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Research

The Department of Pathology is deeply invested in scientific efforts to improve treatments in our field. Learn more about our department’s investigations below.

Message from the Vice Chair

"We are driven by a shared passion for discovery and a deep commitment to advancing human health through innovative research programs and collaborative partnerships among scientists and pathologists."

Peng Ji, MD, PhD
Vice Chair of Research 

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Areas of Research

Members of the Department of Pathology are defining the cellular and molecular basis of disease toward the development of new and improved strategies to diagnose and treat, inherited, acquired and infectious disorders. Learn more about the work being done in our labs.

Research Areas

Affiliated Research Centers and Institutes

The faculty members of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology are engaged in research within the department and throughout Northwestern Medicine and Northwestern University. Our work throughout the community, including director appointments, illustrate the importance we put on scientific collaboration.

Research Cores

Core facilities provide cost-efficient access of state-of-the-art equipment, the most current technologies and expert technical advice to individual scientists.

Learn more about our affiliated cores

Research Resources

Recent Publications

Circulating cell-free DNA methylation biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma risk prediction in HIV-positive Nigerian population.

Zheng Y, Han J, Qu Y, Wang J, Joyce BT, Okeke E, Davwar PM, Duguru MJ, Nyam DP, Odeghe E, Oyeleke G, Lesi OA, Imade GE, Sulaimon AA, Hawkins C, Abdulkareem FB, Badmos K, Gursel DB, Wei JJ, Silas OA, Kocherginsky M, Kim KA, Sun Z, Achenbach CJ, Zhang X, Yang H, Sagay AS, Ogunsola FT, Murphy RL, Roberts LR, Hou L.

Int J Cancer. 2026 Mar 1;158(5):1281-1291. doi: 10.1002/ijc.70204. Epub 2025 Oct 23.

Authors' Response to Silicosarcoidosis: Do We Really Need Hybrid Labels That May Undermine Occupational Disease Recognition?

Hua JT, Cool CD, Cohen RA, Rose CS.

Am J Ind Med. 2026 Jan 8. doi: 10.1002/ajim.70054. Online ahead of print.

Toward development of a dynamic supramolecular peptide therapy for acute ischemic stroke.

Gao Z, Andrade da Silva LH, Li Z, Chen F, Smith C, Lipfert Z, Martynowicz R, Arias E, Muller WA, Sullivan DP, Stupp SI, Batra A.

Neurotherapeutics. 2026 Jan 8:e00820. doi: 10.1016/j.neurot.2025.e00820. Online ahead of print.

DNA methylation analysis of NOTCH1 variants reveals the first episignature for non-syndromic congenital heart defects.

Dombrowsky G, van der Laan L, Silva A, Breckpot J, Audain E, Wilsdon A, Levy MA, Vos N, Mannens M, Wang J, Jain A, Lesurf R, Winlaw D, Bezzina CR, Thomas MA, Caliebe A, Klaassen S, Berger F, Dittrich S, Stiller B, Abdul-Khaliq H, Dähnert I, Bu'Lock F, Loughna S, Brook JD, Mital S, Russell RB, Pickardt T, Bauer U, Kramer HH, Uebing A, Henneman P, Sadikovic B, Postma A, Hitz MP.

Genome Med. 2026 Jan 7;18(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s13073-025-01587-6.

Disrupting epigenetic insulation underlies CRISPR therapy for β-hemoglobinopathies.

Wang K, Wang J, Weiss MJ, Yue F, Xu J.

Mol Ther. 2026 Jan 7;34(1):35-37. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2025.12.015. Epub 2025 Dec 23.

The ubiquitin E3 ligase HRD1 restricts hepatic lipid metabolism by suppressing PPARα-driven m6A RNA modification.

Kim H, Thepsuwan P, Wei J, Ju D, Chen Q, Zhang X, Li L, Xu J, Tong X, Sun S, He C, Yin L, Fang D, Zhang K.

Sci Signal. 2026 Jan 6;19(919):eadx8300. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.adx8300. Epub 2026 Jan 6.

The 2025 Report on the Human Proteome from the HUPO Human Proteome Project.

Deutsch EW, Lindskog C, Budnik B, Ctortecka C, Guo T, Pineau C, Zhang G, Andken M, Zheng C, Sun Z, Mudge JM, Orchard S, Overall CM, Packer NH, Weintraub ST, Roehrl MHA, Nice E, Van Eyk JE, Völker U, Bandeira N, Aebersold R, Moritz RL, Omenn GS.

J Proteome Res. 2026 Jan 5. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00759. Online ahead of print.

Disease burden attributable to intimate partner violence against females and sexual violence against children in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023.

GBD 2023 Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence against Children Collaborators.

Lancet. 2026 Jan 3;407(10523):31-52. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)02503-6. Epub 2025 Dec 9.

USP22 drives tumor immune evasion and checkpoint blockade resistance through EZH2-mediated epigenetic silencing of MHC-I.

Liu K, Iyer R, Li Y, Zhu J, Cai Z, Wei J, Cheng Y, Tang AY, Wang H, Gao Q, Mani NL, Marx N, Gao B, Watterson DM, Khan SA, Gradishar WJ, Liu H, Fang D.

J Clin Invest. 2025 Nov 18;136(1):e193162. doi: 10.1172/JCI193162. eCollection 2026 Jan 2.

The Unexpected Protective Role of Thrombosis in Lung Injury via Endothelial Alox15.

Evans CE, Behera SP, Zhang X, Machireddy N, Addisu KD, Phillips M, Dhar R, Chakrabarti M, Wang B, David O, Zhao YY.

Circ Res. 2026 Jan 2;138(1):e326357. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.125.326357. Epub 2025 Nov 14.

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