BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR GENETICS

Introduction to the Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Program

A knowledge of biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics form the foundation for virtually all research in biomedical and life sciences. Within the Institute for Biomedical Sciences, the doctoral program in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics is designed to train and develop independent, first-rate scientists who will be competitive for careers in research and education in areas where the principles and methods of biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics are applied to the study of biomedical problems. Our multidisciplinary program consists of faculty at The George Washington University and scientists at the Children’s National Medical Center and The National Institutes of Health. The principal areas of research being conducted by our program investigators include the following:

Molecular and cellular bases of disease, with emphasis on AIDS, ischemia, and cardiovascular and airway diseases: regulation of HIV gene expression; development of antiviral drugs and vaccines; mechanisms of ischemic tissue injury and cell death; molecular and immunological approaches to diabetes, atherosclerosis, and wound healing; role of actin proteins, MUC genes, and mucin glycoproteins in cystic fibrosis, asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), inflammation, and other airway diseases.

Structure, function, and interactions of proteins: role of thymic hormones in the inhibition of apoptosis, immunodeficiency diseases, cancer, and aging; domain structure and matrix interactions of fibronectin; structure and function of extracellular matrix proteins; structure and function of fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) and receptor interactions; functional studies on VLDL receptor; molecular mechanism of interferon action.

Regulation of cell growth, differentiation, senescence, and death: mechanism of FGF action and signal transduction; regulation of gap junction-mediated intercellular communication in vascular cells and its involvement in cell proliferation and senescence; signal transduction pathways and role of protein phosphorylation in regulation of cell growth, differentiation, and tumorigenesis; molecular mechanism of Bcl-2 inhibition of apoptosis; mechanism of free radical-induced cell damage and death.

Lipid metabolism in health and disease: mechanism and regulation of cholesterol absorption; lipid metabolism in wasting disorders; regulation of eicosanoid metabolism; molecular biology of prostaglandins and corticosteroids; role of tumor cell gangliosides in tumor formation and the regulation of the immune response; signal transduction mechanisms involved in bile acid transport in hepatocytes; hepatocellular metabolism of LDL.

Molecular genetics of disease: Microarray profiling of disease states to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets; identification of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that associate with various diseases; proteomic analysis of subcellular organelles using 2D electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

For general program information, please refer to the Program page located on this website. For detailed questions about individual programs, please contact the IBS Office. Detailed Admissions information can also be found on this website.

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Mark Allard
Associate Research Professor; Ph.D. 1983, Utah State University. Purification and characterization of synthetic AIDS vaccine (HGP30) and biologically active peptides from thymosin fraction 5; characterization and study of the mechanisms of action of different forms of choline O-acetyltransferase from rat brain. (Website)

Mahnaz Badamchian
Associate Research Professor; Ph.D. 1983, Utah State University. Isolation and characterization of thymosins and cholin. (Website)

Patricia E. Berg
Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1973, Illinois Institute of Technology.  Role of homeobox genes in breast cancer and leukemial; sickle cell anemia therapy. (Website)

Bernard Bouscarel (Program Director)
Associate Research Professor of Medicine and of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1985, D. Sc. 1995, University of Toulouse, France. Signal transduction pathways (calcium, cAMP, and protein kinase C) and carcinogenesis; hormones, bile acids, and hepatobiliary disorders.

Ken Brown
Professor of Biology and Genetics. Role of neurotransmitters and hormones in cell differentiation. (Website)

Anne Chiaramello (Lab Rotations Director)
Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology; Ph.D. 1990, University of California, San Diego.
Gene regulatory networks and neurodegenerative disorders. (Website)

Anamaris M. Colberg-Poley
Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1980, Pennsylvania State University at Hershey. Regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking of cytomegalovirus. (Website)

Nancy Colburn
Chief, Laboratory of Cancer Prevention; Chief, Gene Regulation Section, LCP, NCI. Ph.D., University of Wisconsin. Transcriptional and Translational events that drive multistage carcinogenesis and might be targeted for cancer prevention. AP-1 and NFkB dependent transcription. Translation initiation and the regulation of eIF4F. Molecular Targets for Cancer Prevention. Use of Mouse Models for Discovery and validation of molecular targets. (Website)

David Derse
Adjunct Profession of Genetics; Ph.D. 1982, State University of New York at Buffalo. Current work focuses on the molecular mechanisms of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 infection and replication. (Website)

Robert Donaldson
Glyoxysomal membrane electron transport.

