Ghalib Alkhatib
Ghalib.Alkhatib@cnsu.edu

Professor

HIV research

In vitro studies in drug discoveries HIV

John Cusick, PhD
John.cusick@cnsu.edu

Associate Professor

Tumor Necrosis Factor

1. Identifying and characterizing novel protein interactions with human Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor superfamily members.

2. Characterizing the expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor receptors in healthy and diseased human tissues.

Floyd Culler & Mark Sheffield
floyd.culler@cnsu.edu
mark.sheffield@cnsu.edu

Professors

Endocrinology

Educational initiatives at COM (SILS)

Guy diSibio
Guy.diSibio@cnsu.edu

Associate Professor of Pathology, Hematopathology, Surgical Pathology, Molecular Genetics

Integrating Electronic Medical Record training into the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Hematopoietic malignancies; population genetics; DNA variant annotation using ACMG criteria; disparities in use of genetic testing.

Innovation in medical student education.

Integrating electronic medical record training into the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Ahmed El-Shamy
ahmed.elshamy@cnsu.edu

Assistant Professor

1- General Virology

2-Viral hepatitis

Liver immunology

1) Establishing in-vitro cell-based infectious system for drug screening against hepatitis B virus

2) High through screen of natural products against hepatitis B virus using cell-based imaging system

Valerie Gerriets
Valerie.Gerriets@cnsu.edu

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Immunology research:  The role of serotonin in the bidirectional interaction between the brain and immune system

Medical education research: Medical student burnout and psychological wellbeing

Medical student burnout and psychological wellbeing

Effect of elective courses on stress and anxiety levels

José Puglisi
Jose.Puglisi@cnsu.edu

Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biostatistics

Computer simulations of biological system, Telemedicine, 3D print, Data Mining

1) Use of fitbit to track heart rate variability (Telemedicine)

2) Electronic Medical Records (Computer Simulations)

3) Racial Patterns in Drug Consumption (Data Mining)

4) Model of backbone surgery (3D printing)

Anthony Kelada MD
Anthony.Kelada@cnsu.edu

Psychiatry Clerkship Director Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry

Psychiatry, psychology, neurobiology, neuroscience

Available to help with literature reviews

Rajendra Ramsamooj
Rajendra.Ramsamooj@cnsu.edu

Professor of Pathology, Surgical Pathology and Clinical Skills

GVHD, Immune Tolerance, Novel Imaging, Biomarkers

Available to help with case studies or case series

Leonard Ranasinghe
Leonard.Ranasinghe@cnsu.edu

Professor of Medical Education and Emergency Medicine

Emergency medicine related projects-chart review

ROPE: Delayed PE Diagnosis

Available to help with case reports

Yihui Shi PhD
Yihui.Shi@cnsu.edu

Faculty Basic Sciences

Cancer Research

1. Identification of Synthetic Lethal Partners of Cancer Germline Mutations using Pan-Cancer Human Primary Tumor Data.

2. Study how Kinase Inhibitors and Spliceosome Interact to Induce Alternative Splicing

Arpita Vyas
Arpita.vyas@cnsu.edu

Associate Professor

Pediatrics endocrinology, prenatal programming with endocrine disrupting chemicals and androgens, PCOS related projects

1) Molecular mechanism by which gestational exposures to androgens and endocrine disruptors adversely program the heart (animal models)

2) Incidence of congenital heart disease in   offspring of women with PCOS (data mining started at Sutter already)

3) Role of GLP-1 in treatment of PCOS

4) Psychological assessment tools in  Pediatric Diabetes

Han-Rong Weng, PhD
Han-Ron.Weng@cnsu.edu

Associate Professor

The  overall goal of my research projects is to  identify molecular targets for the development of novel analgesics. Research in my lab focuses on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the genesis of chronic pain in rodent (rat and mouse) models. Cutting edge research techniques (including western blotting, immuno-histology, behavior assessment and others) are used.

