People

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.