Pathology & Laboratory Medicine About Us Message from the Chair Contact Us Education & Training Residency Program Fellowship Programs CLS Program Graduate Program Continuing Education Programming Research Experimental Tissue Resource Shared Facility Divisions Faculty Experimental Pathology Research Conferences Research Home Research Research: Clinical Departments Pathology & Laboratory Medicine: Home Pathology & Laboratory Medicine: Research Our Research Programs The department’s research programs are located on the UC Irvine main campus and UCI Medical Center. They are supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other extramural sources. In 2022, the department became a top 30 pathology department for NIH funding. The department hosts individual and center-based research programs with translational and clinical goals in laboratory diagnostics, neurotherapeutics, cell-based therapies and neurodegeneration. Research Areas Investigations in immunology Microbial pathogenesis Neurodegeneration/Neuropathology Tumor microenvironment/cancer Developmental neurobiology Environmental epigenetics Precision medicine/Machine learning/Artificial Intelligence New laboratory medicine test development Glycan biology Experimental Tissue Resource Shared Facility In collaboration with the NCI-designated Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the UCI Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine hosts the Experimental Tissue Resource (ETR) Shared Facility. Learn more Affiliated Research Centers Center for Aging Research in Down Syndrome (CFAR-DS) The UC Irvine Center for Aging Research in Down Syndrome conducts innovative clinical and biomedical research to help improve the quality of life for people with Down syndrome. CFAR-DS website Center for Neurotherapeutics (CNT) The UCI Center for Neurotherapeutics brings together researchers from the fields of biomedicine, physical sciences and engineering to facilitate the integration of physical science expertise into ongoing efforts in translational neuroscience and neurotherapeutics, with the ultimate goal of fostering drug development. CNT website Primary Researchers Jefferson Chan, MD, PhD Research areas: Molecular mechanisms underlying cellular stress response; functions of Nrf1 and Nrf2 transcription factors in cellular functions, mechanisms and role in stress response and disease pathogenesis Luis de la Maza, MD, PhD Research areas:Chlamydia trachomatis; vaccines; sexually transmitted infections; major outer membrane protein; mice Elizabeth Head, MA, PhD Research areas: Neuropathology of aging and Alzheimer disease in adults with Down syndrome; contribution of white matter integrity, cerebrovascular dysfunction and neuroinflammation to cognitive decline and dementia Albert La Spada, MD, PhD Research areas: Mechanisms of neurodegenerative disease using molecular genetics, neuroscience and functional genomics Jana Lipkova, PhD Research areas: Use of deep learning methods and medical images to develop strategies for objective diagnosis, prognosis, biomarker discovery and clinical assistance, including the development of AI methods for automated and objective diagnosis in histology Hannah Lui Park, PhD Research areas: Cancer genetics and epigenetics; precision health; molecular epidemiology; breast cancer risk and prevention; disease risk biomarkers; environmental risk factors; Asian American health disparities Daniel Mercola, MD, PhD Research areas: Identification of gene signatures in prostate cancer and breast cancer to improve diagnosis, prognosis and understand disease mechanisms Clinical Researchers Gagan Mathur, MD, MBA Research areas: Clinical research in patient blood management, apheresis and transfusion safety, with a focus on optimizing and supporting cellular therapy — driven by a passion for effective, efficient patient care Researchers with Joint Appointments Dongbao Chen, PhD Research areas: Estrogens, gasotransmitters (H2S/NO), and uterine/placental vascular regulation; trophoblast and placentation, pregnancy, preeclampsia and placenta accreta Bryce Mander, PhD Research areas: Contributions of sleep disturbance and neurophysiology to Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology and cognitive impairment; role of local sleep expression in memory processing and consolidation across the lifespan; influence of inflammation on neurodegeneration and sleep deficits in older adults Ivan Marazzi, PhD Research areas: The Marazzi Laboratory studies epigenetic and chromatin-mediated control of gene expression in health and disease. Michael McClelland, PhD Research areas:Salmonella and Escherichia coli genomics, high-throughput genetics, and systems biology; bacteria as anticancer delivery agents; prostate and breast cancer prognostics; DNA methylation