Degree Program Offered: Doctor of Philosophy

Acting Director of Graduate Program: Professor Abram Gabriel, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Busch Campus (732/235-5097)

Acting Associate Director of Graduate Program: Professor Marc  Gartenburg, UMDNJ-RWJMS, Busch Campus (732/235-5800)

Members of the Graduate Faculty

Cory Abate-Shen, Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, UMDNJ-RWJMS/  CABM; Ph.D., Cornell Medical College
Molecular processes that control gene expression in vertebrate development and oncogenesis

Stephen Anderson, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Harvard
Proteases and protease inhibitors; protein folding; molecular recognition; structural bioinformatics

Edward Arnold, Professor of Chemistry, CABM; Ph.D., Cornell
Protein and virus structure; AIDS; drug and vaccine design

Jean S. Baum, Associate Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., California (Berkeley)
Structural studies of proteins by nuclear magnetic resonance techniques

Helen M. Berman, Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Pittsburgh
Crystallographic and molecular modeling studies of biological molecules

Leonard Borack, Associate Professor of Zoology, FAS-N; Ph.D., New York
Biochemical genetics of Drosophila

Kenneth J. Breslauer, Linus C. Pauling Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Yale
Drug-DNA interactions; DNA lesions and mutagenesis/repair; DNA conformational heterogeneity; ligand macromolecular recognition; rational drug design; DNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics

Gary Brewer, Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Auburn
Posttranscriptional control of gene expression in disease

Steven J. Brill, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., SUNY (Stony Brook) Eukaryotic DNA replication and genome stability

Barbara Brodsky, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Harvard
Structure and binding of triple-helix peptides as models for collagen and the macrophage scavenger receptor

George M. Carman, Professor of Food Science, CC; Ph.D., Massachusetts
Enzymology of phospholipid metabolism

Kiran K. Chada, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; D.Phil., Oxford Functional genomics in cancer and obesity

Theodore Chase, Jr., Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., California (Berkeley) Enzymology and molecular biology of plants, especially with reference to flavor compounds

Kuang-Yu Chen, Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Yale
Biochemistry and function of polyamines and hypasine; gene regulation in cell aging and tumor reversion; nutraceuticals, cancer, and aging

Suzie Chen, Associate Professor of Chemical Biology and Pharmacognosy, EMSP; Ph.D., Albert Einstein
Spontaneous melanoma development in transgenic mice; mechanisms of adipocyte differentiation

Xuemei Chen, Associate Professor of Genetics, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Cornell Molecular genetic analysis of flower development in Arabidopsis

Khew-Voon Chin, Associate Research Professor of  Chemical Biology, EMSP; Ph.D., Rutgers
DNA microarray, drug resistance, gene expression, signal transduction, cancer biology

David T. Denhardt, Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, FAS-NB; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology
Molecular biology of cancer; cell signaling and regulation of gene expression; structure and function of osteopontin and tissue inhibitor or metalloproteinases

Monica A. Driscoll, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, CABM; Ph.D., Harvard
Molecular genetics of degenerative cell death; mechanical signaling

Richard H. Ebright, Professor of Chemistry, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Harvard
Transcription; protein-DNA interaction; protein-protein interaction; single molecule imaging

Isaac Edery, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB/CABM; Ph.D., McGill
Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying biological clocks

Julie M. Fagan, Professor of Animal Sciences, CC; Ph.D., Arizona
Proteases and their inhibitors in health and disease

Bonnie Firestein, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, FAS-NB; Ph.D., California (San Diego)
Targeting of neuronal proteins

Joseph Fondell, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., SUNY (Stony Brook)
Regulation of gene expression by nuclear hormone receptors

Abram Gabriel, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; M.D., Johns Hopkins
Mechanisms of retrotransposon replication; chromosomal rearrangements

Marc Gartenberg, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Yale
Chromosomal DNA structure and organization; transcriptional silencing

Donald Gerecke, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, EMSP; Ph.D., Harvard
Molecular biology of lung fibrosis

Marion Gordon, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, EMSP; Ph.D., UMDNJ/Rutgers
Collagen gene regulation during cornea development; regulation and function of EMMPRIN, a matrix metalloproteinase stimulator, in normal and transformed cells

Barth Grant, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Princeton
Endocytosis in C. elegans

Samuel Gunderson, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Wisconsin
Gene expression; pre-mRNA processing; autoregulation; splicing; polyadenylation

Sarah E. Hitchcock-DeGregori, Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve
Biochemistry and molecular biology of contractile proteins

