Research Opportunities

 

Research Mission

Our faculty support a diverse research mission. Retaining a focus on neurodegeneration, it is fair to say that virtually every area of research in Neuropathology has found a niche in the Division. The following table summarizes the principal strengths of the different faculty member’s research programs.

Faculty Member Name 

Current Title

Summary of Research

Charleen T. Chu, MD, PhD 

Professor (with tenure)

Molecular cell biology of neurodegeneration in Parkinson spectrum diseases. Kinase signaling, mitochondrial quality control & autophagy

Julia Kofler, MD

Associate Professor

Director of adult and pediatric neurodegenerative brain bank.  Co-director of Alzheimer’s disease research center at University of Pittsburgh Research interests include association of neuropathological endophenotypes with genetic risk factors in Alzheimer’s disease;  Genetic and molecular correlates of white matter pathology in Alzheimer’s disease; neurobiological substrates and resilience factors for the occurrence of psychosis in Alzheimer’s disease; Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Scott Kulich, MD, PhD

Professor

Dr. Kulich's laboratory studies the interaction between oxidative neurotoxins and intracellular signal transduction cascades in the context or neurologic diseases.

David Lacomis, MD

Professor of Neurology & Pathology

Cerebrospinal fluid and blood biomarkers in ALS; Clinical drug trials, epidemiology, and non-invasive ventilation in ALS; Histopathology of autoimmune and critical illness myopathies.

Daniel Marker, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

 Neuro-oncology and neuroinflammation

Thomas Pearce, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Machine learning and neurodegeneration

Clayton Wiley, MD, PhD

Professor of Pathology (with tenure)

Neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration