The faculty in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine use state-of-the-art imaging and molecular approaches to study cell-cell interactions in reproductive biology and toxicology and molecular mechanisms of DNA damage and mutagenicity.

At a biochemical level, other faculty focus on insulin and energy metabolism in the brain leading to neurodegenerative disease, changes in the blood-brain barrier, regulation of corticosteroid metabolism in hypertension and obesity, and biochemical markers for prenatal screening and prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes. These basic researchers have also developed a variety of animal models of human disease including toxicant-induced testicular injury, fetal alcohol syndrome, and cancer related to asbestos exposure. Animal models are useful for developing novel therapeutic strategies for cancer and prevention of adverse reproductive and pregnancy outcomes.