Investigators
Russ B. Altman, MD, PhD
Stanford University
Focus Area: Informatics
Core: Data Visualization, Sharing and Education
Dr. Altman directs the PENTACON Data Visualization, Sharing and Education Core and is a member of the Steering Committee. He is a Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine & Computer Science. He specializes in bioinformatics--the storage, indexing, retrieval and analysis of biomedical data, particularly in the area of genomics, pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. He is the PI of the Pharmacogenetics & Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB, http://www.pharmgkb.org/), and his research expertise is in using data mining methods to uncover new knowledge, particularly related to drugs, genes, diseases and their relationships. He also is PI of a roadmap initiative on physics-based simulation of biological structure which may be useful for understanding structure-function relationships for drugs and their targets.
Hompage: http://www-helix.stanford.edu/people/altman/
Publications: 
Jeffrey Barrett, PhD
Children's Hospital of Piladelphia
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Cores: Human Biology; Systems, Modeling and Computation
Dr. Barrett's expertise is in modeling and simulation approaches related to quantitative pharmacology, spanning from in vitro systems through the clinical description of disease progression. The value of this effort to PENTACON will be through the optimization of experimental designs via simulation approaches, PK/PD modeling to identify target exposures and effects in in vitro and animal models as well as healthy volunteers and patients and clinical trial simulation again to ensure design features that match expectations derived from complementary data and assumptions. The culmination of these efforts should also permit the generation of disease progression models that incorporates biochemical and clinical biomarkers with quality of life measures that describe the patient diversity as well as the underl
Hompage: http://www.research.chop.edu/programs/cpt/lapkpd/barrett.php
Publications:
Ian Blair, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Molecular Profiling Core
Research in the Blair laboratory is focused on elucidating the role of oxidative stress in cancer and cardiovascular disease. This involves the determination of factors that control oxidative stress-mediated udamage to proteins, peptides and DNA. We are quantifying the resulting modified proteins, peptides, and DNA together with selected endogenous metabolites including folates, estrogens, glutathione-adducts and their metabolites, glucuronides, sulfates, and eicosanoids using mass spectrometry-based methodology. The utility of these metabolites as biomarkers for cardiovascular disease and cancer is being evaluated. We are also examining how the biomarkers are modulated through smoking and the use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-oxidants.
Homepage: http://www.med.upenn.edu/blairlab/
Publications:
David Botstein, PhD
Princeton University
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Cores: Systems Pharmacology, High Throughput Sequencing
The rapid advance of technology for studying global responses of cellular metabolism as well as gene expression, both in populations and individual cells to perturbations in growth conditions has provided sensitive new tools for studying how cells respond and adapt to their environment. We are finding ways to perturb cells, while at the same time rigorously controlling the background environment. The idea is to introduce a defined perturbation, such as a pulse of additional nutrient, and observe (and ultimately predict) the global cellular responses, including gene expression patterns, metabolite concentrations and fluxes, entry and exit from the cell division cycle.
Homepage: http://www.princeton.edu/genomics/botstein/
Publications:
Rick Bushman, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: High Throughput Sequencing
Dr. Bushman's research focuses on host-microbe interactions in health and disease. His groups' main research areas are 1 ) global studies of the human microbiome and 2) studies of HIV pathogenesis. In recent years, his work has been increasingly driven by the new deep sequencing methods. For microbiome studies, this allows comprehensive analysis of microbial populations without reliance on culture-based methods, which can detect only a small fraction of all organisms present. He as been carrying out these type of studies since 2002, and over the years has built up software pipelines that allow efficient analysis of deep sequencing data. He studies the role of the gut microbiome in the interindividual variability of drug responses.
Hompage: http://microb230.med.upenn.edu/
Publications:
Robert Califf, MD
Duke University
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Human Biology
Dr. Califf has led some of the best-known clinical trials and health outcomes studies in cardiovascular medicine and is considered a leader in the fields of quality of care, technology development and health policy. He has served on numerous committees and panels assisting in the development of health policy including the Cardiorenal Panel of the FDA and multiple Institute of Medicine Committees, including the Committee on Identifying and Preventing Medication Errors, the Forum on Drug Discovery and Translation and the Science Board of the FDA. He has also served as Director of the coordinating center for the Centers for Education & Research in Therapeutics and is currently co-Chair of the Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium Oversight Committee, which is guiding the largest effort in U.S. history to develop the disciplines of clinical and translational research.
