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Graduate School Faculty

Our faculty is primarily made up of Van Andel Institute (VAI) investigators, each of whom have a Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent academic degree and a distinguished record of scholarship and contributions to the scientific community.

Adjunct faculty members may supplement the permanent faculty. These may include visiting scientists from other research institutes, faculty members from local colleges or universities, postdoctoral fellows at VAI or practicing professionals.

Meet the Faculty

Marie Adams, M.S.

Director, Genomics Core

Stephen Baylin, M.D.

Co-leader, Van Andel Institute–Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) Epigenetics Dream Team

Director’s Scholar and Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Sarah Bodbyl, Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Van Andel Institute Graduate School

Lena Brundin, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science

Behavioral Medicine

Nick Burton, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming

Maternal Effects on Metabolism and Host-Microbe Interactions

Gerhard (Gerry) Coetzee, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science; Director, MiND NeuroGenomes Project

Post-GWAS Functionality

Martha Escobar, Ph.D.

Director, Research Development

Stephanie Grainger, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology

Wnt Signaling in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Development and Cancer

Carrie Graveel, Ph.D.

Senior Research Scientist, Department of Cell Biology; Assistant Dean for Student Research Experience, Van Andel Institute Graduate School

MET signaling, RTK signaling in breast cancer progression and therapeutic resistance, mouse models, targeted therapeutic approaches to breast cancer

Yvonne Fondufe-Mittendorf, Ph.D.

Interim Chair, Department of Cell Biology; Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Epigenetic Regulation and Environmental Impacts

Brian Haab, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Cell Biology

Pancreatic Cancer Identification Using Glycans

Michael Henderson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science; Director, VAI Brain Bank

Protein Pathologies and Genetic Risk in Neurodegeneration

Galen Hostetter, M.D.

Director of Pathology, Pathology and Biorepository Core

Melissa Hoyer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science

Neuronal Organelle Quality Control and Health

Derek Janssens, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Epigenetic Regulation of Hematopoiesis and Leukemia

Dr. Peter Jones, Van Andel Institute

Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hon)

President and Chief Scientific Officer

Epigenetic Therapies

Image of Russell Jones, Ph.D.

Russell Jones, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming

Cancer and Immunometabolism

Connie Krawczyk, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming

Immunology, Epigenetics and Metabolism

Peter W. Laird, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Epigenetics; Peter and Emajean Cook Endowed Chair in Epigenetics

Cancer Epigenetics

Adelheid (Heidi) Lempradl, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming

Intergenerational Inheritance of Nutritional States

Huilin Li, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, Department of Structural Biology; Ralph and Grace Hauenstein Endowed Chair in Structural Biology

Cryo-EM, Structural Biology, DNA Replication and Epigenetics

Darren Moore, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science; Director, MiND Program

Molecular Neurodegeneration

Sara Nowinski, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Metabolism and Nutritional Programming

Mitochondria and Metabolism

Gerd Pfeifer, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Epigenetic and Genetic Pathways in Human Disease

Image of Dr. J. Andrew Pospisilik

J. Andrew Pospisilik, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Epigenetic Origins of Heterogeneity and Disease

Scott Rothbart

Scott Rothbart, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Chromatin and Epigenetic Regulation

Laurent Roybon, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science; Director, MiND iPSC Program

Patient-Based Models of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Ryan Sheldon, Ph.D.

Core Director, Mass Spectrometry Core

Hui Shen, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Epigenomics Analysis in Human Disease

Xiaobing Shi, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Histone Modifications and Chromatin Regulation

Matt Steensma, M.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology

Musculoskeletal Oncology

Eric C. Swindell, Ph.D.

Dean and Chief Academic Officer, Van Andel Institute Graduate School

Piroska Szabó, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Developmental Programming

Tim Triche, Jr., Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Translational Biological Informatics

Hong Wen, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Epigenetics

Epigenetics and Transcription

Bart Williams, Ph.D.

Director, Core Technologies and Services; Professor, Department of Cell Biology

Cell Signaling and Carcinogenesis

Mary Winn, Ph.D.

Associate Director, Core Technologies and Services

Evan Worden, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Structural Biology

Structural Biology of Epigenetic Complexes

Tao Yang, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology

Skeletal Biology

Yang Yang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Structural Biology

Structural Basis for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Gongpu Zhao, Ph.D.

Director, Cryo-EM Core

Qiang Zhu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurodegenerative Science

Genetics, Epigenetics and Therapeutic Innovation in Neurodegenerative Diseases