Faculty By Subject

• Hematopoesis
• Musculoskeletal
• Neural
• Cardiovascular
• Pancreas and Liver
• Epithelial
• Reproductive
  
  

Hematopoesis

*Emmanuelle Passegué, PhD recently joined UCSF faculty from Irving Weissman’s laboratory at Stanford where she performed pioneering studies that defined the functional properties of normal and leukemic stem cells. She is developing a core facility to isolate human and murine hematopoietic stem cells as part of a joint effort with the Cancer Center. 

*Andrew D. Leavitt, MD uses murine and human embryonic stem cells to study megakaryocyte and hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell development with a focus on the role of thrombopoietin signaling. Dr. Leavitt collaborates closely with Dr. Susan Fisher on human embryonic stem cell studies, and is the medical director of the UCSF adult hematopoietic stem cell laboratory.

Benjamin Braun, MD studies intracellular signaling pathways involved in leukemia, focusing primarily on Ras pathways and mouse models.  Dr. Braun also cares for children with blood disorders and cancer.

Katja Brückner, PhD, studies hematopoietic stem cells and differentiation using Drosophila as model system.

Michelle Hermiston, MD, PhD, focuses on elucidating the impact of immune dysregulation on hematologic disease and translating these findings into clinical use.

Yuet W. Kan, MD elucidated the genetic causes of thalassemia and developed prenatal diagnosis for sickle cells anemia and thalassemia. Some of the current work in his laboratory focuses on using murine embryonic stem cells to cure human sickle cell disease in a murine model.

Scott Kogan, MD studies leukemia stem cells in mouse models and is interested in devising better therapies that target these cells.

Charles Linker, MD is the Director of the UCSF Adult Hematologic Malignancies and Transplant Program, where he runs a number of clinical trials.

Mignon Loh, MD uses human patient samples to better understand the pathogenesis of human leukemias with a particular focus on the role of PTPN11 mutations.

Tippi MacKenzie, MD examines the role of in utero gene transer for diseases such as hemophilia.

Thomas Martin, MD directs a number of clinical trials in the UCSF adult hematologic malignancies program, including all protocols involving the use of umbilical cord blood stem cells. He has a particular interest in the role of regulatory T cells as a therapeutic tool for hematologic malignancies.

Katherine Matthay, MD is the Chief of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology service and directs a number of local and national clinical trials related to pediatric cancers.

Joseph M. McCune, MD, PhD evaluates HIV-induced effects on multi-lineage hematopoiesis, as studied in the SCID-hu mice and in patient-oriented studies at the General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital.

Peter Sayre, MD, PhD, helps to coordinate studies aimed at using HSC-based therapy to modulate the immune response and promote long-term immune tolerance to solid organ transplants.

Neil Shah, MD, PhD is an expert in developing molecularly targeted therapies for chronic myeloid leukemia and other hematologic malignancies.

Kevin Shannon, MD studies signaling mechanisms that regulate the growth and differentiation of normal and leukemic stem cells. His laboratory is particularly interested in the genetic and biochemical basis of inherited leukemia predispositions and the regulation of growth of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells by Ras signaling. As a pediatric hematologist/oncologist, Dr. Shannon cares for children with blood disorders and cancer. He also leads the Program in Hematopoietic Malignancies in the Cancer Center.   

Shinya Yamanaka, PhD studies stem-cell pluripotency.

Musculoskeletal

*Rik Derynck, PhD studies signaling mechanisms that regulate the generation of bone, muscle and fat cells and how these cells derive from mesenchymal stem cells. This knowledge is used to direct mesenchymal stem cells and pre-adipocytes toward the generation of bone and muscle tissues.

*Ted Miclau, MD studies cellular molecular mechanisms of fracture repair, particularly related to the roles of inflammation, angiogenesis, and mechanical influences on healing. He has developed models of mandibular and tibial fracture repair.

Tamara Alliston, PhD studies mechanisms of differentiation of bone-depositing cells and the regulation of bone quality.

Harold Bernstein, MD, PhD studies the regulation of cell cycle control in muscle cell differentiation and the process whereby muscle cell precursors give rise to fully differentiated muscle fibers.

Sigurd Berven, MD an orthopedic spine surgeon, has research to evaluate the use of mesenchymal stem cells in an animal model of disc degeneration for potential repair mechanisms.

Brian Black, PhD studies the transcription factor programs involved in the development of skeletal and cardiac muscle and the development of the neural crest.

