Cadre of CTSA KL2 Mentors*
Nira Ben-Jonathan, PhD, Professor of Cancer and Cell Biology
Dr. Ben-Jonathan is internationally recognized for her work on the roles of hormones in breast cancer
and obesity. Ongoing studies focus on: 1) novel aspects of prolactin, estrogen and the endocrine
disruptor bisphenol A on chemoresistance in breast cancer, 2) collaboration with the Drug Discovery
Center for using high throughput screening to identify small molecule inhibitors of the prolactin
receptor in breast cancer, and 3) role of hormones, neurotransmitters and cytokines in the regulation
of human adipocyte proliferation, differentiation and lipolysis. She is well funded and has mentored
dozens of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows and research assistant professors.
Joseph Broderick, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology
Dr. Broderick has extensive leadership experience in clinical and translational stroke studies,
including NIH-funded multi-center acute stroke trials, NIH-funded population-based epidemiologic and
genetic studies of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, an NIH-funded multi-center study of the genetics
of intracranial aneurysms (FIA Study), clinical studies and trials of acute intracranial hemorrhage, and
numerous prevention studies. He was also PI of the UC SPOTRIAS Center – the first program
project grant for acute stroke therapy. Dr. Broderick and colleagues developed an innovative “everysecond-counts approach” to stroke care that has become a model for acute stroke treatment in the
U.S. He has been very active training stroke physicians/researchers over the past 10 years.
Mitchell Cohen, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and
Nutrition
Dr. Cohen’s research focuses on host-pathogen interactions and intestinal secretion. His current
work is investigating the mechanism of E. coli heat stable enterotoxin and its receptor guanylyl
cyclase-C (GC-C). This receptor also binds the endogenous mammalian peptides, guanylin and
uroguanylin, that are produced in the intestine. Dr. Cohen has generated 2 knock out strains of mice,
one with a deletion of the guanylin gene and the other with a deletion of the uroguanylin gene. He is
using these mice as well as GC-C knock out mice to identify other receptors for these peptides and to
test the hypotheses that guanylin and uroguanylin are cytostatic and that removal of these ligands
results in increased intestinal epithelial cell proliferation. In addition, he is testing the hypothesis that
these peptides form a novel regulatory pathway to allow the intestine to communicate with the kidney
to effect salt and water homeostasis.
Ranjan Deka, PhD, Professor, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Deka’s primary research areas are human genetic variation, population genetics, and genetics of
complex traits. He is currently focusing on: 1) understanding genetic variation in small, isolated and
inbred human populations to assess the extent of linkage disequilibrium in order to test the
effectiveness of genetic isolates for mapping common diseases; and 2) understanding the genetic
basis of common and complex human diseases, in particular the genetic and environmental
components to disease susceptibility. Dr. Deka is applying those methods to identify genetic variants
associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
Jeff Epstein, PhD, Professor, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology
Dr. Epstein is Director of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) program. His research
spans a wide breadth of topics in ADHD, including developing assessment instruments, establishing
the efficacy of behavioral and pharmacological treatments and assessing response variability,
evaluating neuropsychological deficits, assessing ethnic differences in children with ADHD, and
examining functional brain deficits by using neuroimaging technologies. He directs the ADHD
Collaborative, a $1.8 million project to improve ADHD-related practice behaviors of community
pediatricians. Dr. Epstein has an NIH K24 mentorship grant.
Gurjit Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Division of Asthma
Research and the Center for Translational Research in Allergy and Asthma
Dr. Gurjit Khurana Hershey is the Director of the Division of Asthma Research and Director of the
Center for Translational Research in Allergy and Asthma, and is an endowed Professor of Pediatrics
at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She has been
continuously NIH funded for over 10 years. She is the PI of an NIH-funded U19 Asthma and Allergic
Diseases Cooperative Research Center and was recently awarded a P30 Development of an Asthma
Research Core Center. Dr. Hershey’s research centers on identifying the genes and pathways
important in asthma and allergy, especially at the epithelial surfaces, and dissecting the molecular
mechanisms underlying their contributions. Current projects in the laboratory include: (1) elucidation
of epithelial genes and pathways critical to allergic disease; (2) gene: environment interactions in
asthma and allergic diseases in several cohorts; (3) biology of the IL-13 receptor components and
dissection of their roles in asthma and allergy in human samples and murine models; (4)
pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis; and (5) identification of genetic and biologic markers of allergic
diseases.