Homepage: http://www.dukehealth.org/physicians/robert_m_califf
Publications:
Gary Churchill, PhD
Jackson Labs
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Mouse Models
Dr. Churchill applies a systems approach to study the genetics of health and disease, incorporating new statistical methods for the investigation of complex disease-related traits in the mouse. He has developed methods and software to improve the power of quantitative trait loci mapping and microarray analysis, as well as graphical models which aim to intuitively and precisely characterize the genetic architecture of disease. He is a member of a consortium of investigators with a shared interest in understanding genetics from an evolutionary perspective. He is participating in establishing a new mouse resource for complex trait analysis, the Collaborative Cross.
Homepage: http://churchill.jax.org/
Publications:
John Detre, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Imaging
John Detre’s research expertise is functional Neuroimaging. His research focuses on cerebral blood flow and metabolism under normal conditions and in response to brain injury. Specific conditions under investigation include functional activation of human brain in response to cognitive and sensorimotor tasks, epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, and strokes. This research primarily utilizes magnetic resonance techniques including functional imaging techniques and spectroscopy, often correlated with other methods. Dr. Detre is widely known for seminal work in the development of a noninvasive quantitative perfusion method utilizing arterial spin labeled (ASL) blood water as a diffusible tracer for flow quantification. He directs the Center for Functional Neuroimaging.
Homepage: http://www.med.upenn.edu/ins/faculty/detre.htm
Publications:
Kara Dolinski, PhD
Princeton University
Focus Area: Informatics
Core: Curation
The availability of entire genomic sequences and the resulting rapid development of technologies to probe them have generated massive amounts of biological data. In addition, there is a wealth of information contained within the scientific literature that is not necessarily easily discoverable or computable. Dr. Dolinski's is expertise is in making as such information accessible to the biomedical research community. She develops public database resources that collect both high throughput and low throughput data, annotating, organizing, and displaying the data in ways useful and intuitive to the researchers who wish to use it. Dr. Dolinski is the senior curator of the Genome Database Group at Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton, and responsible for the Saccharomyces Genome Database, BioGRID, and Gene Ontology.
Homepage: http://www.genomics.princeton.edu/~kara/
Publications:
Raymond Dionne, DDS, PhD
National Insitutes of Health
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Human Biology II
Dr. Dionne's research focuses on novel therapeutic agents and neurohumoral responses to acute pain and surgical stress. Significant contributions of his work include the use of pre-emptive analgesia and the pharmacologic basis of pain and anxiety control. Dr. Dionne is the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Webpage: http://www.ninr.nih.gov/
Publications:
Jim Eberwine, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Systems Pharmacology
Dr. Eberwine's expertise is in neurobiology and the genomics of single cell biology. Genomic tool development and application to questions of importance to single cell analysis are the main efforts of his lab. Dr. Eberwine directs the Genomics Frontiers Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
Homepage: http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g5455356/p5441
Publications:
John Farrar, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Population Pharmacology
Core: Human Biology II
Dr. Farrar's expertise is in the conduct and evaluation of clinical studies of the effects of drugs and other therapies used to treat pain. He also conducts pharmacoepidemiologic studies using large administrative or medical record databases. Recently, Dr. Farrar was awarded a contract from the FDA to work with data sets to answer specific questions about design and analysis issues in pain clinical trials. He is a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania and Co-directs its Biostatistical Analysis Center.
Homepage: http://www.cceb.upenn.edu/faculty/?id=122
Publications:
Garret FitzGerald, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Areas: Translational Therapeutics, Systems Pharmacology, Administration
Core: Human Biology
Dr. FitzGerald’s expertise is in the prostanoid pathway where he performs studies in mammalian cells, fish and mice to inform mechanistic studies in humans to elucidate the importance of this pathway and the pharmacology of drugs that regulate the synthesis of or response to prostanoids. Dr. FitzGerald is the Principal Investigator of PENTACON.
Homepage: http://www.itmat.upenn.edu/faculty_fitzgerald.shtml
Publications:
Colin Funk, PhD
Queen’s University
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Mouse Models
The Funk lab has generated and is generating various mouse models of manipulated cyclooxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase (LOX) and eicosanoid receptor expression. Expertise relative to the grant lies in the specific design and development of these models and phenotyping skills in mice in particular related to inflammation and the cardiovascular system.
Homepage: http://meds.queensu.ca/
Publications:
Tilo Grosser, MD
University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics, Systems Pharmacology,
Core: Human Biology I, Logistics
Tilo Grosser's expertise is in the cardiovascular biology of the cyclooxygenases (COX) in model systems and in humans. He studies sources of variability in the response to COX inhibitors using genomics, proteomics, lipidomics approaches in model organisms (zebrafish, mice)and in proof-of-concept studies in healthy volunteers. Dr. Grosser directs the Human Biology Core I and the Logistics Core.