Katja Brückner, PhD, studies the ability of epithelial cells to transdifferentiate in to mesenchymal cells in Drosophila. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is an important and initial step in invasion of epithelial cells, both in normal development and in invasion of cancer cells, leading to metastasis.

Pao-Tien Chuang, PhD studies the role of the Hedgehog signaling pathway in mammalian development.

Celine Colnot, PhD, focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate skeletal development and repair.

Pamela Den Besten, DDS studies the development of ameloblasts, the cells that deposit enamel on developing teeth, and explores the development of stem cells derived from tooth pulp in the reconstruction of teeth.

Tejal Desai, PhD, focuses on the design, fabrication, and use of advanced micro/nano biosystems.

Susan Fisher, PhD studies mechanisms whereby human placental cells invade the uterus during pregnancy and uses this knowledge to study the behavior during cell differentiation. She also studies the early steps of differentiation and the maintenance of human embryonic stem cells.

Serena Hu, MD a spine surgeon, has a long interest in disc degeneration and its interaction with pain.

Hubert Kim, MD, studies the modulation of secondary injury cascades and the application of stem cells in the treatment of traumatic injuries, particularly injury to tissues that have poor intrinsic healing.

Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, studies the use of teeth as a feasible prototype for stem cell (SC) based organ regeneration.

Janice Lee, MD, DDS is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who studies the potential use of dental pulp stem cells as an autologous source of cells for bone repair.

Jeff Lotz, PhD studies the use of stem cells, growth factors, and synthetic matrices for tissue engineered regeneration and healing of vertebral discs. Emphasis is placed on defining the biomechanical and inflammatory factors that cause back pain, and on cell culture and animal models of disc degeneration.

Tom Lue studies focuses on adipose tissue derived stem/progenitor cells.

Sharmila Majumdar, PhD, is working on developing imaging techniques to track stem-cells in vivo.

Ralph Marcucio, PhD studies the molecular and cellular events that underlie development and regeneration of the skeleton.

Grayson W. Marshall, PhD studies the structure-properties relationships of calcified matrices, in particular enamel and dentin, using biophysical techniques, and evaluates how these properties change with disease.

Gail Martin, PhD studies mechanisms that govern early steps of vertebrate development, thereby focusing on the role of FGF signaling in patterning and in the early stages of organ development.

Robert Nissenson, PhD studies the role of signaling pathways in the development of bone depositing osteoblasts.

Charles Ordahl, PhD studies the molecular and cellular events that give rise to the development of skeletal and cardiac muscle cells.

Richard Schneider, PhD studies the development of neural crest, a mesenchymal cell population, and its role in patterning of the craniofacial organization.

Dean Sheppard, MD, PhD studies the role of integrins and signaling mechanisms in cell and tissue interactions in the lung, and specifically in lung injury and fibrosis.

Didier Stainier, PhD studies the development of several organ systems and identifies critical genes in these developmental processes using zebrafish as model system.

Karin Vargervik, DDS is the director of the UCSF Center for Craniofacial Anomalies and has a special interest in the etiology and development, as well as therapeutic modalities, of cleft palate and lip.

Zena Werb, PhD studies the role of proteases in the interaction of tissues with the extracellular matrix, thereby focusing on bone formation, fat development, epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in mammary gland development, and cancer progression.

Neural

*Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD uses rodent models to study how embryonic neural stem and progenitor cells produce neurons. He studies developmental brain disorders such as autism and explores the application of progenitor cell grafts to the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

*Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, PhD studies the origin of the adult brain's stem cells, the migration of young neurons from their site of birth to their final destinations, the functional contribution of neurons born in the adult brain, and whether brain tumors originate from neural stem cells. He has initiated studies exploring progenitor cell transplants for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

Krys Bankiewicz, MD, PhD uses cell and gene transplantation approaches in primate models of Parkinson’s disease and pioneers gene transplantation in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Scott Baraban, PhD studies mouse mutants featuring gene deletions identified in children with malformation-associated epilepsies, and exploring how seizures develop. He also examines the potential of embryonic progenitor cells to inhibit epilepsy following transplantation.

Allan Basbaum, PhD studies the organization of pain control networks in the brainstem and spinal cord, and explores paradigms for promoting regeneration of the central nervous system following injury.

Hilary Beggs, PhD studies the molecular mechanisms that underlie a number of significant eye diseases, including microphthalmia, cataracts, and retinal dengeneration/dysplasia.

Mitchel Berger, MD studies the correlative biology and outcome of patients with both low-grade and high-grade gliomas

Jacqueline Bresnahan, PhD does basic and translational research aimed at enhancing the treatment of brain and spinal cord injuries

Benjamin Cheyette, MD, PhD studies signal scaffold proteins in embryonic and neural development, including stem cells.

Graeme Davis, PhD studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal development and plasticity.

Donna Ferriero, MD, Director of the Neonatal Brain Disorders Center, studies the pathobiology of hypoxic-ischemic injury in the developing nervous system.

Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD studies molecular mechanisms of plasticity and neurodegeneration. He is unraveling how an inherited genetic mutation leads to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration in Huntington’s disease.

Ying-Hui Fu, PhD studies genetic disorders of the brain, nerve and muscle, in particular the mechanisms of two classes of neurodegenerative diseases: polyglutamine and demyelinating degenerative diseases.

Fen-Biao Gao, PhD studies the molecular mechanisms of underlying neuronal morphogenesis, as well as the fruit fly Drosophilia as a model system to understand the pathogenesis of a few neurological disorders and to identify new targets for therapeutic interventions.

Su Guo, PhD uses molecular genetic approaches in zebrafish to identify novel genes involved in fate determination of dopaminergic neurons.

Eric Huang, MD, PhD studies the transcriptional control of neural development.

Yuh Nung Jan, PhD identifies genes involved in maintaining adult neural stem cells in mice, with the intent of defining their precise functions. His overall goal is to determine the function of adult neural stem cells in humans, in order to develop strategies to treat brain disorders including Parkinson’s disease.

Tom Kornberg, PhD uses Drosophila to investigate mechanisms that assign cells to their developmental fates.

Paul Larson, MD, studies Parksinson's disease.

Geoffrey Manley, MD, PhD, works with the UCSF Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC) to promote collaborative basic, translational and clinical studies on injuries to the brain and spinal cord.

Synthia Mellon, PhD studies neural development and steroidogenesis.

Linda Noble, PhD, studies oxidative stress and neurogenesis.

Claudia Petritsch, PhD, studies the molecular basis of asymmetrical cell division in neuronal stem and progenitor cells.

Samuel Pleasure, MD, PhD studies the development of the brain, in particular the mechanisms regulating cell proliferation, migration and axon guidance during prenatal development.

Stanley Prusiner, MD studies in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly the dementias caused by prions.

Louis Reichardt, PhD studies neural cell fates in development.

Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD focuses on identifying novel intercellular signals that direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells along defined lineages.

David Rowitch, MD, PhD is interested in brain tumor stem cells and disorders of white matter.

John Rubenstein, MD, PhD studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of embryogenesis, and the genetic control of forebrain development. He explores the origin of inhibitory interneurons in the brain, and their possible utility in cell-based therapy for brain disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

Nirao Shah, MD, PhD studies how sex-specific behaviors, such as mating, nursing, and aggression are encoded by neural circuits.

David Sretavan, MD, PhD studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation of retinal gan-glion cell axon projections, the major axon path-ways conveying visual information from the eyes to the CNS targets.

Philip Starr, MD, P.D, focuses on several areas of movement disorders surgery.

Michael Stryker, PhD studies the role of neural activity in the development of precise connections within the central nervous system.

Erik Ullian, PhD studies the cell extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms that regulate synapse number and function, particularly the role of glial cells in regulating neuronal synapse formation and function.

William Weiss, MD, PhD is interested in developing and characterizing mouse models that faithfully recapitulate the biology and genetics of human tumors of the nervous system.

Cardiovascular

*Deepak Srivastava, MD, a pediatric cardiologist and Director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, uses animal models and human genetics and molecular biology to study the mechanisms underlying cardiac cell lineage determination and morphogenesis. 

*Yerem Yeghiazarians, MD, an adult interventional cardiologist, studies embryonic and adult stem cells introduced into rodent and swine hearts after injury and is involved in numerous clinical trials using interventional catheter approaches.

Rosemary Akhurst, PhD studies the role of signaling molecules and genetic modifiers in vasculogenesis, the formation of the vascular network, during development.

Anthony Azakie, MD, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, studies the regulatory network that dictates myogenic cell fates.

Gabriele Bergers, PhD studies the exact nature and function, and recruitment mechanisms of, the distinct vascular progenitor populations in tumors in order to elicit the crucial signaling pathways that dictate dormancy, self-renewal capacity and differentiation.

