Faculty
Gregory A. Buck, Ph.D.
Professor
Gregory A. Buck, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Department of Computer Science
Director, Center for Microbiome Engineering & Data Analysis
Research Interests
• Human microbiome and its impact on health
• Obstetric and gynecologic health
• Molecular parasitology
• Microbial pathogenesis
• Viral genomics and evolution
Email: gregory.buck@vcuhealth.org
Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.
Professor
Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Twitter: @CarlyonLab
Research Interests
• Host-intracellular bacterial pathogen interactions
• Molecular pathogenesis of granulocytic anaplasmosis
• Molecular pathogenesis of scrub typhus
• Vaccine development for arthropod-transmitted infections
Email: jason.carlyon@vcuhealth.org
Wook-Jin Chae, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Wook-Jin Chae, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Harrison Scholar / CCTR Scholar
Massey Cancer Center / Phillips Oral Health Research Institute
Research Interests
• Pathological mechanisms of oral health diseases (periodontitis and gingivitis)
• Regulatory mechanisms of pulmonary injury, inflammation and repair via Wnt and Dickkopf1
• Mechanisms of Dickkopf1-mediated tumorigenesis and metastasis
• Chemical/oral bacteria-mediated inflammation and its implication in oral cancer
Email: wook-jin.chae@vcuhealth.org
Phillip Hylemon, Ph.D.
Professor
Phillip Hylemon, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests
• Gut microbiome’s role in health and disease
• Bile acid metabolism by gut bacteria
• Bile acid-activated cell signaling pathways and liver disease
• Clostridium difficile, endogenous antibiotics and secondary bile acids
Email: phillip.hylemon@vcuhealth.org
Kimberly Jefferson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Kimberly Jefferson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Graduate Program Director of Admissions
Research Interests
• Infectious causes of preterm birth
• Bacterial virulence factors
• Pore-forming toxin in bacteria associated with vaginosis, preterm birth and pregnancy complications
Email: kimberly.jefferson@vcuhealth.org
Eun Lee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Eun Lee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests
• Immunological consequences of pregnancy-related diseases (preeclampsia, IUGR, preterm birth and spontaneous miscarriage)
• Functional roles of ERAP2 in peptide processing and presentation to immune cells
• Targeting ERAP2 to develop translational cancer therapy
Email: eun.lee@vcuhealth.org
Masoud H. Manjili, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Professor
Masoud H. Manjili, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests
• Immunotherapeutic targeting of cancer dormancy
• Hepatic immunological patterns associated with fatty liver disease and liver cancer
• The adaptation model of immunity
Email: masoud.manjili@vcuhealth.org
.jpg)
Richard T Marconi, Ph.D.
Professor
Richard T Marconi, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests
• Lyme and tick-borne diseases
• Bacterial vaccine and diagnostic assay development
• Protein structure function and its relationship to virulence
• Genetic regulatory mechanisms of pathogenic spirochetes
• Molecular pathogenesis of periodontal disease
Email: richard.marconi@vcuhealth.org
Rebecca K. Martin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Rebecca K. Martin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Microbiology and Immunology
Scientific Director, VCU Post-baccalaureate Research and Education Program
Research Interests
• Immune mechanisms of allergic disease
• Helminth infection and allergic asthma
Email: rebecca.martin@vcuhealth.org
Daniel P. Miller, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Daniel P. Miller, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Philips Institute for Oral Health Research
Research Interests
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Polymicrobial interactions in subgingival biofilms that promote periodontal disease
• Signaling events that promote growth of oral bacteria
Email: daniel.miller@vcuhealth.org
P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D.
Professor
P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Vice President for Research & Innovation
Email: psrao@vcu.edu
Myrna G. Serrano, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Myrna G. Serrano, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests
• Impact of the vaginal microbiome on women’s health and pregnancy
• Microbial genome biology
• Integrative genomics, bioinformatics and kinetoplast evolution
Email: myrna.serrano@vcuhealth.org
Lisa S. Shock, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Lisa S. Shock, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Graduate Program Director
Research Interests:
• Epigenetics
• Mitochondria and cell metabolism
• Cancer biology
Email: lisa.shock@vcuhealth.org
Huiping Zhou, Ph.D., AGAF, FAASLD
Professor and Interim Chair
Huiping Zhou, Ph.D., AGAF, FAASLD
Professor and Interim Chair
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests
• Bile acids and sphingolipids in liver diseases
• Long noncoding RNA H19 in cholestatic liver disease
• Circular RNA in NAFLD and cholestatic liver disease
• Bile acids and sphingolipid in NASH-HCC and cholangiocarcinoma
Email: huiping.zhou@vcuhealth.org
Affiliate Faculty
Azeddine Atfi, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Harry D. Bear, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Surgery
Paula D. Bos, Ph.D.
Department of Pathology
Sumitra Deb, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Swati Palit Deb, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Michael S. Donnenberg, M.D.
Department of Internal Medicine
Xianjun Fang, M.S., Ph.D.
Massey Cancer Center
Paul Fawcett, Ph.D.
Department of Internal Medicine
David A. Gewirtz, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Gordon Ginder, M.D.
Massey Cancer Center
Steven Grant, M.D.
Department of Internal Medicine
Melissa Jamerson, Ph.D.
College of Health Sciences
Todd Kitten, Ph.D.
Philips Institute for Oral Health Research
Janina Lewis, Ph.D.
Philips Institute for Oral Health Research
Chunhao "Chris" Li
Philips Institute for Oral Health Research
Renfeng Li, Ph.D.
Philips Institute for Oral Health Research
Michael McVoy, Ph.D.
Department of Pediatrics
Ross Mikkelsen, Ph.D.
Department of Radiation Oncology
Iain Morgan, Ph.D.
School of Dentistry
Bruce Rubin, M.D., M.Engr, M.B.A.
Department of Pediatrics
John J. Ryan, Ph.D.
Colleges of Humanities & Sciences
Patricia J. Sime, M.D.
Department of Internal Medicine
Wanchun Tang, M.D.
Department of Emergency Medicine
Peter Uetz, Ph.D.
VCU Life Sciences
Kristoffer Valerie, Ph.D.
Department of Radiation Oncology
Xiang-Yang (Shawn) Wang, Ph.D.
Department of Human and Molecular Genetics
Brant R. Ward, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Internal Medicine
Ping Xu, Ph.D.
School of Dentistry
Postdoctoral Fellows
Paige E. Allen, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.
Travis J. Chiarelli, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.
Nathaniel O'Bier, Ph.D.
Adviser: Richard T. Marconi, Ph.D.
Savannah E. Sanchez, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.
Edward J. Schuler, Ph.D.
Adviser: Richard T. Marconi, Ph.D.
Nan Wu, Ph.D.
Adviser: Huiping Zhou, Ph.D.
Staff
Nancy Fogg
Department Administrator
roberta.fogg@vcuhealth.org
Bobbie Palumbo
Accounting and Webmaster
bobbie.fogg-palumbo@vcuhealth.org
Martha VanMeter
Accounting and Graduate Programs
martha.vanmeter@vcuhealth.org
