Lab Contact Info

LAB:  835 S Wolcott Ave

        E709 MSB

PH #:  (312) 413-5561
FAX:  (312) 996-1225

Minshall Lab

Current Lab Members

Maricela Castellon, PhD

Lab Manager

mcaste4@uic.edu

Publications

Luiza Rusu, MD, PhD

VBST T32 Postdoctoral Fellow

lsergh2@uic.edu

Sami Muslmani, BS

MSTP Student

smuslm2@uic.edu

Yasmina Eshac

Honors College Scholar

yeshac3@uic.edu

Roberta Luniute

Honors College Scholar

rluni2@uic.edu

Samuel Lee, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow and CVR Core Sr Research Assoc

sml5033@uic.edu

Alyssa Poentis, BS

M2 Medical Student

apoen2@uic.edu

Kayla Yerlioglu, BS

Postbac/PreMed Scholar

kyerli2@uic.edu

Amro Mostafa

Honors College Scholar

amost2@uic.edu

Jaden Blankenship

Ill. Math and Sci. Acad. Scholar

Research Interests

Vascular Biology

Cell Receptors & Signaling

 

Richard Minshall is an established principal investigator with over 23 years of service and continuous NIH funding, 186 primary publications, 10 book chapters, and 2 patents. He completed PhD training in Pharmacology with Prof. Ervin G. Erdös on mechanisms of ACE inhibitor-dependent potentiation of BK B2 receptor signaling. Rich then conducted 2 postdoctoral translational research fellowships focused on hormone replacement therapy and coronary artery reactivity in “postmenopausal” nonhuman primates, and pathophysiological endothelial cell signaling mechanisms that contribute to acute lung injury and pulmonary vascular remodeling. His current research program at UIC is funded to 1) determine the caveolin-1 dependent mechanisms that regulate TGF, activin and BMP signaling in ECs, fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells that promote pulmonary hypertension (R01 HL142636); 2) to understand the role of caveolin-1 dependent regulation of CD36 in dyslipidemia, disturbed flow, and aging-induced endothelial cell stiffening associated with atherosclerosis (R01 HL083298 and R56 AG082099; Levitan, Minshall (MPI); 3) define the role of upregulated CCL28 chemokine and its activation of CCR10 receptor signaling in endothelial dysfunction associated with obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to develop a therapeutic approach for restoring NO bioavailability, insulin sensitivity, and wound healing in diabetics (CCTS Pilot Program; Koh, Minshall, Wu (MPI); R01 HL161386 (Mohamed (PI), Minshall (Co-I); and 4) to develop our novel peptide nanoformulation and small molecule mimetics that inhibit Gα12 / αSNAP-dependent vWF secretion for prevention of microvascular thrombosis in various inflammatory disease states such as obesity/type 2 diabetes, sepsis/COVID-19, and cancer or cancer treatments (Chicago Biomedical Consortium, Accelerator Award; Minshall, Bloem).

 

The overarching goal of Dr. Minshall’s research program has been to understand the cellular signaling mechanisms that regulate vascular homeostasis, and how disruption of “normal” contributes to cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and pulmonary vascular disease. Their research efforts are leading to novel insights into the pathophysiological protein-protein interactions that give rise to increased permeability, microvascular thrombosis, and vascular remodeling which they are trying to target therapeutically. As a faculty member jointly appointed in the departments of Anesthesiology and of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, he looks to create and maintain innovative approaches for conducting cutting-edge multidisciplinary research and training of high school, undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, as well as postdoctoral fellows, residents, and junior faculty, that ensure all have the opportunity to grow, succeed, and make the next big breakthrough. As a campus leader, Rich plays an instrumental role in mentoring junior faculty, facilitating team science, and establishing research priorities.

