The Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics (MPB) has a proud tradition of pioneering research discoveries. Dr. Charles R. (Rollo) Park put the Department of Physiology on the research map over 70 years ago as a mecca for cutting edge basic research related to endocrinology and diabetes, with a special focus on signal transduction mechanisms. Dr. Park was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Dr. Earl Sutherland while he was a faculty member at Vanderbilt for establishing the concept of second messenger signaling though his pioneering research on cyclic AMP (and cyclic GMP). Studies by Dr. John Exton, a long-time HHMI Investigator and another elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, provided novel molecular insights into the regulation of phospholipid metabolism and calcium signaling by hormones and neurotransmitters. The HHMI also supported the work of Drs. Jackie Corbin and Sharron Francis on cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, providing the foundation for the development of highly successful drugs to treat erectile dysfunction. You can find out more about the work of these and all the other distinguished alumni of the department here.
The appointment of Dr. Daryl Granner as Dr. Park’s successor in the 1980s, sparked a diversification of research interests and a change of name to the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. Under Dr. Granner, departmental faculty interests expanded into the mechanisms of gene regulation, biophysics, neuroscience and genetics. These diversified interests continued under the leadership of Dr. Alan Cherrington, who also served as the President of the American Diabetes Association. More recently, the departmental tradition in signal transduction was reinforced by the appointment of Dr. Roger Cone as Chair of the department. While Chair, Dr. Cone was elected as a member of the National Academes of Sciences and Medicine for his work on the novel modes of signal transduction mediated by melanocortin receptors in the CNS that play a key role in the regulation of feeding and obesity.
Dr. Nancy Carrasco became the permanent chair of MPB in 2019 and continues in this role. She was also elected to the National Academies of Sciences and Medicine for her multidisciplinary studies of the sodium-iodide symporter, which is essential for thyroid hormone synthesis by transporting iodide into the thyroid gland.
View distinguished alumni of the Department here.