BME Faculty

Benveniste, Helene

Chair, Medical Department

Benveniste@bnl.gov

Summary : Benveniste's Laboratory focuses on (1) exploring, characterizing and understanding diagnostic MR contrast parameters suitable to visualize neuro-pathology in neurodegenerative diseases; (2) investigate transgenic animal models were specific genes are modified to understand mechanism(s) and treatment of addiction and of drug-induced neurotoxicity using high resolution MR imaging, (3) advance technologies in molecular MR imaging.

Brink, Peter R.

Professor and Chair, Physiology & Biophysics

Peter.Brink@sunysb.edu

Summary : Biophysical properties of gap junction properties.

Button, Terry

Associate Professor

Terry.Button@sunysb.edu

Summary : Dr. Button's research work in the past has focused on Advanced Magnetic Resonance Mammography and Dynamic Infrared Imaging. His current research projects are infrared imaging, breast cancer detection, magnetic resonance and computer aided diagnosis (CAD)

Chen, Weiliam

Associate Professor

Weiliam.Chen@sunysb.edu

Summary : Our research is focused on the application of biocompatible/biodegradable natural carbohydrates to address various clinically relevant biomedical problems including wound repair, cerebral aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation, abdominal aortic aneurysm endoleak and controlled delivery of therapeutic agents (small molecules, proteins and DNA) through interdisciplinary research efforts. Localized application provides the maximum efficacies of therapeutic agents while minimizing their undesirable effects. Other efforts are targeted towards ophthalmic issues and enhancing the biological responses of polymeric medical devices.

Chiang, Fu-Peng

Leading Professor and Chair, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

fchiang@ccmail.sunysb.edu

Summary : Development and application of various optical techniques such as moire, holographic interferometry and speckle interferometry for stress analysis, nondestructive evaluation and metrology.

Chu, Benjamin

Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Chemistry

benjamin.chu@sunysb.edu

Summary : Synthesis, characterization and processing of biomaterials, molecular manipulation and self-assembly in biomimetic mineralization, DNA complexation for gene therapy.

Cohen, Ira S.

Professor

icohen@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Summary : Electrophysiology of the heart; synaptic physiology.

Dhundale, Anil

Research Assistant Professor

Anil.Dhundale@sunysb.edu

Summary : My interests are in commercialization of technology, i.e.- translating research discoveries into useable commercial products. These products can be therapeutics to treat disease, diagnostics for identifying or classifying disease, or tools for researchers to use. But in addition all technology based products include Information Technologies, Clean/Alternative Energy, etc. Currently I manage the Stony Brook Technology Business Incubators Program from an office at the Long Island High Technology Incubator (www.LIHTI.org). This position is to assist academic researchers to start companies and mentor established small technology businesses, all with a goal to translate discoveries into novel products and services. The Stony Brook campus and our partner research institutions on Long Island have a long established, highly successful, culture of invention. There is also an extensive Economic Development network (http://www.sunysb.edu/ecodev/) with many individuals that have and continue to guide a broad range of technologies from discovery through development. Our goal for economic development is to create and retain high technology jobs and have positive economic impact in the Long Island region.

Dilmanian, F. Avraham

Associate Professor

Dilmanian@bnl.gov

Summary : The focus of Avraham Dilmanian's work is on the use of X-ray beams from the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), Brookhaven National Laboratory, in radiation therapy and medical imaging. The radiotherapy program, microbeam radiation therapy (MRT), uses arrays of parallel, microplanar X-rays and has two remarkable effects on laboratory vertebrates. First, it does not damage normal tissues at doses where conventional, broad beams produce severe tissue damage. Second, MRT kills some types of malignant tumors by irradiation from a single angle, at doses that are safe to normal tissues. Dilmanian's imaging programs pivot around computed tomography using monoenergetic X-ray beams. In particular, he and his colleagues recently implemented a new X-ray imaging method, Diffraction-Enhance Imaging (DEI), in the CT mode, studying phantoms and small animals. In both MRT and the imag-ing methods, technical challenges after the feasibility studies at the NSLS would be to develop compact sources for implementing the methods in hospitals.

