Meet Our People

We recognize the individual value that each QSBC member contributes to the center’s overall success.  Each member brings their strengths and we encourage a collaborative yet demanding atmosphere to try and solve complex systems biology questions for the ultimate benefit of patients.

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Faculty
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Grad Students & Post-Docs

The QSBC Director

Vito Quaranta, MD

QSBC Director

QSBC Director

1) Tumor Heterogeneity
2) Drug Sensitivity Metrics
3) Computational Modeling
4) Big Data Analysis
Lab Site

The Faculty Members

Scott Guelcher, PhD

QSBC Associate Director
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
School of Engineering
VU
1) Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2)Professor of Medicine
3)Director of the Center for Bone Biology
Lab Website

Edward Saff

QSBC Associate Director
Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Approximation Theory
2) Potential Theory
3) Energy Models for Tissue Formation
Web Site

William Holmes, PhD

QSBC Associate Director
Physics and Astronomy
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Pattern formation and spatial organization.
2) Stochast dynamics and gene regulation.
3) Mathematical modeling in cognitive neuroscience.
Bio

Rebecca Ihrie, PhD

Dept. of Cell & Developmental Biology
School of Medicine Basic Sciences
VU
1) Identifying clinically significant cells using high-dimensional data.
2) Using per-cell measurements of signaling to dissect stem cell biology.
3) Mapping the effects of tumor location on cell behavior.
Lab Site

Alissa Weaver, MD, PhD

Dept. of Cell & Developmental Biology
School of Medicine Basic Sciences
VU
1) Regulation of migration and Invasion by exosomes.
2) Role of tumor cell EVs in cancer aggressiveness and metastasis.
3) EVs as cancer biomarkers in liquid biopsies.
Lab Site

Mariann Piano, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA

Center for Research and Scholarly Development
School of Nursing
VUMC
1) Cardiovascular health.
2) Unhealthy and hazardous drinking.
3) Young adult health.
Bio

Gregor Neuert, PhD, MEng

Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
School of Medicine
VU
1) How cells regulate genes in physiologically relevant dynamic and stochastic environments.
2) Computationally model and predict single cell behavior to gain novel biological insight.
Lab Site

Consuelo Wilkins

Exec. Dir. Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance Associate Prof. of Medicine
Meharry Medical College VUMC
Developing and supporting collaborative initiatives and programs in biomedical research, community engagement, and interprofessional learning.
Bio

Carlos F. Lopez, PhD

Biochemistry
School of Medicine
VU
1) Information flow across multiple scales.
2) Understanding mechanistic origins of cell decisions and cellular commitment to a given fate.
3) Modeling frameworks to model/simulate cellular processes developed in the lab.
Lab Site

Jacob Hughey, PhD

Department of BioMedical Informatics
School of Medicine
VUMC
1) Circadian rhythms.
2) Intersection of electronic health records and genomics.
3) Scientific publishing.
Lab Site

Nicole Creanza, PhD

Biological Sciences
Biochemistry
School of Medicine
VU
1) Evolution of learned behaviors.
2) Quantitative analyses of bird songs and human languages.
3) Mathematical modeling of genetic and cultural evolution.
Lab Site

Johnathan M. Irish, PhD

Cell & Developmental Biology
School of Medicine
VU
1) Single cell molecular profiling of cancer.
2) Machine learning cell identity.
3) Human immune cell biology.
Lab Site

Shane Hutson, PhD

Physics & Astronomy
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Mechanics of morphogenesis
2) Epithelial wound detection and cellular responses
3) Toxicology using organ-on-chip systems
Bio

Christine Lovly, MD, PhD

Hematology-Oncology Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research
1) Mechanisms of primary and secondary (acquired) resistance to anti-cancer therapies.
2) Genomic and proteomic analyses of tumor heterogeneity.
3) Translational lung cancer research from bedside to bench and back.
Twitter @christine_lovly
Lab Site

Naohiko Koshikawa, PhD

Department of Life Science and Technology
Tokyo Institute of Technology
1) Cancer biology (invasion and metastasis).
2) Cancer diagnostics.
3) Mathematical oncology.
Lab Site

