Faculty Profiles

Pankaj Agrawal, MBBS, MMSc

Chief, Division of Neonatology, Neonatology
Publications
Biography: Dr. Pankaj Agrawal is 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. Dr. Agrawal moved from Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) in 2023 where he was the Merton Bernfield Chair...
View Full Profile >

Alejandro Caicedo-Vierkant, Ph.D.

Professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Publications
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...
View Full Profile >

Tongyu Cao Wikramanayake, Ph.D.

Research Professor
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...
View Full Profile >

W. Dalton Dietrich, Ph.D.

Scientific Director, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Publications
Biography: Dr. Dalton Dietrich is Scientific Director at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and the Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in Anatomy from the Medical College of Virginia in 1979 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmacology at Washington University,...
View Full Profile >

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)...
View Full Profile >

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

Professor, 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...
View Full Profile >

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...
View Full Profile >

Theodore J. Lampidis, Ph.D.

Professor, Cell Biology & Member of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

View Full Profile >

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....
View Full Profile >

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...
View Full Profile >

Carlos T. Moraes, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurology
Publications
Biography: My independent group at the University of Miami was established in 1993 and one of its main focuses in the last decade has been the study of mitochondrial defects and neurodegenerative processes. We have used patients' cells and genetically modified mice to create models of mitochondrial disorders associated with defects in either nuclear or mitochondrial DNA. We are...
View Full Profile >

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...
View Full Profile >

Amanda Myers, Ph.D.

Professors of Cell Biology
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...
View Full Profile >

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...
View Full Profile >

Michael J. Paidas, M.D.

Professor and Chair, Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Clinical Profile | Publications
View Full Profile >

Daniel Pelaez, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
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...
View Full Profile >

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...
View Full Profile >

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....
View Full Profile >

Valery I. Shestopalov, Ph.D.

Professor of Ophthalmology
Publications
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...
View Full Profile >

Mario Stevenson, Ph.D.

Professor, 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...
View Full Profile >

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....
View Full Profile >

Pantelis Tsoulfas, M.D.

Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery
Publications
View Full Profile >

Fulvia Verde, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology
Clinical Profile
View Full Profile >

Xiangxi Xu, Ph.D.

Professor of Radiation Oncology

View Full Profile >

Hong Yu, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Publications
View Full Profile >

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.

Sandra Rieger, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biology

Email: srieger@miami.edu

Research Interests: Neural-Epithelial interactions.

Athula Wikramanayake, Ph.D.

Professor, Biology
Chair, Department of Biology

Email: athula@miami.edu