Research

Bennett LabThe focus of the research in this laboratory is to understand how protein tyrosine phosphatases function in the control of normal cellular physiology. The ultimate goal of our research on protein tyrosine phosphatases is to establish whether these enzymes participate in disease processes such as cancer, diabetes and muscular dystrophy.

Bordey Lab The brain is a wonderful and mysterious machine, which makes us who we are. The activity of billions of neurons and glia orchestrate our thoughts and daily life. However, alterations in the number of neurons, their misplacement, or changes in the way they receive, handle, or send information can negatively impact our brain function and our lives. A mutation in a single gene can lead to such alterations resulting in a specific pathology and disorder. Our Mission is to understand how a mutated, dysfunctional protein will lead to abnormal brain formation and function.

Braddock LabThe Braddock lab studies diseases associated with enzyme deficiencies, focusing on severe unmet medical illness in the pediatric population. We employ murine models, protein engineering and design, and an array of biochemical, molecular biologic, and biophysical methods to define disease pathogenesis and develop novel therapeutics.

Bruscia Lab

The breakthrough of CFTR modulator therapies to treat CF patients has greatly improved the trajectory of lung disease. However, lung hyper-inflammation is not well controlled by CFTR modulator therapy. Given the substantial role of hyper-inflammation in the pathogenesis of CF-related lung disease, there is a need for aggressive treatments that will prevent the progressive lung tissue deterioration in CF patients.

Our group has ascertained that CF-affected monocyte/macrophages (MΦ) are dysfunctional, contributing to lung hyper-inflammation. We published this pioneering research in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology in 2009. Based on these results, we are now investigating the molecular mechanisms associated with CF MΦ dysfunctions.

Bunick LabDermatologic research studying the three-dimensional structures of skin-related proteins using primarily x-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy.

Damsky LabThe Damsky Lab studies the immune mechanisms of inflammatory skin diseases using the latest approaches including single cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, RNA in situ hybridization, proteomic profiling, and others to decipher the dysregulation of immunity that occurs in the skin and blood of patients affected by these disorders.

Flavell LabThe Flavell Lab is interested in the molecular and cellular basis of the immune response. Our research leverages transgenic and gene-targeted mice to study the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system, and how these reciprocally regulate a broad range of biological processes.

Grutzendler LabOur knowledge about the complex interplay between the various brain cell types (neuronal and non-neuronal) is still rudimentary. These interactions are disrupted in every neurological disorder. Our laboratory is interested in elucidating these multicellular and complex interactions that occur during brain pathogenesis. Recent innovations in live imaging and optical probes are allowing sophisticated interrogation of the structural and functional cellular changes that occur in pathological processes.

Gupta LabThe biliary tree is a branching network of ducts that serves as the “airways” of the liver. It forms the interface between hepatocytes and the digestive tract and is lined by a simple epithelium of cholangiocytes. These cholangiocytes are initially cuboidal and transition to a columnar morphology as ducts merge to form larger ducts. Surrounding the ducts is an intricate meshwork of peribiliary mesenchymal cells where endothelia, macrophages, lymphocytes, and other cell types reside.

Hafler LabDr. Hafler’s laboratory has been a major force in defining human autoimmune disease for over a quarter of a century. After demonstrating the presence of an activated peripheral immune system in patients with MS, he was among the first to apply human T cell cloning to human disease, which helped delineate the dominant epitopes of myelin antigens in MS (Nature, 1990) and of islet antigens in diabetes (Nature 2005).

The Brian Hafler LabOur lab studies cellular mechanisms underlying human retinal diseases. These include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and stem cell regeneration using machine learning methods such as single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, and single-cell epigenomics. The goal of the research is to identify cellular mechanisms underlying human macular degeneration and glaucoma that can be applied to novel therapies with a focus on neuroinflammation to prevent neuronal death and help preserve vision.

Halene LabThe Halene Laboratory focuses on the study of myeloid malignancies and hematopoiesis.

Herzog LabThe Herzog lab’s mission is to perform high quality translational studies aimed at elucidating common mechanism(s) of multiple forms of pulmonary fibrosis. These studies employ a unique combination of murine modeling and novel bioengineering-based approaches, as well as studies in primary human cells, that are aimed at unveiling the immunopathogenesis of human lung fibrosis.

Hinchcliff LabThe Yale Rheumatology Clinical & Translational Research Laboratory (YR-CTRL) is led by Dr. Monique Hinchcliff, MD, MS, who is the Director of Clinical and Translational Research for the Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of the Yale Scleroderma Program. The research program aims to bridge the gap between cutting-edge benchtop research and the clinic where patients with rheumatic diseases receive care. The overarching goal is to identify new and repurposed treatments for patients with rheumatic diseases, such as scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus and myositis.

