NIAMS faculty lead the way in innovative research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases. They are listed alphabetically below, followed by the leads of our core facilities.
Timothy Bhattacharyya, M.D.
Senior Clinician
Head, Clinical and Investigative Orthopedics Surgery Unit
bhattacharyyat@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Bhattacharyya's research involves studying and analyzing orthopedic outcomes using a variety of clinical data sources. His team is interested in hip fractures, hip infections, joint replacement, atypical femur fractures, and nonunions.
Isaac Brownell, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Dermatology Branch
Chief, Cutaneous Development and Carcinogenesis Section
Isaac.brownell@nih.gov
Dr. Brownell is a board-certified dermatologist and a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. He directs a research program that includes basic, translational, and clinical investigations of skin homeostasis and skin cancer.
Robert Colbert, M.D., Ph.D.
Clinical Director, NIAMS
Head, Clinical Research @ NIAMS
Chief, Pediatric Translational Research Branch
colbertr@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Colbert's research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation and its impact on the structural remodeling of bone in spondyloarthritic diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis.
Edward W. Cowen, M.D., M.H.Sc.
Senior Clinician, Dermatology Branch
Head, Dermatology Consultation Service
cowene@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Cowen leads the NIH Dermatology Consultation Service, conducts independent and collaborative research, and oversees the continuing medication education-accredited Dermatology Grand Rounds, Branch Clinical Fellowship, and resident education programs.
Luis M. Franco, M.D.
Earl Stadtman Investigator, NIH Distinguished Scholar
Chief, Functional Immunogenetics Section
luis.franco@nih.gov
Dr. Franco's research applies functional genomics approaches to the solution of medically important questions related to the immune system.
Massimo Gadina, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist
Director, Office of Science and Technology
Chief, Translational Immunology Section
gadinama@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Gadina's research interests are focused on immune-mediated diseases and specifically, the biology of cytokines and their relative signaling pathways. His translational work is also focused on autoinflammatory diseases and other inflammatory diseases.
Brian Glancy, Ph.D.
Earl Stadtman Investigator
Chief, Muscle Energetics Laboratory
brian.glancy@nih.gov
Dr. Glancy's research focuses on determining how mitochondria are optimized within muscle cells to help maintain energy homeostasis during the large change in energy demand caused by muscle contraction.
Pravitt Gourh, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Investigator
Chief, Scleroderma Genomics and Health Disparities Section
pravitt.gourh@nih.gov
Dr. Gourh is a board-certified rheumatologist with a long-standing interest in scleroderma. He directs a translational research program focused on understanding the genetics of scleroderma, biomarker discovery, and disease classification.
Peter Grayson, M.D.
Investigator
Chief, Vasculitis Translational Research Program
Acting Director, NIAMS Rheumatology Fellowship Program
peter.grayson@nih.gov
Dr. Grayson's research interests include clinical and translational research in vasculitis with a focus on biomarker discovery, gene expression profiling, clinical trials, and disease classification.
Markus Hafner, Ph.D.
Senior Investigator
Chief, RNA Molecular Biology Laboratory
markus.hafner@nih.gov
Dr. Hafner's research focuses on dissecting the composition of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) involved in cellular RNA transport and control of RNA stability. This is a prerequisite for understanding the consequences of dysregulation and/or mutation of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), and/or their target RNA-binding sites in disease.
Sarfaraz Hasni, M.D.
Staff Clinician
Chief, Lupus Clinical Trials Section
Director, Lupus Clinical Research Program
hasnisa@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Hasni conducts innovative translational and clinical research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of lupus.
Natasha Hill, Ph.D.
Independent Research Scholar
Head, Cutaneous Malignancies Unit
natasha.hill@nih.gov
Dr. Hill’s current research uses genomic and proteomic techniques to investigate the pathobiology of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a neuroendocrine skin cancer that predominantly occurs in elderly and immunosuppressed populations.
Mariana Kaplan, M.D.
Deputy Scientific Director, NIAMS
Senior Investigator
Chief, Systemic Autoimmunity Branch
mariana.kaplan@nih.gov
Dr. Kaplan's research focuses on unraveling the fundamental mechanisms that lead to the development and perpetuation of systemic autoimmune disorders, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and their associated organ damage.
Hanna Kim, M.D., M.S.
Assistant Clinical Investigator, Pediatric Translational Research Branch
Chief, Juvenile Myositis Therapeutic and Translational Studies Section
hanna.kim@nih.gov
Dr. Kim's research investigates the pathogenetic role of interferon and identifies treatment response and prognostic biomarkers in juvenile myositis.