Homepage: http://bioinf.itmat.upenn.edu/tilo
Publications:
Luis A. García-Rodríguez, MD
Centro Español de Investigación Farmacoepidemiológica, Spain
Focus Area: Population Pharmacology
Core: Population Pharmacology
Dr. Luis A. García Rodríguez is director of the Spanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research (Centro Español de Investigación Farmacoepidemiológica - CEIFE) since 1994 in Madrid, Spain. The mainstay of work at CEIFE is the use of large computer-based information resources that provide the information required to perform large-scale observational research on drug effects in the general population. Prior to this position, Dr. García Rodríguez was a Senior Epidemiologist for the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance program, and Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, at Boston University Medical Center.
Homepage: www.ceife.es
Publications:
Jules Griffin, PhD
University of Cambridge
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Molecular Profiling
Dr. Griffin’s expertise focuses on metabolomics and its application to functional genomics/toxicology. Metabolomics is the large-scale analysis of metabolites, and this process of generating a metabolic profile to follow a pathophysiological insult or stimulus has been highly successful at distinguishing the effects of genetic modifications and disease states in a range of organisms, including man. Dr. Griffin's group uses high resolution 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry in conjunction with pattern recognition techniques to define metabolic profiles characteristic of the disease/ pathology being investigated.
Homepage: http://www.bioc.cam.ac.uk/uto/griffin.html
Publications:
Hakon Hakonarson, MD, PhD
Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Human Biology I
Dr. Hakonarson relocated to is the director of the Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP. He has pioneered high-throughput genetics and genomics research, including genome-wide mapping and association studies and he has established the infrastructure and workflow processes to unravel the complexities of complex genetic disorders and drug response traits.
Homepage: http://www.chop.edu/service/applied-genomics/meet-the-team/hakon-hakonarson-md-phd.html
Publications:
Tim Hla, PhD
Weill Cornell Medical College
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Mouse Models
Dr. Hla cloned the human COX-2 cDNA in 1992, demonstrated its post-transcriptional control by cytokines and glucocorticoids, and recently developed a mouse model for tissue specific deletion of HuR, the RNA binding protein that regulates COX-2 as well as other inflammatory response genes. He also showed that COX-2 signaling via nuclear receptors regulate thrombotic gene expression in endothelial cells, which may be involved in Coxib-induced side effects.
Homepage: http://www.med.cornell.edu/research/researcher/thla/
Publications:
John Hogenesch, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Areas: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Systems Pharmacology, High Throughout Sequencing
Dr. Hogenesch has over 18 years in experience in both academia and industry in genome biology. This includes leadership roles in groups that focus on functional genomics and informatics. In addition, as part of his PGFI responsibilities, he directs the Genomic Cell-based Screening Research and Development Core lab. He also directs the Penn Center for Bioinformatics, a research facility of approximately 10,000 ft.² that houses bioinformatics researchers and the Genomics and Computational Biology Graduate Group. His academic group publishes in genomic cell-based screening with a focus on the mammalian circadian clock.
Homepage: http://bioinf.itmat.upenn.edu/hogeneschlab/
Publications:
John Hwa, MD, PhD
Yale University
Focus Area: Population Pharmacology
Core: Population Pharmacology
Dr. Hwa's expertise is in the pharmacogenetics of G-protein coupled receptors, the targets of many cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 products. His focus is on cardiovascular disease and side effects in both clinical studies and translational studies.
Homepage: http://medicine.yale.edu/intmed/cardio/people/john_hwa.profile
Publications:
Ravi Iyengar, PhD
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Systems, Modeling and Computation
Dr. Iyengar's expertise in the systems biology of cellular regulatory networks. He uses a combination of experimental and computational approaches to study how systems-level regulation of molecular interactions propagate across scales of organization to produce organ-level physiology and pathophysiology. His groups is developing large- scale network models of drug-target interactions within the human interactome and using these systems to develop classifiers that are used to explain adverse events in the FDA adverse event database. He is Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Mt. Sinai.
Homepage: http://www.mssm.edu/research/labs/iyengar-laboratory
Publications:
Isaac Kohane, MD, PhD
Children’s Hospital Boston
Focus Areas: Informatics, Population Pharmacology
Core: Database and Integration
Isaac S. Kohane is Professor of Pediatrics and Health Sciences Technology at Harvard Medical School. He has led several national efforts in using electronic healthcare data for discovery research in genetics and pharmacovigilance (see http://www.i2b2.org) and in using correlations and dynamics to infer gene-gene and gene-drug interactions.
