As a pediatric gastroenterologist and physician scientist, I am keenly aware of the challenges faced by our pediatric population. The intestinal epithelium comprises the human body’s greatest environmentally exposed surface and is the largest sensory and endocrine organ. My research utilizes human intestinal organoids and animal models to understand how the intestine senses and responds to both regular and inflammatory stimuli.
Research Interests: Bronchial hyperreactivity in asthma. Effects of viral infection on airway function. Regulation of airway mucous secretion and vascular permeability.
Dr. Iona Cheng is an epidemiologist with research interests focused on the role of genetics, health behaviors, environmental exposures, and neighborhood factors on cancer incidence and prognosis. Her overall research program is centered on understanding racial/ethnic differences in cancer risk. Dr.
Charles Chiu, M.D./Ph.D. is a Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at University of California, San Francisco, Director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center (VDDC), and Associate Director of the UCSF Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, He is a board-certified consulting infectious diseases physician at UCSF, and practices in both infectious diseases and clinical microbiology. Dr.
Kelsey H. Collins, PhD completed her undergraduate work in Exercise Biology at University of California, Davis, and earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Calgary under the direction of Dr. Walter Herzog. During her postdoctoral studies in the Guilak Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, she created a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine platform to determine the signaling mechanisms between adipose and musculoskeletal tissues.
Joseph Cuschieri M.D. earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan, and his Medical Degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residence and surgical critical care fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Upon completion of his clinical training, he completed a 2-year NIH T32 Fellowship in the field of Trauma/Burn/Inflammation.
Dr. Cuschieri is certified by the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery with subspecialty certification in Surgical Critical Care.
The Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine (BCMM) stands committed to dismantling the structural barriers to education, research and employment endemic in our society, to promoting awareness of implicit bias and reinforcing inclusivity.