My research interests include the endocrinology of pregnancy and parturition; reproductive and developmental toxicity testing; mixtures toxicology; structure-activity relationships; axial skeletal development; and strain differences in toxic responses.
My laboratory has two main interests: 1) P2Y receptor trafficking in epithelial cells. Our laboratory investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which P2Y receptors are differentially targeted to distinct membrane surfaces of
polarized epithelial cells and the role of lipid rafts and caveolae in P2Y receptor function. 2) Antibiotic resistance mechanisms. We are interested in the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in the pathogenic bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Our laboratory investigates how acquisition of mutant alleles of existing genes confers resistance to penicillin and cephalosporin. We also study the biosynthesis of the gonococcal Type IV pilus and its contribution to antibiotic resistance.
My research interests include the role of von Willebrand factor in thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Our current lab work focuses on the molecular biology of porcine von Willebrand factor.
My research focuses on understanding the relationship between dermal and inhalation exposure and the effect of individual genetic differences on the function of enzymes that detoxify hazardous agents and that affect the development of disease. My research group has pioneered approaches to quantitatively measure skin and inhalation exposures to toxicants; additionally, my group has developed sophisticated exposure modeling tools using mathematical and statistical principles in an effort to standardize and improve exposure and risk assessment.
