Below are active research project descriptions from graduate faculty who are accepting new laboratory rotation students for the current academic year (2025–2026). This directory is updated annually each summer and serves as a primary reference for incoming and rotating graduate students seeking a faculty research mentor.
Rotation Note: Rotating graduate students should review laboratory space, active grant funding, and mentor availability before finalizing their rotation schedules. Note: An asterisk (*) indicates faculty mentors who provide student health insurance coverage.
Faculty Research Focuses & Project Descriptions
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Biomedical Sciences Faculty Rotations (Lubbock Campus) Faculty Mentor Research Focus & Project Description Key Research Areas Jeremy Bailoo, Ph.D.* Developmental Psychobiology evaluating genetic and environmental influences on health, dietary heavy metal toxins (arsenic) in neurodegeneration, and laboratory animal welfare modeling. Animal Welfare & Cognition, Behavioral Neuroscience, Environmental Toxicology, Research Ethics Boris Decourt, Ph.D.* Translational pharmacotherapies and biomarker development in biofluids (blood, saliva) for Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and dementia from transgenic mice to human clinical trials. Alzheimer's Disease, Biomarkers, Clinical Trials, Neurodegeneration, Transgenic Mice Jannette Dufour, Ph.D.* Sertoli cell immunomodulatory mechanisms to prolong survival of transplanted pancreatic islets and insulin-expressing cells in type 1 diabetes models. Sertoli Cells, Immune Regulation, Islet Transplantation, Diabetes Therapeutics Petar Grozdanov, Ph.D. mRNA processing in the brain; investigating the role of alternative polyadenylation in regulating gene expression in cognition, addiction, and neurodegeneration. Alternative Polyadenylation, sc/snRNA-Seq, Bioinformatics, Neurobiology, Gene Expression Lan Guan, M.D., Ph.D.* 3D high-resolution structural determination of essential nutrient and substrate membrane transporters using Cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography. Cryo-EM, Membrane Transporters, Structural Biology, Transport Biochemistry Josee Guindon, D.V.M., Ph.D.* Mechanisms of modulating acute, chronic, inflammatory, and chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain using endocannabinoid and novel receptor modulators. Pain Pathways, Endocannabinoids, Behavioral Pharmacology, Neuropharmacology Daniel Hardy, Ph.D.* Biochemistry and cell biology of mammalian fertilization, gamete protein molecular evolution, connective tissue injury repair, and cross-species prion transmission. Fertilization Biology, Molecular Evolution, Matrix Metalloproteinases, Prion Disease Michaela Jansen, Ph.D.* Structure, molecular pharmacology, and protein-protein interactions of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors. Ion Channels, Neurotransmitter Receptors, Drug Discovery, Molecular Pharmacology Min Kang, Pharm.D.* Mechanisms of chemoresistance and novel therapeutic combinations in pediatric solid tumors (neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma). Chemoresistance, Pediatric Oncology, BCL-2, MYC Signaling, Targeted Therapeutics Andrey Karamyshev, Ph.D.* Translational control of protein synthesis, ribosome-associated protein quality control, and mRNA degradation pathways in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Protein Synthesis, RNA Biology, Ribosomes, Proteomics, Neurodegeneration Zemfira Karamysheva, Ph.D.* Translational control and ribosome specialization in human protozoan parasites (Leishmania), antimony drug resistance, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. Parasitology, Drug Resistance, CRISPR-Cas9, Polysome Profiling, Ribosome Specialization Balakrishna Koneru, Ph.D.* Cancer developmental therapeutics, targeting Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) in osteosarcoma using antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and drug combinations. Osteosarcoma, Telomere Biology, Antibody-Drug Conjugates, Cancer Therapeutics Soo Chan Lee, Ph.D.* Investigation of virulence mechanisms, antifungal drug resistance, and host-pathogen interactions in human fungal pathogens (Mucormycosis, Cryptococcus). Medical Mycology, Fungal Pathogenesis, Drug Resistance, Calcineurin Signaling Dawei Li, Ph.D. Bioinformatics and computational genomics developing pipelines for whole-genome, transcriptome, and epigenomic data analysis in human complex diseases. Bioinformatics, Multi-Omics, Computational Biology, Genomic Medicine Henry Liang, Ph.D. Design of environmentally benign nanoantibiotics, membrane bioengineering, biofilm disruption, and targeted biomimetic drug delivery systems. Nanoantibiotics, Biomembranes, Biofilms, Bionanotechnology, Drug Delivery Malaiyalam Mariappan, Ph.D.* Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, the unfolded protein response (UPR), and ER-associated degradation (ERAD) in type 2 diabetes and neurodegeneration. ER Stress, UPR, Protein Quality Control, Autophagy, Diabetes, Proteostasis Srinivas Nandana, Ph.D.