Interdisciplinary Program Faculty




Joseph T. Barbieri, PhD
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology; Associate Director, Medical Scientist Training Program


Ivor J. Benjamin, MD, FAHA, FACC
Center Director, Professor

Andreas Beyer, PhD
Associate Professor

Ravit Boger, MD
Chief and Professor, Pediatrics Infectious Disease


Ulrich Broeckel, MD
Professor, Pediatrics; Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Physiology and School of Pharmacy; Chief, Section of Genomic Pediatrics; Associate Director, Pharmacogenomics, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine


Joseph Carroll, PhD
Richard O. Schultz, MD / Ruth Works Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Biophysics, and Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy Director, Advanced Ocular Imaging Program


Yi-Guang Chen, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics (Endocrinology) and Microbiology & Immunology



Magdalena Chrzanowska-Wodnicka, PhD, FAHA
Associate Professor; Pharmacology and Toxicology; Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute

Lisa Ann Cirillo, PhD
Associate Professor; Assistant Dean for Basic Science Curriculum

Jenifer Coburn, PhD
Professor, Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Microbiology & Immunology; Center for Infectious Disease Research
Ross Collery, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy




Ranjan Dash, PhD
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering Secondary Appointment - Department of Physiology

Michael Deininger, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine

Bonnie N. Dittel, PhD
Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

William R. Drobyski, MD
Mariette C. and Philip W. Orth/Tom Anderson Chair of Oncology; Co-Leader, Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Program, Cancer Center; Professor, Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), Pediatrics, Microbiology & Immunology

Matt Durand, PhD
Associate Professor; Research Director; Secondary Faculty Appointment in Physiology

Melinda R. Dwinell, PhD
Professor and Eminent Scholar; Associate Director, Education, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine

Michael B. Dwinell, PhD
Professor; Founding Director, Center for Immunology; Director, Bobbie Nick Voss Laboratory for Colon Cancer Research; Hanis-Stepka-Rettig Endowed Chair in Cancer Research








Julie Freed, MD, PhD
Associate Professor; Executive Vice Chair; Director of Clinical Research


Constanza Garcia Keller, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Nashaat Gerges, PhD, BPharm
Professor, Chair of the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences


Justin L. Grobe, PhD
Professor, Physiology & Biomedical Engineering; Director, Comprehensive Rodent Metabolic Phenotyping Core



Cecilia J. Hillard, PhD
Associate Dean for Research; Professor; Director, Neuroscience Research Center; G. Frederick Kasten, Jr. Endowed Chair in Parkinson’s Disease Research


Karin Hoffmeister, MD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Department of Medicine (Hematology and Oncology); Hauske Family Endowed Chair in Glycobiology, Senior Investigator, Blood Research Institute, Versiti


Neil Hogg, PhD
Professor; Director, Redox Biology Program; Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, School of Graduate Studies


Victor X. Jin, PhD
Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Endowed Chair of Bioinformatics and Data Analytics; Professor, IHE/Biostatistics

Bryon D. Johnson, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology/BMT) and Microbiology & Immunology

Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD
Harry R. & Angeline E. Quadracci Professor in Parkinson’s Research


Christian Kastrup, PhD
Professor, Department of Surgery; Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Secondary Faculty

John R. Kirby, PhD
Chair, Microbiology & Immunology; Walter Schroeder Professor in Microbiology and Immunology; Associate Director, Microbiome, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine; Associate Director, Center for Microbiome Research

Candice S. Klug, PhD
James S. Hyde Professor of Biophysics; Director, National Biomedical EPR Center; Program Director, Biophysics Graduate Program


Christopher J. Kristich, PhD
Professor; Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research

Antje Kroner-Milsch, MD, PhD
Associate Professor




Peter LaViolette, PhD, MS
Professor; Director, Quantitative Imaging Laboratory; Section of Imaging Research, Division of Imaging Sciences


Gustavo W. Leone, PhD
Professor; Director, MCW Cancer Center; Senior Associate Dean of Cancer Research


Joy Lincoln, PhD
PhD, Professor and Associate Chief, Pediatric Cardiology, Research Director, Pediatric Cardiology, Peter Sommerhauser Chair for Cardiac Quality, Outcomes and Research, Children’s Wisconsin, Director of Cardiovascular Research, Herma Heart Institute; Associate Director, Cardiovascular Center


Daniel M. Lipinski, MSc, DPhil
Research Director; Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy


Wei Liu, PhD
Joseph F. Heil, Jr. Endowed Chair of Molecular Oncogenesis Associate Professor


