BMB Core Faculty

photo of Darren Browning, PhD

Darren Browning, PhD

  • Professor
  • CN 1164

The functions of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG). Characterization of the role of PKG in tumor biology, including angiogenesis, apoptosis and differentiation. Preclinical studies in animal models compliment in vitro work to establish PKG as a target for the treatment of colon cancer.

Institutional Faculty List | Browning Lab

photo of Waaqo Daddacha, PhD

Waaqo Daddacha, PhD

  • Assistant Professor
  • CN 2176

DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair and nucleotide metabolism are critical determinants of resistance to many types of cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and ionizing radiation (IR). Therefore, expanding our knowledge of both pathways is of considerable significance for discovering a novel therapy as well as improving the existing options. Our laboratory contributes to this effort by investigating the overlaps between the two pathways and implication to cancer. We mainly focus on delineating functions and regulation of genes like SAMHD1, a known player in nucleotide metabolism and DNA damage response, while determining its coordination with RNR, a well-established nucleotide regulator. Our ultimate goal is exploring the possibility of utilizing knowledge gained to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancers such as malignant glioma.

Institutional Faculty List 

photo of Ravirajsinh Jadeja, PhD

Ravirajsinh Jadeja, PhD

  • Research Scientist
  • CN 1166
photo of Honglin Li, PhD

Honglin Li, PhD

  • Professor
  • CN 2176
The long-term goals of the Li laboratory are to identify and characterize novel molecular mechanisms that regulate cellular stress response and cell death signaling. We hope that our study will shed light on therapeutic targets for treatment of human diseases, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Institutional Faculty List | Lab web page

photo of Kebin Liu, PhD

Kebin Liu, PhD

  • Professor
  • CN 1173

Epigenetic and genetic regulation of tumor suppressor gene expression, mechanism of apoptosis resistance in tumor immune evasion and escape, development of molecular target-based chemotherapy to enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.

Institutional Faculty List | Lab web page

photo of Vinata Lokeshwar, PhD

Vinata Lokeshwar, PhD

  • Professor & Department Chair
  • CN 1177A
Laboratories research focus is on understanding the mechanisms of bladder, kidney and prostate cancer growth, progression and angiogenesis for developing biomarker-driven targeted therapies and cancer chemoprevention strategies.

 Institutional Faculty List | Lab web page

photo of Pamela Moore Martin, PhD

Pamela Moore Martin, PhD

  • Professor
  • CN 1175

Discovery and analysis of novel biochemical transporters and receptors in retina which may be useful in the development of new therapeutic targets in the treatment and prevention of diabetic retinopathy.

Institutional Faculty List

photo of Folami Powell, PhD

Folami Powell, PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • CN 1165

Neurodegenerative retinal diseases

Institutional Faculty List

photo of Puttur Prasad, PhD

Puttur Prasad, PhD

  • Professor
  • CN 1163

Primary teaching faculty of Biochemistry and Genetics for Phase I Medicine. Component Director of Medical Biochemistry and Module Director for the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Medicine (MEDI-5150) module. Facilitator in Problem-Based Learning for Essentials of Clinical Medicine 1 and 2.

Research interests relate to discovery and characterization of novel nutrient transporters in order to understand their physiological role in nutrient delivery and develop strategies to utilize these transporters as targets for drug delivery and cancer chemoprevention.  

Institutional Faculty List

photo of Daitoku Sakamuro, PhD

Daitoku Sakamuro, PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • CN 2177

Our laboratory is interested in the signaling mechanisms by which advanced cancer cells acquire resistance to a) DNA damage, b) p53-dependent apoptosis, and c) substratum dissociation stress. One of our research interests is the dual roles of the c-MYC transcription factor in genomic instability and DNA damage resistance. We are also interested in the mechanisms of apoptosis induced by the p53 tumor suppressor in the presence of chromatin remodeling factors. The other area of research interest in our laboratory is the molecular mechanisms of normal epithelialization (or reverse EMT).