* Autocrine and exosomal signaling mechanisms driving prostate cancer bone metastasis, pre-metastatic niche formation, and androgen therapy resistance. Prostate Cancer, Bone Metastasis, Exosomes, Therapy Resistance, Tumor Microenvironment Volker Neugebauer, M.D., Ph.D. Neuroplasticity, neuroimmune signaling, and central amygdala mechanisms underlying chronic pain and comorbid emotional/affective disorders. Chronic Pain, Neuroplasticity, Optogenetics, Electrophysiology, Calcium Imaging Kumar Palle, Ph.D.* DNA damage repair mechanisms, replication stress, and experimental therapeutics targeting ovarian, colorectal, and breast cancers. Cancer Biology, DNA Repair, Targeted Therapeutics, Replication Stress C. Patrick Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D.* Developmental therapeutics for pediatric solid tumors, immunotherapy combinations, retinoid pharmacology, and targeting telomere maintenance mechanisms. Pediatric Oncology, Telomere Maintenance, Retinoids, Immunotherapy Jeffrey H. Thomas, Ph.D.* Embryonic tissue morphogenesis, actomyosin dynamics, cell shape changes, and Src signal transduction during development. Morphogenesis, Cytoskeleton Dynamics, Signal Transduction, Embryology Manisha Tripathi, Ph.D.* Role of the prostatic stromal microenvironment, disease-associated fibroblasts, and macrophage polarization in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. Tumor Microenvironment, BPH, Prostate Cancer, Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Ina Urbatsch, Ph.D.* Molecular structure and transport mechanism of ABC multidrug transporters (P-glycoprotein/MDR1) and CFTR protein correction for cystic fibrosis gene therapy. ABC Transporters, Multidrug Resistance, CFTR, Protein Folding, Cystic Fibrosis Murali Vijayan, Ph.D. Mitochondrial dynamics (VDAC1/mitofusins), nutrient transporter regulation (SLC13A5), and microRNA neuroprotective mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. Alzheimer's Disease, Mitochondria, Ischemic Stroke, microRNA Therapeutics Hongmin Wang, Ph.D. Ubiquitin-proteasome system regulation, proteostasis failure in neurodegenerative diseases, and therapeutic strategies for ischemic brain injury. Neurodegeneration, Proteostasis, Ubiquitin System, Ischemic Stroke Michael Wiener, Ph.D.* Bacterial outer membrane active transport structural biology and biophysics for discovery of novel antibacterial drugs targeting Gram-negative pathogens. Structural Biology, Membrane Biophysics, Antibacterial Drug Discovery Mumtaz Yaseen, Ph.D. Mechanisms of T-cell and NK-cell exhaustion in cancer immunotherapy, CAR-T/NK therapeutics, and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) oncology models. Cancer Immunotherapy, T-Cell Exhaustion, CAR-T, Xenograft Models -
Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Rotations (Amarillo & Abilene) Faculty Mentor Campus Research Focus & Project Description Key Research Areas Thomas Abbruscato, Ph.D. Amarillo Blood-brain barrier transport physiology, neurovascular protection in ischemic stroke, and central nervous system impact of emerging tobacco and nicotine products. Blood-Brain Barrier, Stroke, Brain Drug Delivery, Nicotine Neurovascular Impact Nadezhda German, Ph.D. Amarillo Design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of novel small molecules, cannabinoid ligands, and opioid modulators for CNS disorders and chronic pain. Medicinal Chemistry, Cannabinoids, Opioids, Neuroinflammation, Chronic Pain Magdalena Karbowniczek, M.D., Ph.D. Abilene Notch signaling, extracellular vesicles/exosomes, and pre-metastatic niche regulation in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), LAM, and renal cell carcinoma. Exosomes, Tumor Immunology, Tuberous Sclerosis, Cancer Metastasis Maciej Markiewski, M.D., Ph.D. Abilene Role of the complement system and innate immunity in cancer-driven immunosuppression, tumor microenvironments, and novel complement-based immunotherapies. Complement Biology, Tumor Immunology, Cancer Immunotherapy, Innate Immunity Samuel Obeng, Ph.D.* Amarillo Discovery and preclinical behavioral pharmacology of novel GPCR ligands and therapeutics for opioid use disorders, respiratory depression, and chronic pain. Opioid Addiction, GPCR Assays, Substance Use Disorders, Behavioral Pharmacology Sanjay Srivastava, Ph.D. Abilene Overcoming chemoresistance in pancreatic, breast, and brain tumors through drug repurposing and transforming immunologically "cold" tumors into "hot" tumors. Drug Repurposing, Chemoresistance, Tumor Microenvironment, Cancer Therapeutics Todd Triplett, Ph.D. Abilene T-cell immunology in pediatric leukemias (T-ALL) and engineering cell-based cancer immunotherapies within suppressive tumor microenvironments. T-Cell Immunology, Leukemia, Pediatric Oncology, Cancer Immunotherapy Ming-Hai Wang, M.D., Ph.D. Amarillo Preclinical engineering, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting receptor tyrosine kinases for cancer treatment. Antibody-Drug Conjugates, Tyrosine Kinases, Targeted Biotherapeutics Jenny Wilkerson, Ph.D.* Amarillo Impact of sex hormones on post-operative pain development, neuropharmacology of drug addiction, and natural product pharmacology. Pain Neuropharmacology, Sex Differences, Natural Products, Addiction
GSBS Annual Retreat: Faculty Research Presentations
Watch faculty members give brief overview presentations of their ongoing research programs, laboratory methodologies, and rotation availability.