Faculty

All of the faculty associated with the BMS graduate program are listed below. Click on a faculty name to view a detailed description of an individual research program, contact information, recent publications and links to other relevant websites. Each of our faculty is associated with one or more of our eight thematic areas; click on the thematic area name listed by each of our faculty to read more about the research going on in that area, and to view a list of all faculty associated with that thematic area.
 

Karin Pelka, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Using single cell genomics and tissue imaging, we study the cellular interactions that shape immune responses in human tumors in order to harness the immune system in the fight against cancer.

Tien Peng, MD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Contribution of mesenchymal niche to homeostasis, repair, and aging

Rushika Perera, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Research Summary: 
Organelle dynamics (autophagy, lysosomes, mitochondria) and metabolic reprogramming in cancer.

Matija Peterlin, MD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Research Summary: 
Transcriptional regulation of HIV, immune response genes and AIRE. HIV latency and reactivation. CTD kinases that regulate transcription elongation and co-transcriptional processing as well as growth, proliferation and differentiation of cells.

Angela Phillips, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Research Summary: 
We are broadly interested in how the molecular properties of viral proteins and antibodies constrain their evolution and co-evolution.

Joanna Phillips, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Research Summary: 
Tumor-microenvironment interactions regulating brain tumorigenesis

Xianhua Piao, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Neuro-immune interplay in brain development and disease.

Sam Pleasure, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology

Katie Pollard, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Virology & Microbial Pathogenesis
Research Summary: 
Statistical and Computational Methods for the Analysis of Massive Genomic Datasets
Mentorship Development: 

4/26/19    Sharpening your Mentoring Skills (SyMS) with Sharon Milgram (Mission Bay)    
4/30/20    Mental Health in a Pandemic: Q&A for Faculty    
6/10/20    Tools and Tips for Virtual Learning    
6/1/20    Preventing Workplace Harrassment (online course)
6/29/20    DEI 101
7/7/20    Precise Language
8/7/20    History of Racism
8/18/20    Debunking Common Myths and Misconceptions about Sexual Harrassment
9/24/20     Black, Brown, and Bruised

Alex Pollen, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
We study how genetic changes that accumulated over the last 6 million years of human evolution influence specialized features of brain development using single cell genomics, cerebral organoid models of ape brain development, and genome engineering.

Jason Pomerantz, MD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Mesenchymal tissue regeneration

Louis Ptacek, MD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Human Genetics
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Research Summary: 
Genetics and biology of human nervous system disorders

Pages