Molecular Pharmacology, Systems Pharmacology, Pharmacology, Systems Biology, doctoral degree, doctorate, PhD, Ph.D.
Addiction, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Infectious Disease, Neurodegenerative Disease, Bioinformatics, Cell Biology, Genomics, Neuroscience, Proteomics/Lipidomics, Signal Transduction, Structural Biology
Pharmacology Training Faculty
K. Ulrich Bayer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Pharmacology Molecular memory mechanisms in
cellular signal transduction and neuronal function; CaMKII and Ca2+ signaling
Timothy A. Benke, M.D./Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Pediatrics, Department of
Neurology Mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and impacts of development and epilepsy
Michael D. Browning, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Molecular mechanisms of neuronal
function with particular emphasis on protein phosphorylation
Mair E. A. Churchill, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology Structure and mechanism in
gene regulation; biophysical and structural studies of protein-nucleic acid and protein-protein complexes in
chromatin and bacterial pathogenesis
Allan C. Collins, Ph.D. Professor Univ. of Colorado, Boulder Department of Psychology Neurochemistry of
alcohol and drug addiction
Mark L. Dell'Acqua, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology Organization of signaling
complexes by protein kinase and phosphatase anchoring proteins; mechanisms regulating neuronal second
messenger signaling in synaptic plasticity
Elan Eisenmesser, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Viral/host protein
interactions and enzyme dynamics
Paul V. Fennessey, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics Solutions to
clinical problems using stable isotopes and mass spectrometry
Curt R. Freed, M.D. Professor Department of Medicine The dynamic role of dopamine in movement; Neural
transplantation for Parkinson's disease
Robert M. D. Freedman, M.D. Professor and Chairman Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Medical
Center Central nervous system physiology and pharmacology and its application to clinical psychiatry
Lynn E. Heasley, Ph.D. Professor Department of Medicine, Department of Medicine Investigating the role of MAP kinases and specific receptor tyrosine kinases in normal and transformed growth of lung epithelial cells using techniques of molecular and cell biology in lung epithelial cells and human lung cancer cell lines
Kim A. Heidenreich, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Signal transduction pathways that
regulate neuronal survival and apoptosis
Peter M. Henson, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pathology, UCDHSC/NJMRC Department of Integrated
Immnology Inflammatory process as a paradigm of complex interacting cell networks and communication
molecules and as a component of human diseases
Robert S. Hodges, Ph.D. Professor Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Structure-function
studies of multi-protein complexes; de novo design of model proteins to test our understanding of protein
folding and structure and to design proteins with the desired biological/immunological activities; Synthetic
peptide vaccines and antimicrobial therapeutics
Paula L. Hoffman, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Neuropharmacology; mechanisms of
alcohol tolerance, dependence, and craving; genetic aspects of alcohol dependence and affective disorders;
biochemical/molecular biological/genetic analysis of CNS receptors and signal transduction systems
Lawrence Hunter, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology Computational biology,
bioinformatics, gene expression array analysis, natural language processing, biomedical ontologies, machine
learning
David N. M. Jones, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology Molecular mechanism of alcohols
and anesthetic actions; structure and function of biomolecules; NMR spectroscopy, x-ray crystallography,
biophysics and molecular biology
John W. Kappler, Ph.D. Professor UCDHSC/NJMRC Department of Integrated Immunology The study of the
interaction between the T cell receptor and its signal ligands
Leslie A. Krushel, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics,
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Mechanisms and regulation of protein synthesis in the
nervous system with a focus on the understanding of translation in learning and memory and disease
Tatiana G. Kutateladze, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Pharmacology Biochemistry and
structural biology, NMR and crystal structures of proteins implicated in cancer, structure based drug
Sherry S. Leonard, Ph.D. Professor Department of Psychiatry Molecular neurobiology of nicotine addiction
in mental illness
Christina C. Leslie, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pediatrics, Department of Pathology Signal transduction
