Research Staff

Toby C. Chai, MD

Vice Chair of Research and Co-Director of the Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery clinical program at Yale-New Haven Hospital

Toby C. Chai, MD, received his BA from Johns Hopkins University, MD from Indiana University School of Medicine. He did his urology residency at University of Michigan Medical Center. He then completed a 2-year AFUD Research Scholar fellowship at the University of Virginia. Dr. Chai was a urology faculty at University of Maryland School of Maryland over the last 15 years and holder of the John D. Young Professorship. He recently moved to Yale University in January 2013 to become the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Urology and Co-Director of the Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery clinical program at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Dr. Chai has an active research interest in urinary incontinence and bladder physiology. He was a Principal Investigator in the NIH Urinary Incontinence Treatment Network (UITN) which published several landmark articles in the New England Journal of Medicine related to evaluation and management of stress urinary incontinence. Dr. Chai has been investigating how bladder urothelial cell pathophysiology affects bladder function has contributed important foundational articles in this field. He has published over 100 papers and reviews and chapters.

Dr. Chai's laboratory investigates bladder urothelial cellular physiology testing the hypothesis that certain urothelial signaling mechanisms are critical to regulating micturition and continence function of the bladder. Techniques used in his laboratory include single cell micropuncture (patch-clamp) electrophysiology and cellular calcium microfluorimetry. His laboratory is currently working on creating a urothelially-restricted transgenic mouse, based on data he has acquired from human bladder urotheilal cells from overactive bladder (OAB) subjects, to assess whether there is altered bladder behavior in this animal, as well as whether there is altered urothelial cellular physiology, mimicking what his lab has published from cells from OAB subjects. His ultimate goal is to effectively perform translational research reflecting true bedside-to bench-to bedside science.

He has been nationally recognized with key awards including the recipient of the 2001 Young Investigator Award from the SBUR (Society for Basic Urologic Research), the 2005 Paul Zimskind Award from SUFU (Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction), and recently, the 2013 Victor A. Politano Award from the AUA (American Urological Association) for his outstanding work in the treatment of urinary incontinence and innovations in bladder research. He is the Basic Science Section Editor for Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Journaland is an Assistant Editor for The Journal of Urology. He serves on the Editorial Board for theAmerican Journal of Physiology – Renal.

Richard E. Fan, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

I am an electrical and biomedical engineer working in the Department of Urology with Peter Schulam. I received my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2010, and degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2006 (M.S., UCLA) and 2005 (B.S., Arizona). From 2011-2012, I received postdoctoral training at the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technologies (UCLA), where I worked on clinically-driven technology development ranging from haptics & biomechanics, lower-limb rehabilitation & prosthetics to focused ultrasound imaging, monitoring and therapeutics.

My current research goals involve greater integration engineering and medicine to address challenges in Urology. These interests are reflected in on-going work in image guided targeted prostate biopsies and novel diagnostic & therapeutic methods for prostate cancer. My other areas of interest include biomedical, electrical & systems engineering, embedded systems, wireless sensing, novel sensor modalities, system integration, robotics, minimally invasive surgery and telemedicine.

Darryl T. Martin, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

I am a biomedical scientist currently training in the Department of Urology under the guidance of Dr. Robert Weiss. I received my PhD from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada under the supervision of Drs. Robert Gendron and Hélène Paradis in the Division of BioMedical Sciences. My graduate work focused on identifying a marker, Tubedown, which was linked to the aggressiveness and differentiation status in pediatric cancers. The level of Tubedown expression has the potential to represent a new prognostic factor in defining the different tumors subsets.

My research interests involve determining effective targets for the initiation, growth, and recurrence of urologic cancers. Currently, my focus is in eradicating and suppressing the recurrence of cancer growth using both basic and translational approaches, with a specific interest in the development and assessment of nanoparticles for imaging and therapeutic applications.

In the laboratory of Dr. Weiss we have been focusing on improving siRNA delivery using nanotechnology as well as finding more effective targets for the treatment of bladder cancer. We are focusing on pathways that are involved in the growth and recurrence of transitional cell carcinoma. In conjunction with Dr. Saltzman’s group in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, we are designing and testing nanoparticle delivery systems that stabilize and release siRNAs as well as chemotherapeutics. Additionally, I am collaborating with Dr. Hittelman to determine the optimal methodology for the biodistribution of liposomes in non-cancer bladder diseases. I am also working with Dr. Schulam in using tumor-homing nanoparticles for imaging and treatment of prostate cancer.