Shu-Chan Hsu, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, FAS-NB; Ph.D., British Columbia
Molecular mechanisms of synaptic development and function

Masayori Inouye, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Osaka
Membrane biogenesis; regulation of synthesis of outer membrane proteins

Sumiko Inouye, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Nagoya
Myxobacteria and bacterial reverse transcriptases

Kenneth D. Irvine, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Stanford
Cell signaling and growth control during Drosophila development

Stephan S. Isied, Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Stanford
Modification of electron transfer proteins

Shengkan (Victor) Jin, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Cornell Tumor suppressor genes; programmed cell death; tumorigenesis

Frank Jordan, Professor of Chemistry, FAS-N; Ph.D., Pennsylvania
Mechanism of thiamin-dependent enzymes and of serine proteases

Peter C. Kahn, Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., Columbia
Multisubunit proteins; circular dichroism; agent orange

Frederick C. Kauffman, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology, EMSP; Ph.D., Illinois
Biochemical aspects of toxicology

Megerditch Kiledjian, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Pennsylvania
RNA-protein interactions in the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression

Terri Goss Kinzy, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve
Eukaryotic translation elongation and regulation of gene expression

Tony Ah-Ng Kong, Professor of Pharmaceutics, EMSP; Ph.D., SUNY (Buffalo)
Pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics of cancer chemopreventative compounds

Marilyn Kozak, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D.,

Johns Hopkins Mechanism of protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells

Eric Lam, Professor of Plant Science, BCAE/CC; Ph.D., California (Berkeley)
Plant gene targeting; programmed cell death; chromatin imaging

Jerome Langer, Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Yale
Interferon and receptor structure and function; dengue virus interaction with cells

Debra Laskin, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, EMSP; Ph.D., Medical College of Virginia
Immunology; inflammation; cytokines, nitric oxide, macrophages

Jeffrey D. Laskin, Professor of Environmental and Community
Medicine, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., SUNY (Buffalo) Carcinogenesis and differentiation in cell culture; nitric oxide

John Lenard, Professor of Physiology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Cornell
Transcription, replication, and fusion of RNA viruses; cellular fusion mechanisms

Ronald M. Levy, Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Harvard
Computational molecular biology; computational chemistry; computer modeling of protein structure; folding and dynamics; structural genomics

Alice Y.-C. Liu, Professor of Biological Sciences, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Mount Sinai
Stress, aging, and the role of redox in cell signaling and regulation

Fang Liu, Associate Professor of Chemical Biology, EMSP/CABM; Ph.D., Harvard
Growth and differentiation control

Leroy Liu, Professor of Pharmacology; UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., California (Berkeley)
Cancer biology, cancer pharmacology, DNA conformation dynamics

Kiran Madura, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Rochester Mechanism and significance of ubiquitin-dependent degradation of g-alpha

Pal Maliga, Professor of Genetics, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Genetics and molecular biology of plastids; RNA editing

Paul Manowitz, Professor of Psychiatry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Brandeis
Molecular biology and biochemistry of mental illness

Tara Matise, Associate Professor of Genetics, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Pittsburgh
Computational genetics

Fumio Matsumura, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Nagoya
Molecular cell biology of cell division

Richard Mendelsohn, Professor of Chemistry, FAS-N; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Biophysical studies of membrane structure

Joachim W. Messing, University Professor of Molecular Biology, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Munich
Plant molecular biology

Gaetano T. Montelione, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Cornell
Protein NMR spectroscopy, molecular recognition, rational drug design, structural bioinformatics

Robert A. Niederman, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry,
FAS-NB; D.V.M., Ph.D., Illinois Structure, function, and assembly of photosynthetic membranes

Wilma Olson, Mary I. Bunting Professor of Chemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Stanford
Relation of structure, conformation, and function in nucleic acids

Richard Padgett, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
TGF-beta signal transduction in C. elegans and Drosophila

Smita Patel, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Tufts Genome replication and transcription and kinetic modeling of reaction pathways

Garth Patterson, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Oregon Development, signal transduction, genetics, gene expression, aging

Stuart Peltz, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Wisconsin (Madison)
Eukaryote gene expression

Sidney Pestka, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology; M.D., Pennsylvania
Natural interferons: genes, receptors

George Pieczenik, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., New York
Evolutionary paradigms for molecular information

John Pintar, Professor of Neuroscience, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Oregon
Molecular analysis of gene expression during mammalian development

Vincenzo Pirrotta, Professor and Chair of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Harvard Chromatin silencing; polycomb complexes; transcriptional regulation

