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Faculty Profiles

Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
Pankaj Agrawal M.D., MBBS, MMSc

Pankaj Agrawal, MBBS, MMSc

Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Genetics, Neonatology
Publications
Biography: I am a physician-scientist with research focused on the application of genomics and multi-omics in neonatal care and the determination of the genetic and molecular bases of various orphan diseases, with a particular focus on congenital myopathies. I moved from Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) in 2023 where I was the Merton Bernfield Chair of Newborn Medicine and Associate...
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Diego Caicedo Vierkant

Alejandro Caicedo-Vierkant, Ph.D.

Professor , Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Biography: During his training years in Germany and France Dr. Caicedo focused his research on the neuroanatomy of the auditory system at the brainstem level and inner ear. His main contribution to the field was to map the connections between the inferior colliculus and lower nuclei of the auditory brainstem using anterograde axonal tracing. During his postdoctoral training with...
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Tongyu Cao Wikramanayake

Tongyu Cao Wikramanayake, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery
Publications
Biography: Dr. Wikramanayake received her Ph.D. in Genes and Development from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She developed her expertise in skin and hair biology and genetics through postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) and the Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii-Manoa (Honolulu, HI). She is currently a Research...
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W. Dalton Dietrich, Ph.D.

W. Dalton Dietrich, Ph.D.

Scientific Director, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Publications
Biography: Dr. Dietrich’s laboratory is focused on clarifying the pathophysiology of brain and spinal cord injury with the goal of developing and translating new therapies to protect and enhance recovery.
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Juan Dominguez-Bendala, Ph.D.

Juan Dominguez-Bendala, Ph.D.

Research Professor of Surgery, Cellular Transplantation
Publications
Biography: Dr. Domínguez-Bendala obtained his undergraduate degree (BSc) in Biological Sciences at the University of Seville (Spain) in 1993. After his graduation, he served as an officer (second lieutenant) in the Spanish Air Force, in the context of a special military service program for outstanding college students. He got an MSc degree from University College London (UCL)...
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Alessia Fornoni, M.D., Ph.D.

Alessia Fornoni, M.D., Ph.D., FASN

Professor of Medicine, Tenured, Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Clinical Profile | Publications
Biography: Dr. Fornoni is tenured Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.She serves as Director of the Peggy and Harold Katz Drug Discovery Center. She is also the Co-Director of the MSTP program and of the CTSI/KL2 and Mentoring program. In 2013, Dr. Fornoni gained experience in drug development as Global...
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Nevis Fregein

Nevis L. Fregien, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Cell Biology

Biography: 1974 B.S. Biochemistry University of California at Davis
1981 Ph.D. Biochemistry University of Hawaii, Manoa
1981-1986 Postdoctoral Fellow; California Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry, Pasadena, CA. Advisor: Dr. Norman Davidson
1986-1993 Assistant Professor; University of Miami School of Medicine, Dept. of Cell Biology
1993-Present...
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Dimitrios Kouroupis

Dimitrios Kouroupis

Assistant Professor (Research)

Biography: Dimitrios Kouroupis (born 1982 in Athens, Greece), obtained his Biology degree in 2006 (Aristotle University of Thessalonica, Greece), his MSc in Biosciences degree in 2007 (University of Leeds, United Kingdom) and his PhD in Regenerative Medicine in 2012 (University of Leeds, United Kingdom). As an early stage post-doctoral researcher, he contributed to the field of Stem...
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Richard K. Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Richard K. Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Clinical Profile
Biography: Richard K. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and has secondary appointments in the departments of cell biology and anatomy, electrical and computer engineering, and the neuroscience graduate program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Physician and clinician-scientist, Dr....
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Sandra Merscher

Sandra Merscher, Ph.D.

Research Professor, Katz Family Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Publications
Biography: Dr. Merscher obtained her Ph.D. degree in Human Genetics from the University of Saarland, Saarbrucken, Germany. For her postdoctoral fellowship, she joined Dr. Raju Kucherlapati’s Laboratory in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA where she worked...
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Lluis Morey

Lluis Morey, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Human Genetics
Publications
Biography: Dr. Morey is a tenured associate professor at the Human Genetics Department at University of Miami (UM) and member of the Cancer Epigenetics Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received his degree in Biology from Universidad de Barcelona in 2003. He completed his PhD studies in the laboratory of Dr. Luciano Di Croce, where he studied the role of the chromatin-remodeling...
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Amanda J. Myers, Ph.D.