Shuk-Mei Ho, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health
Dr. Ho is an internationally renowned expert in hormonal carcinogenesis. Her research focuses on
the significance of hormones and endocrine disruptors on tumorigenesis in the prostate, ovary,
endometrium, and breast. Her research utilizes genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and bioinformatic
analyses to discover diagnostic and prognostic cancer markers and to predict patients’ responses to
interventions. Her current program focuses on mechanisms of fetal-based adult disease
development, cadmium-induced disorders, and oxidative stress/inflammation-mediated cellular
changes. Her current and past research projects have been funded by the NSF, NIH, DOD,
American Cancer Society, and private foundations.
Christy Holland, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases
Dr. Holland is professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiovascular diseases, professor of
biomedical engineering, and director of the Image-Guided Ultrasound Therapeutics Laboratories at
UC. Her research interests include bioeffects of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound, acoustic
cavitation, new diagnostic imaging techniques for the early detection of vascular disease, and
ischemic injury to the brain.
Scott K. Holland, PhD, McLaurin Scholar in Pediatric Neurosurgery and Professor of
Radiology, Pediatrics, Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience and Physics
Dr. Holland is Director of the Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium at CCHMC. A physicist
by training at Yale University, his research currently focuses on advanced neuroimaging applications
of MRI in pediatrics with a concentration on functional MRI of language, hearing, and neuroplasticity
following brain injury.
W. Keith Jones, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine (Cardiology) and Pharmacology & Cell
Biophysics
Dr. Jones is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the fields of Molecular
Cardiovascular Biology and Cardioprotection and has been funded by NIH continuously since 1996.
His work, recognized for its innovation and clinical relevance, spans the basic sciences from the
molecular, cellular, organ and organismal levels and is moving to clinical application. The current
focus of the lab is gene and microRNA transcriptional networks in the heart and the role of
microRNAs in regulating paracrine functions between tissues. Dr. Jones has initiated several
translational studies, and leads the pre-clinical translational facility begun in the UC Division of
Cardiology and the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence. Translational work that he is involved in has
resulted in two spinoff companies to date, both of which are engaged in developing the clinical and
commercial potential of basic science discoveries. Other research projects in the lab (some
collaborative) concern heart failure, non-allergic nasal rhinitis, effects of high fat diet upon
cardiovascular systems, development and delivery of RNA therapeutics, and the paracrine role of
non-coding RNAs.
Alex B. Lentsch, PhD, Vice Chair for Research, Department of Surgery
Dr. Lentsch’s research team investigates the regulatory mechanisms governing the acute
inflammatory response to hepatic ischemia/reperfusion. Current research projects aim to dissect the
transcriptional regulatory machinery that is responsible for differential cell responses to this insult; to
examine age-related alterations in gene and protein expression that affect the injury response to liver
ischemia/reperfusion; and to elucidate hepatocyte signal transduction pathways stimulated by
chemokines that regulate recovery of these cells from ischemic injury.
Maurizio Macaluso, MD, DrPH, Director, Biostatistics & Epidemiology, CCHMC
Dr. Macaluso is Director of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center, and Co-director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design
(BERD) Core of the CCTST. Dr. Macaluso has 30 years of research experience in areas such as
epidemiologic research methods; cancer epidemiology; occupational epidemiology; health effects of
sexual, reproductive and contraceptive behavior; acceptability, efficacy and safety of contraceptive
technology; efficacy and safety of assisted reproductive technology; infectious disease epidemiology;
surveillance systems; and immunology. He received over $10 million in competitive research awards
from the federal government and from nongovernmental organizations during 1991-2000. In 20002010 he served as Chief of the Women’s Health and Fertility Branch at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. He has extensive teaching experience and has advised
masters’ and doctoral students in all areas of public health, ASPH and Preventive Effectiveness
Research fellows at CDC, and post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty in multiple institutions.
Peter Margolis, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Center for Health Care Quality, CCHMC
Dr. Margolis is professor of pediatrics, co-director of the Center for Health Care Quality, and director
of research at the James M. Anderson Center for Health System Excellence at Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center. His work encompasses the application and study of quality improvement
methods in a broad range of areas including primary and sub-specialty care, communities and public
health settings to improve the health outcomes of children, families and communities. He has worked
extensively with certifying boards and specialty societies to assist them in designing programs that
will enable physicians to meet new maintenance of certification requirements focused on systems
thinking and performance in practice. He also devotes considerable time to teaching quality
improvement methods.
