Department of Biomedical Sciences

Chair: Leon G Fine, MD

The Department of Biomedical Sciences was created in 2007 as the first non-clinical department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The rationale for establishing the Department was

(1) to create an Office of Graduate Research Education and to develop a Graduate Program and Clinical Scholars Program,
(2) to provide a departmental-home for a growing number of biomedical scientists recruited to the Burns and Allen Research Institute so as to mobilize a broad view of appropriate direction and investment in biomedical and translational research,
(3) to manage the Core Facilities within the Research Institute, and
(4) to manage a Research Grant Development Team.

Senior Faculty

Leon G Fine, MD

Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Chair, Biomedical Sciences
Director, Graduate Research Education
leon.fine@cshs.org, (310) 423-6457
Scientific interests: Chronic renal disease

Nissim Benvenisty, MD, PhD
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
nissim.benvenisty@cshs.org, (310) 423-7626
Scientific interests: Human embryonic stem cells

Kenneth Bernstein, MD

Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Director, Experimental Pathology
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
kenneth.bernstein@cshs.org, (310) 423-7562
Scientific interests: Renin-angiotensin system

Maria Castro, PhD
Joint with Gene Therapeutics Research Institute, Department of Medicine

Professor of Medicine
Co-Director, Gene Therapeutics Research Institute
Maria.castro@cshs.org, (310) 423-7302
Scientific interests: Manipulating the brain immune system using gene therapy strategies

Daniel Farkas, PhD
Joint with Department of Surgery

Professor of Surgery
Vice Chair of Research, Surgery
Director, Minimally Invasive Surgical Technologies Laboratory
daniel.farkas@cshs.org, (310) 423-7746
Scientific interests: Optical bioimaging and biophotonics for minimally invasive surgery

Sebastien Fuchs, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
sebastien.fuchs@cshs.org, (310) 423-7746
Scientific interests: Pulmonary fibrosis, Renin-angiotensin system

Mark Greene, MD, PhD, FRCP
Joint with SOCCI
Distinguished Scientist
mark.greene@cshs.org, (310) 423-7640
Scientific interests: Receptor function, small molecules, centrosome and associated proteins

Helen Goodridge, PhD
Joint with Department of Medicine

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences, Immunobiology Research Institute
Helen.goodridge@cshs.org, (310) 423-7582
Scientific interests: Innate immunity- detection of microbes and microbial components by myeloid phagcoytes

Anjali Jain, PhD

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
Anjali.jain@cshs.org, (310) 423-4780
Scientific interests: Prostate cancer research

Jonathan Kaye, PhD
Joint with SOCCI and Gene Therapeutics Research Institute
Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Professor of Medicine

Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
jonathan.kaye@cshs.org, (310) 423-6541
Scientific interests: Molecular regulation of immune system

Alexander Ljubimov, PhD
Joint with Department of Surgery
Professor of Surgery

Director, Division of Ophthamology Research
Alexander.ljubimov@cshs.org, (310) 423-7645
Scientific interests: Gene therapy for diabetic keratopathy.

Pedro Lowenstein, MD, PhD
Joint with Gene Therapeutics Research Institute, Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine

Director, Gene Therapeutics Research Institute
Pedro.lowenstein@cshs.org, (310) 423-7330
Scientific interests: Investigate the cellular and molecular basis of brain-immune responses and their manipulation to treat viral infections and tumors.

Linda Marbán, PhD
Joint with Heart Institute
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
linda.marban@cshs.org, (310) 423-1594
Scientific interests: Cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology.

Lali Medina-Kauwe, PhD
Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
lali.medinakauwe@cshs.org, (310) 423-7339
Scientific interests: Cancer cell-targeted nanotherapeutics

Sheldon Mink, PhD
Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
sheldon.mink@cshs.org, (310) 423-7598
Scientific interests: Prostate cancer research

Sandra Orsulic, PhD
Joint with Department of OB/GYN and Women's Cancer Research Institute
Director, Women's Cancer Biology
sandra.orsulic@cshs.org, (310) 423-9546
Scientific interests: Initiation and metastasis of ovarian cancer

V Krishnan Ramanujan, PhD
Joint with Department of Surgery
Assistant Professor of Surgery

Research Scientist, Minimally Invasive Surgical Technologies Institute (MISTI)
ramanujanv@cshs.org, (310) 423-2090
Scientific interests: Cancer cell transformation, optical imaging.

Leslie Raffel, MD
Joint with Medical Genetics Institute
Professor of Pediatrics

Director, General Clinical Research Center
Associate Director, Common Disease Genetics Program
leslie.raffel@cshs.org, (310) 423-2703
Scientific interests: Delineation of the genetic basis of susceptibility to common adult-onset diseases

Wafa Tawackoli, PhD
Joint with Department of Surgery
Instructor of Surgery

Research Scientist, Biomedical Sciences
Associate Director, Molecular and Micro-imaging Core
wafa.tawackoli@cshs.org, (310) 423-8070
Scientific interests: Spine stem cell therapeutics

Terrence Town, PhD
Joint with Department of Neurosurgery
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery

Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Research Scientist, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute
terrence.town@cshs.org, (310) 423-1202
Scientific interests: Delineation of the genetic basis of susceptibility to common adult-onset diseases

David Underhill , PhD
Joint with Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology
Associate Professor of Medicine

Director, Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine
Research Scientist, Immunobiology Research Institute
Director, Flow Cytometry Core
david.underhill@cshs.org, (310) 423-7654
Scientific interests: Phagocyte signal transduction mechanisms in inflammatory response

Yifang (Jimmy) Zhou, PhD
Instructor of Biomedical Sciences

Imaging Physicist
Associate Director, Molecular and Micro-imaging Core
jimmy.zhou@cshs.org, (310) 423-4336
Scientific interests: Quantification of molecular imaging, stem cell imaging, cardiovascular imaging, and the CT dosimetry study.

Core Facilities

Office of Graduate Research Education

This office oversees two programs:

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