Djuric, Petar

Professor

Petar.Djuric@sunysb.edu

Summary : The theory of signal processing and its applications to a wide range of engineering and scientific problems. Recently, his work in biomedical engineering has been related to the development of computational methods for prediction of cellular and intercellular processes modeled by biochemical reaction networks. Another field of interest is signal processing of data obtained by magnetic resonance spectroscopy with applications to quantification of neural stem cells. Djuric is a Senior Member of IEEE and is a Member of the American Statistical Association and the International Society for Bayesian Analysis. He has been invited to lecture at many universities in the United States and overseas. He has also been Associate Editor of several journals and Guest Editor of special issues.

Einav, Shmuel

Professor

seinav@sunysb.edu

Summary : The primary role of this laboratory is to study basic physiological flow phenomena, both experimentally and numerically, as well as cellular and tissue engineering as applied to the vascular system. and to suggest ways of improving the functioning of cells, tissues and organs in the body. These physiological flows include blood flow in the heart, blood flow in arteries, veins and the microcirculation, air flow in the respiratory airways, and urine flow in the kidney and urethra. This laboratory simulates systems through the use of computers, assisting life scientists to better understand physiological functions without having to rely entirely on living systems as experimental models. The use of mathematical analysis helps minimize animal experimentation. Other projects are the investigation of hemodynamics as a regulator of vascular biology, the mathematical modeling of the dynamic response of mammalian cells, the role of flow and the associated shear stress on vascular endothelial biology, prosthetic circulatory devices and the tissue engineering of blood vessel substitutes. The laboratory is also engaged in the evaluation of critical conditions that lead to failure of biological organs, such as the heart and the coronary circulation, failure of circulatory prosthetic devices as stents, heart valves and grafts. To facilitate in vitro and in vivo studies, the laboratory develops new investigative techniques, noninvasive diagnostic methods, and advance, multi-dimensional numerical modeling.

Fowler, Joanna

Professor

Fowler@bnl.gov

Summary : A senior chemist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, she focuses on the biochemical effects of drugs, aging, and selected diseases on the brain. Fowler received a Jacob Javits Investigator Award in the Neurosciences, in 1986 and 1993; a Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest in 1988; Brookhaven Laboratory's R&D Award, in 1994; the Aebersold Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine in 1997; and the Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal in 1998.

Gindi, Gene R.

Associate Professor

Gindi@clio.rad.sunysb.edu

Summary : Algorithm development for medical imaging, particularly the application of applied mathematical methods to image reconstruction and to quantitative metrics for image quality. Gindi has been working in the area of nuclear medicine, where probabilistic methods must be used to reconstruct the image from the quantum limited acquired data. His team's approach has been to use Bayesian methods able to accurately model the image formation process as well as to model assorted forms of prior information concerning the object to be reconstructed. Such prior information includes knowledge of piecewise smoothness of the object as well as side information that can be gleaned from MRIs of the same patient. Image quality involves the formulation of crisp mathematical criteria. A considerable effort in signal processing is required in formulating how noise and object variation affect these criteria. Gindi and his students have made recent progress in the formulation of methods to describe noise propagation in nonlinear reconstruction algorithms.

Goldfarb, James W.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scientist

James.Goldfarb@chsli.edu

Summary : The application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the cardiovascular system, particularly in the areas of myocardial function and blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in industrialized nations. Magnetic resonance’s ability for both anatomic and physiological imaging has enormous clinical potential as a noninvasive alternative to conventional invasive procedures. However, significant hurdles remain for cardiovascular MRI. Dr. Goldfarb has been developing, refining and evaluating novel methods that allow improved temporal and spatial resolution, which is needed to transform proposed methods into reliable clinical protocols. Active areas of research include contrast-enhanced angiography, myocardial viability and the development of fast imaging techniques.

Goldstein, Rita

Assistant Scientist

rgoldstein@bnl.gov

Summary : In this study of the brain-behavior mechanisms that underlie drug addiction, I place a special emphasis on the role of the prefrontal cortex and the mesocortical and mesolimbic dopamine brain circuits in the impaired ability to change ongoing behavior (willed-behavior) in response to an emotionally salient feedback. This intricate study of the interaction between brain and behavior incorporates the interrelated yet distinct research disciplines of neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, and neuropsychology. My research embraces this multidisciplinary approach, translating into patient-oriented clinical research settings the principles of non-invasive techniques to measure brain function such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), event-related potential (ERP) recordings, and neuropsychology.

