College
- Center City Campus
- Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Degree Earned
- Doctorate
Program Length
8 years
Leadership
1020 Locust Street
Jefferson Alumni Hall, 368
Philadelphia, PA 19107-5244
Leadership
233 South 10th Street
Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 221A
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Program Information
Faculty & Staff
Administration
Scott A. Waldman MD, PhD, FCP
Dr. Scott Waldman, the MD/PhD Program Director, is the Hilary Koprowski Professors in Cancer Biology and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. His research focuses on GCC, demonstrating the importance of this receptor as a novel tumor suppressor central to the induction of colorectal cancer, and the translation of those observations to patient care. Indeed, he is the PI of NCI multi-institutional clinical trials examining the utility of GCC as a molecular marker for managing patients with, and as a target for the prevention of, colorectal cancer. Projects in his laboratory examine the translation of GCC biology into approaches to image colorectal tumors, prevent neoplastic transformation in intestine, and paradigms for vaccine development for patients with colorectal cancer. His research combines both basic and clinical investigation and serves as an exemplar of translational research. Dr. Waldman’s office is 368J Jefferson Alumni Hall (JAH)
Manuel Covarrubias, MD, PhD
Dr. Manuel Covarrubias, the MD/PhD Program Co-director, is Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and member of the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience. Dr. Covarrubias’ major research interests concern two areas: 1) molecular mechanisms underlying pain sensitization induced by spinal cord injury; and 2) molecular mechanisms of general anesthesia. In the first area, his laboratory has identified a specific potassium channel as a major regulator of excitability in the peripheral pain pathway. This finding is the basis of efforts to investigate novel therapeutic targets to treat neuropathic pain. In the second area, his team has discovered sites of general anesthetic action in voltage-gated ion channels that govern the brain’s electrical activity. Further work in this area will promote the development of more effective and less toxic general anesthetics. Dr. Covarrubias collaborates with researchers from major universities in Philadelphia as well as universities and companies overseas. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health for more than 20 years. Dr. Covarrubias' office is 231 Bluemle Life Sciences Building. (BLSB).
Danielle Park
Danielle Park is the MD/PhD Administrative Director. Her office is 1020 Locust Street, M-46 Jefferson Alumni Hall (JAH). Danielle can be reached by phone at (215) 503-0164 and by email at Danielle.Park@jefferson.edu
Administrative oversight for the Program is provided by the MD/PhD Steering Committee, chaired by Dr. Gerald Grunwald, Dean of the Jefferson College of Life Sciences and Professor of Pathology, Anatomy & Cell Biology, and is composed of faculty involved in the scientific and/or clinical training of MD/PhD students. There are also two student representatives to this committee, elected officers of the Jefferson Physician Scientist Association.
Danielle.Park@jefferson.edu | 215-503-0164
Program Faculty
Clicking on the faculty member's name will take you to their Profile page for more information regarding their area of research.
Andrew E. Aplin, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Mutant B-RAF and integrin signaling in melanoma
Karen Bussard, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Bruno Calabretta, MD, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Molecular Biology and Gene Regulation
Molecular mechanisms of normal hematopoiesis and BCR/ABL-dependent leukemogenesis
Manuel L. Covarrubias, MD, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience
Function, structure and pharmacology of voltage-gated ion channels in excitable tissues
Christine Eischen, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Identification and study of genes that regulate cellular transformation and tumor development.
Andrzej Fertala, PhD
Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery
Heritable diseases of connective tissues
Lawrence Goldfinger, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine
Elda Grabocka, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Aaron Haeusler, PhD
Associate Professor, Neuroscience
Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry
Gyorgy Hajnoczky, MD, PhD
Raphael Rubin, MD Professor
Director of The Mitochondrial Research Center
Signaling, calcium, ER, mitochondria, metabolism, apoptosis, imaging
Lorraine Iacovitti, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience
Stem cells to study and treat Parkinson's disease; Neuroprotective agents to treat Parkinson's Disease; Stem cells to treat stroke; Sites of adult stem cells in brain
Botond Igyártó, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
Renato V. Iozzo, MD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine
Proteoglycan control of cancer growth and angiogenesis; Tumor microenvironment and regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases by matrix molecules
Felix Kim, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Basic and translational research focused on investigating the role of Sigma1 (also known as sigma-1 receptor) in tumor metabolism, modulation of the tumor microenvironment, and discovering and developing novel Sigma1 targeted therapeutic agents and approaches to treating advanced prostate cancer.
Kyunghee Koh, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience
Lucia Languino, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Integrin signaling in cancer progression
Angelo Lepore, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience
In vivo role played by astrocyte glutamate transporters in the etiology and treatment of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI)
Le Ma, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience
Neural networks; molecular pathways involved in branching; cell biological regulation of branching; contribution of branching to circuit function and repair
Peisong Ma, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Silva Markovic-Plese, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurology
Alexander Mazo, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Epigenetic function of Drosophila ortholog of the MLL oncogene
Steven B. McMahon, PhD
Professor and Chair, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Deregulation of the p53 and MYC transcription networks drivi
A. Sue Menko, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine
Signaling mediating acquisition of the differentiated cell phenotype; Cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton in regulating tissue morphogenesis, regeneration, and fibrosis
Diane E. Merry, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Molecular determinants of androgen receptor metabolism and of polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor misfolding and aggregation
Sara Meyer, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Timothy Mosca, PhD
Associate Professor, Neuroscience
Molecular mechanisms and the organizational logic of how synapses are constructed; deciphering the genes involved in synapse formation and composition
Fabienne M. Paumet, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
Role of phagocytosis in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases; Role of phagocytosis in mast cell function in allergy
Raymond B. Penn, PhD
Professor, Medicine
Identification of cellular and molecular mechanisms by which G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate important functions in airway cells and in the lung
Nancy J. Philp, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine
Monocarboxylate transporters; CD 147; retinal pigment epithelium; retinal metabolism; glycolysis, and JAM-C
Isidore Rigoutsos, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine, Director, Center for Computational Medicine
Computational medicine; microRNAs; tRNAs; piRNAs; post-transcriptional regulatory processes; diagnostics; therapeutics; genomics; big data; pattern/motif discovery; high performance computing; microbial genomics; metagenomics
Makarand V. Risbud, PhD
Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery
Intervertebral disc biology; Hypoxic tissue niches; Stem cell biology; Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Abdolmohamad Rostami, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Neurology
Helper T cell subsets and their cytokines in the pathogenesis of autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and multiple sclerosis; Effect of Bowman-Birk serine protease inhibitor on course of EAE; Mechanisms of intravenous tolerance in EAE; Effects of interleukin-27 (IL-27) on human auto-aggressive T cells.
Matthias J. Schnell, PhD
Professor and Chair, Microbiology & Immunology
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Development of novel vaccines and viral pathogenesis
Daniel P. Silver, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Medical Oncology
Breast Cancer; Triple Negative Breast Cancer; Inflammatory Cancer; Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome; Atypical Hyperplasia (ADH, ALH); Lobular Carcinoma in Situ (LCIS); DNA Repair Defects
Richard Smeyne, PhD
Professor and Chair, Neuroscience
Cell biology of Parkinson’s Disease
Christopher Snyder, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
Viral immunology: maintenance of adaptive immunity during chronic infections; T cell responses elicited by cytomegalovirus infection; activation of T cell effector functions by innate signals
Ross Summer, MD
Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care
Dr Summer's laboratory focuses on lung metabolism and understanding how local and systemic metabolic derangements contribute to the onset and progression of lung diseases.
Yuri K. Sykulev, MD, PhD
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology
Molecular mechanisms regulating cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity
Ryan Tomlinson, PhD
Associate Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery
Davide Trotti, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience
Mechanisms of neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Rajanikanth Vadigepalli, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine
Scott A. Waldman, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Tumor suppressors and their signaling pathways in GI malignancies; Targeted diagnostics and therapeutics in cancer
Philip B. Wedegaertner, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Heterotrimeric G protein regulation of intracellular trafficking; Role of RhoGEFs in mitosis
Edward Winter, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mechanisms that regulate meiotic development using the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a model system
Hushan Yang, PhD
Professor, Medical Oncology
Cancer biomarker; Cancer genomics; Liquid biopsy; Racial disparity; Statistical modelling