Biochemistry; protein structure and function relationships; protein dynamics; chemotaxis in bacteria.

Basic mechanisms and disorders of neural plasticity; the role of microRNAs in stem cell differentiation.

Cellular communication between bacteria, including mechanisms and biology of contact-dependent growth inhibition; epigenetic gene regulatory mechanisms.

Macrophages patrol our tissues looking for signs of injury or infection. The Morrissey Lab wants to understand how macrophages measure, add and subtract all the signals they receive to calculate their response to a target. We use high resolution live imaging, synthetic biology and biochemistry to figure out when and where signaling molecules are activated to make these essential decisions. We are motivated by re-wiring macrophage signaling pathways to generate new cancer immunotherapies.

Professor Beth Pruitt interests lie at the intersection of mechanobiology, microfabrication, engineering and science and her lab specializes in engineering microsystems and biointerfaces for quantitative mechanobiology. 

Genetics, Neural Circuits, and Motor sequences.

Design, synthesis, and characterization of new bioinorganic materials with an emphasis on understanding interface assembly & control of bioprocesses.