Sydney W. Fu
Assistant Research Professor; Ph.D. 1994, Peking Union Medical College, M.D. 1989, Xi'an Medical University. Homeobox genes in breast cancer and cancer genetics; bioinfomatics. (Website)

David Goldman

Allan L. Goldstein
Professor and Chair of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1964, Rutgers University.  Chemical and biological properties of the thymosins; neuroimmunology; immunodeficiency diseases; cancer; AIDS; aging. (Website)

Gordon Hager
Adjunct Professor of Genetics and Pharmacology. Transcriptional regulation and chromatin structure. (Website)

Robert Hawley
Professor of Anatomy & Cell Biology; Ph.D. 1984, University of Toronto. Experimental hematology/oncology; gene delivery systems and gene therapy modeling; stem cell and regenerative biology. (Website)

Eric P. Hoffman
Professor of Pediatrics and of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; M.D. 1987, Johns Hopkins University. Molecular basis of inherited muscle and CNS disease utilizing DNA gene chip technology.

Valerie W. Hu (Program Director)
Professor Ph.D. Caltech 1978, California Institute of Technology. Genomic, epigenetic, metabolomic, and bioinformatic analyses of autism spectrum disorders; biomarkers; mechanistic pathways. (Website)

Diana Johnson
Population genetics and molecular evolution.

Fatah Kashanchi
Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1991, University of Kansas. Molecular pathogenesis of AIDS and HTL; cell-cycle associated events related to host cell and human retroviruses, including HIV-1 and HTLV-1; genomics and proteomic analysis of radiation effects. (Website)

Andrei Komarov
Associate Research Professor; M.D. 1984, Russian State Medical University (formerly Moscow 2nd Medical Institute); Ph.D. 1988, Inst. Of Chemical Physics, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Nitric oxide: biochemistry and detection; biomedical applications of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. (Website)

Jay H. Kramer
Associate Research Professor; 1982, Lehigh University. Oxidative injury, free-radical detection, and dysfunction during myocardial ischemia/reperfusion; oxidative stress during dietary Mg-deficiency and iron overload; antioxidant therapy. (Website)

Ajit Kumar
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1968, University of Chicago. Regulation of viral gene transactivation; role of cellular factors; RNA protein interactions. (Website)

Stephan Ladisch
Professor of Pediatrics; M.D. 1973, University of Pennsylvania.  Tumor cell ganglioside metabolism, tumor progression, and immuno suppression. (Website)

Raj Lakshman
Coronary heart disease; lipids; metabolic and genetic obesity; hepatoxins; gene regulation and expression; retinoids.

Patricia S. Latham
Associate Professor of Pathology; M.D. 1972, University of Southern California.  Gene regulation and cytokine response of tumoricidal monocytes.

Tim McCaffrey
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1985, Purdue University. Cardiovascular and stem cell genomics. (Website)

I. Tong Mak
Associate Research Professor; Ph.D. 1982, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Free radical pathobiology in cardiovascular cells; Antioxidant drug mechanisms and therapy; Role of the lysosome in iron overload; AZT toxicity; Mg-deficiency-induced inflammation. (Website)

Phillipe Marmillot
Alcohol consumption; alcoholic liver disease; cardiovascular disease; small GTP-binding proteins, annexins; protein trafficking.