Ardythe Morrow, PhD, MSc, Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Human Milk &
Lactation
Dr. Morrow serves as a mentor to a number of young investigators with interest in aspects of human
milk or lactation and perinatal epidemiology. At the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Morrow is a tenured
professor, with her primary appointment in Pediatrics, and secondary faculty appointments in the
Departments of Nutrition and Environmental Health. At Cincinnati Children's, she was the founding
Director of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, which includes 45 faculty and staff. An
experienced principal investigator with total grant awards from NIH approaching $8 million, Dr.
Morrow is PI of a longstanding program project grant (P01 HD13021) on human milk and an R01 to
identify biomarkers for risk of necrotizing enterocolitis. She is a member of an NIH study
section, past-president of the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation,
and serves on the editorial board of a journal. Dr. Morrow founded Cincinnati Children's international
pediatric research mentorship program in 2004, and currently mentors 6 epidemiology-trained faculty
investigators in neonatology and pediatrics and 2 graduate students in molecular epidemiology.
Rita H. Pickler, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAAN
Over the last 20 years, Dr. Pickler has developed a program of research aimed at improving
outcomes for children born preterm, understanding parental needs during and after hospitalization,
and addressing maternal factors that may affect birth outcomes. During this time she has been
principal investigator on 3 NIH-funded studies, including her current project geared toward improving
neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants born after less than 30 weeks’ gestation. Dr. Pickler’s
research is enhanced by interdisciplinary teams and utilizes both qualitative and quantitative
methods, including observational approaches as well as surveys and biological data.
Scott Powers, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology
Dr. Powers is Director of Postdoctoral Training In Psychology and Program Director for the T32
Postdoctoral Training Grant in the Center for Child Behavior and Nutrition Research and Training.
His research focuses on of dietary adherence in young children with chronic illnesses, particularly
children with cystic fibrosis, children with type 1 diabetes, and children at risk of obesity. He also has
an active research program in pediatric pain, specifically focused on headache and sickle cell pain in
children and adolescents. Dr. Powers has a K24 from NIDDK.
Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Division of Allergy and
Immunology
Dr. Rothenberg’s research focuses on molecular mechanisms of allergic diseases, with particular
focus on eosinophilic disorders. His research spans fundamental molecular immunology, genetics,
translational studies, and clinical trials. His studies have provided the basis for eosinophil targeted
therapy, which is now in clinical testing. He is the Program Director of the NIH K12 Children’s Health
Research Center Development Award grant, which is in its 16th year of funding at CCHMC. He has
mentored more than 20 trainees, several of whom have risen to accomplished faculty positions.
Kenneth Sherman, MD, PhD, Professor and Director, Division of Digestive Diseases
Dr. Sherman is an internationally renowned hepatologist and virologist whose research interests
include study of the natural history, pathogenesis and treatment of hepatitis viruses, particularly in the
setting of HIV and other immunosuppressed states. His research group incorporates expertise in
basic and translational molecular viral evolution and epidemiology, viral immunology and
immunopathogenesis and translational/clinical application of new diagnostic and treatment modalities.
He has a K24 mentorship grant.
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD, Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Strakowski’s research career is dedicated to improving understanding of the neurophysiological
basis of bipolar disorder, coupled with clinical application into its outcome and treatment. His
research group uses functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy
to study brain function and chemistry in bipolar disorder in the context of clinical treatment trials and
outcome studies.
Patrick Tso, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Dr. Tso’s major research areas are: 1) the interaction between lipid-bile salt mixed micelles with
transporters and how such interactions impact intestinal uptake of cholesterol and fat-soluble nutrients;
2) the role of apolipoprotein AIV in the regulation of food intake and energy metabolism; and 3)
intestinal absorption and metabolism of xenobiotics.
Alexander Vinks, PharmD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics
Dr. Vinks’ research is focused on pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling; pharmacogenetics;
and genomic, population and Monte Carlo simulation approaches to clinical trial design, therapeutic
drug monitoring, and individualized Bayesian dosing strategies.
Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Pulmonary Biology
Dr. Whitsett is a world renowned pulmonary researcher who has made major contributions to
understanding genetic pathways regulating lung function and formation and to use of surfactant
replacement therapy for lung disease. He currently researches mechanisms controlling lung-specific
gene transcription in vivo and in vitro and genetic pathways mediating paracrine interactions critical
for lung morphogenesis. He has mentored dozens of trainees who have risen to leadership positions
worldwide.
*Criteria include at least $300,000 in annual grant support for clinical or translational research, a strong record of mentorship, and protected time for
mentorship.
Cadre of CTSA KL2 Mentors 2014 rev 10-11-13