Heidi H. Kong, M.D., M.H.Sc
Senior Investigator, Dermatology Branch
Chief, Cutaneous Microbiome and Inflammation Section
konghe@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Kong's research focuses on the skin microbiome in healthy individuals with the goal of expanding our understanding of host-microbe interactions. Her section also works to understand the role of microbes in eczematous skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis.
Laura B. Lewandowski, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Investigator, Systemic Autoimmunity Branch
Chief, Lupus Genomics and Global Health Disparities Section
laura.lewandowski@nih.gov
Dr. Lewandowski's research studies the genetics of early-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in populations around the globe and the genetic drivers of severe disease and inflammation in diverse cohorts worldwide.
Andrew Mammen, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator
Chief, Muscle Disease Section
andrew.mammen@nih.gov
Dr. Mammen's research focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of disease in different types of myositis, including dermatomyositis, polymyositis, statin-triggered necrotizing myopathy, and inclusion body myositis. The ultimate goal is to establish more effective treatments for patients with all forms of myositis.
Naoko Mizuno, Ph.D.
Earl Stadtman Investigator
Chief, Laboratory of Structural Cell Biology
naoko.mizuno@nih.gov
Dr. Mizuno's research focuses on the molecular mechanisms governing specialized cell shapes, such as neurons, platelets or activated immune cells, and specific cancer cells.
Maria Morasso, Ph.D.
Senior Investigator
Chief, Laboratory of Skin Biology
morassom@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Morasso's research focuses on the molecular processes that contribute to epidermal differentiation and barrier formation, appendage development, and the mechanisms underlying the pathologies of ectodermal dysplasias (EDs).
Tasha Morrison, Ph.D.
Independent Research Scholar
Head, Lymphocyte Signaling Unit
tasha.morrison@nih.gov
Dr. Morrison’s research goal is to uncover novel molecular mechanisms that regulate the development and function of immune cells.
Keisuke Nagao, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Dermatology Branch
Chief, Cutaneous Leukocyte Biology Section
keisuke.nagao@nih.gov
Dr. Nagao’s research focuses on cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate immunological and structural homeostasis in the skin.
Michael Ombrello, M.D.
Investigator
Chief, Translational Genetics and Genomics Section
ombrellomj@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Ombrello's research applies integrated genomic approaches to investigate autoinflammatory and rheumatic diseases, seeking to understand the mechanisms through which disease-associated genetic variants participate in disease pathophysiology.
John O'Shea, M.D.
Scientific Director, NIAMS
Senior Investigator
Chief, Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch
osheajo@mail.nih.gov
Dr. O'Shea’s research studies how the engagement of cytokine receptors transduce signals that, in turn, regulate transcription factors and epigenetic events to modulate gene expression. Another goal is to understand how T cells participate in host defense and contribute to the pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases.
Vittorio Sartorelli, M.D.
Deputy Scientific Director, NIAMS
Senior Investigator
Chief, Laboratory of Muscle Stem Cells and Gene Regulation
sartorev@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Sartorelli's research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms subtending specification, differentiation, and regeneration of skeletal muscle cells. His lab pursues these studies by combining cellular and molecular biological approaches, genomic and proteomic-based systems-biology, bioinformatics, and animal models.
Paul Wingfield, Ph.D.
Senior Investigator
Chief, Protein Expression Laboratory
Acting Chief, Laboratory of Structural Biology Research
wingfiep@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Wingfield supports intramural NIH scientists in studying the structure and function of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) proteins.
Core Facility Leads
Stefania Dell'Orso, Ph.D.
Chief, Genomic Technology Section
dellorsos@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Dell'Orso's section is a multi-disciplinary genomics facility that supports NIAMS investigators with the latest on DNA sequencing and library preparation technologies.
Davide Randazzo, Ph.D.
Chief, Light Imaging Section
davide.randazzo@nih.gov
Dr. Randazzo focuses on the use of light microscopy techniques to elucidate poorly understood aspects of skeletal muscle cell biology, i.e. the organization of microtubules and their associated subcellular organelles, particularly the Golgi complex. In addition, his section strives to apply new modalities of light microscopy to the quantitative analysis of skeletal muscle pathologies.
Hong-Wei Sun, Ph.D.
Chief, Biodata Mining and Discovery Section
sunh1@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Sun focuses on applying computational approaches of data sciences to biomedical research.