Cell Biology Faculty

Maor Bar-Peled

Associate Professor
Plant Biology

Molecular cell biology of the wall, Biofuel and BioEnergy, Golgi as model for System biology, Plant Immunity.

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Pengpeng Bi

Assistant Professor
Genetics

We use​ the advanced genetic mouse models to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying
several diseases: obesity, diabetics, muscle and heart diseases.

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Katie Billmyre

Assistant Professor, Genetics Department

Meiotic chromosome biology using Drosophila as a model system.

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Haini Cai

Associate Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience

Nuclear and genome organization; Chromatin structure and function; Gene regulation in Drosophila development.

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Houjian Cai

Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences

Post-translational modification including protein acylation, fatty acid metabolism,
prostate stem cell, Src family kinases, prostate cancer, small molecular inhibitor.

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Kelly Dawe

Distinguished Research Professor
Genetics; Plant Biology

Plant centromere and kinetochore structure and function.

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Roberto Docampo

Professor
Cellular Biology

Cellular and molecular biology of acidocalcisomes; the role of polyphosphate in trypanosomatids.

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Jonathan Eggenschwiler

Associate Professor
Genetics; Neuroscience

Genetic analysis of mouse development; cell fate specification in the embryonic
central nervous system; patterning of the body plan’s left-right axis.

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Courtney Ellison

Assistant Professor
Microbiology

Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, dynamics of bacterial nanomachines, microbial subcellular organization.

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Ronald D. Etheridge

Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology

Toxoplasma’s Strategies to Manipulate Host Immunity

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Mark Farmer

Professor
Cellular Biology

Protist systematics, cell evolution, and flagellar development.

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Jacek Gaertig

Professor
Cellular Biology

Molecular cell biology of the cytoskeleton; molecular genetics of ciliates.

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David Garfinkel

Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Retrovirus-like transposons in budding yeast, control of transposition, restriction factors.

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Neil J. Grimsey

Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

Defining the spatiotemporal regulation of kinase pathways and the regulation of GPCR induced
inflammation and proangiogenic signaling, for the development of therapeutic agents.

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Robert Haltiwanger

Professor; GRA Eminent Scholar in Biomedical Glycosciences
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Neuroscience

Role of glycosylation in regulating Notch signaling, assisting protein folding, and development.

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Hitesh Handa

Associate Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences

Translational research in biomaterials (antifouling, antiplatelet, antibacterial, and antiviral) for tissue engineering and medical device applications

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Gerald W. Hart

Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Eminent Scholar in Drug Discovery;
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center

Nutrient Regulation of Signaling and Transcription: Mechanisms Underlying Diabetes, Neurodegeneration and Cancer

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Tim Hoover

Professor
Microbiology

Gene regulation in bacteria; regulation of flagellar biogenesis; control of RpoN-dependent transcription in bacteria.

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Diego Huet

Assistant Professor
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

The Huet Lab will use metabolomics and CRISPR-based approaches to understand the mitochondrial and organellar biology of a class of protozoan parasites, the apicomplexans.

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Natalia Ivanova

Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Genetics

Transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms regulating preimplantation development, pluripotency, differentiation and cellular reprogramming in humans

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Daichi Kamiyama

Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience

Our research is aimed at identifying the principles of neural circuit assembly, which is key
to understanding the treatment of neurological disorders. To achieve this, we develop
imaging toolkits including fluorescent probes and advanced microscopes.
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Eileen Kennedy

Professor
Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences

Chemical biology, kinase signaling, cancer, signal transduction, drug discovery.

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Edward Kipreos

Professor
Cellular Biology

Regulation of the cell cycle; ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis and development.

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Dennis Kyle

Professor
GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Antiparasitic Drug Discovery
Cellular Biology & Infectious Diseases

The discovery and development of new drugs to prevent or treat malaria and diseases
caused by brain-eating amoebae. Elucidating mechanism(s) of resistance
and discovering new drug treatment regimens, combinations, or strategies to overcome resistance.

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Karl Lechtreck

Associate Professor
Cellular Biology

Cell Biology of Cilia; Cilia-related diseases, Intracellular Transport.

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Xiaorong Lin

Professor
Microbiology; Plant Biology

Human fungal pathogens, sexual reproduction and development in fungal pathogenesis

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Wolfgang Lukowitz

Associate Professor
Plant Biology

Fertilization, and early cell-fate decisions in plant embryos.

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Amy Medlock

Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Understanding intracellular and intercellular heme transport.

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Michelle Momany

Professor
Plant Biology

Cellular and molecular biology of polar growth in fungi.

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Kelley Moremen

Distinguished Research Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Biochemistry, molecular, and structural biology of mammalian glycoprotein biosynthesis and catabolism.

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Silvia Moreno

Professor
Cellular Biology

Metabolism and drug development against protozoan parasites.
Calcium signaling and storage in Toxoplasma gondii.

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Vasant Muralidharan

Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology

Molecular and cellular biology of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

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Brad Nelms

Assistant Professor
Plant Biology

Cell differentiation during plant reproduction, genomics and gene regulatory networks, single-cell RNA-sequencing, reprogramming cell fate

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Rachel Roberts-Galbraith

Assistant Professor
Cellular Biology; Neuroscience

Regeneration and development; understanding cellular/molecular mechanisms that underlie neural regeneration in planarians.

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Tania Rozario

Assistant Professor
Genetics

Understanding mechanisms that regulate stem cell behavior, regeneration, and reproductive development in tapeworms

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Robert Sabatini

Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Molecular and biochemical parasitology: DNA modification, homologous recombination
and the regulation of antigenic variation in Trypanosoma brucei.

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Walter K. Schmidt Jr.

Professor
Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Neuroscience

Molecular cell biology and biochemistry of proteases associated with isoprenylated protein
maturation and amyloidogenic peptide degradation; cancer; Alzheimer’s disease.

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Vincent Starai

Associate Professor
Infectious Diseases; Microbiology

Bacterial modulation of eukaryotic membrane dynamics for intracellular survival;
SNARE-dependent membrane fusion biochemistry.

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Steven Stice

D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor
GRA Eminent Scholar
Regenerative Bioscience Center Director
Neuroscience; Toxicology

We are developing stem cell approaches to repairing bone and nerve injury in addition to
use of stem cells as a tool to screen toxins and potential drug therapies.

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Michael Terns

Distinguished Research Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Genetics; Microbiology

We study CRISPR-Cas immune systems that protect prokaryotes from viruses and provide
powerful research tools for important biotechnology and biomedical applications.

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Maria Viveiros

Associate Professor
Physiology & Pharmacology; Toxicology

Mammalian germ cell and early embryonic development; meiotic chromosome segregation in oocytes;
genomic instability; impact of age and environment on meiotic division.

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Ryan Weiss

Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center

Investigating the regulatory mechanisms of glycosylation using genomic, chemical, and genetic approaches with particular focus on the discovery of novel drugs and targets to treat human diseases.

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Zachary Wood

Associate Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

X-ray crystallographic and biochemical studies of nucleotide sugar metabolism.

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Yao Yao

Assistant Professor
Neuroscience

Develop regenerative therapies for neurological diseases by investigating the pathological and therapeutic roles of extracellular vesicles in cellular and animal models.

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Hang Yin

Assistant professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Stem cell biology, brown fat development and induction, non-coding
RNA, development of novel therapies for human obesity and type 2 diabetes

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Nadja Zeltner

Assistant Professor
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Cellular Biology; Neuroscience

Effects of pathological stress on cells of the peripheral nervous system and the adrenal gland. In vitro disease modeling using human pluripotent stem cells.

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