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The Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine is a 40,000 square-foot research facility with 12 UTSW faculty working in multiple departments and divisions (Internal Medicine/Cardiology/Pulmonary, Neurology, PM&R, Anesthesiology, Applied Physiology) with up to 20 postdocs, and 40 staff on 70 active protocols and 15 federal grants. It is a research enterprise devoted to the study of human physiology and the limits to human functional capacity in health and disease. 

The focus of the Obata Lab is to study how environmental signals (e.g., microbiota, diet, day/night cycles) shape intestinal neural circuits and immune cell networks. A variety of experimental techniques are used, including state-of-the-art imaging technologies, viral tracing of gut innervation, in vivo and ex vivo physiological assays, gnotobiotic systems and multi-omics technologies. The Obata lab is also interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of inter-organ communication, including the Gut-Brain axis.

Our laboratory discovered a family of transcription factors called sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) that control cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis. 

The Advanced Imaging and Informatics for Radiation Therapy (AIRT) Lab's research is focused on the development of novel imaging and beam delivery techniques and new machine learning algorithms to improve the efficacy of radiation therapy.

The research of the Huang Laboratory focuses on understanding the function of fibroblast progenitor cells and fibroblasts in regulating the immune system.

spinal cord injury, wound, pressure ulcer

We believe that understanding the basic biology of the schistosomes is key to developing the next generation of anti-schistosome drugs and vaccines. We also contend that by studying the basic biology of these fascinating organisms, we can better understand important basic biological processes common to all animals, including humans. For that reason, we study schistosomes from multiple angles using a variety of modern molecular approaches.of the lab. 

We are investigating how protein homeostasis (the maturation and turnover of enzymes) interacts with lipid homeostasis.

Our lab currently studies hypoxia, prolyl hydroxylase, and VHL signaling in cancer, especially breast and renal cell carcinomas.

Ascending somatosensory circuitry that shapes the perception of touch and pain. We study the development, function and dysfunction of ascending somatosensory pathways.

The Camacho Lab focuses on understanding key genetic events that lead to cancer in an effort to identify novel targets that will help improve existing therapies

The Wu Laboratory mainly focuses on using human primary nasal and oral epithelium culture to gain novel insights in virus-host interactions.

The Liu Lab is Interested in developing and evaluating novel therapies, notably targeting tumor vasculatures.

Translational biophotonics for noninvasive detection of systemic disease.

The Sharma lab is interested in investigating intermediary metabolism utilizing carbon-13 stable isotope tracers in conjunction with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and mass spectrometry (MS).

We are interested in how epithelial tissues sense and respond to injury.

We mine large-scale data for biological discoveries.

Research conducted by the Nomellini Lab utilizes animal models as well as human samples to examine the interaction between the innate and adaptive immune responses that occur after injury or infection, and the heterogeneity of the immune responses that occur in each individual. Led by Vanessa Nomellini, M.D., Ph.D., our lab ultimately aims to develop personalized immune therapies to reverse the immunosuppression that can occur in ICU survivors.

Zaman’s Lab focuses on the design and development of novel cutting-edge multi-mode imaging systems to overcome current limitations in clinical systems. Most recent research project is involved with the design and developed of a multimode catheter-based imaging system called a Circumferential Intravascular Radioluminescence Photoacoustic Imaging (CIRPI) for early detection of thin-cap-fibro-atheroma (TCFA), the underlying causes of coronary artery disease, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the USA and worldwide. Further, the CIRPI system characterizes the plaques based on disease tissue compositions to unravel their complex structures. This CIRPI system integrates optical, photoacoustic, radioluminescence and ultrasound imaging. We seek to better understand the underlying causes of the disease mechanisms. We are dissecting the role of TCFA perturbations on vascular wall processes during atherosclerosis progression. Our lab also studying novel molecular imaging methods to study coronary arterial disease, carotid stenosis, and myocardial ischemia in subcellular level.

Kim (Jaehyup) lab studies the mechanism of immune regulatory receptor regulation with a special focus on ligand identification and modulation.