Dr. Abdelghani's current research and teaching focus on the fate of chemical substances in the environment including point (Industrial) and non-point (Agricultural Pesticides) source pollution. The fate includes human exposure (dermal, inhalation, ingestion), distribution and elimination by food chain organisms and persistence studies. Dr. Abdelghani has worked for national and international health organizations and ministries of health in many countries globally. These include Mexico, Honduras, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Jordan and others. Responsibilities included assessment of the impact of biological and chemical contaminants on human health and the environment, control of communicable disease, health education, immunizations, food and water protection, air quality, solid waste disposal and control of vectors of disease. Dr. Abdelghani is also the director of the Environmental Health Laboratories which are an integrated part of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. The laboratories are equipped for teaching and analysis of field and laboratory samples including aquatic organisms (fish, shrimp, crawfish, etc.), water, vegetation, soil, sediment, air, animal tissues, urine and blood from both humans and animals. These samples are analyzed for inorganic and organic contaminants.
Dr. Abdelghani is on the Editorial Board of International Journals such as the Journal of Environmental Toxicology, and Reviews On Environmental Health. He has numerous publications dealing with fate chemical and biological contaminants in the environment.

Dr. Awayda received his Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and did his post-doctoral research at University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research interests include: Regulation of cell signaling by membrane ion channel activities; regulation of epithelial ion transport; mechanism of Na+ channel related hypertension; molecular basis of ion channel related diseases. Dr. Awayda is an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology at Tulane University Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Clejan received her Ph.D degree at the City University of New York. She is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine. She is the Director of the Core Laboratories at the Tulane/LSU NIH-sponsored General Clinical Research Center. She has a great deal of experience in conducting clinical research as the Director of the Tulane University Medical Center Hospital, Routine Pathology Laboratories and as a Professor in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Dr. Clejan uses her knowledge as a pipeline for infusion and distribution of cutting edge clinical new laboratory procedures and use of molecular assays. She has recently been awarded a Fulbright. She directs the GCRC course in clinical laboratory methods and also is very active is teaching clinical laboratory methods to medical students.

Ina Friedman received an RN and Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University, New York; and a Master of Science in Nursing degree with a Certificate as a Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed the coursework toward a PhD in pharmacology at UNC and is a licensed Adult Nurse Practitioner. She is the Director of the Tulane Office of Human Research Protection and the Chair of the Tulane Health Sciences Center Institutional Review Boards. She has extensive experience conducting clinical trials and working with regulatory agencies. She is certified as an IRB Manager (CIM) by the National Association of IRB Managers and as a Site Surveyor for the Veterans Administration Research and Development Accreditation Program.

Dr. Hoyle received his B.A. in Natural Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1982. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duke University in 1988, where he worked with Dr. Robert L. Hill as his advisor. He completed his postdoctoral research at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1988-1993, working with Ralph Brinster. Dr. Hoyle joined the Tulane Faculty in 1993 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine. He became an Associate Professor in 1999. Dr. Hoyle's research involves the use of mouse molecular genetic techniques to study mechanisms of lung disease. The expression of genes known to be dysregulated in lung disease is manipulated using transgenic techniques to test the role of these genes in disease processes. Dr. Hoyle's lab is currently investigating mechanisms of lung fibrosis and asthma with an emphasis on the role of environmental agents in modulating these diseases. To study lung fibrosis, his research involves manipulating the expression in the lung of polypeptide growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor and tumor necrosis factor. With regard to asthma, Dr. Hoyle's investigations focus on the role of airway sensory nerves in modulating lung inflammation induced by allergens and respiratory irritants such as ozone and isocyanate compounds. These studies have important implications for understanding the effects of inhaled toxicants on the progression of asthma.

Dr. Hoyle received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duke University in 1988. Her postdoctoral research at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals involved studying the envelope and rev proteins of HIV under the direction of Dr. Martin Rosenberg. In 1991, she was appointed as a Senior Research Biochemist in the Department of Cancer Research at Merck Research Laboratories where she studied the retinoblastoma protein pRb and its interactions with transcription factor E2F and the E7 protein of HPV. Dr. Hoyle joined the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Tulane University in 1994 as an instructor in Genetics courses. In 1997, she also joined the Department of Biochemistry at Tulane Medical Center as an instructor for a graduate student laboratory course, Methods in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She also holds an appointment with the Human Genetics Program at Tulane Medical Center as an instructor for Human Molecular Genetics.

Dr. Hughes earned a B.S. degree cum laude in Biology from Denison University in Granville, OH. She also holds an M.H.A. and M.B.A. from Tulane University where she was a U.S.P.H.S. Trainee. Dr. Hughes received her Ph.D. in Health Systems Management from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 1997 and was honored with the Dean's Scholarship Award for academic excellence. Concurrent with her doctoral studies, Dr. Hughes co-founded and directed the Tulane Master of Medical Management (MMM) degree, an innovative program combining distance learning and traditional classroom approaches to physician management education. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Hughes directed executive-format Master of Health Administration (MHA) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs for the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the A.B. Freeman School of Business. Her managerial experience also includes administrative roles at New Orleans General Hospital and the Tulane University Hospital and Clinic.
Currently, Dr. Hughes' teaching responsibilities include strategic management, introductory health systems and management courses in both the executive and traditional programs and specialized electives in medical management and managed care. Dr Hughes' academic and research interests include strategic management, medical management, preventive and primary care. physicians in management, and women's health.