Huh LabThe Huh Lab in the Department of Pathology at Yale School of Medicine studies Ménétrier's disease, cell plasticity, and sex-differential expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor. The goal of the laboratory is to investigate signaling networks that regulate cellular plasticity in pathologic conditions and normal homeostasis, which will form the basis for developing therapeutics.

Khokha LabThe Khokha lab is interested in the genes and developmental mechanisms that lead to birth defects (congenital malformations). Our approach is novel gene discovery in congenital malformation patients followed by developmental mechanism discovery in Xenopus.

Kibbey LabFrom the study of a rare condition of congenital hypoglycemia, the Kibbey lab identified mitochondrial GTP (mtGTP) as an important equilibrioceptive indicator involved in glucose homeostasis and ascribed the first physiological activity of the mitochondria GTP cycle as a “metabolic tachometer.” In tissues such as pancreatic β-cells and hepatocytes, the mtGTP is hydrolyzed by the mitochondrial isoform of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-M) to generate PEP that is essential for insulin secretion, while in hepatocytes it catalyzes this crucial step of gluconeogenesis. Finally, it also regulates glucagon secretion from α-cells.

Konnikova Lab

One of the main focuses of our group is to understand how mucosal homeostasis develops in infants and young children, particularly as it relates to development and maintenance of adaptive immunity. Using a combination of single cell techniques, we are studying intestinal immunity of fetal, premature and term infants and pediatric subjects. Furthermore, we are interested in determining how mucosal homeostasis becomes dysregulated in intestinal diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Krause LabThe overall goals of research in the Krause laboratory are to define the molecular mechanisms that regulate hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis using bone marrow derived stem and progenitor cells with the hopes of translating the findings to improved strategies for bone marrow/stem cell transplantation as well as for developing novel strategies for treating leukemia and lymphoma. In addition, my laboratory is determining the extent to which marrow-derived cells can differentiate into epithelial cells (termed adult cell plasticity) and assessing how this correlates with tissue damage, as well as the mechanisms by which it occurs.

Lemmon & Ferguson Laboratories

LusKing LabThe LusKing Lab investigates fundamental aspects of nuclear structure, dynamics, and integrity. We communicate our knowledge to both the scientific community and the general public. The lab provides a rich training environment for scientists at all levels to become interdisciplinary researchers capable of working effectively both individually and as a team. Our group is proud to effect positive change—promoting core principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion—in our institutional, local, and national scientific communities.

Montgomery Lab

Our lab’s focus is on cellular immunology and how individual variations in immunity contribute to disease susceptibility. Our work is notable for use of primary human immune cells and novel technology including multiparameter phenotyping and high dimensional transcriptional and proteomic assays. I direct the CyTOF facility at Yale and published the first reports using this multi-dimensional technique for studies of primary tissue including skin and airway sputum. We are studying immune mechanisms in aging, in infections such as West Nile virus and COVID-19, and recently began studies of sickle cell disease. We participate in several multi-institutional studies including COVID-19 translational studies and asthma clinical trials. These investigations employ in-depth computational analysis to demonstrate immune related mechanisms and illuminate potential avenues for therapeutic interventions.

Myung LabThe Myung Lab investigates the processes underlying hair follicle development and regeneration in skin.

Nguyen LabCancer metastasis remains the major cause of cancer-related deaths. We use multi-disciplinary methods to study the cellular and molecular origins of invasive cancers, including those originating from the lungs. In sum, our approach strives to answer the following question: how does the biology of cancer metastasis relate to normal physiological processes?

Polimanti Lab

Our group is conducting research across multiple domains including Human Genetics, Biological Psychiatry, Evolutionary Biology, Statistical Genetics, and Computational Biology. The overarching goal of our efforts is to understand the link between the human genome and phenome from multiple perspectives. We are part of the Yale Psychiatry Division of Human Genetics, which is located in the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Center, West Haven, Connecticut. Our ongoing studies are currently funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorder, the National Institute on Mental Health, the Department of the Veterans Affairs, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and One Mind. Additionally, we are also involved in large collaborative projects including the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, the Million Veteran Program, and COVID-19 Host Genetic Initiative.

Politi LabIn the laboratory we study lung cancer to answer the following questions: What are the alterations in cellular pathways that cause tumors to form? How can we interfere with these pathways to get tumors to regress? How do tumors become resistant to drugs? How can we detect tumors early when they are still curable?

Schalper LabMy research is focused on understanding the immunobiology of human solid tumors and develop molecular biomarkers for prediction of response or resistance to therapies. In particular, my group has been actively evaluating the role of specific tumor antigens and immune evasion pathways used by human lung malignancies including immune co-inhibitory/stimulatory ligands and receptors, tolerogenic enzymes, immune suppressive cells, antigen presenting/processing machinery, metabolic alterations in the tumor microenvironment and oncogenic intracellular signaling. More recent and future scientific interests include the evaluation and clinical impact of tumor immune heterogeneity and editing.