Research Categories - Research Tools and Instrumentation

Advanced technologies are routinely used at HMS, and several faculty members are considered leading authorities on the use of these analytical technologies in biological applications. For example, Gerhard Wagner is an expert on NMR spectroscopy, and is pioneering the use of this methodology in the analysis of protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. James Hogle is developing improvements to fluorescence microscopy and also investigating viral entry into cells by electron microscopy. Stephen Harrison is employing electron microscopy and x-ray crystallography to analyze viral particle assembly and trafficking. James Chou is exploiting NMR for analyzing the structures of membrane proteins.

Related Investigators

  1. Ronald Desrosiers, PhD

    HIV and AIDS: vaccine; persistent immune response

    Develop new strategies for blunting viral replication and bolstering the immune system’s ability to eradicate viral-infected T-cell reservoirs. 

  2. Walter Fontana, PhD

    Information biology: principles, limits, and evolution of information processing in molecular systems

    Develop, apply, and establish the concept of programs as models to represent, model, and analyze complex systems of molecular interactions underlying cellular behavior; empirically characterize and ...

  3. Robert Paul Johnson, MD

    HIV mechanism of action and new AIDS therapies

    Gene therapy; vaccines

  4. Galit Lahav, PhD

    The p53 tumor suppressor as a model for studying temporal dynamics of signaling networks

    Investigate protein dynamics at the single cell level; quantification of proteins in live cells using fluorescence microscopy and mathematical modeling; cellular decision-making in cancer and healthy ...

  5. Norbert Perrimon, PhD

    Modeling developmental processes and signaling pathways in Drosophila

    Use Drosophila as a model organism to explore basic biological mechanisms of development and cellular signaling, with a focus on muscle physiology.

  6. Frederick Roth, PhD

    Genomic and computational analysis of genetic interactions: protein interactions; gene function; humanized yeast and drug screening; DNA sequencing

    Developing experimental and computational technologies for mapping gene and protein interactions.  

  7. Michael Starnbach, PhD

    Bacterial infection and acquired immunity

    T-cell response to bacterial infection, including sexually transmitted chlamydia disease

  8. Susan Westmoreland, VMD

    Neuropathology of HIV and SIV infections and AIDS

    Explore the molecular and cellular bases of neuropathologies associated with HIV and SIV infections, including encephalitis and dementia.  

  9. Bruce Yankner, MD, PhD

    Molecular mechanisms of aging and aging-related neurodegenerative diseases

    Explore aging at the molecular level, employing a systems biology approach

  10. Wei-Dong Yao, PhD

    Dopamine signaling; synaptic plasticity; neurobiology of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders