NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Cell Biology PhD Training Program exposes trainees to a range of experimental approaches, model systems, and techniques. Our goal is to train students to identify the important cell biological questions and imbue them with the knowledge to determine the best system and technology to answer the questions.

The program is comprised of faculty members from departments throughout NYU Langone. The interdisciplinary nature of the program allows you to undertake a research project and select a thesis advisor from a broad range of research perspectives.

Below is a summary of faculty research within a variety of research areas relevant to cell biology. Many of the faculty have multiple research interests, but faculty appear in only one category.

Genome Maintenance: DNA Metabolism

Jef D. Boeke, PhD—mechanisms of retrotransposition in budding yeast and humans
Teresa Davoli, PhD—causes and consequences of genomic copy number alterations (aneuploidy) in cancer
Gilad D. Evrony, MD, PhD—single-cell genomics approaches for neuroscience; genomics of rare undiagnosed diseases
Molly C. Gale Hammell, PhD—control of transposons and retroviruses and human disease
Hannah L. Klein—yeast genetics to study how cells sense and repair DNA damage
Nathaniel R. Landau, PhD—how mammalian cells target viral genome replication (HIV, Zika) to block virus infection
Eli Rothenberg, PhD—single molecule approaches to study the mechanism of DNA recombination and repair
Susan L. Smith, PhD—mechanisms controlling cohesion and resolution of human repetitive sequences

Genome Control: Epigenetics

Karim-Jean Armache, PhD—structural approaches to study how gene-silencing complexes repress transcription
Gregory David, PhD—the role of the Sin3 histone deacetylation complex in maintenance of genome integrity
Jane Skok, PhD—chromatin conformation capture approaches to study nuclear organization

Genome Expression: Transcription

Aravinda Chakravarti, PhD—the molecular basis of human disease and gene regulatory networks
Brian D. Dynlacht, PhD—biochemical approaches to focus on transcriptional mechanisms in mammalian cells
Timothee Lionnet, PhD—transcription at the level of single molecule imaging in live and fixed mammalian cells
Esteban O. Mazzoni, PhD—how transcription factors control differentiation and cell fate
Marcus Noyes, PhD—transcription and programmable (designer) nucleases for human genome editing
Evgeny A. Nudler, PhD—biochemical approaches to study E. coli RNA polymerase and role of RNA sensors
Angus C. Wilson, PhD—transcriptional control in the context of three viruses: HSV-1, HCMV, and KSHV
Itai Yanai, PhD—computational analysis for a comprehensive determination of gene expression

RNA/Post-Transcription

Joel G. Belasco, PhD—regulation of gene expression in bacteria by RNA degradation and endonucleases
Eva M. Hernando-Monge, PhD—role of microRNAs in differentiation and tumorigenesis and melanoma metastasis
Ian J. Mohr, PhD—impact of RNA chemical modification on gene expression using virus model systems
Kathryn J. Moore PhD—microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs in inflammation and lipoprotein metabolism
Alexander A. Serganov, PhD—biophysical methods to study mRNA biosynthesis, RNA metabolism, and riboswitches

Proteins, Translation, Post-Translation

Iannis Aifantis, PhD—ubiquitin-mediated degradation in hematopoietic stem cell function and in leukemia
David B. Beck, MD, PhD—mechanisms underlying human genetic diseases and genomic discovery in autoinflammatory diseases
David Fenyö, PhD—computational methods and databases for protein identification and characterization
Liam J. Holt, PhD—proteins in macromolecular crowding and phase separation in cells
Tony T. Huang, PhD—post-translational modification (ubiquitination and deubiquitination) in DNA repair
Eric Klann, PhD—translational control in the brain and human behavior and disease
Shohei Koide, PhD—design and engineering of novel binding proteins and membrane proteins
Michele Pagano, MD—ubiquitin-mediated degradation functions in mammalian cell growth and proliferation
Kelly V. Ruggles, PhD—understanding human health and biology using data science, data visualization, and predictive modeling
Robert J. Schneider, PhD—protein synthesis in breast cancer and new cancer treatment strategies

