate about mentoring, serving as mentor for the Women's Empowerment and Leadership Initiative and for the Mission Driven Mentoring Program for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. She serves as section editor for Psychology, Psychiatry and Brain Neuroscience Section for Pain Medicine, on the editorial boards for Pediatric Anesthesia and Journal of Pain, and actively serves on committees in the United States Association for the Study of Pain.

  • Marlene Rabinovitch

    Marlene Rabinovitch

    Dwight and Vera Dunlevie Professor of Pediatric Cardiology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research program seeks to identify the cellular and molecular programs regulating vascular and lung development, through the use of cultured cells and tissues and mouse and rat models. We then determine how these programs are perturbed by genetic abnormalities or injurious processes associated with disease, focusing on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a fatal complication in children with heart defects, and a condition of unknown etiology primarily in young women.

  • Ram Rajagopal

    Ram Rajagopal

    Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Electrical Engineering

    BioRam Rajagopal is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, where he directs the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L), focused on large-scale monitoring, data analytics and stochastic control for infrastructure networks, in particular, power networks. His current research interests in power systems are in the integration of renewables, smart distribution systems, and demand-side data analytics.

    He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and an M.A. in Statistics, both from the University of California Berkeley, Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Texas, Austin and Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, Powell Foundation Fellowship, Berkeley Regents Fellowship and the Makhoul Conjecture Challenge award. He holds more than 30 patents and several best paper awards from his work and has advised or founded various companies in the fields of sensor networks, power systems, and data analytics.

  • Sneha Ramakrishna

    Sneha Ramakrishna

    Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology)

    BioSneha Ramakrishna obtained her B. A. from the University of Chicago and her M.D. from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. In medical school, through the Howard Hughes Medical Research Scholar Award, she joined Dr. Crystal Mackall’s laboratory, where she designed and developed various GD2 CAR-Ts and tested them in preclinical models. During her residency training in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she cared for some of the first patients treated with CD19 CAR T cells, learning the power of this therapy first-hand. During her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Johns Hopkins/National Cancer Institute combined program, she worked with Dr. Terry Fry. She evaluated the mechanism of CD22 CAR T cell relapse in patients by developing an antigen escape model and establishing a deeper understanding of the effects of antigen density on CAR-T phenotype, expansion, and persistence (Fry…Ramakrishna…Mackall Nat Med, 2018; Ramakrishna, et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2019). Since arriving at Stanford, Dr. Ramakrishna leads an interdisciplinary team that designs, develops, and successfully implements a robust correlative science platform for our novel CAR-T therapies. Analyzing patient samples from our first-in-human GD2 CAR-T trial (NCT04196413) treating a universally fatal cancer, diffuse midline glioma (DMG), we identified that intracerebroventricular CAR-T administration correlates with enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduced immunosuppressive cell populations in cerebrospinal fluid as compared to intravenous CAR-T administration (Majzner*, Ramakrishna*, et al., Nature 2022 *co-first authors). Her research program evaluates unique sets of patient samples using novel single-cell immune profiling to identify the drivers of CAR-T success or failure. Building on these findings, her team assesses approaches to enhance CAR-T efficacy and translate these findings to the clinic.

    Clinically, Dr. Ramakrishna cares for children with solid tumors and treats hematologic, solid, and brain tumor pediatric patients with CAR T cell therapies in the Cancer Cellular Therapies program.

  • R J Ramamurthi

    R J Ramamurthi

    Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProspective collection of pediatric regional block procedures and complications on to a national database

  • Anoop Rao

    Anoop Rao

    Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Neonatal and Developmental Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWearable senors, unobtrusive vital sign monitoring, natural language processing/text mining

  • Natalie L. Rasgon

    Natalie L. Rasgon

    Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (General Psychiatry and Psychology-Adult) at the Stanford University Medical Center, Emerita

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Rasgon has been involved in longitudinal placebo-controlled neuroendocrine studies for nearly two decades, and she has been involved in neuroendocrine and brain imaging studies of estrogen effects on depressed menopausal women for the last eight years. It should be noted that in addition to her duties as a Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Dr. Rasgon is also the Director of the Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Program and of the Women's Wellness Program.

  • Lindsey Rasmussen

    Lindsey Rasmussen

    Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics - Critical Care
    Clinical Associate Professor (By courtesy), Neurology & Neurological Sciences

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research interests reside in the field of Neurocritical Care Medicine. My research focus has included inflammation following traumatic brain injury, outcome prediction after cardiac arrest, and neuro-monitoring in the pediatric intensive care setting. These interests are integrated clinically to focus on the merging of specialized neurologic monitoring and care with prognostic efforts in critically ill patients.

  • Caroline E. Rassbach

    Caroline E. Rassbach

    Clinical Professor, Pediatrics
    Clinical Professor, Emergency Medicine
    Clinical Professor, Emergency Medicine

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMedical education including learner assessment, program development and mentoring and coaching in medicine.

  • Kristy Red-Horse

    Kristy Red-Horse

    Professor of Biology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCardiovascular developmental biology

  • Sushma Reddy

    Sushma Reddy

    Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology)

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy laboratory's expertise in cardiovascular phenotyping has led to the development of mouse models of congenital heart disease that recapitulate abnormal loading conditions on the heart. We have used these models to advance our understanding of the mechanisms of right heart failure in children and adults with congenital heart disease with the long term goal of identifying noninvasive diagnostic tools to better assess right ventricular health and to develop right ventricle specific therapeutics.

  • David Rehkopf

    David Rehkopf

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and, by courtesy, of Sociology, of Pediatrics and of Health Policy

    BioI am a social epidemiologist and serve as an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health. I joined the faculty at Stanford School of Medicine in 2011.

    I am Director of the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences. In this position, I am committed to making high-value data resources available to researchers across disciplines in order to better enable them to answer their most pressing clinical and population health questions.

    My own research is focused on understanding the health implications of the myriad decisions that are made by corporations and governments every day - decisions that profoundly shape the social and economic worlds in which we live and work. While these changes are often invisible to us on a daily basis, these seemingly minor actions and decisions form structural nudges that can create better or worse health at a population level. My work demonstrates the health implications of corporate and governmental decisions that can give the public and policy makers evidence to support new strategies for promoting health and well-being. In all of his work, I have a focus on the implications of these exposures for health inequalities.

    Since often policy and programmatic changes can take decades to influence health, my work also includes more basic research in understanding biological signals that may act as early warning signs of systemic disease, in particular accelerated aging. I examine how social and economic policy changes influence a range of early markers of disease and aging, with a particular recent focus on DNA methylation. I am supported by several grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to develop new more sensitive ways to understand the health implications of social and economic policy changes.

  • Richard J. Reimer, MD

    Richard J. Reimer, MD

    Associate Professor of Neurology (Adult Neurology) and, by courtesy, of Molecular and Cellular Physiology

    Current Research and Scholarly InterestsReimer Lab interests

    A primary interest of our lab is to understand how nerve cells make and recycle neurotransmitters, the small molecules that they use to communicate with each other. In better defining these processes we hope to achieve our long-term goal of identifying novel sites for treatment of diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson Disease. In our studies on neurotransmitter metabolism we have focused our efforts on transporters, a functional class of proteins that move neurotransmitters and other small molecules across membranes in cells. Transporters have many characteristics that make them excellent pharmacological targets, and not surprisingly some of the most effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders are directed at transporters. We are specifically focusing on two groups of transporters – vesicular neurotransmitter transporters that package neurotransmitters into vesicles for release, and glutamine transporters that shuttle glutamine, a precursor for two major neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, to neurons from glia, the supporting cells that surround them. We are pursuing these goals through molecular and biochemical studies, and, in collaboration with the Huguenard and Prince labs, through physiological and biosensor based imaging studies to better understand how pharmacological targeting of these molecules will influence neurological disorders.

    A second interest of our lab is to define mechanism underlying the pathology of lysosomal storage disorders. Lysosomes are membrane bound acidic intracellular organelles filled with hydrolytic enzymes that normally function as recycling centers within cells by breaking down damaged cellular macromolecules. Several degenerative diseases designated as lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are associated with the accumulation of material within lysosomes. Tay-Sachs disease, Neimann-Pick disease and Gaucher disease are some of the more common LSDs. For reasons that remain incompletely understood, these diseases often affect the nervous system out of proportion to other organs. As a model for LSDs we are studying the lysosomal free sialic acid storage disorders. These diseases are the result of a defect in transport of sialic acid across lysosomal membranes and are associated with mutations in the gene encoding the sialic acid transporter sialin. We are using molecular, genetic and biochemical approaches to better define the normal function of sialin and to determine how loss of sialin function leads to neurodevelopmental defects and neurodegeneration associated with the lysosomal free sialic acid storage disorders.