Harold Bernstein, MD, PhD, a pediatric cardiologist, studies cell cycle regulation of myocytes and manipulation of such pathways in human and mouse embryonic stem cells.

Brian Black, PhD, studies regulatory pathways governing early cardiac development including those regulating cardiac progenitors that persist postnatally.

Nancy Boudreau, PhD studies the signals and mechanical forces affecting vascular formation.

Benoit Bruneau, PhD studies consequences of human heart malformation genes and other embryonic developmental pathways using rodent models.

Bruce Conklin, MD studies G-protein coupled receptor signaling in embryonic stem cells during cardiac differentiation.

Shaun Coughlin, MD is Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and studies signaling during vascular and cardiac development.

Michael Dae, MD is interested in imaging cardiac metabolism and function after infarct using rodent and pig models.

William Grossman, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiology, is interested in the translational aspects of cardiac stem cell biology and the potential for future clinical applications.

Julius Guccione, PhD studies the role of stem cell transplantation on the biophysics of cardiac function.

Doug Hanahan, PhD studies vascular development and signals that induce endothelial tube formation and differentiation.

Y.W. Kan, MD explores the therapeutic potential of adenoviral infection of hearts with vascular growth factors after injury to stimulate angiogenesis.

Randall Lee, MD, PhD, an adult electrophysiologist, is interested in tissue engineering approaches to target stem cell therapies to the heart including use of antibodies and biopolymers.

Michael Mann, MD, an adult cardiothoracic surgeon, explores the use of stem cells for cardiac repair and develops surgical models in small and large animals for cardiac injury.

Takashi Mikawa, PhD studies development of the cardiac conduction system during early embryogenesis and the signals that distinguish conduction cells from working myocytes using the chick system.

Jeffrey Olgin, MD, Director of the Adult Cardiac Electrophysiology Division, studies the cardiac conduction system and its coordination and integration with introduced stem cells.

Mark Ratcliffe, MD is Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and develops programs to image and model the biophysics of cardiac function.

Kathleen Ruppel, MD, PhD, a pediatric cardiologist, studies G-protein coupled receptor signaling during cardiac development.

Matthew Springer, PhD studies the functional integration of stem cells into the adult heart and uses rodent models to study the regenerative potential of stem cells.

Didier Stainier, PhD studies cardiac development using the zebrafish model system for genetic and embryological approaches.

Hua Su, PhD studies the use of growth factors delivered into the heart for induction of new blood vessel formation.

Thiennu Vu, MD, PhD is interested in the role of the vasculature during organogenesis.

Rong Wang, PhD studies the role of receptor-mediated signaling in vasculogenesis using rodent models.

Zena Werb, PhD studies the role of endothelial cells and proteases in the interaction of tissues with the extracellular matrix in the context of neo-angiogenesis.

Pancreas and Liver

*Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD directs research to modify transplantation and autoimmune responses, and to understand the underlying mechanisms of T-cell recognition of foreign antigens. He has made key discoveries in the field of immune tolerance and develops novel therapies to induce immune tolerance.

*Matthias Hebrok, PhD studies how undifferentiated epithelial cells develop into functional endocrine cells, specifically insulin-producing beta-cells.

Abul Abbas, MD focuses on animal models of immune activation, tolerance and autoimmunity.  The main interest of his research group is to study the biology of cell interactions in the immune system, focusing on T lymphocyte activation and tolerance.

Mark Anderson, MD, PhD studies immune tolerance and the role of the thymus in type 1 diabetes and autoimmune disease.

Nancy Ascher, MD, PhD, a transplant surgeon is chair of the Department of Surgery and focuses on the immunogenicity of liver cells in transplantation models.

Nathan Bass, MD, PhD is the Medical Director of the Liver Transplantation Program and directs clinical and translational studies of chronic liver disease.

Steinunn Baekkeskov, PhD studies the autoimmune response in type 1 diabetes.

D. Montgomery Bissell, MD, Director of the UCSF Liver Center, studies the liver’s response to chronic injury, and the role of stem ells in the repair response.

Brian Black, PhD studies the role of basic helix-loop-helix proteins in vertebrate development.  These proteins act as activators and inhibitors of transcription in a wide array of developmental processes, including myogenesis, neurogenesis, and pancreas development.

