A long-term goal is to elucidate the molecular basis for the formation of keloids, which are benign dermal tumors that develop during wound healing in genetically predisposed persons. Because the regulators involved in wound healing and their signal transduction pathways are relevant to so many major questions in biology and medicine, these studies may help elucidate the pathogenesis of other diseases involved in abnormal tissue repair, including atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, uterine fibroma, and gingival hyperplasia. Dr. Russell is Associate Dean for Research, School of Dentistry and the Director of the Regional Research Center for Minority Oral Health . Professor Dr. Shockley is former chairman of the Microbiology Department and has been extensively involved in the development and implementation of all of the teaching programs of the Department. He has broad interest and long teaching and research experience in the areas of pathogenic microbiology, host-parasite interactions and molecular genetics.
Keloids are benign collagenous tumors that arise from abnormally healing wounds.
This project is thus concerned with regulation of tissue repair and specifically with regulation of cell growth and matrix metabolism in human fibroblasts. Related fibroproliferative diseases common in black populations, such as uterine fibroma, hypertension, and scleroderma, are also interests of this laboratory. Dr. Trupin is the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences . Current studies are focused on defining the structure of origins of DNA replication in human cells. Other areas of research include the characterization and cloning of Kinetoplast DNA- associated proteins from Trypanosoma cruzi , and the development of alternative strategies for the rapid sequencing of large DNA fragments.