CHFB Researchers and Scientific Advisor

Angela M. Christiano, PhD
Associate Professor of Molecular Dermatology, Columbia University, New York
CHFB Researcher
Dr. Christiano received her Ph.D. in Microbiology & Molecular Genetics from Rutgers University Graduate School in 1991. She was recruited by the Department of Dermatology at Columbia University in September 1995 following a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Dermatology at Thomas Jefferson University, which focused on the molecular basis of inherited skin disorders. She was given a joint appointment in the Department of Genetics and Development in 1998, and recently was granted tenure at Columbia in June 2002. She is board-certified in Clinical Molecular Genetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics. The major focus of Dr. Christiano's research is the study of inherited skin and hair disorders in humans, through a classical genetic approach including identification and phenotyping of disease families, genetic linkage, gene discovery and mutation analysis, and most recently, functional studies relating these findings to basic questions in epidermal biology. Molecular aspects of genetic skin disorders and epidermal appendages such as hair follicle growth and cycling are major basic science interests in her laboratory. A long-range goal of the research is to develop rationally designed genetic therapies for skin and hair diseases through understanding the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms. Dr. Christiano has published a total of over 165 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. She is the principal investigator on four NIH grants, serves on an NIH-N01 Patient Registry grant and as Co-Director on the Department of Dermatology Training Grant as well as the Skin Disease Research Center Grant. She is the Editor of the journal Experimental Dermatology. Dr. Christiano has been an active participant in numerous undergraduate and graduate educational programs throughout the University. She is the Director of Basic Science Research for the Department of Dermatology, and is an active member of the Dermatology Residency Selection Committee, the Curriculum Committee's Subcommittee on Genetics and Genomics, the Grant Review Committee of the Office of Clinical Trials and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee on Education. She is also co-Chair of the Task Force on Human Genetics that is making recommendations to the Dean and Vice-President for Health Sciences about the future of Human Genetics at this academic center.

Colin A.B. Jahoda, PhD
Reader, Cell Biology, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Durham, UK.
CHFB Researcher
Dr. Colin Jahoda is a Reader in Cell Biology in the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Durham, UK. After obtaining his PhD in Dundee, Scotland, he was a post-doctoral fellow in Grenoble, France and returned to Dundee as a Royal Society University Research Fellow before moving to Durham. His research career has centered on the biology of skin and skin appendages, and epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, and his publications include work on feathers, teeth and the eye cornea as well as on hair follicles and skin. Dr Jahoda has pioneered the culture of individual cell populations from the hair follicle and has led the way in the induction of new active follicles in skin from implanted cells. As well as investigating the molecular basis for adult hair follicle growth and regeneration, Dr Jahoda’s laboratory is currently working on adult stem cell biology, and wound healing. Increasingly his goal is to use insights gleaned from studying the complex developmental biology of the follicle to develop novel therapeutic approaches in skin and other organs.

Cheng-Ming Chuong, PhD
Professor of Pathology, University of Southern California
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Cheng-Ming Chuong graduated with a M.D. from Nation of Taiwan University in 1978. He then received his Ph.D. in Developmental and Molecular Biology with Nobel Prize Laureate, Dr. Gerry M. Edelman in Rockefeller University in 1983. He moved to the University of Southern California in 1987 to set up the Laboratory of Tissues Development and Engineering and is currently Professor of Pathology. Dr. Chuong’s research has been focused on developmental biology, in particular the molecular basis and rules used in tissue interactions for the formation of organs. One of the major and unique models used in the laboratory is chicken feather morphogenesis. Using it, he has shown how simple epithelial stem cells can generate the most complex patterns. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, he also has developed collaborations with paleontologists to search for the origin and evolution of feathers in dinosaurs, and with computer scientists to decipher bio-information stored in biological cells. Dr. Chuong’s lab has spun out biotechnological inventions including Single Cell CDNA library (patented), RNA Polymerase Chain Reaction (patent pending), DRNA inteference, and other novel technologies that have applications in cancer and many other diseases. Dr. Chuong has approximately 100 publications and one book, “Molecular Basis of Epithelial Appendage Morphogenesis”. He is an international leader in this field, and has spoken in and organized many international symposia. He serves as editor/reviewer for many academic journals and grant agencies including NIH.