Basic Sciences Faculty and Facility Profiles
In these videos, a number of our faculty members discuss their research, the importance of basic science, funding, and offer advice for graduate students and postdocs. Visit the Basic Sciences YouTube Playlist to see overviews and full interviews of our faculty profiles!
About VU Basic Sciences
Lawrence Marnett
Message from the Dean of Basic Sciences
Addiction Research
Erin Calipari Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Principle Investigator, Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research
Cody Siciliano Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Danny Winder Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research
“Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research: A Conversation with Langhorne Slim” Lab-to-Table Conversation
Age-Related Diseases
Kris Burkewitz Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Alzheimer’s, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, Long QT Syndrome
Chuck Sanders Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Biochemistry
Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Chair in Cardiovascular Research
“What Are Proteins?”: Chuck Sanders, President of The Protein Society (2022-2023), discusses what proteins are in the body and how they are important to biomedical research and impact human health.
Alzheimer’s, Autism, Parkinson’s (Neurological & Psychiatric Disorders)
Jeffrey Conn Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Pharmacology
Lee E. Limbird Chair in Pharmacology
Ege Kavalali Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Pharmacology
William Stokes Chair in Experimental Therapeutics
Craig Lindsley Research Overview Full Interview Lab What is WNCDD?
University Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry
William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine
“Meeting the Challenge: Neuroscience Drug Discovery with the Warren Center” Lab-to-Table Conversation
“How the Brain Remembers” Lab-to-Table Conversation
“Depression and the Brain: A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatry and Neuroscience” Lab-to-Table Conversation
Blood Disorders
Breann Brown Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry
Brain Tumor Research – Adult & Children
Rebecca Ihrie Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Breast Cancer / Cancer Metastasis
Barbara Fingleton Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Associate Professor, Surgery
Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Ovarian Cancer
Fiona Yull Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Cancer Biology
Jonathan Irish Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Cancer & Neurodegenerative/Metabolic Disease
Erkan Karakas Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Cancer & Viral Infection
Yi Ren Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Cell Fate In Disease
Carlos Lopez Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Adjoint Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Adjoint Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Adjoint Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Cell Imaging Shared Resource
The Vanderbilt Cell Imaging Shared Resource (CISR) provides researchers with access to state-of-the-art imaging equipment and expert technical support for sophisticated microscopy and analysis of tissue and cellular anatomy and physiology. View video.
Center for Structural Biology
The Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology (CSB) is part of a major trans-institutional initiative to significantly upgrade the capabilities in Structural Biology at Vanderbilt by bringing additional faculty and state-of-the-art instrumentation to campus. View video.
Colon Cancer & Crohn’s Disease
Ken Lau Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Colorectal Cancer
“On the Cutting-Edge: Research Toward a Cure for Colorectal Cancer” Lab-to-Table Conversation
Computational Biology
Jens Meiler Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Chemistry
Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Gregor Neuert Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
COVID
“Preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic…for 36 years” Mark Denison
“A Promising Start to Ending Coronaviruses” Lab-to-Table Conversation
“Addiction, Sobriety and Art in the Time of COVID-19” Lab-to-Table Conversation
DNA Replication: Cancer, Mutagenesis & Drug Resistance
David Cortez Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Biochemistry
Houra Merrikh Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Biochemistry
Depression & Rett Syndrome
Lisa Monteggia Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute
Professor of Pharmacology
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Professor of Psychology
Funding
Funding Basic Sciences at Vanderbilt University
High-Throughput Screening & Antibody Core
Paige Vinson Research Overview Full Interview HTS Facility Website
Director, High-Throughput Screening Core
Director, Vanderbilt Antibody and Protein Resource Core
Infectious Diseases
Manny Ascano Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor, Biochemistry
Associate Professor, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Microscopy & Quantitative Image Analysis
Bryan Millis Facility Overview Full Interview
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Microtubule Regulation & Molecular Transport
Irina Kaverina Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Marija Zanic Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Molecular Recognition – Endocarditis
Tina Iverson Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Pharmacology
Professor of Biochemistry
Obesity
Alyssa Hasty Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Dean for Faculty Development for Basic Sciences
Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
View Weight Gain and Weight Loss video.
Pancreatic Cancer
Kathy Delgiorno Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology
Protein Dynamics
Hassane Mchaourab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Louise B. McGavock Chair, Department of of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Stem Cells
Vivian Gama Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Structural Mechanisms in Cancer and Infectious Disease
Walter Chazin Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Biochemistry
Professor of Chemistry
Chancellor’s Chair in Medicine
Viruses
Will Wan Research Overview Lab
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry