Faculty Profiles

James R. Olson, PhD, has traveled to Egypt to work with cotton laborers exposed to pesticides. His research links genetics, an individual’s degree of exposure to pesticides and effects on health, seeking to improve workplace and environmental health worldwide.

Suzanne Laychock, PhD, is investigating the cellular mechanisms regulating insulin secretion in pancreatic cells. Her group has used pancreatic cells in primary culture to develop in vitro systems that mimic aspects of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, works to elucidate melatonin’s mechanism of action and role in modulating circadian rhythms. Her lab develops novel molecules targeting melatonin receptors to treat depression, sleep disorders and cardiovascular disease.

David Dietz, PhD, investigates cellular changes by which drugs “hijack” the central nervous system’s reward circuitry, causing addiction. He studies how differences in individuals’ molecular and behavioral plasticity mediate susceptibility to drug abuse and relapse.

Ji Li, PhD, studies the molecular mechanisms of coronary artery disease, the most common cause of age-related cardiovascular disease. He seeks novel strategies to boost patients’ tolerance of cardiac stressor events and prevent their loss of cardiac resilience.

Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, studies interactomes of the human estrogen receptor, which is expressed in 70 percent of breast cancers. His lab seeks to design molecules to improve the effects of tamoxifen, a drug commonly prescribed to treat breast cancer.

Fraser J. Sim, PhD, studies the molecular mechanisms controlling stem and progenitor cell fate in the human brain. His lab seeks to develop novel drug- and cell-based therapies for repair and regeneration in demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.