Hainfeld, James F.

hainfeld@bnl.gov

Summary : James Hainfeld develops organometallic cluster compounds to be used as high resolution molecular labels. These heavy metal clusters are covalently attached to peptides, antibodies, other proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates or lipids to map sites of macromolecules or complexes for visualization in the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM). Such clusters have been useful in studying the proteasome, pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme complex, actin filaments, viruses, blood clotting components, nuclear proteins, and other structures. Use of clusters in anomalous X-ray scattering or for isomorphous replacements is being investigated also. Gold, platinum, palladium, silver, iridium, and other metal clusters have been synthesized. Recently, gold clusters having Nickel-NTA for binding 6x-His tagged proteins, gold-liposomes, gold-cluster-ATP, and giant platinum clusters have been studied. Dr. Hainfeld also founded Nanoprobes, Inc., a bio-nanotechnology biotech company, and serves as the CEO. Nanoprobes researches and develops organometallic nanoparticles for use in biomedical and material science applications. for more information see: www.biology.bnl.gov/stem/stem.html and www.nanoprobes.com

Hannon, Gregory J.

Howard Hughes Medical Institution Investigator

Gregory.Hannon@chsli.edu

Summary : Dr. Hannon received a B.A. degree in biochemistry and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Case Western Reserve University, where he trained in the laboratory of Tim Nilsen. From 1992 to 1995, he was a postdoctoral fellow of the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund in the laboratory of David Beach, where he explored cell cycle regulation in mammalian cells. Dr. Hannon, along with collaborators, was able to identify p21, p15 and p16. His work and that of others has linked each of these to major tumor suppressor pathways, with the two latter genes being tumor suppressors in their own right and p21 being a major effector of the p53 tumor suppressor. After becoming an Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1996 and a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences in 1997, in 2000, he began to make seminal observations in the emerging field of RNA interference. His laboratory identified the effector complex of RNAi, which is called RISC, and showed that it contained small RNAs, now known as siRNAs, that were similar in size to those originally observed by David Baulcombe in his study of plants that were silencing transgenes by co-suppression. The origin of such small RNAs was revealed with his discovery of the Dicer enzyme; an RNAseIII family member that cleaves dsRNAs into discretely sized small RNAs that enter RISC. In 2002 Dr. Hannon accepted a position as Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where he continued his studies to reveal that endogenous non-coding RNAs, then known as small temporal RNAs and now as microRNAs, enter the RNAi pathway through Dicer and direct RISC to regulate the expression of endogenous protein coding genes. In recognition of his research, Dr. Hannon was appointed to the Faculty of 1000, received the U.S. Army Breast Cancer Research Program’s Innovator Award and the American Association for Cancer Research’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research. He assumed his current position in 2005 and continues to explore the mechanisms and regulation of RNA interference as well as its applications to cancer research.

Harrington, Donald

Professor

Donald.Harrington@sunysb.edu

Summary : In 1991, Donald Harrington joined Stony Brook's Department of Radiology as a professor and University Hospital as radiologist-in-chief. Previously, he had taught at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Harrington's major research interests include Magnetic Resonance Imaging in medicine; telecommunications of imaging and data for patient care and medical teaching; and medical image processing. He has published his findings in over 100 journals, including Radiology, the American Journal of Cardiology, the Johns Hopkins Medical Journal, the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Surgery, Applied Radiology, and many others. He is also an associate editor of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology and a reviewer for the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Hsiao, Benjamin

Professor

bhsiao@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Summary : I am interested in understanding the structural and morphological development and manipulation of complex polymer systems during preparation and processing in real time. The focus of my research projects is the design, preparation, characterization and application of nanostructured soft condensed materials, such as fibers (one-dimensional orientation), films (two-dimensional orientation) and bulk material systems (three-dimensional orientation), through precise control of molecular architecture and physical interactions including crystallization, molecular level mixing, deformation and flow. My particular interests in biomedical applications include the use nanostructured biodgredation materials for drug release and tissue engineering.

Jesty, Jolyon

Professor

JJesty@mail.som.sunysb.edu

Summary : Jo Jesty's research is done in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His main interest is how the control mechanisms of blood coagulation interact to minimize the response of the system to low stimulus levels; in other words, the prevention of the abnormal responses that cause thrombosis. This involves a two-pronged approach of experimental kinetic studies in parallel with mathematical analysis and numerical simulation of the control systems involved. Jesty's particular focus is the controls that operate in the initiation of coagulation, in which two inhibitors are involved, along with three positive feedbacks. Additionally, a recent collaborative project concerns the effect of prosthetic heart valves on platelet function, and particularly the ways in which they damage platelets. Jesty has published in the areas of both biochemistry and applied mathematics in Biochemistry, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and many other journals. He is also an associate editor of the journal Haemostasis.

