The 15 researchers listed below and their teams will be first to occupy the NextGen Precision Health building. They were chosen because their work aligns with one or more of the six guiding pillars of NextGen and the building’s specific resources will significantly enhance their research efforts. Most importantly, they are committed to collaborative “team science” approaches.

By selecting researchers with a commitment to collaborative and interdisciplinary research, NextGen is building clusters of excellence that interconnect the strengths of these teams to accelerate precision health discovery. These clusters are just the beginning of strengthened interconnectivity between our researchers and clinicians, both campus and systemwide, and extending to other private and public partners.

The 15 chosen researchers represent two research priority areas: Cancer and Immunology on the 2nd Floor and Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders on the 3rd floor.

Cancer and Immunology Team

Emma Teixeiro-Pernas, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Immunotherapy, particularly the role of T cells in clearing pathogens and tumor cells and providing long-term immune protection

See Dr. Teixeiro-Pernas's full profile

Mark Daniels, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Studies how signal transduction pathways regulate lymphocyte development, activation and tolerance

See Dr. Daniel's full profile

Adam Schrum, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
College of Engineering

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Immunotherapy, particularly understanding how T cells choose to either destroy or tolerate healthy, infected or cancerous tissues

See Dr. Schrum's full profile

Diana Gil Pagés, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
College of Engineering

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Immunotherapy, particularly how T cells activate immune responses, with applications in metastatic cancer therapy

See Dr. Gil Pagés's full profile

Kevin Staveley-O'Carroll, MD, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Surgery

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Improving cancer treatment by studying chemotherapeutic agents, nanoparticles, and T cell-mediated immunotherapy 

See Dr. Staveley-O'Carroll's full profile

Eric Kimchi, MD

School of Medicine, Department of Surgery

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Immune responses and liver cancer, with the goal of enabling the body to recognize and fight cells that cause liver cancer 

See Dr. Kimchi's full profile

Guangfu Li, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Tumor growth, tumor metastasis, immune‐based anti-tumor therapy, and molecularly targeted diagnostic and therapeutic technology

See Dr. Li's full profile

Haval Shirwan, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Child Health

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Developing safe and practical immunomodulatory approaches with applications to transplantation, autoimmunity, cancer, and infections

See Dr. Shirwan's full profile

Esma Yolcu, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Child Health

Focus:

• Cancer, Basic and Emerging Areas
• Treating autoimmune diseases by immunomodulation by hematopoietic stem cells

See Dr. Yolcu's full profile

Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Team

Luis Martinez-Lemus, DVM, PhD

School of Medicine, Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology

Focus:

• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
• Structural changes to blood vessels, or vascular remodeling. Vascular remodeling is a hallmark for many cardiovascular diseases, yet is not fully understood. 

See Dr. Martinez-Lemus's full profile

Camila Manrique-Acevedo, MD

School of Medicine; Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Focus:

• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
• Diabetes, thyroid disorders, hypertension, osteoporosis, lipid disorders and endocrine disorders

See Dr. Manrique-Acevedo's full profile

Jaume Padilla, PhD

College of Human Environmental Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology

Focus:

• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
• The link between metabolic and cardiovascular disease, particularly insulin resistance and vascular dysfunction associated with inactivity

See Dr. Padilla's full profile

Craig Emter, PhD

College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences

Focus:

• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
• Impact of pharmaceutical and exercise therapy on heart failure

See Dr. Emter's full profile

Scott Rector, PhD

School of Medicine, College of Human Environmental Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology

Focus:

• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
• Prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

See Dr. Rector's full profile

Elizabeth Parks, PhD

School of Medicine, College of Human Environmental Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology

Focus:

• Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
• Development of obesity-related disorders and liver disease, particularly in relation to food intake 

See Dr. Parks's full profile