mechanisms regulating phospholipase A2 activation and the production of lipid mediators of
Chuan-Yuan Li, Ph.D. Professor and Director Department of Radiation Oncology
Alvin M. Malkinson, Ph.D. Professor School of Pharmacy Genetics of susceptibility to lung tumors in mice;
mechanisms of lung tumor promotion; signal transduction
James L. Maller, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Biochemistry of cell division and early
development; cell cycle control; protein phosphorylation and oncogene action
Robert C. Murphy, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Pharmacology and biochemistry of
leukotrienes and bioactive lipids, lipid mediators of cellular response using biochemical mass spectrometry
Raphael A. Nemenoff, Ph.D. Professor Department of Medicine Signaling pathways controlling growth and
differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells; Role of eicosanoids in lung cancer
Dennis R. Petersen, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of
Medicine Molecular mechanisms of chemical and drug toxicity
J. David Port, Ph.D. Professor Department of Medicine, Department of Medicine G-protein linked receptors
and their regulation; regulation of mRNA stability
David W. H. Riches, Ph.D. Professor Critical Care Medicine, UCDHSC/NJMRC Department of Integrated
Immunology, Department of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine Signal transduction by TNF receptor
family members and their involvement in macrophage development; Regulation of myofibroblast and
macrophage apoptosis and survival in pulmonary fibrosis and cystic fibrosis
William A. Sather, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology Structural basis of calcium
channel function, including selective ion permeability and neuromodulation of channel gating
Robert I. Scheinman, Ph.D. Associate Research Professor School of Pharmacy, School of
Pharmacy Regulation of gene expression focusing on basic mechanisms or transcription, apoptosis, immune
tolerance, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmunity
William P. Schiemann, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology Mechanisms of TGF-b-
mediated tumor suppression and tumor promotion; cloning and characterization of TFG-b-regulated
signaling molecules and secretory proteins; expression proteomics and genomics, biochemistry, and cell
Natalie J. Serkova, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Anesthesiology, Department of
Radiology Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) based metabonomics; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(MRI); immunosuppressive drug toxicodynamics and toxicokinetics; ischemia/reperfusion in
James M. Sikela, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Neurogenomics; disease gene discovery;
human genome evolution and variation
Alexander D. Sorkin, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Endocytosis, intracellular trafficking and
signaling of growth factor receptors, dopamine transporter, dopaminergic neurons
Stanley J. Szefler, M.D. Professor Department of Pediatrics Clinical pharmacology of glucocorticoids and
immunosuppressants; therapy of childhood asthma
Boris Tabakoff, Ph.D. Professor and Chairman Department of Pharmacology Molecular pharmacology;
pharmacogenetics; neuroadaptation and neurotransmitter metabolism/enzymology; CNS receptor
molecular pharmacology and genetics/genomics of addiction
Andrew M. Thorburn, D.Phil. Professor and Vice Chair Department of Pharmacology Understanding the
signaling mechanisms that control apoptosis in cancer development and during the response of tumor cells
to cancer therapeutics
Christine C. Wu, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Pharmacology Proteomic analysis of membrane
proteins from complex biological samples using mass spectrometry; molecular mechanisms of intracellular
trafficking and organellar biogenesis
Nancy R. Zahniser, Ph.D. Professor Department of Pharmacology Regulation of dopamine transporters;
mechanisms underlying cocaine's actions; neurotransmitter receptors and release in brain
Postdoctoral Positions
(none currently available)
Research Associate & Other Positions
please visit www.jobsatcu.com
The University of Colorado Denver (UCD) is dedicated to ensuring a safe and secure environment for our faculty, staff, students and visitors. To achieve this goal, we conduct background investigations for all prospective employees.
The University of Colorado is committed to diversity and equality in education and employment.
When applying at www.jobsatcu.com, applicants must include:
- A letter of interest which specifically addresses the job requirements and outlines qualifications
- A current CV/resume
- The names, addresses, daytime telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for three professional references. If your references are NOT included in your resume or cover letter, please attach a separate document under Optional Documents, References.