Kaufman, Arie E.

Professor

Arie.Kaufman@sunysb.edu

Summary : Arie Kaufman is the director of the Center of Visual Computing (CVC) and the director of the Cube project for volume visualization supported by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Office of Naval Research, Hughes Aircraft Company, Hewlett-Packard Company, Silicon Graphics Company, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and many others. His research interests include computer graphics and specifically computer graphics architectures, algorithms, and languages; visualization including volume visualization and scientific visualization; user interfaces; virtual reality; and multimedia. Kaufman is the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics. He has lectured widely and published numerous technical papers in these areas, including the IEEE tutorial book on Volume Visualization. He has been the papers chair and program cochair for Visualization 1990-1994 and the chairman of the IEEE CS Technical Committee on Computer Graphics.

Liang, Jerome Z.

Professor of Radiology, Computer Science, and Physics

jzl@mil.sunysb.edu

Summary : Jerome Liang focuses his attention on the development of quantitative SPECT systems, 3D virtual endoscopy, and computer aided diagnosis. This work includes creating a quantitative SPECT imaging modality as a cost-effective means for patient diagnosis as well as developing a high resolution PET as a functional research imaging modality. Liang is also striving to create a virtual colonoscopy as a cost-effective procedure for colon screening and to construct an automatic method for brain-tissue segmentation for diagnosis of disorders. In addition, he plans to build various models, in terms of physics, mathematics, and statistics, to simulate the practical problems above and then to validate the models by experiments. Liang has published his findings in journals such as Magnetic Resonance Medicine.

Lieber, Baruch Barry

Professor

blieber@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Summary : Hemodynamics blood flow

Logan, Jean

Scientist

Summary : Jean Logan has worked in the positron emission tomography (PET) group at BNL since her post-doctoral in theoretical chemistry. Her research interests are primarily the kinetic modeling of data from PET experiments. PET measures radioactivity concentration in tissue after the introduction of a radiotracer. The PET group has developed radiotracers for a number of brain receptors (for example the dopamine D2 receptor, the dopamine transporter, the norepinephrine transporter) and enzymes (monoamine oxidase A and B which occur in the brain as well as in many peripheral organs). Since PET measures the total radiotracer concentration in the tissue it is necessary to separate the tissue accumulation due to functioning receptor etc. from other processes such as tracer delivery via blood flow. She developed a simple technique for analyzing PET data extracting information related to available receptor concentration that is frequently used in PET research today.

Mathias, Richard T.

Professor

rmathias@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Summary : Research in biophysics seeks physical insights into how cells and tissues function, with the ultimate goal to better the health of mankind. In our lab, research is directed toward understanding fundamental properties of two different organs, and how those properties relate to specific diseases: 1) homeostasis in the normal lens and how its compromise leads to formation of cataracts in the elderly; 2) regulation of calcium and contraction in the heart and how their compromise leads to congestive heart failure. Our work suggests both are related to membrane transport proteins, membrane voltage and ionic current flow from cell to cell. My early work was on the voltage distribution and 3-dimensional current spread in multi-cellular tissues. Maxwell's classical laws relating charge and voltage provide part of the picture, but ions move about by diffusion and convection as well as conduction, so the laws of thermodynamics, describing the coupling of these driving forces to ion fluxes, also apply. The geometry of the cells, the interconnection between cells and the specific membrane transport proteins in local groups of cells are important components of organ function. Both the heart and lens have spatially segregated membrane transport proteins, which interact through the interconnection of cells via gap junctions. In the last 10 years, we have focused on the roles of specific membrane proteins that generate, regulate and direct fluxes of ions, water and neutral solutes in these two organs.

McCombie, W. Richard

Associate Professor

mccombie@cshl.edu

Summary : Our lab is taking a proactive approach to the genome information explosion by developing databases, data-analysis tools, and user interfaces to organize, manage, and visualize that vast body of information. One current project is the development of a third-party annotation system for the Caenorhabditis elegans genome sequence. This system will allow researchers to add comments and observations to the C. elegans database and to conveniently view the annotations of others with a Web browser. The system uses the ACEDB database in conjunction with the Java and Perl interfaces that have been developed in our lab. A second project is the development of a genome informatics tool kit, a modular collection of database query tools, sequence-analysis programs, and user interfaces that will allow biologists to solve data-management problems without the assistance of a computer programmer.

