Labs by division

Exploring inflammation's role in blood cancer and optimizing treatment our lab studies how inflammatory signals affect hematopoietic stem cells and contribute to malignancies. While inflammation is essential for immune defense prolonged exposure can impair stem cell function and drive clonal expansion of mutant cells leading to blood cancers. By understanding these responses we aim to improve stem cell health and develop strategies to prevent hematopoietic malignancies.

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Exploring cellular mechanisms that govern protein targeting, degradation and placental development, our laboratory investigates how intracellular pathways maintain homeostasis and regulate receptor-mediated endocytosis. By studying protein processing within endosomal and lysosomal systems and the molecular biology of syncytia formation in placental trophoblasts, we aim to uncover fundamental processes that influence health and disease. Our integrated approach provides insights into cellular regulation with implications for developmental biology and therapeutic innovation.

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Delivering personalized gut microbiome-based risk assessment and antibiotic stewardship to combat pediatric sepsis our lab aims to reduce morbidity and mortality from bacterial infections in infants by improving diagnostics and treatment strategies. We study how antibiotics disrupt the gut microbiome and immune development, increasing sepsis risk. Using microbial sequencing, immune profiling and computational modeling we develop algorithms to predict sepsis risk and guide optimal antibiotic therapy for vulnerable pediatric populations.

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Developing safer less toxic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children our research focuses on reduced intensity transplantation for hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia using the best available related or alternate donors. Building on multi-center trials like the SCURT trial for severe sickle cell disease and the URTH trial for thalassemia we are now exploring reduced intensity approaches for non-malignant disorders using minimally mismatched marrow or cord blood donors.

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Advancing genomics and metabolic research in maternal-fetal health our work focuses on genomic disorders, cytogenetic abnormalities, skeletal dysplasia and the genetic basis of autism. We use reverse genomics to characterize phenotypes with emphasis on 16p11.2 rearrangements and develop novel methods for detecting metabolic conditions. As co-director of the Women and Infants’ Health Specimen Consortium we also investigate metabolomics and feto-maternal interactions during pregnancy.

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Exploring host antiviral responses to commensal and pathogenic interactions, our research focuses on uncovering the mechanisms that drive innate immune defenses against viral infections. We also investigate how the microbiota influences the establishment and maintenance of antiviral immunity, aiming to reveal insights that inform new strategies for disease prevention and treatment.

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Decoding insulin resistance through rare genetic syndromes, our laboratory investigates severe insulin resistance disorders as unique experiments of nature to uncover fundamental principles of insulin signaling. Leveraging patient-derived models and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, we create transgenic mice and induced pluripotent stem cells differentiated into key cell types, enabling deep insights into molecular pathology and therapeutic discovery. These approaches bridge basic biology with translational strategies to improve care for metabolic disease.

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Advancing molecular diagnosis of infectious diseases our lab develops tests to detect a wide range of pathogens including all known human herpes viruses, polyoma viruses JC and BK, parvovirus B19, enteroviruses, HIV, Toxoplasma gondii, Bordetella pertussis and parapertussis, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, Bartonella, Leptospira, Borrelia, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae. We specialize in quantitative assays for CMV, EBV, HHV-6 and BK virus and have implemented commercial tests for HIV RNA, hepatitis C RNA, hepatitis C genotyping and hepatitis B DNA. Our work also includes detecting antiviral resistance in CMV and hepatitis B virus and identifying bacterial antibiotic resistance such as methicillin, fluoroquinolone and macrolide resistance.

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Defining molecular features driving leukemogenesis to improve outcomes in acute leukemia our lab investigates pathways that differ between malignant and healthy cells, promote chemotherapy resistance and support leukemia stem cell biology. Current projects focus on intracellular metabolism including amino acid and nucleotide metabolism, cellular energetics and polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism, the unfolded protein response and its role in stress adaptation and mitochondrial regulation critical for cancer cell survival. We also examine how these mechanisms influence healthy hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to guide rational therapeutic strategies.

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Exploring how gut microbiota shape disease outcomes, this laboratory investigates microbial influences on pediatric health through genomic sequencing, clinical data and collaborative research. With a focus on gastrointestinal diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis, projects integrate metagenomics, cohort studies and phylogenetic analysis to uncover microbial drivers of disease and inform future therapeutic strategies.

Research profile