Identification of molecular targets for the development of novel analgesics

Sarah Preiss-Farzanegan
Sarah.Preiss-Farzanegan@cnsu.edu

Associate Professor

I am interested in educational research (especially as it relates to the OSCE), case studies and literature reviews

Available to help with case studies and literature reviews

Mohamed Ahmed
Mohamed.ahmed@cnsu.edu

Assistant Professor

- Chronic kidney disease
 - Nephropathy
 - Type-2 diabetes and hypertension

Project development underway

Elena Dedkova
Elena.Dedkova@cnsu.edu

Associate Professor

Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a lethal inherited disease resulting from the reduction in a single mitochondrial
 protein, frataxin. Frataxin reduction causes progressive neurodegeneration in adolescents through adults, however most FA patients die of a frataxin-dependent cardiomyopathy, in their 30s. There is currently no FDA-approved therapy for FA. My research is focused on investigation of the mechanisms leading to lethal cardiomyopathy in FA and screening for the potential pharmacological agents which can improve cardiac function in patients with FA.

NIH 1R01HL135187-01 Dedkova (PI)
 Fumarate drugs rescue cardiac dysfunction in mouse models of Friedreich's ataxia. The goal of this
 project is to determine whether fumarate-based drugs can rescue lethal cardiomyopathy in Friedreich's ataxia
 and to determine the underlying mechanisms of cardioprotection.

Linh Ho, PhD
linh.ho@cnsu.edu

Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sciences (COP)

Mitochondrial sirtuins and their modulators for metabolic diseases and cancer

1) Role of Sirt3 in regulation of fat generation and insulin pathways in adipocytes

2) Investigating effects of Sirt3 modulators on prostate cancer

James Jin, PhD
zhuqiu.jin@cnsu.edu

Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sciences (COP)

• Role of T cells in Ischemic Heart Injury and Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

• Modulation of S1P in Heart Injury

• Differentiation and Dedifferentiation of Cardiac Fibrosis

1) Dedifferentiation of cardiac fibrosis

2) Role of T cells in diabetic cardiomyopathy

Uyen Le, PhD
Uyen.le@cnsu.edu

Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sciences (COP)

Drug Delivery/ Drug target

Nanotechnology (liposome)

Formulations of topical/ transdermal products

1) Formulation and in vitro evaluation of of liposomes containing crinum latifolium extract for prostate cancer treatment

2) Formulation and delivery of curcumin in synergistic effect with other agents in cancer prevention and treatment.

3) Topical and transdermal delivery of nutraceuticals

Islam Mohamed, PhD
islam.mohamed@cnsu.edu

Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sciences (COP)

Vascular Diseases, Development of Atherosclerosis, Shear stress-mediated vascular inflammation, shear-sensitive microRNAs

Role of micro-RNA (miR-146a) in the development of atherosclerosis

Ruth Vinall, PhD
RVinall@cnsu.edu

Pharmaceutical & Biomedical sciences (COP)

Prostate and bladder cancer

Determination of whether assessment of miRNA in canine blood and urine samples can be used to diagnose prostate cancer and to predict response to treatment

Hongbin Wang
Hongbin.wang@cnsu.edu

Assistant Professor

1-Pharmacology/Drug Development

2- Cancer Cell Signaling

3-Immunology Research: The Complement C4 in autoimmune diseases, sepsis and diabetes

1) Complement C4a mitigates LPS-induced endotoxic effects through association with PAR1 and PAR4

2). Observing complement activation in human endothelial cell in response to hyperglycemia

Katherine Whitcome
Katherine.whitcome@cnsu.edu

Assistant Professor

Functional and Comparative Anatomy

1) Validation of mHealth Technology Applied to Parkinson’s Disease Patients

2) Biomechanics of Bipedal Travel in Natural Mother-Infant Pairs: Anatomical and Kinematic Modeling for Understanding Locomotor Transitions in Hominin Evolution

Raja Sivamani
raja.sivamani.md@gmail.com

Associate Professor of Dermatology

Clinical studies in Dermatology

Multiple ongoing studies

Forshing Lui
forshing.lui@cnsu.edu

Professor of Neurology

Neurology related case reports and reviews. Geriatrics research.

Serve as local faculty advisor for the Medical Student Research in Aging (MSTAR) program.