Institutional Faculty List  | Lab web page

photo of Sharanjot Saini, PhD

Sharanjot Saini, PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • CN 1164

Our research program is primarily focused on delineating the molecular mechanisms driving progression, recurrence and metastasis of urological malignancies, with a major focus on prostate cancer. Specific areas of interest include (i) Elucidating novel non-coding RNAs/microRNAs-mediated signaling pathways instrumental in cancer progression, recurrence and metastasis. (ii) Identification and validation of novel exosome/extracellular vesicle (EV)-based markers for better diagnosis and prognosis. Long term goals include identifying better biomarkers for advanced disease and seeding development of novel therapeutic strategies against metastatic disease.

Institutional Faculty List | Lab web page

photo of Nagendra Singh, PhD

Nagendra Singh, PhD

  • Professor
  • CN 1176
Role of inflammation in tumor promotion and development, probiotics in intestinal health and role of regulatory (Tregs) andeffector T cells (Teff) in cancer, autoimmunity infections and transplantations.

Institutional Faculty List  | Lab web page

photo of Muthusamy Thangaraju, PhD

Muthusamy Thangaraju, PhD

  • Associate Professor
  • CN 1171

Role of plasma membrane transporters in the uptake of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors into tumor cells; Relevance of these transporters to tumor suppression in mammary gland via HDAC inhibition; Physiologic role of these transporters in apoptosis associated with mammary gland involution; Epigenetic mechanisms responsible for silencing of these transporters in breast cancer.

Institutional Faculty List   | Lab web page

GCC Primary Appointment in BMB

photo of Satyanarayana Ande, PhD

Satyanarayana Ande, PhD

  • Associate Professor
photo of Ali Arbab, MD, PhD

Ali Arbab, MD, PhD

  • Professor
photo of Asamoah Bosomtwi, PhD

Asamoah Bosomtwi, PhD

  • Research Scientist
photo of Ahmed Chadli, PhD

Ahmed Chadli, PhD

  • Associate Professor
photo of Yan Cui, PhD

Yan Cui, PhD

  • Professor
photo of Gang Guo, MD

Gang Guo, MD

  • Assistant Research Scientist
photo of Tianxiang Hu, PhD

Tianxiang Hu, PhD

  • Assistant Professor
photo of Indumathi Manoharan, PhD

Indumathi Manoharan, PhD

  • Assistant Research Scientist (IMMCG)
photo of Lisa M. Middleton, PhD

Lisa M. Middleton, PhD

  • Associate Professor
photo of Rafal Pacholczyk, PhD

Rafal Pacholczyk, PhD

  • Assistant Professor
photo of Surendra Rajpurohit, PhD

Surendra Rajpurohit, PhD

  • Research Scientist
photo of Huidong Shi, PhD

Huidong Shi, PhD

  • Professor
photo of Chunghong Yan, PhD

Chunghong Yan, PhD

  • Professor
photo of Yangfang "Peipei" Zhu, PhD

Yangfang "Peipei" Zhu, PhD

  • Assistant Professor (IMMCG)

AU/UGA Medical Partnership

photo of Amy Baldwin, PhD

Amy Baldwin, PhD

  • Professor (Primary)
photo of Kearney Gunsalus, PhD

Kearney Gunsalus, PhD

  • Assistant Professor (Primary)
photo of Amy Medlock, PhD

Amy Medlock, PhD

  • Associate Professor (Adjunct)
photo of Andrew Morris, PhD

Andrew Morris, PhD

  • Professor, Campus Assoc. Dean of Curriculum (Primary)
photo of Kenneth S. Rosenthal, PhD

Kenneth S. Rosenthal, PhD

  • Professor (Primary)
photo of Clive A. Slaughter, PhD

Clive A. Slaughter, PhD

  • Professor (Primary)
photo of Andrew Sobering, PhD

Andrew Sobering, PhD

  • Professor (Primary)

Emeritus Faculty in BMB

Ata Abdel-Latif
Regent's Professor Emeritus; Ph D., IL Inst of Tech, 1963

Rashid Akhtar
Professor; PhD, London, 1975. Receptor-mediated phospholipid metabolism, generation of second messenger molecules and their role in signal transduction in iris ciliary body and corneal wound healing.
Institutional Faculty List

Vadivel Ganapathy
Professor; Chairman Emeritus; Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of Madras, India
Cancer biology; development of novel anticancer drugs; interaction between gut microbiome and the host; structure and function of the retina in health and disease.