Amanda Myers, Ph.D.

PI Laboratory Functional Neurogenomics
Publications
Biography: Amanda J Myers, PhD is the Principle Investigator of the Laboratory of Functional Neurogenomics at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and performed work there mapping the connections of retina midget and bipolar cells as well as mapping dopaminergic pathways in the midbrains of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s...
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Stephen D. Nimer, M.D.

Stephen D. Nimer, M.D.

Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hematology
Clinical Profile | Publications
Biography: Stephen D. Nimer, M.D., is the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also the executive dean for research and a professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Nimer's career spans more than 30 years in clinical care, research, administration...
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Daniel Pelaez

Daniel Pelaez, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Pelaez is a scientist and biomedical engineer and an expert in stem cell and molecular biology, tissue engineering, biochemistry, and regenerative medicine. Originally from Colombia and as the son of two head and neck cancer surgeons, Dr. Pelaez experienced first-hand the frustrations that arise when suboptimal and non-curative treatments are the only available options...
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Danny Reinberg, Ph.D.

Danny F. Reinberg, M.S., Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor, John T. MacDonald Department of Human Genetics Miller School of Medicine and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Publications
Biography: Born in Santiago, Chile, Danny Reinberg attained higher education in biochemistry and molecular biology in the USA, becoming a leader in Epigenetics and Chromatin Biology. Professor in the John T. MacDonald Department of Human Genetics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine School of Medicine and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center that currently studies...
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Richard L. Rotundo, Ph.D.

Richard L. Rotundo, Ph.D.

Professor of Cell Biology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Rotundo is a cell biologist whose research focuses on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an important component of the neuromuscular junction and all cholinergic synapses in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Our laboratory focuses on the regulation of neurotransmission via the enzyme, acetyl cholinesterase. We study: 1) The contributions of protein...
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Pedro J Salas, M.D., Ph.D.

Pedro J Salas, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Cell Biology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Salas obtained his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires (1976) and completed a PhD. (1981, same institution) in Biophysics focusing in paracellular (tight junction) diffusion of cations in epithelia. He continued his post-doctoral training at State University of New York (Downstate Medical Ctr) and Cornell University Medical College in New York city....
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Valery I. Shestopalov, Ph.D.

Valery I. Shestopalov, Ph.D.

Professor of Ophthalmology

Biography: I graduated from Moscow State University in Russia and obtained a PhD degree in molecular genetics at the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics in Moscow. I also received postdoctoral training at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. My background includes a broad knowledge of cell and molecular biology, cell-cell...
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Mario Stevenson, Ph.D.

Mario Stevenson, Ph.D.

Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Biography: Dr. Mario Stevenson is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Director of the Institute of AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases (IAEID), Director of the Global Virus Network, and Co-Director of the Miami Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) at the University of Miami. Prior to 2020, Dr. Stevenson was the David Freelander Chair for AIDS Research at the University of Massachusetts...
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Emmanuel Thomas

Emmanuel Thomas M.D., Ph.D., FAASLD

Associate Professor
Publications
Biography: Having been raised in Miami-Dade county, in the underserved community of West Perrine, I have a strong commitment to improving the health of our local community. I am a Fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (FAASLD). I am the Board Chair for the National Advisory Board of the American Liver Foundation and was on the editorial board of Hepatology....
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Tongyu Cao Wikramanayake, PhD

Tongyu Cao, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor, Dermatology

Email: TCao@med.miami.edu

Biography: I am interested in skin differentiation under normal and pathological conditions.  My laboratory uses cell biology, genetics, developmental biology, and molecular biology approaches to analyze mutant mouse models of human skin and hair disorders.  We also use mouse and rat models for preclinical trials of novel therapeutic approaches.

Dr. Reiger

Sandra Rieger, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biology

Email: srieger@miami.edu

Research Interests: Neural-Epithelial interactions.