Avijit Ghosh, Ph.D.
Dept. of Physics
3141 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Room : 908/909 Disque
Email : avijit@physics.drexel.edu
Phone : 215-895-2726
Fax : 215-895-5934
http://bio.physics.drexel.edu/Ghosh.html

My main interest is in Biophysics particularly Computational Biophysics. I try to use some of the mathematical tools of physics – Classical Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Kinetics – to model and understand the behavior and properties of large macromolecules and their interactions among one another.

Currently, I am studying the cascade of interactions involved in signaling pathways by modeling both the hydrodynamic transport of inactive and activated members of the signal cascade in combination with the reaction kinetics of activation and dephosphorylation/inactivation events using Systems Biology approaches and optimized spatio-temporal integrators.

For a more detailed look at my work with the Computational Biophysics Group, please take a look at the group's Current Research page as well as its recently developed Systems Biology Page.

Elizabeth Gonzalez, PhD, MSN
Associate Professor

Office: Room 1228, Bellet Bldg.
Phone: 215-762-8331
Fax: 215-762-4542
Email: ewg22@drexel.edu

Elizabeth W. Gonzalez, Ph.D., RN, CS, earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Research and Theory Development from New York University in 1990. She is certified as a clinical specialist in Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and maintains a private practice. She is well respected in the field of mental health and psychiatric nursing. A frequent participant in scientific fora, her research contributions have been in critical thinking and clinical judgment, depression among the elderly, minority health issues and cross-cultural research among family caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer's disease. She received funding from NIMH, ANA/Ethnic Fellowship Program and a Supplement Grant from the National Institute on Aging. Prior to moving to MCP Hahnemann University, Dr. Gonzalez served as faculty at Villanova University and Thomas Jefferson University. She also served as a grant reviewer for the US Department of Education and Rehabilitation Services on rehabilitation medicine and training for Region Three.

Elizabeth Gonzalez, PhD, is Drexel cognitive neuroscience nurse researcher with interest in caregiver stress and health outcomes.  Her research protocols provide education and other care strategies for family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Sandra Koffler, Ph.D., ABPP
Board Certified in Clinical Neuropsychology

Dr. Sandra Koffler is an Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine and Director of Neuropsychological Services at Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. She also has an appointment in the Department of Psychology at Drexel University and is closely involved with the education and training of students in the Neuropsychology Track of the program. For more than 15 years, she has been associated with the clinical program in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders as a diagnostician and a consultant to patients with neurological disorders affecting the brain and to their families. Dr. Koffler is a past president of the National Academy of Neuropsychology and a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Board of Professional Psychology. She has recently been presented with the award for Distinguished Service to the Profession by the Academy. She will continue to be an active participant in the Department of Neurology’s program for treatment and research in dementia, seeing patients in the clinics and in her offices at Hahnemann University.

Andres Kriete, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Coriell Institute for Medical Research
Biocomputing Laboratory
Coriell Institute for Medical Research
403 Haddon Avenue
Camden, New Jersey 08103
akriete@coriell.org
Phone: 856-757-9744
Fax: 856-964-0254

Andres Kriete, Ph.D., Associate Professor for Bioinformation Engineering, is head of a joint Bioinformatics Initative between the Coriell Institute, Camden, NJ, and Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. At Drexel's School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems he is a core faculty member at the Center of Integrated Bioinformatics. He is affiliated with the Drexel Institute of Basic and Applied Protein Science, the Greater Philadelphia Bioinformatics Alliance, and initiated an interdisciplinary systems biology working group.

At the Coriell Institute Andres Kriete directs the Biocomputing Laboratory. The role of the laboratory is to acquire, standardize, store, integrate and analyze a wide spectrum of digital biological data coming from a variety of sources. This includes image data characterizing the phenotype of cells and tissues as well as genomics based profiling methodologies. Integration of such data will support a better understanding of complex interactions at the different levels of biological organization.

Carol F. Lippa, M.D.
Professor of Neurology
Director, Memory Disorders Center
Drexel University College of Medicine
Hahnemann Hospital
New College Building
Mail Stop 423
245 N. 15th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102
USA
Phone: 215-762-4761
Fax: 215-762-3161

Dr. Lippa directs the Memory Disorders Program. She has 20 years experience in the assessment and management of patients with cognitive disorders.  She is distinguished by the following honors and awards:    Best Doctors in America 2003-2004; Marquis Who’s Who: Who's Who in the World 2002-2004, -in America 2001-2004, -in Medicine and Health Care 2000 and 2003, -in Science and Engineering 1998 and 2002, - in American Women 2002; -in the East 1995; 2002 Elected, Alumni Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society; 2002 Philadelphia Magazine: Top Docs; 2000 Philadelphia Magazine: Best Docs for Women; 1998 Philadelphia Magazine: Best Docs for Senior Citizens.

Dr. Lippa also directs the Dementia Neurology Research Laboratory at Drexel, investigating the question of why people develop memory loss/forgetfulness, dementia and other cognitive problems. Her basic science laboratory research addresses the clinicopathologic mechanisms underlying neuronal death in neurodegenerative diseases. Most of her work is focused on characterizing abnormal proteins in Alzheimer's disease and related types of dementia including Pick's disease and Lewy body disease.

As neuropathologist and director of the DUCOM Neurology Brain, Blood and CSF bank, Dr. Lippa has one of the country's largest collections of brain tissue, blood and cerebrospinal fluid from patients with genetic forms of degenerative diseases. Much of Dr. Lippa’s work is collaborative; she works with biochemists, geneticists, pathologists and other physicians from within DUCOM and around the world. She has a reputation for organizing networks of individuals to work collaboratively to answer scientific questions about these diseases. The long-term goal of Dr. Lippa's work is to understand the underlying mechanisms in degenerative brain diseases, then to develop rational therapies to prevent these diseases or slow their progression.

Robert A. Nichols, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Ph.D. (1982) Stanford University
Email: robert.nichols@drexel.edu

Robert Nichols specializes in neurotransmitter receptors. Nerve cells communicate via specialized contacts known as synapses where nerve impulse activity in one nerve cell causes the release from its nerve ending of a chemical messenger, referred to as a neurotransmitter, which then interacts with and modifies the activity in the target nerve cell. At a subset of synapses in the brain, neurotransmitter receptors are present on the presynaptic nerve endings. The functions of different presynaptic receptors are poorly understood, but it is likely that these receptors are important targets for particular drugs.

http://www.drexelmed.edu/pharmacology_physiology/faculty/nichols.asp

Theresa Paylor, RN, CCRC
Clinical Trials Coordinator
Drexel University College of Medicine
Department of Neurology
NCB, Suite 7102
245 N. 15th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Ms. Paylor has extensive clinical trials experience and directs clinical studies for many of the studies based in the Neurology Department.