Sally A. Moody
Professor of Anatomy & Cell Biology; Ph.D. 1981, University of Florida. Molecular and cellular determination of neuronal phenotypes; regulation of neurotransmitters in the developing retina. (Website)

JoAnne Natale
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Ph.D 1988 University of Michigan; M.D. 1993, Michigan State University. Mechanism of injury-induced neuronal death and modification of antioxidant response; neurodevelopmental deficits in Neurofibromatosis. (Website)

Frances P. Noonan
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health; Ph.D. 1977, University of Queensland Australia.  The role of ultraviolet radiation in melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Stephen J. O'Brien
Chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, USA.  Principal research focus involves the discovery and characterization of human genes that regulate response to infectious diseases, particularly AIDS, hepatitis and cancer. He also studies the evolution of mammalian genome organization though studies of comparative genomics of the domestic cat, their wild felid relatives, and their infectious disease agents.

Randall K. Packer
Professor of Biology; Ph.D. 1971, Pennsylvania State. Electrolyte and acid-base balance; kidney function.

Thomas Parsons
Chief Scientist, Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology; Ph.D in Biochemistry,1989, University of Washington. Characterization of genetics systems for human forensic identification, molecular evolution and genomics of mitochondrial DNA, ancient DNA extraction and analysis, statistical and population genetic interpretation of forensic DNA data, bioinformatics, robotic, high throughput DNA typing.

Steven R. Patierno
Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology; Ph.D. 1985, University of Texas. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis; gene expression in tumor cells; metal toxicology; control of invasion and metastasis. (Website)

Joseph Pizone
Cellular differentiation; endocrinology; metabolism; tumor; translational research.

Marcos Rojkind
Research Professor; MD 1962, National University of Mexico & Ph.D. 1970, National Polytechnical Institute of Mexico. (Website)

Mary C. Rose
Associate Research Professor of Pediatrics and of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ph.D. 1970, Case Western Reserve University. Mucin glycoproteins in airway diseases and cystic fibrosis; regulation of MUC5 gene.

Rita Teresa Roy
Bioinformatics; distance learning.

Pam Schwartzberg
Senior Research Investigator, NHGRI; MD, Ph.D.1992, Columbia University. T lymphocyte signal transduction, T lymphoctye activation and development. (Website)

Courtney Smith
Associate Professor of Biology; Ph.D. 1985, UCLA. Origins and evolution of the vertebrate immune system in sea urchins. (Website)

Margaret Sutherland
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Ph.D. 1993, Open University, Cambridge, England.  Transgenic approaches to molecular neuroscience, function of glutamate transporters and potassium channels.

Frank J. Turano
Associate Professor of Biology and Genetics; Ph.D. 1986, Miami University, Ohio. Evolution and function of glutamate receptors and stress response to abiotic and biotic factors.

Jack Vanderhoek
Professor; Ph.D. 1966, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Regulation of eicosanoid metabolism by natural and pharmacological agents. (Website)

Glenn A. Walker
Techniques in teaching biochemistry for graduate students and medical students.

Thomas Wellems
M.D., Ph.D. Head, Malaria Genetics Section; Acting Chief, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
(Website)

Jurgen Weiss
Molecular Signaling Section, Chief; Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health; Ph. D. 1987 (Pharmacology), Johann Wolfgang-Goethe University, Germany. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs): Molecular basis of activation and function. Generation and analysis of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor knockout mice

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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:
The George Washington University
Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Program
Institute for Biomedical Sciences
2300 Eye St., N.W., Ross Hall #605
Washington, D.C. 20037
Phone: (202) 994-2179
Fax: (202) 994-0967
E-mail: gwibs@gwu.edu

FOR APPLICATION MATERIALS CONTACT:
Columbian School of Arts and Sciences
The George Washington University
Washington, D.C. 20052
Phone: (202) 994-6210
Fax: (202) 994-6213
E-mail: askccas@gwu.edu
Website: http://columbian.gwu.edu/