Miller, Lisa

Biophysicist

lmiller@bnl.gov

Summary : Lisa Miller is the Life and Environmental Sciences group leader at the NSLS. She is also spokesperson for Beamline U10B and X27A. Beamline U10B specializes in mid-infrared microspectroscopy of materials such as biological tissues, polymers, coated and corroded surfaces, soils, minerals, and plants. Beamline X27A specializes in x-ray fluorescence microprobe analysis of trace metals in similar materials. Lisa Miller's research focuses on the study of the chemical makeup of tissue in disease using high-resolution infrared and x-ray imaging at the NSLS. Her work has two primary research areas: (1) examination of the chemical composition of bone tissue in diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, and (2) correlation of metal ion content and protein structure in brain tissue in protein-folding diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and scrapie.

Mitra, Partha

Professor

mitra@cshl.edu

Summary : I am interested in gaining a fundamental understanding of the behavior of complex biological systems, both from a mechanistic, physico-chemical perspective, and from an engineering perspective emphasizing function. I am also interested in applying this knowledge to help improve therapies for brain disorders. My research combines a number of approaches, including theoretical work, informatics, and experimental work. My theoretical interests are primarily in formalizing the treatment of biological function using ideas and methods from engineering. The informatics component of my research is devoted to the development of computational tools for analyzing neurobiological data, particularly electrophysiological data from experiments designed to probe cognitive phenomena. In addition, I am working on building knowledge bases to integrate information from the neuroscientific literature, both for the research and medical communities. I have an experimental research program studying memory formation in the fruitfly, integrating information across genetic, neural and behavioral levels. In collaborative research, I study song development in the zebra finch. My research is highly interdisciplinary and has a broad scope. I am also interested in the communication of science to a general audience.

Mueller, Klaus

mueller@cs.sunysb.edu

Summary : Klaus Mueller's areas of interest are medical, scientific and information visualization, visual analytics, medical imaging, computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality, and high-performance computing. He has pioneered the use of programmable commodity graphics hardware boards (GPUs) for the acceleration of a wide variety of computer tomographic (CT) reconstruction algorithms and medical physics phenomena. Applications include diagnostic imaging, radiotherapy, electron microscopy, ultrasound tomography for breast mammography, and others. In the visual analytics area he works on devising new high-dimensional data visualization frameworks and combining them with statistical pattern recognition and machine learning to create intuitive interactive analytical reasoning environments for medical professionals. He is also working towards a comprehensive visual data mining environment for neuroscientists, called BrainMiner, to enable a more targeted and experiential derivation of brain functional models from large collections of knowledge and data.

Pena, Louis

Associate Scientist

lpena@bnl.gov

Summary : While trying to develop novel radiation protection drugs, we developed a method to make analogs (mimetics) of heparin-binding cytokines / growth factors. These are modular, multi-domain peptides that mimic the action of cytokines but are much smaller and vastly more chemically stable than natural cytokine proteins. These advantages make them ideal for multiple bioengineering applications. One set of analogs (the F2A series) were designed to stimulate the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR1) complex and they function as mimetics of bFGF (a.k.a. FGF-2). These do, in fact, confer radiation protection to cells and to whole animals subjected to controlled doses of ionizing radiation. But since cytokines / growth factors have multiple actions, we are pursuing other avenues as well. For example, one wound healing application is where a derivatized heparin can be coated onto any medical device surface or film followed by a coating of F2A which can subsequently elute from the surface/film to provide local delivery of a growth factor mimetic to a wound site. It is one of our goals to make chemical modifications to each component in order to control the rate of delivery. bFGF is also involved the differentiation of bone forming cells (osteodifferentiation) and we are working on F2As, for example, in models of ectopic bone formation in biodegradable scaffolds and matrices. Another set of analogs (the B2A series) were designed to target the receptors of bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2), and we are working on these in similar bone models. Future analogs may focus on cartilage formation, wound repair, and nerve repair. Finally, by chemically modifying one of the domains (modules), we can couple a radioactive tracer such as a positron-emitting isotope. Thus we are working on a new generation of PET probes to detect the upregulation of cytokine receptors and are currently focused on an animal model of an inflammatory CNS disease, Multiple Sclerosis. Apart from micro-PET development, in all of our animal work, we extensively employ micro-MRI and micro-CT.

