Bassem Al-Sady, PhD
Associate Professor
"Mechanisms of Formation and Maintenance of Epigenetic Elements"
Dr. Al-Sady's research interests reside in uncovering the mechanisms that underlie the assembly and fidelity of inheritance of heterochromatin, a specialized protein-nucleic acid composite. Unraveling these mechanisms is key to understanding the manner in which large stretches of the genome can be precisely and heritably partitioned into active and inactive regions. The heterochromatin system presents some unique and unusual features for a cellular self-assembly, such as nucleated, template-guided polymerization to a precise positional extent that have remained difficult to study. Addressing these features requires a multidisciplinary framework integrating biochemical and novel single cell genetic approaches.
Contact:
[email protected]
513 Parnassus Ave, room HSW 1532, Box 0552
San Francisco, CA 94143
415-502-8655
Shaeri Mukherjee, PhD
Professor
"Turning pathogens into cell biology tools"
Dr. Mukherjee is interested in elucidating how intracellular bacterial pathogens subvert host cell endocytic and secretory pathways to create a replicative niche for themselves.
Contact:
[email protected]
513 Parnassus Ave, HSW 1522, Box 0552
San Francisco, CA 94143
415-476-2826
Peter Turnbaugh, PhD
Professor
"The Gut Microbiome, Pharmacology, and Nutrition"
The microbes residing in and on the human body influence host health and disease in part due to their metabolism of xenobiotics (foreign compounds like host-targeted drugs, antibiotics, and dietary components). Yet microbial xenobiotic metabolism remains an underexplored aspect of pharmacology and nutrition, with the bacterial groups and metabolic pathways responsible often unknown. We are addressing this critical knowledge gap through the use of methods for the single cell analysis of gut microbial communities, metagenomic sequencing of microbial community DNA and RNA, and gnotobiotics (germ-free and colonized mice). Ultimately, we aim to obtain a more comprehensive view of human metabolism, yielding fundamental insights into host-microbial interactions and supporting translational efforts to predict and manipulate the metabolic activities of our resident gut microbes.
Contact:
[email protected]
513 Parnassus Ave, HSW 1529, Box 0552
San Francisco, CA 94143
(415) 502-3237
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