Please Note: The mentor list may change at any time. Please see the program application for final mentor list.

Research MentorResearch AreaResearch FocusInstitution and Department
John BartonBioinformatics and Genomics, Systems BiologyMy group develops statistical inference methods to study evolution and the immune system. We're especially interested in the evolution of highly mutable pathogens like HIV, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2Pitt – Computational Biology
Carlos CamachoComputational Drug Discovery
Computational Structural Biology
Modeling of protein interactions; computational drug discovery.Pitt – Computational Biology
Anne-Ruxandra CarvunisBioinformatics and Genomics
Systems Biology
My research aims at understanding the molecular mechanisms of change and innovation by examining systems biology in the light of evolution and evolution in the light of systems biology.Pitt – Computational Biology
Mary Hongying ChengComputational Structural BiologyMolecular mechanisms of ion channels and transporters, and regulation of protein functions by drugs, membrane lipids and regulatory proteins.Pitt – Computational Biology
Yu-Chih ChenBioimage Analysis, Systems BiologyHigh-throughput multi-omics single-cell analysis augmented with machine learningPitt – Computational Biology
Maria ChikinaGenomicsMy group uses machine learning techniques to model the generative process behind biological datasets, with a special focus on immunology and molecular evolution, and develops methods to create biologically interpretable and intuitive representations of high dimensional data.Pitt – Computational Biology
Lillian ChongComputational Structural BiologyMolecular simulations to characterize the pathways and kinetics of long-timescale biological processes, including coupled protein folding and binding processes.Pitt – Chemistry
Rob CoalsonComputational Structural Biology
Systems Biology
Computational approaches to study ion channel gating and transport.Pitt – Chemistry, Physics, and the Center for Molecular and Materials Simulations
Vaughn CooperBioinformatics and Genomics
Systems Biology
Studying the evolution, ecology, and genome dynamics of experimental and clinical microbial populations.Pitt – Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Jishnu DasSystems Biology
Systems Immunology
My research focuses on the development and use of machine learning and high-dimensional statistical approaches to analyze immunological datasets, and elucidate mechanisms of natural and vaccine-mediated immunity.Pitt – Immunology
Secondary - Computational & Systems Biology
Lance DavidsonSystems BiologyMultidisciplinary (mathematics, developmental biology, biophysics, and bioengineering) approach to understanding how molecular and genetic programs drive the formative tissue mechanics and self-assembly processes that generate living structures in developing embryos.Pitt – Bioengineering
Jacob D. DurrantComputational Drug Discovery
Computational Structural Biology
Computational structural biology, computer-aided drug design.Pitt – Biological Sciences
G. Bard ErmentroutSystems BiologyApplication of nonlinear dynamics to problems from cell biology and physiology.Pitt – Mathematics
CMU – Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition
Jim FaederSystems BiologyMathematical (rule-based) modeling of intracellular signal transduction pathways.Pitt – Computational & Systems Biology
Keisuke IshiharaBioimage Analysis, Systems BiologyComputational image analysis of 3D tissues and organoids, Biophysical modeling of multicellular morphogenesisPitt – Computational Biology
David KoesComputational Drug DiscoveryDeveloping novel computational algorithms and building full-scale systems to support rapid and inexpensive drug discovery.Pitt – Computational & Systems Biology
Dennis KostkaBioinformatics and GenomicsComputational genomics with a focus on development and cellular differentiation, and single cell RNA sequencing.Pitt – Developmental Biology
Rozita LaghaeiComputational BiophysicsWe use MCell software to provide insight into many experimentally inaccessible aspects of synaptic function and the microscopic mechanisms underlying Ca2+ triggered synaptic vesicle release; our group also does computer simulations of smart materials and investigates binding sites and proposed mechanisms of action for a novel class of drugs that target presynaptic calcium channels.Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center/CMU
Miler LeeBioinformatics and GenomicsGene regulation during early development and cellular reprogramming; comparative genomics.Pitt – Biological Sciences
Robin E.C. LeeSystems BiologyQuantitative imaging, microfluidics, and mathematical models to study how dynamic molecular signals transmit information in single cells.Pitt – Computational Biology
Nathan LordBioimage Analysis, Systems BiologyThe Lord Lab uses a combination of mathematical modeling, quantitative imaging and optogenetics to understand how embryos prevent and correct mistakes during early development.Pitt – Computational Biology
Natasa Miskov-ZivanovSystems BiologyAutomation of learning big mechanisms in biology. Systems and synthetic biology. Emerging technologies and Internet of Things in medicine.Pitt – Bioengineering
Sandra MurrayBioimage AnalysisRole of gap junctions and cell-to-cell communication in endocrine cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, and hormone production using time-lapse video microscopy, transmission immuno-electron microscopy, and molecular biological techniques.Pitt – Cell Biology and Physiology
Robert S. ParkerSystems BiologySystems medicine – mathematical modeling of disease (cancer, critical care/inflammation/sepsis, diabetes, cystic fibrosis) to support patient-tailored treatment decision-making.Pitt – Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
Mark RebeizBioinformatics and GenomicsStudying how morphology (size, shape, color, form) evolves in the animal world utilizing tools of classical developmental biology, as well as genetics, evolution, genomics, and bioinformatics.Pitt – Biological Sciences
Jonathan RubinSystems BiologyApplication of dynamical systems to modeling of inflammation and other aspects of physiology.Pitt – Mathematics
Hanna SalmanSystems BiologyUnderstanding the factors that shape phenotypic variability in populations of bacteria and how the populations benefit from such variability.Pitt – Physics & Astronomy
John ShafferBioinformatics and GenomicsStatistical and bioinformatics approaches to gene-mapping complex phenotypes.Pitt – Human Genetics
Jason ShoemakerSystems BiologySystems immunology – modeling dynamic responses to disease and developing mathematical tools to support multiscale modeling challenges with applications in pathogen detection and clearance, immune evasion of cancerous cells, and more. Pitt – Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
Ian SigalBioimage AnalysisComputational and experimental methods to understand the biomechanics of the eye and soft tissue remodeling.Pitt – Ophthalmology and Bioengineering
Wayne StallaertSystems Biology/Bioimage AnalysisCombining quantitative imaging and computational methods to map the mechanisms that govern fundamental cell fate decisions (e.g. proliferation, quiescence, senescence, death). Pitt – Computational Biology
Pei TangComputational Drug Discovery
Computational Structural Biology
Action of low-affinity drugs (general anesthetics and alcohols) on neurotransmitter-gated receptor channels.Pitt – Structural Biology
Shikhar UttamBioimage AnalysisComputational, mathematical and experimental methods to study spatial systems biology of tumor microenvironmentsPitt – Computational Biology
Ben Van HoutenComputational Structural Biology
Systems Biology
The formation and repair of DNA damage in nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, with particular interest in the structure and function of proteins that mediate nucleotide excision repair.Pitt – Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Art WetzelBioimage AnalysisImage processing and large data handling, 10s of TBytes, for neural circuit reconstruction from optical and electron microscopy. This work involves both biological analysis and computational program development.Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
Sean XieComputational Drug DiscoveryChemogenomics-knowledgebase small molecule probe design and development for target-specific drug discoveryPitt – Pharmaceutical Sciences/Drug Discovery Institute
Jianhua XingSystems BiologyComputational and experimental quantitative biology approaches to study the dynamics and (genetic and epigenetic) regulatory mechanism of cell phenotype changes.Pitt – Computational Biology
Leming ZhouBioinformatics and Genomics
Systems Biology
Agent-based, equation-based, and statistical modeling of cardiovascular disease; comparative genomics and its applications in personalized medicine.Pitt – Health Information Management