Faculty and Staff

Administrative Faculty and Staff for Biotechnology Program

Jack G. Chirikjian, Ph.D. - Director

Cynthia Simbulan - Rosenthal, Ph.D. - Program Director of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Karen Brotherton - Program Coordinator

Sharon Helling - Biotechnology Education Coordinator

Vasna Nontanovan, M.S. - Biotechnology Educator, Laboratory Scientist

Christina Nontanovan - Office Assistant

Departmental Faculty

Department Chair

Elliott Crooke, Ph.D. University of California at Los Angeles
Control of the initiation of chromosomal replication; role of polyphosphates in cellular responses to environmental stresses

Professors

Peter M. Andrews, Ph.D. Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Evaluating ways to improve the ability of NSAIDs to induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) of cancer cells

Wai-Yee Y Chan, Ph.D. University of Florida
Molecular genetics of human development

Jack G. Chirikjian, Ph.D. Rutgers University
Platform for detection of DNA for uses in human diagnostics and homeland defense

Eugene A. Davidson, Ph.D. Columbia University
Malaria control, immunology, and development of vaccines and drugs focused on this disease

Daniel Djakiew, Ph.D. University of Newcastle, Australia
Characterizing the interaction of neurotrophins with the Trk receptor in the proliferation of prostate tumor cells, and conversely, with the p75NTR receptor in the induction of apoptosis.

Martin Dym, Ph.D. McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Germ cell gene therapy

Usha S Kasid, Ph.D. Punjab University
Molecular tumor biology; Raf-1 kinase and signal transduction; regulation of tumor growth and radiation

Mary Beth Martin, Ph.D. University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey
Role of estrogen and the estrogen receptor in the etiology and progression of breast cancer

Hiroshi Nakai, Ph.D. University of Colorado
Gene amplification and chromosomal rearrangement promoted by movable genetic elements

Vicente Notario, Ph.D. University of Salamanca
Mechanisms of oncogenesis; environmental carcinogens; molecular genetics, with emphasis on yeast genetic

Paul Roepe, Ph.D. Boston University
Drug resistance mechanisms of membrane transport; gene expression in drug resistant tumor cells

Mark E. Smulson, Ph.D. Cornell University
Molecular biology of poly-ADP-ribosylation; PARP; DNA replication; DNA repair; DNA replication complex; nuclear protein modification; carcinogen interaction

Carlos Suarez-Quian, Ph.D. Harvard University
Investigation of testicular function using cell biology methodology.

Cathy H Wu, Ph.D. Purdue University
Director of Protein Information Resource; development of protein classification systems and databases

Associate Professors

Partha P. Banerjee, Ph.D. Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India
Understanding how androgen-independent prostate cancer cells develop, survive and proliferate in an androgen-free environment

Mark Danielsen, Ph.D. University of South Carolina
Molecular biology of steroid receptors and their role in growth, differentiation, and the development of cancer

Ian G. Gallicano, Ph.D. Arizona State University
Cellular adhesion during early embryogenesis in mammals

Timothy J. Jorgensen, Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University
Mechanisms of radiation-induced signal transduction and DNA repair, to identify molecular targets for sensitizing tumors to radiotherapy

Raja Mazumder, Ph.D. Virginia Tech
Bioinformatics research

Dean S Rosenthal, Ph.D. Northwestern University
Epithelial differentation; apoptosis; carcinogenesis

Careen Tang, Ph.D. The John's Hopkins University
Growth factor receptors in human breast cancer

Assistant Professors

Nathan Edwards, Ph.D. Cornell University
Informatics of proteomics by mass spectrometry

Jessica Jones, Ph.D. Georgetown University
Protein biochemistry; DNA recombination and repair; ubiquitin conjugation; vertebrate immune systems

Darren Natale, Ph.D. Roswell Park Cancer Institute, State University of New York
Bioinformatics focusing on protein classification

Anastasia Nikolskaya, Ph.D. Michigan State University
Bioinformatics with interests in functional prediction for uncharacterized proteins

Cynthia M. Simbulan-Rosenthal, Ph.D. Nagoya University School of Medicine , Japan
Breast carcinogenesis; apoptosis; DNA replication and repair

Adjunct Faculty

Robert Blakesley, Ph.D., Director, Sequencing Group, NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, NHGRI/NIH; Associate Investigator, Genome Technology Branch, NHGRI