Membrane Proteins and Transport

Damian C. Ekiert, PhD—how large multiprotein complexes transport lipids between membranes
Kara G. Margolis, MD—seratonin signaling and the gut-brain axis
John T. Poirier, PhD—targeting cancer lineage identity through surface expressed markers 
Niels Ringstad, PhD—membrane signaling and trafficking in sensory neurons in C. elegans
Hyung Don Ryoo, PhD—ER stress and the unfolded protein response in the Drosophila model organism
David L. Stokes, PhD—membrane transporters that directly use ATP as an energy source
Da-Neng Wang, PhD—biophysical approaches to study membrane transporters and channels

Membrane Signaling and Trafficking

Gira Bhabha, PhD—how macromolecular protein machines are coordinated to facilitate transport in cells
Moses V. Chao, PhD—receptor-mediated intracellular signaling mechanisms in the nervous system
Stevan R. Hubbard, PhD—mechanisms of activation and signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases
Michelle Krogsgaard, PhD—biophysical methods to study the T-cell receptor and signaling
Ralph A. Nixon, MD, PhD—control of proteolytic processing and protein export into axons and synapses
Nicola C. Partridge, PhD—signal transduction and transcriptional regulation by the parathyroid hormone receptor
Mark R. Philips, MD—mechanisms for membrane targeting and signaling of GTPases including Ras
James L. Salzer, MD, PhD—membrane interactions between axons and glial cells and assembly of myelinated fibers
Ann Marie Schmidt, MD—mouse models of disease to study RAGE and its role in vascular disease
Susan R. Schwab, PhD—lymphocyte migration and trafficking requirements of normal and leukemic T cells

Cancer Cell Biology

Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD—GTP-binding protein Ras and Ras-driven tumorigenesis in pancreatic cancer
Michael J. Garabedian, PhD—signal transduction and transcriptional regulation by nuclear hormone receptors
Susan K. Logan, PhD—androgen receptor signal transduction pathway and its role in growth control and cancer
Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD—cell signaling in cancer and developmental disease, breast and ovarian cancer
Thales Y. Papagiannakopoulos, PhD—cancer initiation using novel CRISPR/Cas9-based approaches in mouse models
Dimitris G. Placantonakis, MD, PhD—stem cell biology in brain tumors
Richard L. Possemato, PhD—metabolic pathways that are altered in the transformed state
Markus Schober, PhD—basal tumor propagating cells and how they control squamous cell carcinoma growth
Elaine L. Wilson, PhD—prostate stem cells and relationship to prostate cancer stem cells

Extracellular Matrix, Cell-Cell Interactions

Erika Bach, PhD—self-renewal, cellular growth, and cell cycle in stem cells in Drosophila
Shukti Chakravarti, PhD—how extracellular matrices regulate tissue architecture and integrity in disease
E. Jane Albert Hubbard, PhD—cell cycle and signaling in the stem cell niche using C. elegans
Amanda W. Lund, PhD—mechanisms of context-dependent lymphatic vessel transport and implications for skin immunity and cancer
Jeremy F. Nance, PhD—how cell interactions and movements shape the developing body plan in C. elegans
Bhama Ramkhelawon, PhD—role of extensive extracellular matrix fragmentation and inflammation in aneurysms
Daniel B. Rifkin, PhD—how transfer of information in the extracellular environment impacts diseases
Jessica E. Treisman, PhD—translation of cell–cell signals into cell fate decisions in Drosophila

Regeneration

Andrea H. Brand, PhD—discovering how stem cells are maintained in a multipotent state and how their progeny differentiate into distinct cellular fates
Philipp Leucht, MD, PhD—mechanisms involved in skeletal development and fracture repair in bone regeneration
Chengzu Long, PhD—genome editing to model and treat human genetic diseases
Catherine Pei-ju Lu, PhD—skin stem cells, sweat gland regeneration, and wound repair in human cells
Shruti Naik, PhD—inflammation, tissue regeneration and cancer, and host-microbe interactions
Mayumi Ito Suzuki, PhD—mouse models to study hair follicle neogenesis regeneration