Past Trainees

Zhenlong Chen, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

 

Suellen D`Arc dos Santos Oliveira, PhD

Postdoc Research Associate

 

Misuk Bae, PhD

Postdoc Research Associate

 

Joshua Jones

 

Ayesha N. Shajahan, PhD

Predoctoral Student

9/01-7/04

Current Position: Asst. Professor, Georgetown University, Lombardi Cancer Center, Breast Cancer Research Center (Robert Clark, PI)   

  

Maria Sverdlov, PhD     

Predoctoral Student

9/03-9/09

Awards: UIC Center for Cardiovascular Research, Research Day Poster Award

Current Position: Staff Scientist, Department of Pathology, Diagnostic Molecular Biology Laboratory, UIC

 

Aaron Place, PhD    

Predoctoral Student

5/05-10/11

Current Position: Medical Science Liaison, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

 

Farnaz Bakhshi, PhD

Predoctoral Student

5/09-2013

Current Position: Licensing Associate, Office of Technology Management, Harvard Medical School

 

Luiza Rusu, MD/PhD

Predoctoral Student

5/09-9/13

Current Position: Postdoc, Ohio State University

 

Jiang Ying, BS

Visiting Research Scholar

4/1/14-12/31/15

Current Position: PhD Candidate in Biomedical Eng., School of Life Science and Technology, China

 

Simone Potje, BS

Visiting Research Scholar

5/1/15-4/30/16

Current Status: PhD Candidate in Physiology, State University of São Paulo, Brazil

 

Thomas Gerber, MD

 

Theresa John, PhD

Kings College, London

Postdoctoral Research Associate

9/01-9/03

Current Position: Professor, Univ. of Lagos, Dept of Pharmacology

 

Scott Allen, PhD

Chemistry, Oregon State University

Postdoctoral Research Associate

9/02-9/04

Current Position: Associate Professor, Univ. of Tampa, Dept. of Chemistry

 

Nikolaos Maniatis, MD/PhD

University of Berlin

Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow

7/02-7/06

Current Position: Assoc. Professor, Dept. Pulmonary & Crit. Care Med., University of Pittsburgh

 

Yawer Husain, PhD

India Institute of Technology, Dehli

Postdoctoral Research Associate

4/04-12/07

Current Position: Research Scientist, Stem Cell Research Lab, Rajasthan Medical University, India

 

Guochang Hu, MD/PhD

Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesia, China

Research Assistant Professor

4/05-9/30/10

Current Position: Associate Professor, UIC Anesthesiology, 10/1/10-present

 

Guoquan Liu, PhD

Pharmacology, Medical College of Ohio

Postdoctoral Research Associate (6/03-9/07); Research Assistant Professor (9/07-10/12)

Current Position: Professor, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China

 

Tim Grob, MD

Medical Student, Vrie University Hospital and Cardiovascular Center, Amsterdam

Visiting Research Scholar

12/10-9/11

Current Position: Medical Resident, Vrie University Hospital and Cardiovascular Center, Amsterdam

 

Vasily Shinin, MD/PhD

Cell and Developmental Biology, Univ. of Moscow, Russia

Postdoctoral Research Associate

09/06-9/11

Current Position: Research Scientist, Univ. of Moscow

 

Tobias Piegeler, MD

University Zurich Hospital, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Switzerland

Postdoctoral Research Associate

01/11-1/14

Current Position: Resident Physician, Institute of Anesthesiology, University of Zurich Hospital

 

Martin Schläpfer, MD

University Zurich Hospital, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Switzerland

Fellow

01/13-2014

Current Position: Attending Physician, Institute of Anesthesiology, University of Zurich Hospital

 

Olga Chernaya, PhD

Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois at Chicago

Postdoctoral Research Associate

03/09-05/13

Current Position: Instructor, Georgia Tech. University

 

Adriana Zimnicka, PhD

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Postdoctoral Research Associate

03/14-2/16

Current Position: Instructor, Dept. of Physiology, University of Illinois at Chicago

 

Luiza Rusu, MD, PhD

University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest; UIC Pharmacology

Postdoctoral Research Associate

01/14-12/16

Current Position: Postdoctoral Assistant, Dept. of Pulm. Med., Ohio State University