Ph.D., Biochemistry, Michigan State University

Professional Experience:

  • Director, Sequence Finishing Group, NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, NHGRI/NIH
  • Associate Director, Sequence Production Group, NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, NHGRI/NIH
  • Advisory Director of Biotechnology Program, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Georgetown University
  • Research Fellow, Molecular Biology R&D, Life Technologies, Inc.
  • Section Head of Nucleic Acid Chemistry, Molecular Biology R&D, Research Products Division, Life Technologies, Inc.
  • Principal Scientist, Instrumentation Division, Bethesda Research Laboratories, Inc.
  • Lab Director of Molecular Biology, Instrumentation Division, Bethesda Research Laboratories, Inc.
  • Lab Director of Enzymology, Bethesda Research Laboratories, Inc.
  • Senior Scientist, Bethesda Research Laboratories, Inc.

Robert Burleson, MBA, CFO, ATCC, Inc.

MBA, Accounting/Finance, Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia

Professional Experience:

  • Thermo Trilogy Corp., CFO
  • National Asthma and Allergy Systems, LP, CFO
  • Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc.
    • Director of Financial Analysis
    • Controller, Retail Division
    • Director of Corporate Financial Planning
    • Senior Financial Analyst
  • MBI Business Centers, Inc., Financial Analyst

MariBeth Eiden, Ph.D.

Lee Eiden, Ph.D., Chief, Section on Molecular Neuroscience, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Regulation, NIMH

Ph.D., Pharmacology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Research Interests:

  • establishment of chemical coding in the nervous system via regulation of neurotransmitter transporter, neurotransmitter biosynthetic enzyme, and neuropeptide gene expression
  • physiology and evolutionary conservation of mammalian neuropeptide neurotransmission
  • identification of the signaling components for stimulus-secretion-synthesis coupling in neuroendocrine cells
  • comparative molecular biology of the cholinergic gene locus as a model for understanding the evolution of complexity in neuronal systems
  • dysregulation of biosynthesis and expression of informational molecules in encephalopathy and neurodegenerative disease

Professional Experience:

  • Chief, Section on Molecular Neuroscience, Laboratory of Cell Biology, NIMH
  • Pharmacologist and Chief, Unit on Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Laboratory of Cell Biology, NIMH
  • National Institute of Mental Health, Senior Staff Fellow
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences, PRAT Fellow

Mike Gove, M.Sc., Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Customer & Technical Service, American Type Culture Collection

M.Sc., Biochemistry, University of Maine, Orono, Maine

Professional Experience:

  • Life Technologies, Inc., Rockville, MD
    • Sr. Marketing Manager, Segmentation, Americas Research Products Division
    • Sr. Marketing Manager, Brand, Americas Research Products Division
    • Corporate Planning Manager
    • Business Director, Immunology Venture, New Business Division
    • Director of Marketing, Research Products Division
    • Manager of Marketing & Technical Service, BRL Division
    • Group Product Manager, Bethesda Research Laboratories
    • Manager of the Biological Chemistry Lab, Bethesda Research Laboratories
    • Scientist, Bethesda Research Laboratories

Arthur House, J.D., Paley Rothman Goldstein Rosenberg Eig & Cooper

Edward Kisailus, Ph.D., Director, BioLect, Inc.

Ivica Labuda, Ph.D., L/D Biochemicals

Mark S. Lesney, Ph.D., Editor, Thoracic Surgery News and Vascular Specialist, International Medical News Group, Elsevier

Ph.D., History of Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Ph.D., Botany & Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI

Professional Experience:

  • Senior Associate Editor, Today's Chemist at Work and Modern Drug Discovery, American Chemical Society publications
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Center for History of Recent Seience, George Washington University
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor: Science and Technology in International Affairs Program, Georgetown University
  • Technical Assistant, Department of Forestry, University of Florida

Larry Millstein, Ph.D., J.D., Esq Millstein & Taylor, P.C.

Clifford Mintz, Ph.D., CEO and Founder, BioInsights, Inc.

Ph.D., Bacteriology/Medical Microbiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Professional Experience:

  • BioInsights, Inc., CEO and Founder
  • Department of Biology, Chairman
  • Rutgers University, Visiting Scientist
  • Transcell Technologies Inc., Senior Scientist
  • Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Assitant Professor (Tenure Track)

M.J. Morrow

Carolyn Wilson, Ph.D., Microbiologist, Food and Drug Administration