Michael German, MD studies the cascade of gene activation underlying the development of the beta-cells from less differentiatedcells during embryogenesis or from stem cells in the adult pancreas, and how these genes function in the mature beta-cell.

Jason Cyster, PhD studies lymphocyte trafficking and homeostasis.

Timothy Davern, MD is a gastroenterologist who studies gene therapy approaches to the treatment of liver disease and directs linical studies of acute liver failure.

Gerard Evan, MD, PhD studies the processes that determine ß cell expansion.

Sandy Feng, MD, PhD is a transplant surgeon and works on liver transplantation and stem cell based therapies of the treatment of liver disease.

Christopher Freise, MD is a transplant surgeon studying both liver nd pancreas transplanation.

Stephen Gitelman, MD is Director of the UCSF Pediatric Diabetes Program, and has active clinical research interests in diabetes, particularly in the prevention of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Gerold Grodsky, PhD has 45 years of research interest in the regulation of insulin and glucagon synthesis, storage and secretion, both in vitro and in man.  He acts as consultant to the Diabetes enter.

Douglas Hanahan, PhD uses transgenic mouse models to study islet beta-cell carcinogenesis, islet cell development, and the principles of beta-cell self tolerance and autoimmunity as reflected in the distinctive immune responses seen in mouse models.

Ryo Hirose, MD is a transplant surgeon performing clinical studies of liver transplantation.Sang-Mo Kang, MD, a transplant surgeon, works on basic and clinical studies of islet transplantation.

Sang-Mo Kang, MD, a transplant surgeon, works on basic and clinical studies of islet transplantation.

Matthew Krummel, PhD uses in situ imaging of the proximal molecular events in the thymus to determine how signaling proceeds in the context of the tissues and organs.

Lewis Lanier, PhD analyzes the regulation of T cell and NK cell immune responses by activating and inhibitory receptors.Umesh Masharani, MD using monoclonal antibodies to immunomodulate the autoimmune process in new onset type 1 diabetes.

Umesh Masharani, MD using monoclonal antibodies to immunomodulate the autoimmune process in new onset type 1 diabetes.

Martin McMahon, PhD investigates the ability of telomerase to immortalize human cells without promoting the loss of differentiated characteristics as an approach to the long term culture of human slets and pancreatic ductal epithelial cells.

Raphael Merriman, MD is a gastroenerologist involved in clinical studies of patients with chronic liver disease. 

Feroz Papa, MD, PhD is focused on understanding the connections between ER stress and apoptosis of pancreatic islet b-cells, and identifying and developing novel small molecule effectors of key regulators of pathways which reverse ER stress, such as the unfolded protein repsonse (UPR).

Marion Peters, MD studies the role of the immune system in chronic liver disease and directs clinical studies of liver transplant patients. 

Andrew Posselt, MD is studying transplantation characteristics of human ES cells, and is involved in both the pancreas and liver ransplant programs.

John Roberts, MD, a transplant surgeon and Director of the Liver Transplantation Program, is involved in clinical studies of liver transplant patients.

Steven Rosen, PhD, studies the molecular mechanisms of lymphocyte homing to inflamed islets.

Eric Rulifson, PhD studies the development of insulin producing cells using Drosophilia as model system.  The insulin producing cells in Drosophilia represent a simple and ancestral organ representative of the pancreas in mammals.

Didier Stainier, PhD uses the zebrafish model system to investigate the formation of organs during vertebrate development.  His group isinterested in understanding the molecular events that underlie cellular differentiation and tissue morphogenesis during the formation of the liver and pancreas.

Peter Stock, MD, PhD has his research and clinical activities focused on beta cell replacement for the treatment of type I diabetes mellitus, both in the form of solid organ pancreas transplant as well as pancreatic islet cell transplant.

Flavio Vincenti, MD is interested in developing immunosuppression protocols for recipients of renal transplants or combined kidney-pancreas transplants that enhance graft survival (i.e. clinical tolerance) and minimizing the overall toxicity and nephrotoxicity associated with standard immunosuppressive drugs.

Arthur Weiss, MD, PhD studies signal transduction events in T cells that lead to their activation, which is necessary for their participation n immune responses.  Activation of T cells can lead to pathologic consequences including autoimmunity, as in lupus or type 1 diabetes.

Zena Werb, PhD investigates the role of extracellular matrix (ECM) and matrix metalloproteinases during epithelial growth, differentiation, branching morphogenesis, and growth.