Dr. Kissinger received her B.S. in Nursing from Marquette University. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire for 3 years and worked as Coordinator of a rural health zone of 160,000 people. She came to Tulane to complete her MPH and Ph.D. She collaborated with researchers at Johns Hopkins on a study to examine the rate of HIV perinatal transmission in Haiti, where she worked for 4 years. Dr. Kissinger worked in several countries in Africa as an evaluator for Plan International and as a relief worker for the International Rescue Committee. She conducted her doctoral research on the effect of HIV on child mortality in Haiti. Dr. Kissinger joined the faculty at Louisiana State University in 1992 in the Department of Medicine. She became the Chief Epidemiologist at the HIV Outpatient Clinic in New Orleans where she focused on clinical research. In 1993 Dr. Kissinger became adjunct faculty in the Tulane Department of Epidemiology. Dr. Kissinger started the HIV/STD track in the Department of Epidemiology in 1995 and created and coordinated the Epidemiology track of the Centers for Disease Control Graduate Certificate Program in 1996. Dr. Kissinger started full time at Tulane in 1999 and is presently the Principal Investigator on several CDC and NIH grants in HIV/STD-related topics. She has mentored many doctoral students who worked with her on research grants she was awarded. The grants she presently works on are an evaluation of HIV Partner Notification, a clinical trial to examine the efficacy of patient-delivered partner treatment for reduction of recurrent chlamydia infections, HIV in rural Louisiana and MYRIAD rapid testing for pregnant women and access to perinatal prophylaxis. Her research interests are HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Infectious Diseases and Reproductive Health.

Dr. Lertora received his M.D. degree from the National University of the Northeast, Faculty of Medicine, Corrientes, Argentina and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Tulane University. He is a Professor of Medicine and Chief, Section of Clinical Pharmacology, Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Tulane University School of Medicine. He is the Principal Investigator of the NIH-sponsored Tulane-LSU Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Unit and Program Director of the NIH-sponsored Tulane/LSU General Clinical Research Center. He is also a faculty member and on the internal advisory committee of the Tulane NIH-sponsored K30 Clinical Research Curriculum Award Program. Dr. Lertora has trained several fellows in Clinical Pharmacology and also provided mentorship for fellows in infectious diseases conducting special projects. He has also conducted several studies defining the pharmacokinetics and drug interactions of anti-retroviral drugs.

Dr. Leung received his B.S. in Biology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1970. He received his Ph.D. in Virology from Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Leung's post-doctoral training in virology took place at Baylor and in the Department of Pathology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In 1976 he became a lecturer at McMaster University and from 1977 to 1982 he served as Assistant Professor. In 1982, Dr. Leung became Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta, Canada. In 1989 he became a Professor with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Arkansas School of Medical Sciences. Dr. Leung joined the Tulane Faculty as Professor and Chief of Molecular Pathology in 1992. One of Dr. Leung's current research interests is on the molecular mechanism of BRCA1 tumor suppression. Dr. Leung's research has demonstrated that BARD1, a protein associated with BRCA1 through its RING fingers, induces apoptosis. Studies indicated that BARD1 is a mediator between proapoptotic stress and p53 apoptosis. The future goal is to elucidate how BRCA1 interacts with its associated proteins to bring about their tumor suppression function. A second research goal is the use of antisense inhibitor to evaluate the role of growth factors in pathogenesis. This project currently focuses on the study of the affect of growth factors in the pathogenesis of lung disease.

Dr. Mather is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Academic Information Systems. Her research areas are Clinical Trials, Survival Analysis, Evaluation of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and design and implementation of database management systems.

Dr. Shankar is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Biostatistics, Tulane University. She has a Ph.D. in Industrial/organizational behavior from Indian Institute of Technology, India. Before joining Tulane University, Dr Shankar taught at the College of William and Mary and Hampton University in Virginia. For the past two years she has been actively involved in the Distance Learning program at Tulane. Her research interests are factor and multivariate analysis in behavioral sciences.

Dr. Steinmann is an internist and expert in health care research, who advocates studying the factors that affect the patient outcomes and costs of health care services. Dr. Steinmann is the Director of the Tulane Center For Clinical Effectiveness and Prevention. He and the TCCEP researchers are shaking up the status quo, investigating and evaluating clinical practices for which there is little evidence of value for patients. They are discovering new, more effective treatments and diagnostic tests, as well as innovative ways to educate medical students, residents, interns and physicians. They are exporting these proven modalities to Tulane's classrooms and its network of affiliated hospitals and clinics.