Powers, Scott

Associate Professor

powers@cshl.edu

Summary : My laboratory is interested in the identification and functional characterization of cancer genes (oncogenes and tumor suppressors). Our main motivation for studying cancer genes is their proven practical value in serving as targets for new cancer therapies and as biomarkers that can guide treatment decisions. Additionally, cancer genes have normal functions and their characterization can often lead to deeper understanding of basic biology. In the past, our focus has been on the use of high-resolution genome arrays to pinpoint candidate oncogenes that are amplified in human cancer. We have validated many of these amplified genes as functional oncogenes in model systems and some of these validated oncogenes have served as starting points for cancer drug discovery programs. More recently, we’ve branched out to include analysis of additional genomic alterations relevant to human cancer. We’ve also begun purely functional genomic approaches to identify genes involved in important cancer-related processes such as response to specific therapeutics.

Rafailovich, Miriam

Professor

miriam.rafailovich@sunysb.edu

Summary : Surface and interface properties of polymer thin films, nanocomposite materials, phase segregation in polymer blends, polymer dynamics in confined geometries, wetting in multilayer polymer films, fracture toughness of polymer interfaces, polymer adhesion, nanopatterning using polymer self assembly, nanotribiology of polymer film surfaces, nanopatterning with magnetic impregnates in glass. Experimental specialization: SIMS, X-ray and Neutron Reflection, Lateral, magnetic and atomic force microcopy TEM, RBS, and Mossbauer Spectroscopy.

Rigas, Basil

Professor

basil.rigas@stonybrook.edu

Summary : During the last several years, he has focused his efforts on the prevention of colon cancer using traditional NSAIDs, NO-donating NSAIDs and other pharmacological agents. He has also pioneered the application of infrared spectroscopy to biology with emphasis on cancer holding several relevant patents. A new area of work concerns the use of nanotechnology in the prevention of cancer.

Rizzo, Robert

Assistant Professor

rizzorc@gmail.com

Summary : Rob Rizzo works in Computational Structural Biology. His research group seeks to understand the atomic basis for molecular recognition for specific biological systems involved in human disease such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, and influenza with the ultimate goal of developing new and improved drugs. Computational methods are used to model how molecules interact at the atomic level with a given drug target. The resultant 3D structural and energetic information is used to quantify and rationalize drug-binding for known systems and to make new predictions.

Sanford, Simon

Professor

ssimon@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Summary : Acute and chronic inflammatory responses are important host defenses against foreign substances or pathogens. These responses are largely mediated by neutrophils and macrophages, which release proteases, cytokines, and a number of other mediators of inflammation in the course of defending the host. We study the mechanisms of action of serine proteases and metalloproteases from activated neutrophils and develop specific inhibitors to control the tissue destruction which may otherwise injure the host during an inflammatory response. Because invasiveness and metastatic spread of tumor cells involves tissue degradation by the same families of proteinases as is seen in inflammation, we have extended our studies to include evaluation of agents intended to block tumor spread or tumor-stimulated vessel growth (angiogenesis). Our methods include biophysical probes of enzyme active sites and kinetic measurements. We also measure neutrophil and macrophage phagocytic activity and release of oxidants by flow cytometry. We have made extensive use of a complete interstitial extracellular matrix from rat smooth muscle cells which we label biosynthetically and employ as a substrate for inflammatory cells and tumor cells and their proteases. We employ matrices on porous membrane filters to quantitate inhibition of invasive migration of neutrophils, macrophages, endothelial cells, and tumor cells by proteinase inhibitors and other modulatory agents. Our collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology has led to a series of clinical trials on a class of proteinase inhibitors with additional pleiotropic downregulatory actions on inflammatory and tumor cells. The trials of these inhibitors, which are nonantimicrobial derivatives of tetracyclines, target potential applications in management of cancer, acute respiratory distress syndrome, periodontal disease, and cardiovascular complications of smoking. To understand how inflammatory cells communicate we study paracrine mechanisms of activation by cytokines, using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry to measure levels of expression of cell surface receptors and other marker proteins which are sensitive to the state of activation of the cells.

Schlyer, David

Senior Scientist

schlyer@bnl.gov

Summary : My research interests are in the development of new technology for medical imaging and in particular in the development of multi-modality imaging. We are working with simultaneous PET/MRI and PET/optical imaging systems. We are using magnetic nanoparticles labeled with positron emitters as simultaneous multi-modality probes. We also have a multi center project to study the toxicology of nanoparticles. This is part of a large project to study all scales of nanoparticle interaction with biological system from the subcellular to the whole animal. We also have a program on the cyclotron targets for the development of new radiotracers for investigating biological systems. These include such radionuclides as vanadium-48 for visualizing titanium dioxide nanoparticle biodistribution and iron-52 for the investigation of iron oxide nanoparticles with PET.

