Staff:


Project 1: “Regulation Of Biofilm Development On Epithelial Cells And Abiotic Surfaces By Pseudomonas Aeruginosa”

PI: George O’Toole, Ph.D. (Microbiology)
Mentor: Ronald Taylor, Ph.D. (Microbiology)

Project 2: "Regulation of Endocytic Trafficking of CFTR"

PI: Agnieszka Swiatecka-Urban, M.D. (Pediatrics and Physiology)
Mentor: George Langford, Ph.D. (Biological Sciences)

Project 3: “Structural Analysis of Protein-Protein Interactions that Modulate the
Function and Intracellular Localization of the Cystic Fibrosis
Transmembrane Conductance Regulator”

PI: Dean Madden, Ph.D. (Biochemistry)
Mentor: Bruce Stanton, Ph.D. (Physiology)

Project 4: “Respiratory Effects of Air Pollution in New Hampshire”

PI: Melinda Treadwell, Ph.D. (Keene State College)
Co-investigator: Richard Rumba (State of New Hampshire),
Co-Mentors: Joshua Hamilton, Ph.D. (Pharmacology and Toxicology)

Project 5: “Environmental Epidemiology of Lung Cancer in New Hampshire: A Multilevel Approach using GIS and Case-Control Methods”

PI: Eric Duell, Ph.D. (Epidemiology/Community and Family Medicine)
Co-PI: Xun Shi, Ph.D. (Geography)
Co-Mentors: Margaret Karagas, Ph.D. (Epidemiology/Community and Family Medicine), Frank Magilligan, Ph.D (Geography)

Grant Manager: Joanne Tortolano

Internal advisory committee

The internal committee will advise the Director and be composed of senior mentors and co-investigators including: Drs. Mark Israel (Director of the Norris Cotton Cancer center at DHMC), Ethan Dmitrovsky, Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology and a noted lung cancer specialist), Joshua Hamilton (Director of the Molecular Biology and Proteomic Cores), Margaret Karagas (a noted cancer epidemiologist and Section Chief of Biostatistics and Epidemiology), H. Worth Parker (Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at DHMC), and George Langford (Director of the EE Just Minority Program at Dartmouth College).

External advisory committee

The External Advisory Committee (EAC) will meet at Dartmouth twice a year to comprehensively review all Program activities. The purpose of these bi-annual meetings will be to both provide guidance to the Center Director and senior leadership, as well as to independently review and report on the Program to the Dartmouth administration and to NIH COBRE personnel. The members of this committee are individuals within the field of lung biology who have a distinguished career both as scientists and administrative leaders, representing the different areas of expertise within our Program. We will ask the initial membership of this committee to serve for the duration of the five year COBRE grant funding, if the grant is awarded, to provide consistent oversight for this critical initial period of growth and development. As the Program matures and obtains NIH SCOR and/or Program Project support, the composition of the committee will be re-evaluated. The following distinguished scientists have agreed to serve on the EAC:

William Guggino, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Pediatrics and Director of the CF Research Development Program at Johns Hopkins Medical School has a international reputation in Cystic Fibrosis, with an emphasis on cell biology, physiology and gene therapy. His research is focused on studying protein-protein interactions between CFTR and accessory proteins and how these interactions regulate CFTR trafficking and function. Thus, he will play an essential role in evaluating the progress and scientific goals of the projects proposed by Drs. Madden, O’Toole and Swiatecka-Urban. In addition, as Director of a Training Grant he also has the experience to facilitate the development of Drs. Madden, O’Toole and Swiatecka-Urban, as well as the other junior investigators in our Program.

Karl Kelsey M.D., Professor of Cancer Biology and Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, is an internationally recognized expert in molecular epidemiology, with particular expertise in the environmental etiology of human cancer. Recent epidemiology studies by Dr. Kelsey and co-workers have focused on molecular events associated with environmental factors and the development of lung cancer. He also collaborates on the Nurses Health Study, one of the largest ongoing epidemiology studies in the country. Dr. Kelsey has an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Margaret Karagas (senior mentor on Project 5) and was also the postdoctoral research advisor for Dr. Eric Duell (PI on Project 5). Thus, he is ideally suited to contribute to the evaluation of the progress and scientific goals of the projects proposed by Drs. Treadwell (Project 4), Duell and Shi (Project 5). In addition, Dr. Kelsey is an outstanding teacher and administrator who is well known for his positive and encouraging style. Thus, he is ideally suited to facilitate the development of Drs. Treadwell, Duell and Shi and the new recruit at KSC, as well as the other promising junior investigators in our Program.

Daniel Liebler Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry at Vanderbuilt University is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers in the application of proteomic approaches to understanding the role of environmental factors in human disease. He is also the author of the book, "Introduction to Proteomics: Tools for the New Biology" (Humana Press, 2002), which describes the application of proteomics to biological problems. In addition to his considerable administrative and programmatic experience as a center, program and core facility director, Dr. Liebler has a strong record of teaching and mentoring graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty. He has also hosted many visiting senior faculty who have taken sabbatic leaves at his institution to learn proteomic approaches and their research applications. Thus, Dr. Liebler will play a key role in evaluating the progress and scientific goals of the proteomic studies proposed by Drs. O'Toole, Swiatecka-Urban, Madden, and Treadwell, and he also has the requisite experience to facilitate the development of the other junior investigators in our Program. He will also be a valuable advisor to Dr. Stanton and the senior leadership as they develop this COBRE program at Dartmouth.