David Piwnica-Worms is Professor of Radiology, Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, and Director of the Molecular Imaging Center. His research interests encompass applications of molecular cell biology, biochemistry, and chemistry to molecular imaging in vivo with specific focus on development of reporter systems for imaging gene expression in vivo, imaging signal transduction and protein-protein interactions in whole cells and animal models, and biochemical analysis of the function and regulation of the multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein family of transporters as well as translational research directed toward imaging in vivo using technetium-99m labeled radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine applications. He is a founding member and 2004 President of the Society for Molecular Imaging.
Vijay Sharma, Ph.D.
Dr. Sharma is an Assistant Professor of Radiology. Working at the interface of chemistry and biology, his research interests are focused upon discovery and development of molecular probes, for addressing important biological questions across multiple disciplines. Specific emphasis is towards the design of small organic molecules, metallopharmaceuticals, and peptides for biomedical applications in neurodegenerative diseases; understand protein-protein interactions via imaging of reporter gene expression in vivo; and investigate biological mechanism(s) of infectious diseases as well as neurological disorders by fostering direct collaborations with investigators in biology. Employing institutional resources as well as funding obtained from federal, state, and nonprofit organizations, Dr. Sharma’s group continues to discover and validate diagnostic agents for rapidly emerging field of the molecular imaging.
I have joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow in January 2002 and became part of the Faculty as Research Instructor in Radiology in July 2005. I am interested in regulation and mechanism of action of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of transporter proteins, specializing on multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer. Using the High Throughput Core facility, I develop drug screens to identify new leads for MDR reversal/interaction. Furthermore, I am involved in molecular imaging of gene expression and protein function in vivo and use RNA interference against target proteins in vivo. I also analyze transgenic mouse lines that are developed in the lab. I teach lectures in the course “Contrast Agents for Biological Imaging” (Biology 5147 and Chemistry 5147) with a focus on bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging.
Cores affiliated with:
Molecular Reporter Core
High Throughput Core
