PhD/MS: Pharmacology & Physiology Faculty - Drexel University College of Medicine

Seena Ajit, PhD

Associate Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of neuropathic and inflammatory pain, epigenetic regulation, microRNA expression and regulation, biomarkers

Jacqueline Barker, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Addiction, learning and memory, behavioral neuroscience, habits, compulsivity, sex differences, drug and alcohol exposure, substance and alcohol use disorders

Alessandro Fatatis, MD, PhD

Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating metastatic potential of solid tumors, studies in vitro and in animal models of neoplastic disease

Wen-Jun Gao, MD, PhD

Professor
Department: Neurobiology & Anatomy
Research Interests: Synaptic signaling and regulation of prefrontal neuronal circuitry and neurobiology of schizophrenia

Peter Gaskill, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: HIV, drug abuse, neuroimmunity, neurotransmission, macrophage immunology, dopamine, serotonin, catecholamines

Edward Hartsough, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Mechanisms contributing to metastatic progression and susceptibility of cancers to targeted inhibitors

Joel Horwitz, PhD

Professor; Course Director for Medical Pharmacology
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Nitric oxide signaling, pharmacology education

Shaoping Hou, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Neurobiology & Anatomy
Research Interests: Autonomic dysfunction after spinal cord injury, micturition reflex and cardiovascular function, neural stem cells, axon regeneration, serotonin and dopamine

Joshua Jackson, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Astrocyte biology, neuro-glial interactions, neurovascular coupling, synaptic development, calcium signaling, mitochondrial dynamics, brain metabolism

Zachary Klase, PhD

Associate Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Molecular neuropathogenesis of HIV-1, epigenetic control of transcription and microRNA involvement in viral diseases

Sandhya Kortagere, PhD

Professor
Department: Microbiology & Immunology
Research Interests: Biased signaling of dopamine D3 receptor agonists; developing symptomatic and disease-modifying therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease; etiology of mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease; role of dopamine receptors in neurocognitive impairment in HIV and other neuronal infections

Joanne Mathiasen, PhD

Co-director, Drug Discovery & Development Program; Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: CNS drug discovery, behavioral pharmacology, neuropharmacology, pain and cognition

Paul McGonigle, PhD

Co-director, Interdisciplinary & Career-Oriented Programs; Co-Director, Drug Discovery & Development Program; Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: CNS drug discovery, receptor pharmacology, behavioral pharmacology, neuropharmacology

Olimpia Meucci, MD, PhD

Professor & Chair
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and drug abuse, chemokine-based therapeutics, neuroprotective pathways in neuroinflammation

Andréia C.K. Mortensen, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Glutamate transporters, neurological disorders and positive allosteric modulators that target transporters

Ole Mortensen, PhD

Associate Professor; Director, Pharmacology & Physiology Graduate Program
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Neurotransmitter transporters, drug addiction and affective disorders

Mauricio Reginato, PhD

Professor; Director, Graduate Program in Cancer Biology
Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms underlying breast cancer growth, survival and spread to distinct organs, in particular how cancer genes alter metabolic pathways and how these pathways may be exploited to target cancers

Beverly Reyes, PhD, DVM

Research Associate Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Interactions between opioids, stress and noradrenergic system; interactions between endocannabinoids and noradrenergic systems

Priscila Sato, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Molecular mechanisms of cardiac metabolism; cardiovascular function; GPCR-signaling in the heart-pancreas axis; in vivo animal models of diabetes and cardiac diseases

Kenny Simansky, PhD

Senior Vice Dean for Research; Professor of Pharmacology
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Cellular mechanisms involved in regulation of eating

Kazuhito Toyooka, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Neurobiology & Anatomy
Research Interests: Analysis of neuronal morphology in the developing cerebral cortex - neurite formation and synaptogenesis

Elisabeth Van Bockstaele, PhD

Founding Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences & Professional Studies; Senior Vice President, Graduate and Online Education; Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Role of monoaminergic systems in stress-related illness and substance abuse disorders

Dong Wang, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department: Neurobiology & Anatomy
Research Interests: Neural ensemble dynamics underlying learning and memory consolidation; emotion; learning and memory; neurobiology; prefrontal neuronal circuitry; sleep neurobiology; systems neurobiology

Michael White, PhD

Professor
Department: Pharmacology & Physiology
Research Interests: Ligand-gated ion channels; structure-function relationships; molecular modeling; ligand-receptor interactions