Faculty

Gregory A. Buck, Ph.D.

Gregory A. Buck, Ph.D.

Professor

Gregory A. Buck, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

Professor

Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Wook-Jin Chae, Ph.D.

Wook-Jin Chae, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Wook-Jin Chae, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Phillip Hylemon, Ph.D.

Phillip Hylemon, Ph.D.

Professor

Phillip Hylemon, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Kimberly Jefferson, Ph.D.

Kimberly Jefferson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Kimberly Jefferson, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Eun Lee, Ph.D.

Eun Lee, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Eun Lee, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Masoud H. Manjili, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Masoud H. Manjili, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Professor

Masoud H. Manjili, D.V.M., Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Richard T Marconi, Ph.D.

Richard T Marconi, Ph.D.

Professor

Richard T Marconi, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Marconi Lab

Rebecca K. Martin, Ph.D.

Rebecca K. Martin, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Rebecca K. Martin, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Rebecca Martin Lab

Daniel P. Miller, Ph.D.

Daniel P. Miller, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Daniel P. Miller, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Dennis E. Ohman, Ph.D.

Dennis E. Ohman, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair

Dennis E. Ohman, Ph.D.

Dennis E. Ohman, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair

Department of Microbiology & Immunology

Email: dennis.ohman@vcuhealth.org

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Publications

P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D.

P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D.

Professor

P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D.

P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Microbiology & Immunology

Vice President for Research & Innovation

Email: psrao@vcu.edu

Publications

Myrna G. Serrano, Ph.D.

Myrna G. Serrano, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Myrna G. Serrano, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Lisa S. Shock, Ph.D.

Lisa S. Shock, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Lisa S. Shock, Ph.D.

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

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Publications

Huiping Zhou, Ph.D., AGAF, FAASLD

Huiping Zhou, Ph.D., AGAF, FAASLD

Professor

Huiping Zhou, Ph.D., AGAF, FAASLD

Huiping Zhou, Ph.D., AGAF, FAASLD

Professor

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

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Publications

Huiping Lab

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

Haley E. Adcox, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

Paige E. Allen, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

Michael Carlson, Ph.D.
Adviser: Dennis E. Ohman, Ph.D.

Travis J. Chiarelli, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

Savannah E. Sanchez, Ph.D.
Adviser: Jason A. Carlyon, Ph.D.

Edward J. Schuler, Ph.D.
Adviser: Richard T. Marconi, Ph.D.

Bin Zhu, Ph.D.
Adviser: Gregory A. Buck, 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