Holger Willenbring, MD is exploring the way liver cells differentiate and regenerate, with the goal to correct liver diseases with cells derived from stem cells or from reprogramming of hematopoietic cells.

David Wofsy, MD, focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to autoimmune disease in murine models.

Francis Yao, MD is Associate Medical Director of the UCSF Liver Transplantation Program, and involved in clinical studies of liver transplantation patients.

Epithelial

*Allan Balmain, PhD focuses on the role of stem cells and cancer, and thereby specifically aims to identify the critical target cells of origin for different tumor types in the skin and lung. Identification of these target cells, and the mechanisms by which they become ransformed, will be important both for stem cell therapy and for cancer therapy.

*Ruby Ghadially, MD is a dermatologist with research interest in skinstem cells and their use for in vivo expension of keratinocytes for autologous burn and wound therapy. 

Rosemary Akhurst, PhD explores the differentiation of epithelial stem cells from human embryonic stem cells.  Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff, PhD studies the organization and properties of the mammary stem cell niche. She is investigating the locations and functions of stem cells within the developing mammary gland, and the mechanisms by which they are transformed by radiation.

Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff, PhD studies the organization and properties of the mammary stem cell niche. She is investigating the locations and functions of stem cells within the developing mammary gland, and the mechanisms by which they are transformed by radiation.

Nancy Boudreau, PhD studies in collaboration with David Young the potential use of fetal stem cells in chronic wound healing using astandard diabetic mouse model.

James Cleaver, PhD explores the use of genetically modified keratinocytes for the treatment of Xeroderma Pigmentosum, in which patients have to undergo lifetime isolation from sun exposure, and are at risk of developing multiple skin cancers due to single gene defects in DNA repair genes.

Matthias Hebrok, PhD has shown that the Hedgehog signaling pathway is activated in cancer of the pancreas and other epithelial tissues. He is investigating the role of this pathway in determining stem cell fate and malignant potential, primarily in pancreatic cells.

Stephen Lazarus, MD studies Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, an inflammatory disease that leads to destruction of alveoli, with subsequent loss of lung elastic recoil and hyperinflation.  He explores the use of infused stem cells to repopulate the lung and to stimulate the differentiation of normal alveolar cells, as a novelapproach to the treatment of this disease.

Michael Matthay, MD is interested in stem cell treatment for acute lung injury, a major cause of acute respiratory failure characterized by pulmonary edema, inflammation, arterial hypoxemia, and the need for mechanical ventilation.  He is currently testing in small animal models the hypothesis that endogenous or exogenous mesenchymal stem cells may transform into lung epithelial cells uring the acute phase of lung injury, and thereby provide a novel approach to re-establishing the lung epithelial barrier and enhancing recovery from acute lung injury. 

Theodora Mauro, MD is focused on defining ion channels, antiporters, and Ca2+ ATP'ases which direct normal keratinocyte differentiation, adhesion, motility and secretion.

Keith Mostov, PhD studies both the structure of individual epithelial cells and how they are organized into multicellular tissues and organs.

Jonathan Rosenberg, MD, is the leader of the UCSF Bladder Cancer Program in the division of Hematology/Oncology

Eric Small, MD, researches the development of investigational therapeutic agents in prostate cancer.

Thea Tlsty, PhD studies the identity and role of cancer stem cells in the development and progression of breast cancer.  She also has a research program on the characterization of genomic instability in cancer initiation and progression.

David Young, MD explores the potential use of fetal stem cells in chronic wound healing using a standard diabetic mouse model.

Reproductive

*Marcelle Cedars, MD is the Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and the UCSF Reproductive Health Clinic, and studies ovarian aging, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and assisted reproductive methods in clinical and basic studies.

*Linda Giudice, MD, PhD is the Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and is a specialist in assisted reproduction.  She studies human uterine receptivity in pregnancy and embryo evelopment and has initiated studies on human somatic cell nuclear transfer and human embryonic stem cells differentiating into placental cells. 

Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD studies the molecular basis of stem cell elf-renewal, differentiation and cancer and is an expert in animal SCNT.

Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD is the Director of the Diabetes Center and conducts basic and clinical research on the causes and cures for Diabetes.

Marco Conti, MD, focuses on signal transduction required for germ cell development.

Joseph Costello, PhD studies the onset of tumorigenesis with an mphasis on discovering the mechanisms by which genes accumulate changes that may activate or inactivate tumor genes.

