For selection as a MERIT Research Mentor, the interested individual must be a full-time faculty member and hold a tenure-track appointment. He/She must submit a CV to the MERIT Program Executive Committee for review at postdocs@uab.edu.
Criteria for selection include strength of publication record, depth of training record, commitment to the training of MERIT Scholars, and current funding resources; MERIT Research Mentors must demonstrate current R01 funding or equivalent grant support to host and train a MERIT Scholar. MERIT Research Mentor applications are re-evaluated every three years for evidence of current training and funding.
Current Research Mentors:
Anupam Agarwal, MD - Department of Pathology
Regulation of heme oxygenase gene expression in kidney and vascular injury
Namasivayam Ambalavanam, MD - Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology
Neonatal pulmonary vascular remodeling and hypertension
Steven N. Austad, PhD- Department of Biology
Biology of Aging, Evolution, Ecology of Infectious Diseases, Scientific Communication
Shannon Bailey, PhD - Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Molecular mechanisms of chronic alcohol and obesity induced fatty liver disease
Scott Ballinger, PhD - Department of Pathology
Environmental cardiology, free radical biology, mitochondrial function
Dave Bedwell, PhD - Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Mechanism of Translation Termination and Therapies to Suppress Stop Mutations
Mary-Ann Bjornsti, PhD - Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Mechanisms of tumorigenesis
Markus Bredel, MD, PhD – Department of Radiation Oncology
Basic, translational, and clinical investigations of primary brain tumors and brain metastases
Cynthia J. Brown, MD – Department of Medicine
Low mobility and fall-risks in older, hospitalized patients
Thomas Buford, PhD – Department of Medicine
Exercise and aging
Chenbei Chang, PhD – Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
Growth factor signaling and transcription regulation in vertebrate development
Jim Collawn, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
Cystic Fibrosis; Endocytosis; Protein Trafficking
Christine Curcio, PhD – Department of Ophthalmology
Age-related macular degeneration
Ronit Elk, PhD - Professor of Medicine
Culturally-based palliative care
Amit Gaggar, MD, PhD - Professor of Medicine
Adult CF, lung transplantation
Tim Garvey, PhD - Department of Nutrition Sciences
Molecular and physiological pathogenesis of human insulin resistance
James George, PhD – Department of Surgery
Transplantation immunology
Michael Gray, PhD – Department of Microbiology
Bacterial sensing and response to reactive chlorine species
Alecia Gross Gutierrez, PhD - Department of Vision Sciences
Molecular mechanisms of retinal disease and ciliopathies
Pauline Jolly, PhD - Professor of Epidemiology
Pathogenesis of HIV and other lentiviruses
Nina Kraguljac, MD – Department of Medicine
Disease processes underlying psychosis spectrum disorders
Eugenia Kharlampieva, PhD - Department of Chemistry
Development of bio-mimetic materials for therapeutic application
Stacey Krueger-Hadfield, PhD – Department of Biology
Patterns of gene flow across species and responses to environmental perturbations
Brittany Lasseigne, PhD – Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology
Farah Lubin, PhD - Department of Neurobiology
Molecular transcriptional mechanism in learning/memory and neurological disorders
Lori McMahon, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology
Synaptic plasticity and hippocampal dependent learning
Shahid Mukhtar, PhD – Department of Biology
Systems biology, functional genomics, bioinformatics, plant immune networks
Tim Nagy, PhD - Department of Nutrition Sciences
typical antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain; obesity, caloric restriction, and cancer; small-animal phenotyping
Michael Niederweis, PhD - Department of Microbiology
Regulation of solute transport in M. tuberculosis
Carlos Orihuela, PhD – Department of Microbiology
Host pathogen interactions for development of invasive pneumococcal disease
John Parant, PhD – Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Regulation and causes of genomic instability in cancer and other diseases
Jennifer Pollock, PhD – Department of Medicine
Role of nitric oxide in vascular and renal function
Chander Raman, PhD - Medicine-Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology
Mechanisms of Autoimmunity Development
Sasanka Ramanadham, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology
Role of Lipid Mediators in Signal Transduction
Nicole Riddle, PhD – Department of Biology
Role of epigenetics in gene regulation and disease
Samiksha Raut, PhD – Department of Biology
Environmental Toxicology
David Schneider, PhD – Department of Biochemistry
Control of RNA polymerase transcription
Rosa Serra, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
Mechanism of TGF-ß Action in Developmental and Disease Processes
John Shacka, PhD - Department of Neuropathology
Targeting the autophagy-lysosome pathway for therapeutic in age-related neurodegenerative disease
Brian Sims, MD, PhD – Department of Pediatrics
Understanding the cellular mechanisms involved in premature brain injury
Trygve Tollefsbol, PhD - Department of Biology
Cancer and aging epigenetics
Hubert Tse, PhD - Department of Microbiology
T-cell responses in Type 1 diabetes
Linda Wadiche, PhD - Department of Neurobiology
Development of adult-generated neurons
Pengfei Wang, PhD- Department of Chemistry
Organic Chemistry, Photochemistry, Carbohydrate Chemistry, Synthetic Methodology, Photoresponsive Materials, Synthetic Vaccines and Vaccine Adjuvants
Qin Wang, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology
Regulation of GPCR trafficking, signaling and in vivo functions
Stephen Watts, PhD - Department of Biology
Physiological responses to nutritional and environmental stressors in aquatic animals
Scott Wilson PhD - Department of Neurobiology
Neurodegenerative disorders and developmental disabilities
Mike Wyss, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
Neuroplasticity in aging and neuro cardiovascular control
Qinglin Yang, PhD - Department of Nutrition Sciences
Mechanisms of heart failure
Brad Yoder, PhD - Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology
Mechanisms of primary cilium assembly and function
Martin Young, PhD – Department of Medicine
Interrelationship between cardiac metabolism and contractility
Nabiha Yusuf, PhD – Department of Dermatology
Innate immune mechanisms in tumor development
