Our Department at Washington University School of Medicine has been among the top cell biology and physiology programs in the country for over a century.
Ghazal Ashrafi, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: ghazaleh@wustl.edu
The Ashrafi lab uses genetic, biochemical, and quantitative optical imaging techniques to study metabolic regulation of neurotransmission.
Kendall Blumer, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: kblumer@wustl.edu
The Blumer lab currently studies signal transduction mechanisms that cause uveal melanoma, a highly aggressive and deadly cancer, with the ultimate goal of discovering avenues leading to effective therapy for this currently untreatable cancer.
Chun-Kan Chen, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: chun-kan@wustl.edu
The Chen lab utilizes multi-omic and high-throughput screening approaches to systematically investigate the regulation and function of circRNA in cells and develop novel circRNA technologies for translational applications.
Clair Crewe, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: clair.crewe@wustl.edu
The Crewe lab uses transgenic mouse lines, cell culture and biochemistry to understand extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated signaling during homeostatic and pathologic metabolic regulation.
Sergej Djuranovic, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: sergej.djuranovic@wustl.edu
The Djuranovic Lab uses different biochemical, molecular biology and genetics techniques to investigate the process of gene expression regulation at the level of mRNA translation.
Dennis Goldfarb, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: d.goldfarb@wustl.edu
The Goldfarb Lab is focused on computational mass spectrometry and proteomics with the goal of achieving comprehensive protein identification and quantification in complex biological samples.
James E. Huettner, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: jhuettner@wustl.edu
The Huettner lab uses electrophysiology to study native and recombinant mammalian glutamate receptors, in order to elucidate their interactions with components of the lipid bilayer, and their pharmacology and role in synaptic transmission.
Silvia Jansen, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: silvia.jansen@wustl.edu
The Jansen Lab is focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms that regulate the architecture, dimensions and dynamics of actin filament networks, and tune them to support essential cellular functions ranging from cell migration and cytokinesis to neurogenesis.
David J. Kast, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: kast@wustl.edu
The Kast Lab studies the biogenesis and dynamics of intracellular membrane compartments; molecular mechanisms and regulation of cytoskeleton and membrane interactions.
Vitaly A. Klyachko, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: klyachko@wustl.edu
The Klyachko Lab studies the mechanisms governing synaptic transmission are critical to our understanding of how information is transmitted in the brain, yet they remain among the most fundamental unresolved questions in neurobiology.
Polina Lishko, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
BJC Investigator
- Email: lishko@wustl.edu
The Lishko Lab focuses on molecular mechanisms of bioactive lipid signaling, investigating bioelectricity and regulation of ion channels, physiology of the retina, fluid flow in the brain, fertility, reproductive biology research, neurodegeneration and vision.
Michael Benjamin Major, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: bmajor@wustl.edu
The Major Lab studies how perturbation of specific signal transduction pathways contributes to the initiation, progression and dissemination of cancer.
Colin G. Nichols, PhD
Carl Cori Professor, Department of Cell Biology & Physiology
Director, Center for the Investigation of Membrane Excitability Diseases
- Email: cnichols@wustl.edu
The Nichols Lab’s research spans from the molecular basis of potassium channel activity to human disease. His work on KATP channel activity led to the discovery of the mechanism of human neonatal diabetes and a revolution in therapy – affected children can now take once a day pills – even dissolved in milk – rather than traumatic, three times a day insulin injections.
David J. Pagliarini, PhD
Hugo F. & Ina C. Urbauer Professor and BJC Investigator
Departments of Cell Biology & Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Genetics
- Email: pagliarini@wustl.edu
The Pagliarini Lab is an interdisciplinary team of scientists driven to understand the biochemical underpinnings of mitochondrial dysfunction in human diseases.
Slavica Pavlovic-Djuranovic, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: spavlov@wustl.edu
The Pavlovic-Djuranovic Lab uses different biochemical, molecular biology and genetics techniques to investigate the process of gene expression regulation at the level of mRNA translation.
David W. Piston, PhD
Edward J. Mallinckrodt, Jr. Professor and Head of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: piston@wustl.edu
The Piston Lab studies the molecular pathways of islet hormone secretion.
Sheila A. Stewart, PhD
Gerty Cori Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Cell Biology & Physiology
Professor, Department of Medicine
- Email: sheila.stewart@wustl.edu
The Stewart lab’s research focuses on understanding how age-related changes in noncancerous cells (referred to as stroma) participate in cancer development.
Amber Stratman, PhD
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: a.stratman@wustl.edu
The Stratman Lab studies the mechanisms regulating blood vessel formation, stabilization, and blood flow sensing during development and disease.
Heather L. True, PhD
David English Smith Professor, Department of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: heather.true@wustl.edu
The True Lab studies protein misfolding and aggregation are the hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases and other disorders.
Zhongsheng You, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology & Physiology
- Email: zyou@wustl.edu
The You Lab studies the DNA damage response and replication stress response in human cells that are essential for genome maintenance and cancer avoidance.