Homepage: http://chipweb1.chip.org/~zak/
Publications:
Hank Kung, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Areas: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Imaging
Dr. Kung's research group is interested in development of selective radiotracers for in vitro and in vivo studies of CNS receptors. The development of new tracers involve multi disciplinary efforts including: synthesis of new ligands, evaluation of structure-activity relationship, radiochemistry of Tc-99m and I-123, and in vitro and in vivo studies of binding affinity and selectivity in cloned cell membrane and brain tissue preparations.
Homepage: http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g334/p13158
Publications:
Richard Landis, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Areas: Informatics
Core: Database and Integration
Dr. Landis' expertise is in the statistical analysis of categorical data, particularly statistical methods for repeated measurement and longitudinal categorical data, clinical trials, epidemiological studies, complex sample surveys and applications to cardiovascular, ophthalmology, respiratory, psychiatric, renal and urological research. Dr. Landis directs the Biostatistics Unit within the Penn Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the Penn Clinical Research Computing Unit and leads the Data Coordinating Centers for several multicenter clinical research networks.
Homepage: http://www.cceb.upenn.edu/faculty/index.php?id=18
Publications:
Calum MacRae, MD, PhD
Harvard
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Zebrafish Models
Dr. MacRae's group has developed physiologic assays in zebrafish for cardiovascular traits, as well as reporters for disease pathways and for a range of drug toxicities. Automating and scaling these assays for high-throughput has enabled 'omic scale in vivo physiology and pharmacology screens in zebrafish disease models. Dr. MacRae's expertise is in genetic screens in disease models to identify novel pathway members and to explore gene-environment interactions, in particular pharmacogenetics.
Homepage: http://www2.massgeneral.org/cvrc/faculty_macrae_home.html
Publications:
Robert Murphy, PhD
University of Colorado
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Molecular Profiling
Dr. Murphy has worked in the area of mass spectrometry and eicosanoid biochemistry for approximately 40 years with much of his research activities centered around the use of mass spectrometry to studies of arachidonic acid biochemistry and formation of the biologically active leukotriene mediators. His present research program focuses on details of transcellular biosynthesis of leukotrienes, the formation of biologically active lipid products from exposure of ozone to the lung, the advancement of mass spectrometry in the area of neutral lipid analysis, and the imaging of complex lipids in tissues. He served as President of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and is on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals in biochemistry and mass spectrometry.
Homepage: http://pharmacology.ucdenver.edu/faculty/murphy/
Publications:
Angel Pizarro, MSE
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Informatics
Core: Curation, Logistics
Angel Pizarro leads the ITMAT Bioinformatics Facility, which is focused on providing advanced infrastructure and tools to proteomics researchers. These efforts involve using a mix of proprietary, open source and custom developed solutions to enable advanced high-throughput experiments to go from discovery to verification and further experimentation as quickly as possible.
Homepage: http://bioinf.itmat.upenn.edu/home/home.html
Publications:
Robert Plenge, MD, PhD
Harvard University
Focus Area: Population Pharmacology
Core: Population Pharmacology
Dr. Plenge applies human genetics as a tool to understand dysregulation of the immune system in the context of human disease. In particular, he focuses on rheumatoid arthritis, a common autoimmune disease, which is diagnosed in up to 1% of the adult population worldwide.
Homepage: http://www.brighamandwomens.org/research/Rheumatology/Labs/Plenge/Research_Focus.aspx
Publications:
Kate Propert, ScD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Informatics
Core: Systems, Modeling and Computation
Dr. Propert is a Professor of Biostatistics at the UPenn School of Medicine. Her research expertise is in the design and conduct of interventional studies, particularly for pre-clinical animal models and early stage clinical trials. Her current applied focus is on translational research in disease areas related to chronic pain, urology, and pulmonology.
Homepage: http://www.cceb.upenn.edu/faculty/?id=163
Publications:
Eric Schadt, PhD
Pacific Biosciences, Sage Bionetworks
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Mouse Models, Systems Pharmacology, Systems, Modeling and Computation
Dr. Schadt studies the genetic basis of common human diseases such as diabetes and obesity. His research has provided novel insights into what is needed to master diverse, large-scale data collected on normal and disease populations in order to elucidate the complexity of disease and make more informed decisions in the drug discovery arena.