Skiena, Steven

Professor

skiena@cs.sunysb.edu

Summary : computational biology, combinatorial computing environments, and combinatorial algorithms and data structures

Solomon, Irene

Associate Professor

Summary : The overall goal of the research in my laboratory is to understand the mechanisms by which central nervous system (CNS) neurons integrate peripheral and central inputs in respiratory and cardiovascular control. At present, we are investigating CNS sites and neuropharmacological mechanisms mediating hypoxic ventilatory and sympathetic responses. Severe brain hypoxia which may result from numerous cardiovascular and respiratory diseases (e.g., stroke, cor pulmonale) results in a shift from respiratory depression to excitation (gasping) and an increase in sympathetic output. In the laboratory, we are examining the brainstem sites and neural mechanism(s) responsible for this shift in respiratory patterning as well as the synchronization of the central respiratory cycle with sympathetic activity. The experimental approach in the laboratory involves neuroanatomical mapping, electrophysiological recording, and neuropharmacology. Another focus of research in my laboratory examines reflex and central neural control of the airways.

Thanos, Panayotis (Peter) K.

Assisant Professor

thanos@bnl.gov

Summary : "Gene therapy and dopaminergic mechanisms of alcohol and drug abuse Funded by NIDA, NIAAA and DOE # The role of dopamine and its receptors on alcohol, drug abuse and obesity using animal models (knockout mice, rats). -Developing gene therapy techniques for treatment of these addictions. -microPET imaging of the rodent brain treated with gene therapy -Correlating these findings with clinical studies on alcoholism, drug abuse and obesity)"

Tracey, Kevin

Director, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Summary : Systemic inflammation is an important process in the development of shock, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, stroke, and other diseases. Our research focuses on the roles of individual mediators of systemic inflammation, and their regulation by interactions between the brain and the innate immune system. Our discovery of the inflammatory action of TNF in non-malignant disease led directly to clinically approved treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. To discover new mediators of systemic inflammation, we screened products of endotoxin-stimulated macrophage cultures. This resulted in the discovery that HMG-1, a DNA binding protein that was widely studied for its intracellular roles, is a mediator of endotoxin lethality. In contrast to TNF and IL-1, which are released early after endotoxin exposure, HMG-1 is released late after exposure to endotoxin. Antibodies to HMG-1 completely protect mice from endotoxin lethality, even when treatment is delayed several hours. In critically ill patients, the highest serum HMG-1 levels exist in lethal cases, indicating that HMG-1 may be a therapeutic agent. Ongoing research addresses the mechanisms of HMG-1 toxicity and action, as well as the identification of signal transduction pathways.

Zhao, Wei

Associate Professor

wzhao@radiol.som.sunysb.edu

Summary : Wei Zhao's main research interest is in the development of novel detector concept and new clinical applications for early detection of cancer. Her current research projects include (1) the characterization and optimization of a high-resolution flat-panel detector for digital mammography (imaging of the breast) through prototype development, image analysis, and computer modeling; (2) the development of detector technology and imaging system for three-dimensional imaging of the breast, which is aimed at achieving better detection of abnormality than existing two dimensional projection images; and (3) feasibility investigation of a large area flat-panel detector with amplification at each pixel for very low dose x-ray imaging applications.

Zhu, Wei

Professor

Zhu@ams.sunysb.edu

Summary : Wei Zhu is a biostatistician. Her major research areas are brain image analysis, design and analysis of clinical trials and other biomedical studies, and genetics modeling. In the brain image analysis area, she is collaborating with medical researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to identify and quantify changes in brain functional relationships under drug influence. She is among the pioneers in applying the concept of multiple-objective optimal design to clinical trials and quantal dose-response experiments. In genetics, she is working on the analysis of gene microarray expression data to ascribe genes to various functional groups and to ascertain genes that are linked to certain diseases. She has experience with the analysis of large data sets on the scale of terabytes and is an affiliate of the BNL Center for Data Intensive Computing. In addition to her close collaboration with BNL, Wei Zhu has also worked with researchers at USB, the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Merck Research Laboratories, and Veeco UPA in the past three years.