People

The Ahituv lab is focused on identifying gene regulatory elements and linking nucleotide variation within them to various phenotypes including morphological differences between species, drug response and human disease. It develops and uses massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) that allow for high-throughput functional characterization of gene regulatory elements.

Diana Alba is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. As a physician-scientist, her research program is focused on identifying the transcriptional pathways that regulate adipose tissue function during normal development and obesity. Her work investigates how adipose tissue dysfunction, particularly through fibrotic remodeling, drives insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction.

The main focus of my laboratory is examining the role of the extracellular matrix in regulating metabolism, tissue remodeling, and smooth muscle function as these processes relate to cardiovascular disease. My laboratory has several different areas of investigation that have been generated from studies related to this primary focus. (1) We have been investigating the role of the extracellular matrix in coordinating fatty acid uptake and promoting development of obesity and insulin resistance.

As a pediatric gastroenterologist and physician scientist, I am keenly aware of the challenges faced by our pediatric population. The intestinal epithelium comprises the human body’s greatest environmentally exposed surface and is the largest sensory and endocrine organ. My research utilizes human intestinal organoids and animal models to understand how the intestine senses and responds to both regular and inflammatory stimuli.

Dr. June M Chan leads novel research and advances education, with the common goals of improving patient care and public health outcomes.

My research interests focus on the unrecognized and underappreciated musculoskeletal complications due to diabetes and chronic kidney disease, primarily in the lower extremity. I have extensive experience combining quantitative clinical imaging, three-dimensional biomechanics, and physical function and activity techniques to characterize the relationship between the musculoskeletal movement system and function.

Kelsey H. Collins, PhD completed her undergraduate work in Exercise Biology at University of California, Davis, and earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Calgary under the direction of Dr. Walter Herzog. During her postdoctoral studies in the Guilak Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, she created a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine platform to determine the signaling mechanisms between adipose and musculoskeletal tissues.