Robert Lochhead, PhD
Assistant Professor; Secondary Faculty in Medicine (Rheumatology)

Gwen Lomberk, PhD
Chief, Division of Research; Director, Basic Science Research; Department of Surgery; Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology & Toxicology




Yan-Qing Ma, PhD
Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Associate Adjunct Professor

Subramaniam Malarkannan, PhD
Professor and Gardetto Chair for Immunology and Immunotherapy; Professor, Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) and Microbiology & Immunology; Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute

Akiko Mammoto, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pediatrics (Neonatology)

John Mantsch, PhD
Florence J. Williams Professor and Chair of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Francesca M. Marassi, PhD
Professor, Chair, and Eminent Scholar; Associate Director, MCW Cancer Center Shared Resources













Marja T. Nevalainen, MD, PhD
WBCS Endowed Professor of Prostate Cancer Research, Department of Pathology and Pharmacology & Toxicology; Assistant Dean of Research, Medical College of Wisconsin; Director, Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence at Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center

Debra K. Newman, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Senior Investigator at Versiti Blood Research Institute; Adjunct Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

Peter J. Newman, PhD
Professor; Vice President for Research, Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin; Associate Director, Blood Research Institute

Stephanie Olivier-Van Stichelen, PhD
Assistant Professor in Biochemistry; Secondary Faculty in Obstetrics & Gynecology






Sandra L. Pfister, PhD
Interim Director, Clinical Learning Environment Pillar; Member, Faculty Pillar, Kern Institute



Sridhar Rao, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology/Transplantation and Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy; Associate Director, Medical Scientist Training Program; Associate Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute


Daisy Sahoo, PhD
Assistant Professor for Research, Division of Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine; Professor, Medicine (Endocrinology); Secondary Faculty in Biochemistry and Pharmacology and Toxicology

Nita H. Salzman, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology; Director, Medical Scientist Training Program; Founding Director, Center for Microbiome Research

Kajana Satkunendrarajah, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery; Physiology


Elena Semina, PhD
Marjorie and Joseph Heil Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences; Professor, Pediatrics; Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Qizhen Shi, MD, PhD
Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Secondary Faculty in Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy


Curt D. Sigmund, PhD
James J. Smith & Catherine Welsch Smith Professor of Physiology; Chair of Physiology; Associate Director, Cardiovascular Center

Roy Silverstein, MD
The Linda and John Mellowes Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine


Brian Smith, PhD
Associate Director, Program in Chemical Biology; Associate Professor, Biochemistry


Mary G. Sorci-Thomas, PhD
Professor, Medicine (Endocrinology); Associate Director, Cardiovascular Center; Program Director, CVC T32 Training Program










Aoy Tomita Mitchell, PhD
Professor with Tenure, Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Raul A. Urrutia, MD
Professor, Department of Surgery; Director, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine



James Verbsky, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics (Rheumatology) and Microbiology & Immunology; Medical Director, Clinical Immunology Research Laboratory; Medical Director, Clinical and Translational Research

Brian F. Volkman, PhD
Director, Program in Chemical Biology; Professor, Biochemistry

Demin Wang, PhD
Senior Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Assistant Professor


Renren Wen, PhD
Associate Professor; Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute


Gilbert C. White, II, MD
Executive Vice President for Research and Director, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Richard H. and Sara E. Aster Chair for Medical Research, Blood Center of Wisconsin; Professor, Medicine, Biochemistry and Pharmacology and Toxicology; Associate Dean for Research, Medical College of Wisconsin

Michael E. Widlansky, MD, MPH
Northwestern Mutual Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine and Pharmacology; Associate Director, Cardiovascular Center

Calvin B. Williams, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology; Associate Dean of Research; Associate Director, Medical Scientist Training Program; Chief Scientific Officer, Children's Wisconsin Research Institute; Chief, Pediatric Rheumatology; Vice Chair, Research, Pediatrics

Carol L. Williams, PhD
Joan K. Van Deuren Professor in Breast Cancer Research; Leader, Cancer Biology Research Program, Cancer Center; Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology

Xue-Zhong Yu, MBA, MS, MD
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology; Associate Director of Basic Sciences in the MCW Cancer Center


Anthony E. Zamora, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) and Microbiology & Immunology



Jieqing Zhu, PhD
Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute; Adjunct Professor



Jacek Zielonka, PhD, DSc
Assistant Professor; Director, Redox & Bioenergetics Shared Resource
Contact Us
Graduate School
Suite H2200
8701 Watertown Plank Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53226
(414) 955-8218
gradschool@mcw.edu
gradschool@mcw.edu
