Basic Research
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Experimental investigation of mechanisms of disease applies basic tools of cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to understand normal and abnormal cell and tissue function. The faculty in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine use state-of-the-art imaging and molecular approaches to study cytoskeletal alterations in model organisms and the central nervous system, cell-cell interactions in reproductive biology and toxicology, and molecular mechanisms of DNA damage and mutagenicity. At a biochemical level, other faculty are focusing on insulin and energy metabolism in the brain leading to neurodegenerative disease, changes in the blood-brain barrier, regulation of corticosteroid metabolism in hypertension and obesity, and biochemical markers for prenatal screening and prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes. These basic researchers have developed a variety of animal models of human disease including toxicant-induced testicular injury, fetal alcohol syndrome, and cancer related to asbestos exposure. These animal models are useful for developing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer and prevention of adverse reproductive and pregnancy outcomes.
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Experimental investigation of mechanisms of disease applies basic tools of cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to understand normal and abnormal cell and tissue function. The faculty in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine use state-of-the-art imaging and molecular approaches to study cytoskeletal alterations in model organisms and the central nervous system, cell-cell interactions in reproductive biology and toxicology, and molecular mechanisms of DNA damage and mutagenicity. At a biochemical level, other faculty are focusing on insulin and energy metabolism in the brain leading to neurodegenerative disease, changes in the blood-brain barrier, regulation of corticosteroid metabolism in hypertension and obesity, and biochemical markers for prenatal screening and prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes. These basic researchers have developed a variety of animal models of human disease including toxicant-induced testicular injury, fetal alcohol syndrome, and cancer related to asbestos exposure. These animal models are useful for developing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer and prevention of adverse reproductive and pregnancy outcomes.