Ken Lau, PhD

Cell & Developmental Biology
School of Medicine
VU
1) Interaction between epithelium and microbiome
2) Cell states in stem cells and development
3) The origins of cancers
Lab Site

Glenn Webb, PhD

Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Mathematical models of epidemics.
2) Mathematical models of tumor growth.
3) Mathematical models of biological age.
Bio

John Wikswo, PhD

Physics and Astronomy
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Organs-on-a-chip
2) Microfluidics
3) Cancer Research
Bio

Leonard Harris, PhD

Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Arkansas
1) Phenotypic plasticity and non-genetic heterogeneity in anticancer drug response.
2) Multiscale modeling of complex intracellular signaling pathways and cell-cell interaction networks.
3) Intrinsic stochasticity in cell fate decisions.
Lab Site

Mike Neamtu, PhD

Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
VU

Ann Tate, PhD

Biological Science
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Evolutionary Immunology
2) Infectious Disease Ecology
3) Life History Evolution
4) Mathematical and Computational Modeling
Bio

Brian Bachmann, PhD

Chemistry
College of Arts and Science
VU

Mark Ellingham, PhD

Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
VU

Douglas Hardin, PhD

Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Interacting particle systems and agent-based models.
2) Machine learning with biomedical applications.
3) Magnetic inverse problems.

Maulik Patel, PhD

Department of Biological Sciences
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Evolutionary and transmission dynamics of mitochondrial mutations.
2) Multi-level selection.
3) Homeostasis mechanisms.

Jamey Young, PhD

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
School of Engineering
VU
1) Metabolic modeling and flux analysis
2) Diabetes, obesity, and metabolic diseases
3) Biomanufacturing

Emily Hodges, PhD

Biochemistry
School of Medicine
VU
1) Integrating epigenomics and patient data to understand enhancer function.
2) Understanding DNA methylation in gene regulation and cellular differentiation.
3) Deciphering cis versus trans determinants of enhancer function.

Akram Aldroubi, PhD

Mathematics
College of Arts and Science
VU
1) Harmonic analysis
2) Functional analysis
3) Wavelet theory
4) Frame theory
5) Sampling Theory
6) Approximation Theory
7) Image Processing
8) Biomathematics
Web Site

Prof. Gianluigi Giannelli

Director of the National Institute of Gastroenterology
Bari, Italy
1. Hepatobiliary cancer (HCC, CCA)
2. Tumor/host interaction
3. Liver fibrosis
4. Development of new therapeutic strategies for Hepatobiliary cancers.
5. Life style and clinical outcome
Institute Web Site

Grad Students, Post Docs, & Trainees

Sarah Maddox

Quaranta Lab

Mirazul Islam

Lau Lab

Rama Ali

Neuert Lab

Samantha Beik

Lopez/Quaranta Lab

Geena Ildefonso

Quaranta Lab

Kavya Sharman

Caprioli Lab

Asa Brockman

Ihrie Lab

Rebecca Embalabala

Ihrie Lab

Laura Geben

Ihrie Lab

Mary Bronwen Chalkley

Ihrie Lab

Jason Hughes

Neuert Lab

Akshitkumar Mistry

Ihrie Lab

Bret C. Mobley

Ihrie Lab

Julia Gallagher

Ihrie Lab

Rohit Khurana

Ihrie Lab

Jennifer Kong

Ihrie Lab

Prasad Kopparapu

Lovly Lab

Portia Thomas

Lovly Lab

Wade Thomas Iams

Lovly Lab

Leila Arefnezhad

Holmes Lab

Cody Heiser

Lau Lab

Dora Obodo

Weaver Lab

Todd Bartkowiak

Ihrie Lab

Patty Ozawa

Weaver Lab

Phillip Stauffer

Quaranta Lab

Clayton Wandishin

Quaranta Lab

Kazi Tasneem

Hutson Lab

Aaron Stevens

Hutson Lab

Bob Chen

Lau Lab

Lizandra Jimenez

Weaver Lab

Annie Wandishin

Research Assistant

John Vastola

Holmes Lab Alumnus

Cole Zmurchok

Holmes Lab

Matthew Murrow

Holmes Lab

Nate Hermann

Hutson Lab