Dr. Elizabeth Archie’s lab focuses on understanding how social and environmental stressors throughout life affect health, particularly as we age. By using nonhuman primates, specifically baboons, the lab develops innovative tools to measure stress responses and their impacts on heart health. The findings have implications for better understanding health outcomes related to stress and aging in humans.

Dr. David R. Hyde's lab at the University of Notre Dame focuses on understanding why zebrafish can regenerate retinal neurons after acute damage, but not after chronic damage. This research is crucial for developing therapies to treat human vision loss caused by gradual retinal degeneration. Through innovative techniques, the lab explores the roles of retinal cells and immune responses in the regeneration process, aiming to leverage these insights for clinical applications.

Dr. Michael Ferdig's lab focuses on understanding drug resistance in malaria, particularly how the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, adapts to treatments like artemisinin and its partner drug lumefantrine. Through experimental genetic crosses and advanced genetic techniques, the team seeks to pinpoint the specific genes that contribute to resistance. This research is crucial for public health, as rising drug resistance threatens malaria control efforts in Africa, where the disease remains a major health crisis.

Dr. Patricia A Champion's lab at the University of Notre Dame focuses on understanding how pathogenic mycobacteria, like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, cause diseases in humans. They specifically study the ways in which these bacteria adapt to different pH levels in the body and how that impacts their ability to survive and infect. Through innovative research techniques, the lab aims to uncover new insights into treatment and prevention strategies for mycobacterial infections.