Homepage: http://www.pacificbiosciences.com/index.php?q=eric-e-schadt
Publications:
Mitch Schnall, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Imaging
Dr. Schnall's expertise is in the field of imaging research. His research includes development of basic imaging methods with a particular focus on MRI. His current basic research focuses on the application of novel K space sampling trajectories to MRI imaging of dynamic systems. In addition, Dr. Schnall leads a multicenter consortium (ACRIN) that performs clinical trials aimed at translating and validating imaging methods for clinical care and clinical research. ACRIN has run over 30 clinical trials including PET, MRI, CT and digital x-ray.
Homepage: http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g334/p14112
Publications:
Carsten Skarke, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Human Biology I and II, Logistics
Dr. Skarke's experience is in experimental pain models in humans to characterize pharmacokinetic, ‑dynamic and -genetic differences in drug response. Translational and mechanistic clinical trial designs. He is Interested how diet influences drug response.
Homepage: http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g5455356/p8152420
Publications:
Scott Solomon, MD
Harvard University
Focus Area: Population Pharmacology
Core: Human Biology II, Population Pharmacology
Scott D. Solomon, MD is the Director of Noninvasive Cardiac Laboratory and Cardiac Imaging Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Solomon’s focuses on echocardiographic assessment of cardiac structure and function in patients with heart failure, post myocardial infarction, attenuating left ventricular remodeling and the effects of inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system on cardiac structure and function. He has published over 120 original research papers, chapters, reviews, and editorials on these topics and is a world-renowned clinical trialist and has led the cross trial safety analysis of celecoxib.
Homepage: http://www.brighamandwomens.org/research/cardiovascular/solomon.aspx
Publications:
William Smith, PhD
Univcerstiy of Michigan
Focus Area: Systems Pharmacology
Core: Molecular Profiling, Systems Pharmacology
Dr. Smith's expertise is in the biochemistry of eicosanoids and essential fatty acids and the biochemical pharmacology of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Homepage: http://www.biochem.med.umich.edu/?q=wsmith
Publications:
Brian Strom, MD, MPH
University of Pennsylvania
Focus Area: Population Pharmacology
Core Population Pharmacology
Dr. Strom is a pioneer in the use of large automated claims and medical record databases for the conduct of medication-related research, and has been performing such research for 30 years. Pharmacoepidemiology studies of the effects of NSAIDs have been a particular interest of his, and he has been conducting them since the early 1980s.
Homepage: http://www.cceb.upenn.edu/faculty/?id=23
Publications:
Olga Troyanskaya, PhD
Princeton University
Focus Area: Informatics
Core: Systems, Modeling and Computation; Database and Integration
Dr. Troyanskaya is an expert in genomics data analysis, storage, and integration, as well as machine learning, statics, transcriptomics, and functional evolution of biological networks. Her laboratory develops systems for integrated analysis and visualization of diverse functional genomics data with the goal of understanding and modeling protein function, interactions, and regulation in biological pathways, especially as they relate to disease. Her group includes theoretical and experimental aspects, and has developed systematic and accurate methods for biological signal detection in high-throughput data sets and successfully used them to direct systematic, quantitative experiments. These algorithms are implemented in user-friendly public systems for integrated data analysis, exploration, and visualization that are widely used by the biology community, including bioPIXIE (yeast), mouseNET (mouse), and HEFalMP (human).
Homepage: http://imperio.princeton.edu/cm/node/13
Publications:
Clifford Woolf, MD, PhD
Harvard University
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Mouse Models
Dr. Woolf's expertise is in the study of pain and the elucidation of pain mechanisms in preclinical models and in patients using molecular biological, electrophysiological, genetic and behavioral techniques. He has examined the specific contribution of COX-2 expressed in the central nervous system to the generation of inflammatory pain and as the site of the analgesic action of selective and non-selective COX inhibitors using transgenic mouse models. He will contribute his expertise in studying and measuring the pain phenotype to the program.
Homepage: http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dms/neuroscience/fac/woolf.html
Publications:
Issam Zineh, PharmD, MPH
Food and Drug Administration
Focus Area: Translational Therapeutics
Core: Human Biology I and II
Dr. Zineh is an expert in pharmacogenomics with a particular focus on the cardiovascular system. He is the Associate Director for Genomics at the Office of Clinical Pharmacology, CDER, FDA. Dr. Zineh is also the chair of the Pharmacogenetics and Molecular Pharmacology Scientific Section of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Homepage: http://www.cop.ufl.edu/departments/PP/zineh/
Publications: