Faculty

Poonam Bhandari has a primary interest in developing transgenic drosophila model systems for studying the function of human genes and to make use of these model systems for developing therapies.

Joann Bodurtha is a board certified clinical geneticist. Her broader interests include the medical aspects of genetic conditions, birth defects epidemiology, cancer genetics, genetic counseling, genetics and ethics.

Linda A. Corey is the graduate program director in the Department of Human Genetics. Understanding the role of environmental genetics in aging and the genetic epidemiology of seizures using twin studies are two of her investigative goals.

Lindon J. Eaves is co-director with Dr. Kenneth Kendler of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics. His primary research interests center on the use of twins to study the developmental genetic epidemiology of childhood and adolescent behavior problems. 

Sarah Elsea is a certified clinical biochemical geneticist. Her work focuses on the molecular and biochemical analysis of Smith-Magenis Syndrome.

Rachel Baughman Gannaway is a board certified genetic counselor and director of the Genetic Counseling Training Program.

Michael S. Grotewiel uses the fruit fly, drosophila melanogaster, as a model organism to study the molecular and genetic basis for nervous system function and aging.

Margie Jaworski is a clinical geneticist and pediatrician. She is interested in the genetics of autism, mental illness and dysmorphology.

James Lister is interested in the specification and differentiation of pigment cells in zebrafish development, specifically in defining the role of the mitfa protein in zebrafish melanocytic differentiation.

Joyce A. Lloyd is interested in the developmental regulation of the globin genes in erythroid cells and in the genes controlling erythroid development.

Hermine H. Maes researches the genetic epidemiology of juvenile psychopathology and the role of adenovirus in human obesity.

Walter E. Nance is an internationally known expert in hereditary deafness, twin studies and genetic linkage analysis of both continuous and qualitative traits.

Peter O’Connell is interested in developing new prognostic (e.g., risk of invasion, metastasis) and predictive (of chemoresponse) biomarkers for improved breast cancer treatment, and studies tumorgenetic mechanisms that underlie breast cancer progression and its clinical heterogeneity.

Virginia Pallante is a genetic counselor and directs the human genetic courses for first-year medical students and School of Dentistry students.

Arti Pandya is board certified in clinical genetics, pediatrics and clinical molecular genetics. Her research interests are in the genetics of deafness.

John Quillin is a certified genetic counselor who currently focuses on cancer genetic counseling. He is interested in studying communication of genetic risk for health promotion and decision-making, and justice in health care.

Rita Shiang has a major research interest in Treacher Collins Syndrome and is engaged in a structural and functional investigation of the TCS candidate gene. Her other interests include cloning of the Wolfram Syndrome 2 gene.

Judy L. Silberg has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with research interests in genetic and environmental mechanisms in the development of psychopathology in children, adolescents and young adults.

Mark Subler uses mouse models to study mammary tumorigenesis.

Usha Sundaram is a clinical geneticist and pediatrician interested in autism, connective tissue disorders, dysmorphology and mosiac down syndrome.

Lauren Vanner-Nicely is a board certified genetic counselor.

Jolene Windle is the director of the Massey Cancer Center Transgenic Mouse Core and is interested in the role of oncogenes in mouse mammary tumorigenesis. Her other interests entail developing new models of mouse mammary tumorigenesis and new transgenic mouse technology. 

Timothy York is interested in method development for the identification of genetic and environmental risk factors in complex disease and the use of biomarkers to elucidate disease subtypes.