Ronald D. Poretz, Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., SUNY (Buffalo)
Inherited susceptibility to neurotoxicants and intracellular targeting of pharmaceuticals

Arnold Rabson, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, UMDNJ-RWJMS; M.D., Brown
Molecular biology of human retroviruses; gene regulation in human cancer

Danny F. Reinberg, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Albert Einstein
Mechanisms that control the regulation of gene expression in higher eukaryotes

Charles Roth, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, SE; Ph.D., Delaware Molecular bioengineering, inflammatory diseases, applied bioinformatics

Monica Roth, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Albert Einstein
Genetics and biochemistry of murine leukemia virus

Melitta Schachner, Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Max-Planck-Institut for Biology
Formation of appropriate connections among nerve cells

Carl P. Schaffner, Professor Emeritus of Biology, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Illinois
Antibiotic chemistry and biology; prostatic cholesterogenesis

Konstantin Severinov, Associate Professor of Genetics, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Russian Academy of Sciences
Structure and function of RNA polymerases from eubacteria and yeasts

Aaron Shatkin, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; University Professor of Molecular Biology, Rutgers; Director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine; Ph.D., Rockefeller
Eukaryotic gene expression; viral cytopathogenesis

Michael M. Shen, Professor of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-RWJMS/CABM; Ph.D., Cambridge
Growth factor signaling and pattern formation in mouse embryogenesis; prostate development and cancer

Steven Shiff, Associate Professor of Medicine, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Pennsylvania
Role of diet and nutrition in prevention of chronic disease

Navin K. Sinha, Associate Professor of Biology, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Minnesota
Accuracy of DNA replication; chemical carcinogenesis

William Sofer, Professor of Genetics, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Miami
Prediction of secondary structure of proteins using genetic algorithms

Ruth Steward, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Basel
Nuclear migration, RNA localization, and patterning in Drosophila

Ann Stock, Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS/CABM; Ph.D., California (Berkeley)
Structure and function of signal transduction proteins

T.J. Thomas, Associate Professor of Medicine, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Indian Institute of Science
Development of gene-targeted strategies for breast cancer treatment

Chih-Cheng Tsai, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., SUNY (Stony Brook)
Transcriptional regulation, nuclear receptor corepressors, Drosophila development

Lynn D. Vales, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D.,
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Transcriptional regulation of gene expression

Theodorus van Es, Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., Witwatersrand
Carbohydrate chemistry; nonimmunogenic enzymes; quinoline chemistry

Andrew K. Vershon, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, WIM/FAS-NB; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Structure/function of yeast transcriptional regulatory proteins

Nancy Walworth, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Yale
Regulation of cell cycle progression in eukaryotic cells

William W. Ward, Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bioluminescence mechanisms; protein and peptide biochemistry

Guy Werlen, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Geneva Signaling networks and mechanisms that control life and death of developing T lymphocytes

Eileen White, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, FAS-NB/CABM; Ph.D., SUNY (Stony Brook)
Programmed cell death

Lori White, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., Dartmouth
Molecular mechanisms of xenobiotic-induced pathologies

Donald Winkelmann, Associate Professor of Pathology, UMDNJ-RWJMS; Ph.D., Wisconsin (Madison)
Macromolecular structure and assembly mechanisms of muscular contraction

Gutian Xiao, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Fudan Cell signaling in immunity and oncogenesis

Chung S. Yang, Professor of Chemical Biology, EMSP; Ph.D., Cornell
Molecular mechanisms of esophageal carcinogenesis and its prevention; genetic polymorphism and cancer risk

Guofeng You, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, EMSP; Ph.D., Clark
Molecular and cellular pharmacology, drug/toxin elimination

Peter D. Yurchenco, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UMDNJ-RWJMS; M.D., Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Molecular basis of basement membrane structure and function; receptor-mediated cell-matrix interactions

Barbara A. Zilinskas, Professor of Plant Biochemistry, CC; Ph.D., Illinois
Oxidative stress in plants and microorganisms; plant molecular biology and biochemistry

Gerben Zylstra, Professor of Biochemistry and Microbiology, BCAE/CC; Ph.D., Michigan
Microbial genomics; high throughput screening; molecular analysis of biodegradation pathways

Associate Members of the Graduate Faculty

Mary Konsolaki, Associate Research Professor of Genetics, FAS-NB; Ph.D., Crete Neurodegenerative diseases, using Drosophila as a model system

Catherine Phillips, Assistant Research Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience; Ph.D., London Regulation of polyadenylation at the immunoglobulin secretory poly(a) site