Grants per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
After receiving my MD and PhD degrees from the Cornell/Rockefeller Program, I performed an Internship in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital followed by a Residency in Academic Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. During Residency, I spent the better part of two years in the lab of Michael A. Gimbrone, Jr. Following Residency, I was recruited back to The Rockefeller University to start my independent career as a researcher in 1987. At Rockefeller I combined my interests and training in leukocytes and vascular biology to study their interaction during the inflammatory response, focusing on basic mechanisms that would be relevant to all inflammatory diseases. During that time I had an adjunct appointment in the Department of Pathology at Cornell Medical School where I was an Attending Pathologist on the Autopsy Service and taught in the medical school. I co-developed the problem-based learning curriculum in the Pathology Course, which was extremely successful and within a few years became the model for the intergrated second year curriculum. In 1997 I was recruited to join the faculty at Weill Cornell Medical Center full time, where I stayed until being recruited to Northwestern as Chair of Pathology in 2007. Over the years I have held many leadership positions in National and International Scientific Organizations including the American Society for Investigative Pathology (Chair of Program Committee, Chair of Research and Science Policy Committee, Councilor) and the North American Vascular Biology Organization (President, Chair of Program Committee, Secretary/Treasurer. I have received several major awards including election as a AAAS Fellow, the Rouse-Whipple Award from ASIP, and a MERIT Award from NIH. I have been active in training the next generation of scientists and physicians. At Feinberg School of Medicine, I continued to pursue my interests in Pathology and Inflammation, hiring a number of outstanding and successful investigators with complementary interests. During this time on the clinical side we also successfully transitioned to subspecialty signout in Surgical Pathology, greatly expanded our Diagnostic Molecular Pathology Lab, opened a state-of-the-art Cytogenetics Lab, recruited pathologists to sign out both cytopathology and surgical pathology, and began a successful program to evaluate and fund research by Residents and Fellows. Since stepping down as Chair in July, 2016 I have devoted most of my time to gearing up my research lab and expanding into new areas. I continue to Attend on the Autopsy Service, and am happy to help the Department of Pathology in any way I can.
My clinical duties are on the adult autopsy service where I currently serve as Attending Pathologist with 25% effort, covering the service at least one week per month.
Most diseases are due to or involve a significant component of inflammation. My lab studies the inflammatory response at the cellular and molecular level. We are focused on the process of diapedesis, the "point of no return" in inflammation where leukocytes squeeze between tightly apposed endothelial cells to enter the site of inflammation. We have identified and cloned several molecules that are critical to the process of diapedesis (PECAM (CD31), CD99, and VE-cadherin) and are studying how they regulate the inflammatory response using in vitro and in vivo models. We have recently described the Lateral Border Recycling Compartment, a novel para-junctional organelle that contains PECAM and CD99 and is critical for diapedesis to occur. We are currently investigating how this compartment regulates diapedesis in the hope of finding novel targets for anti-inflammatory therapy. Our inflammatory models include atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, ischemia/reperfusion injury, stroke, dermatitis, multiple sclerosis, peritonitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. We are also using 4-dimensional intravital microscopy to view the inflammatory response in real time in living animals.
Certifications and Licenses
Anatomic Pathology |
Training Experience
1983 | Internship, Massachusetts General Hospital |
1987 | Residency, Brigham & Women's Hospital |
Education/Academic qualification
MD, Cornell University Medical College
… → 1982
Medicine, MD, Cornell University Medical College
… → 1982
PhD, Rockefeller University
… → 1981
PhD, Rockefeller University
… → 1981
Research interests
- Cell Adhesion Mechanisms
- Cell Imaging
- Immune System
- Inflammation
- Leukocyte-endothelial Cell Interactions
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Pathology
- Vascular Biology
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Network
Grants
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Vascular Surgery Scientist Training Program
Ameer, G. A., Eskandari, M., Pearce, W. H. & Muller, W. A.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
7/1/19 → 6/30/24
Project: Research project
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How Circulating Melanoma Cells Usurp the Leukocyte Transmigration Mechanism for Successful Metastasis
Fu, T., Liu, H. & Muller, W. A.
4/1/19 → 3/31/24
Project: Research project
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A-012: A Drug to Block Ischemia/ Reperfusion Injury Following Myocardial Infarction
Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust
1/1/17 → 12/31/21
Project: Research project
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Beyond PECAM: Mechanisms of Transendothelial Migration
Gonzalez, A. M., Sullivan, D. P., Thorp, E. B. & Muller, W. A.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
12/15/16 → 11/30/21
Project: Research project
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The Roles of Endothelial PECAM and the LBRC in Leukocyte Transmigration
Gonzalez, A. M., Sullivan, D. P., