Faculty
MGM areas of research
Research
Genetics
Exploring the inheritance and function of genes in health and disease.

RESEARCH
Virology
Studying viruses and their interactions with the host immune response

RESEARCH
RNA Biology
Investigating the roles of RNA in cellular functions, host diseases, and virus infections.

David C Bloom, Ph.D.
Chair & Hazel Kitzman Professor of Genetics
Viral and neuron-specific factors that allow herpes simplex virus (HSV) to establish and maintain latency in neurons.

Steeve Boulant, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
How enteric viral pathogens (rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus) infect and replicate in the human gastro-intestinal tract.
Martin J Cohn, Ph.D.
Professor
Molecular mechanisms of external genitalia and limb development in two contexts, structural birth defects and morphological evolution.
Kotaro Fujii, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Gene regulation focusing on mRNA translation in development and diseases, particularly those caused by protein aggregation such as neurodegenerative disorders.
Safder Ganaie, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
The Ganaie lab studies host-pathogen interactions that play a role in infection and pathogenesis of emerging and re-emerging RNA viruses.
Paul A Gulig, Ph.D.
Professor; Associate Chair for Education
Molecular pathogenesis of bacterial-host interactions – mechanisms of disease and antibiotic resistance.
Stephanie Karst, Ph.D.
Professor; Associate Chair for Research
Factors driving infant vulnerability to norovirus infections, particularly regarding the role of intestinal microbiota and their metabolites.
Zhe Ma, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Interactions between innate immune responses and viral tumor development in order to identify potential targets and strategies for viral cancer treatment.
Lauren M McIntyre, Ph.D.
Professor
Development of statistical and computational methods that elucidate links between gene expression and chromatin, and gene expression and organismal phenotype.
Lien Nguyen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
My research group is interested in understanding the roles of repetitive elements or “genomic dark matter” in disease and health.
Laura P W Ranum, Ph.D.
Kitzman Family Professor Of Molecular Genetics And Microbiology; Director Center For NeuroGenetics
Fundamental mechanisms and developing therapies for repeat expansion disorders and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Rolf Renne, Ph.D.
Henry E. Innes Professor of Cancer Research; Associate Director for Basic Science, UF Health Cancer Center
How latent gamma-herpesvirus (particularly KSHV) gene products, including microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, contribute to viral tumorigenesis of AIDS malignancies.
James L Resnick, Ph.D.
Professor
How parent-of-origin genetic identity contributes to disorders (Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), Angelman syndrome (AS) and Dup15q syndrome) associated with a cluster of imprinted genes on chromosome 15.
Edward W Scott, Ph.D.
Professor & Director
We are attempting to elucidate factors required for lineage commitment during hematopoietic (blood cell) development. Of particular interest are transcription factors thought to influence lymphoid and myeloid differentiation.
Megan L Stanifer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Virus evasion of sensing by the host and mechanism used by the host to stop virus infection, using microscopy, single cell sequencing and human mini-gut organoids.
Maurice S Swanson, Ph.D.
Professor; BMS PhD Program Concentration Director (Genetics)
Regulation of RNA processing, including roles of genomic repetitive elements in embryonic and postnatal development and expansion of short tandem repeats in neurological diseases.
Scott Tibbetts, Ph.D.
Professor; BMS PhD Program Concentration Director (Immunology / Microbiology)
Tumor virus interactions with the host immune system in an in vivo setting, with a particular emphasis on noncoding RNA biology.
Margaret Wallace, Ph.D.
Professor
Genetic and cell biology approaches to study neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a common dominant tumor syndrome caused by mutations in the NF1 tumor suppressor gene.
Eric Wang, Ph.D.
Professor
Pathogenesis of microsatellite repeat diseases (eg, myotonic dystrophy), how RNA is processed and localized in cells in tissues, development of treatments for people with muscular dystrophy (DM) and other diseases.
Lizi Wu, Ph.D.
Professor; Program Leader, Mechanisms of Oncogenesis, UF Health Cancer Center
Deregulation of cell signaling in cancer, with the goal of gaining molecular insights into cancer pathogenesis and identifying novel cancer diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
Lei Zhou, Ph.D.
Professor; BMS PhD Program Concentration Director (Genetics)
Use of the fruit fly to unravel the complexity of innate immunity, including the innate immune response against arbovirus infections.