Rik Derynck, PhD is Co-Director of the Institute for Regeneration Medicine and studies signaling mechanisms that regulate the generation of bone, muscle and fat cells and how these cells derive from mesenchymal stem cells.

Diana Farmer, MD is a pediatric surgeon and one of just a few fetalsurgeons in the world. She studies tumor immunology and childhood surgical gynecology.

Susan Fisher, PhD is the Director of the UCSF Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and studies mechanisms whereby human placental cells invade the uterus during pregnancy.  She also studies the derivation, differentiation and maintenance of human embryonic stem cells.

Elena Gates, MD is the Director of the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Tissue Bank and is an obstetrician/gynecologist at the UCSF Women’s Health Offices. She has a special interest in the medical ethics relating to women’s health care, reproduction and stem cell biology.

Heather Huddleston, MD studies the differences in estradiol production in Asians versus Caucasians.

Sonya Kashyap, MD studies fertility preservation and multiple gestation after IVF.

Cynthia Kenyon, PhD, is the Director of the Hillblom Center for the Biology of Aging and studies the molecular mechanisms of aging and has identified mutants in model organisms with genetically increased lifespan.

Thomas Kornberg, PhD uses Drosophila to investigate mechanisms, especially cell-cell signaling, that assign cells to their developmental fates. He also directs the UCSF Tetrad Program in Genetics.

Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD is the Director of the UCSF Institute for Regeneration Medicine and uses rodent models to study how embryonic neural stem and progenitor cells produce neurons. He studies developmental brain disorders such as autism and explores the application of progenitor cell grafts to the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Miriam Kupperman, PhD specializes in studies of outcomes in eproductive health with a focus on how social, economic and other common factors may affect decision-making in the face of complex genetic data.

Diana Laird, PhD, studies the development and regulation of Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs), stem cells in the embryo that give rise to egg or sperm.

Andrew Leavitt, MD studies megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet formation and the development of hematopoietic stem cells using both murine and human embryonic stem cells.

Bernard Lo, MD is the Director of the Program in Medical Ethics at UCSF and is the Chair of the UCSF GESCR (Gamete, Embryo and Stem Cell Research) Committee. He studies the process of establishing guidelines for human research with special emphasis on genetic testing and stem cells.

Frank McCormick, PhD is the Director of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center and studies differences in normal and cancer cells that could be exploited for therapeutic intervention.

Michael McManus, PhD studies biological processes relating to RNA interference pathways, using the mouse as a model. This includes the study of small regulatory RNAs of biological significance that regulate development in mammals.

Barbara Panning, PhD is focused on understanding how RNA containing complexes modulate chromatin structure and gene expression.

Stanley Prusiner, MD, the Director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders, studies neurodegenerative diseases, particularly the dementias caused by prions.

Louis Ptacek, MD, PhD uses human genetic approaches to identify novel genes, that when mutated, cause normal variation and disease of the nervous system. He has collected cell and DNA samples from large numbers of families with neurological disorders; these samples may also be used for SCNT.

Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, MSc studies the genetic regulation of embryonic stem pluripotency and somatic cell reprogramming.

Katherine A. Rauen, PhD, MD, studies germline mutations in genes associated with the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and the application of array CGH in clinical genetics.

Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD focuses on identifying novel intercellular signals that direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells along defined lineages.

Paolo Rinaudo, MD is a clinical reproductive endocrinologist, and studies the culture of mammalian embryos and potential consequences to long term health due to culture.

Neil Risch, PhD, is a statistical geneticist and genetic epidemiologist and the Director of the Institute for Human Genetics. His studies are both theoretical and applied with clinical and population-based projects.

Mitchell Rosen, MD is a clinical reproductive endocrinologist, and studies the genetic basis of unexplained infertility and clinical outcomes of reproductive practices.

Shehua Shen, MD is a clinical embryologist who specializes in gamete and embryo micromanipulation and microinjection and advancement of laboratory IVF procedures.

Deepak Srivastava, MD, PhD is the Director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and studies the causes of heart disease with a goal of using knowledge of the cardiac developmental pathways to devise novel therapeutics for human cardiac disorders.

Thea Tlsty, PhD studies genomic instability and cancer stem cells. She has identified early genetic changes that lead to expansion of cancer stem cell populations.

Paul J. Turek, MD is the Director of The Male Reproductive Health Center at UCSF and is a specialist in micro-surgical techniques. He also studies the genetic basis for poor sperm formation in men and outcomes to embryo and fetal health.