Biology and Bio-Engineering

Current research efforts in my laboratory are focused on the use of molecular and transgenic approaches to understand the influence of specific cellular signaling pathways on the differentiation of osteoblasts, the cells responsible for bone formation. We are using “designer” G protein-coupled receptors to asses the role of specific G protein signaling pathways in controlling osteoblastic bone formation in vivo and in vitro. Our recent results indicate that Gs signaling in osteoblasts is strongly coupled to increased bone formation whereas Gi signaling promotes bone loss (osteoporosis).

Dr. Nevitt is a leading expert on the epidemiology of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee and hip. He leads the Coordinating Center for two landmark studies of knee OA, the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) and the Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) Study. These are the first large longitudinal cohort studies in the US to focus on OA of the knee using MR imaging. The OAI provides a public use dataset that is widely used by other investigators world-wide. He is also the Principal Investigator of the SOF Hip OA study.

Mary Nakamura received her B.A. from Swarthmore College, her M.D. from Yale and trained in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She completed her rheumatology training at Johns Hopkins and UCSF. She did her post doctoral work at UCSF under the mentorship of Bill Seaman. She is a basic-translational researcher focused on studies in the field of osteoimmunology. She leads the Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinic at UCSF Parnassus and is a clinical attending at the SF VA HCS.

Dr. Saam Morshed is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in caring for patients with traumatic injuries such as broken bones. He treats fractures of the pelvis, arm, elbow, shoulder, ankle, foot, leg and knee.

In his research, Morshed studies skeletal injuries to develop new techniques for fracture repair and rehabilitation. He also looks at how to prevent post-traumatic arthritis.

Dr. Meir T. Marmor has a strong clinical interest in treatment of complex fractures, fracture complications, and fractures in the elderly population as well as in joint replacement surgery. His clinical practice involves use of advanced imaging techniques, computer assisted and minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Marmor practice includes treatment of all long-bone and intra-articular fractures and their complications, such as infected fracture fixations and fracture non-unions. Dr.

Abnormal excitability contributes to neurologic disease pathogenesis either by impairing cell function or by increasing cellular susceptibility to injury. In most neurologic diseases, the pathologic process does not involve the entire neuromuscular unit. Instead, only specific subsets of neurons, glial cells, or muscle fibers are injured or die, and the nature of this selective injury determines the symptoms and clinical course of each disease.

Ralph Marcucio was born in and grew up in Amsterdam, N.Y. Ralph began his research career as an intern at The Boyce Thompson Institute while he was an undergraduate at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. After receiving his Bachelor's Degree from Cornell University in 1990, Ralph was accepted intoCornell University's School of Agriculture PhD program. He completed his PhD in 1995.

Sharmila Majumdar, PhD, is a UCSF Professor and is the Vice Chair for Research and Margaret Hart Surbeck Distinguished Professor in Advanced Imaging in the Departments of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Orthopedic Surgery at UCSF and Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. She is Director of the Musculoskeletal Research Interest Group at UCSF, an interdisciplinary group consisting of faculty, post-doctoral scholars and students.

Dr. Ma is Director of the UCSF IBD Center and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology. He oversees translational and basic research in IBD and related inflammatory diseases.

Dr. C. Benjamin Ma is a Professor in Residence in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery in the UCSF Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, for which he also serves as Vice Chair of Adult Clinical Operations.