Our Faculty

Jacquelyn Maher, MD

Professor
Medicine

Jacquelyn Maher, MD studies basic mechanisms of hepatotoxicity with a focus on clinically relevant diseases, such as drug-induced liver injury and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Sharmila Majumdar, PhD

Professor
Radiology

Sharmila Majumdar, PhD is working on developing imaging techniques to track stem cells in vivo.

Geoffrey Manley, MD, PhD

Professor
Neurological Surgery

Geoffrey Manley, MD, PhD works with the UCSF Brain and Spinal Injury Center to promote collaborative basic, translational and clinical studies on injuries to the brain and spinal cord.

Ralph Marcucio, PhD

Professor
Orthopaedic Surgery

Ralph Marcucio, PhD studies the molecular and cellular events that underlie skeletal development and regeneration.

Wallace Marshall, PhD

Professor
Biochemistry and Biophysics

Wallace Marshall, PhD studies the mechanistic origins of cell geometry. He is interested in how cells solve engineering problems, such as the regulation of organelle size and the self-organization of intracellular patterns.

Michael Matthay, MD

Professor
Medicine

Michael Matthay, MD is interested in stem cell treatment for acute lung injury – a major cause of acute respiratory failure characterized by pulmonary edema, inflammation, arterial hypoxemia and the need for mechanical ventilation.

Aras Mattis, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Aras Mattis, MD, PhD, investigates the molecular mechanisms of human liver function and metabolic diseases like metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). The Mattis lab develops human induced pluripotent stem cells that are then differentiated into multiple liver cell types including human hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-derived hepatocytes) to develop models of this disease process.

Michael Mcmanus, PhD

Professor
Diabetes Center

Michael McManus, PhD studies biological processes relating to RNA interference pathways in mouse models. This includes the study of small regulatory RNAs of biological significance that help control development in mammals.

Michael Mcmaster, PhD

Professor
Cell and Tissue Biology

Michael McMaster, PhD research interests center on placental development, diseases of pregnancy and embryonic stem cell model systems for understanding the consequences of gestational exposures to environmental chemicals.

Synthia Mellon, PhD

Professor
Ob/Gyn, Reproductive Sciences

Synthia Mellon, PhD studies neural development and steroidogenesis.

Theodore Miclau, MD

Professor and Vice Chair
Orthopaedic Surgery

Theodore Miclau, MD studies cellular molecular mechanisms of fracture repair, particularly related to the roles of inflammation, angiogenesis and mechanical influences on healing. He has developed models of mandibular and tibial fracture repair.

Takashi Mikawa, PhD

Professor
CVRI

Takashi Mikawa, PhD studies the development of the cardiac conduction system during early embryogenesis and the signals that distinguish conduction cells from working myocytes using the chick system.

Anna Victoria Molofsky, MD, PhD

Associate Professor
Psychiatry

Anna Molofsky MD, PhD studies the role of glial cells, particularly astrocytes, in neural circuit development and in psychiatric diseases.

Daniel Mordes, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Daniel Mordes, MD, PhD investigates the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and dementia, using stem cell-based models and single-cell analyses of brain areas.

John Murnane, PhD

Professor Emeritus
Radiation Oncology

John Murnane, PhD studies the relationship between DNA repair and telomere loss, and the role of telomere loss in the extensive chromosome instability in cancer cells. 

Amar Nijagal, MD

Associate Professor
Surgery

Amar Nijagal, MD investigates how the immune system affects the development of fetal tissues. His research focuses on liver and bile duct development and how immune cells and their hematopoietic progenitors contribute to the pathogenesis of pediatric liver disease.

Robert Nissenson, PhD

Professor
Medicine

Robert Nissenson, PhD studies the role of signaling pathways in the development of bone depositing osteoblasts.

Tomasz Nowakowski, PhD

Associate Professor
Neurological Surgery

Tomasz Nowakowski, PhD studies the principles of tissue development, the timing of cell generation, intercellular interactions, and developmental lineage relationships to uncover underlying neurodevelopmental events, tissue organization and cellular demographics.

Todd Nystul, PhD

Associate Professor
Anatomy

Todd Nystul, PhD studies epithelial stem cells and their associated niche in the Drosophila ovary.

Michael Oldham, PhD

Associate Professor
Neurological Surgery

Michael C. Oldham, PhD studies the organization of the transcriptome in the developing and adult human brain, and how this organization differs among primate species and brains affected by disease.

Barbara Panning, PhD

Professor
Biochemistry and Biophysics

Barbara Panning, PhD studies how RNA containing complexes modulate chromatin structure and gene expression.

Mercedes Paredes, MD, PhD

Associate Professor
Neurology

Mercedes Paredes, MD, PhD studies the source and diversity of postnatally migrating inhibitory neurons in the human frontal lobe.

Shibani Pati, MD, PhD

Professor
Laboratory Medicine

Shibani Pati, MD, PhD studies the role of endothelial dysfunction and vascular compromise in the pathogenesis of human disease. Her specific areas of investigation involve the use of stem cells and novel resuscitative modalities that can mitigate endothelial dysfunction in traumatic injury.

Tien Peng, MD

Professor

Tien Peng, MD studies how fibroblasts integrate extracellular cues to modify the stem cell niche.

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