USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute
Research Faculty Directory
-
Gopal Thinakaran, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Medicine
Eric Pfeiffer Endowed Chair in Alzheimer's Research
CEO Byrd Alzheimer's Institute
Associate Dean for Neuroscience Research
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
thinakaran@usf.edu
Primary Faculty Members
-
Laura J. Blair, PhD
Assistant Professor, Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
laurablair@usf.edu -
Ashutosh Dharap, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, College of Medicine Molecular Medicine
dharap@usf.edu -
Joshua Gamsby, PhD
Assistant Professor, Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
gamsby@usf.edu -
Danielle Gulick, PhD
Assistant Professor, Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
dgulick@usf.edu -
Bradlee Heckmann, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
bheckmann@usf.edu -
Angele Parent, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
angeleparent@usf.edu -
Xuewei Wang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
xueweiwang@usf.edu
Affiliate Faculty Members
-
Paula Bickford, PHD
Distinguished USF Health Professor Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Senior Research Career Scientist, James A. Haley VA Hospital
-
Chuanhai Cao, Ph.D.
Associate professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Science, USF College of Pharmacy,
ccao@usf.edu -
Yu Chen, PhD
Associate Professor Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
ychen1@usf.edu -
Shalini Jain, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair Faculty, Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair Faculty, USF Center for Microbiome Research, Institute for Microbiomes
-
Umesh Jinwal, PHD
Associate ProfessorDepartment of Pharmaceutical SciencesUSF College of Pharmacy
jinwalu@usf.edu -
Stephen Liggett, MD
Assoc Vice President, College of Medicine Office of Research Associate Vice President for Research, USF Health Vice Dean for Research, Morsani College of Medicine Professor, Internal Medicine
sliggett@usf.edu -
Kevin Nash, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
nash@usf.edu -
Vladimir Uversky, PhD, DSc
Professor Department of Molecular Medicine USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
vuversky@usf.edu -
Lianchun Wang, MD
Professor, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Professor, Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute, Endowed USF Chair of Neurovascular Research
lianchunw@usf.edu -
Hariom Yadav, Ph.D.
Director, USF Center for Microbiome Research, Institute for Microbiomes Associate Professor, Neurosurgery and Brain Repair Associate Professor, Internal Medicine- Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Faculty, Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair Faculty, Byrd Alzheimer's Center/ USF Neuroscience Institute
The following is a list of all areas of focus that our laboratories explore along with last names of faculty investigators currently engaged in that research.
| Area of Focus | Faculty Engaged in Research |
| Addiction | Gulick, Gamsby |
| Aging | Bickford, Thinakaran, Parent, Yadav, Jain, Heckmann, Wang |
| Amyloid toxicity | Uversky, Thinakaran, Parent, Yadav, Jain, Heckmann |
| Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) | Uversky, Heckmann |
| Biomarkers | Cao, Yadav, Jain, Heckmann |
| Cell death mechanisms | Blair, Thinakaran, Parent, Heckmann, Wang |
| Circadian Rhythm | Gulick, Gamsby |
| Cytoskeleton | Blair, Thinakaran, Parent, Wang |
| Drug discovery | Blair, Nash, Jinwal, Cao, Chen, Uversky, Thinakaran, Parent, Yadav, Heckmann |
| Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) | Blair, Uversky, Thinakaran |
| Learning & Memory | Parent, Thinakaran, Gulick, Gamsby, Bickford, Cao, Blair, Nash, Jinwal |
| Mitochondrial dysfunction | Bickford, Yadav, Heckmann |
| Molecular Neuropathology | Thinakaran, Blair, Parent, Heckmann, Dharap, Heckmann, Wang |
| Neuroinflammation | Heckmann, Nash, Cao, Blair, Thinakaran, Parent, Yadav, Jain, Heckmann |
| Oxidative stress | Uversky, Thinakaran, Heckmann |
| Parkinson’s disease (PD) | Nash, Uversky, Bickford, Heckmann |
| Protein misfolding & chaperones | Blair, Cao, Uversky, Bickford, Thinakaran |
| Stroke & TBI | Dharap, Blair, Bickford, Yadav, Jain, Heckmann |
| Structure-based drug design | Chen, Thinakaran, Yadav, Heckmann |
| Synaptic plasticity | Parent, Blair, Nash, Thinakaran |
| Synucleinopathy | Uversky, Nash, Bickford |
| Tauopathy |
Blair, Thinakaran, Nash, Jinwal, Uversky, Bickford, Parent, Heckmann |
| Microbiome | Yadav, Jain, Heckmann |