Mentors

Prof. David Sept, Professor and Associate Chair of Biomedical Engineering, is a PI and Co-Director of the Michigan IRACDA program.  He is an established investigator in the area of computational biophysics with a primary interest in the dynamics and organization of the cytoskeleton and systems biology.

dsept@umich.edu

Prof. Susan V. Brooks * Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, is Co-Director of the Michigan IRACDA Program. Dr. Brooks’ research is focused on age-associated declines in skeletal muscle and tendon structure and function. Specific interests include the causative role of oxidative stress in age-associated skeletal muscle atrophy and the impact that changes in muscle and tendon extracellular matrix  have on muscle function and susceptibility to injury.

svbrooks@umich.edu

Prof. Julie Biteen is Associate Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry, and Biophysics. The Biteen Lab lab is developing single-molecule fluorescence imaging as a flexible, general technology for ultrahigh-resolution, real-time imaging to answer fundamental, topical questions about bacterial cell biology and metal nanoparticle plasmonics.

jsbiteen@umich.edu

Prof. Eleanor J. “Josie” Clowney is an Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. The Clowney lab investigates developmental and regulatory mechanisms that generate neural circuits and govern their function, using the olfactory system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model.

jclowney@umich.edu

Prof. Gyorgyi Csankovszki is the Arthur F Thurnau Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. The Csankocszki Lab Research encompasses three basic processes relating to developmental biology: regulation of gene expression, segregation of chromosomes, and cytokinesis.

gyorgyi@umich.edu

Prof. Katherine Gallagher is the John R Pfeifer Collegiate Professor of Surgery and Associate Professor of Surgery and of Microbiology & Immunology. Her research is focused on histone methylation changes in bone marrow progenitor cells and the impact on peripheral macrophage phenotypes as it relates to wound healing and inflammation.

kgallag@umich.edu

Prof. Markos Koutmos is Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biophysics. The Koutmos lab is interested in understanding how the 3D structure and dynamics of proteins and RNAs drive their biological function, specifically RNA modifications and RNA/protein interactions, RNA biology and processing and in RNA structure and dynamics.

mkoutmos@umich.edu

Prof. Scott Leiser is Assistant Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Internal Medicine.  His lab studies the biology of aging, focusing specifically on how changes in stress response and metabolic pathways can be manipulated to affect the aging process.

leiser@umich.edu

Prof. Carey Lumeng is the Frederick G L Huetwell Professor for the Cure and Prevention of Birth Defects and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and of Molecular & Integrative Physiology. His lab is focused on understanding the function of leukocytes in adipose tissue and the mechanisms by which they are actived obesity and contribute to diabetes.

clumeng@umich.edu

Prof. Daniel Michele is Professor, Molecular & Integrative Physiology. His lab is focused the molecular mechanisms of human diseases of skeletal and cardiac muscle.

dmichele@umich.edu

Prof. Stephanie Moon is Assistant Professor of Human Genetics, Faculty Scholar of the Center for RNA Biomedicine, Affiliate Faculty, Biological Chemistry and of the Michigan Neuroscience Institute. The Moon Lab studies mRNA function, degradation, localization, and RNA-Protein granules

smslmoon@unich.edu

Professor Paula Newman-Casey is Jerome Jacobson Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual ciences, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Associate Chair, Clinical Research, Medical School. Her research interest Understanding how we can leverage technology to extend the health care system’s reach by helping patients better self-manage their own chronic ophthalmic conditions.

panewman@med.umich.edu

Prof. Jillian Pearring is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and  of Cell and Developmental Biology. Her lab studies the mechanisms underlying cellular polarity and organelle biogenesis in photoreceptors.

pearring@umich.edu

Professor Sarah Veatch is the the Associate Director of the Department of Biophysics, Associate Professor of Biophysics and Physics.  Her lab is currently exploring the physical basis and functional consequences of lateral heterogeneity in living cell membranes .

sveatch@umich.edu

Professor Nils G. Walter is the Francis S Collins Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Biophysics and Biological Chemistry.  His lab uses tools from chemical biology, analytical chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and bioinformatics studying RNA biology and DNA nanotechnology, including the structure, dynamics and function of RNAs and DNA nanodevices outside and inside human cells.

nwalter@umich.edu

Prof. Maria Woodward is Edward T and Ellen K Dryer Career Development Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. The Woodward Lab is focused on healthcare delivery specifically for the anterior segment of the eye. The overarching goal is to personalize treatments earlier and more accurately in order to improve patient outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations.

mariawoo@umich.edu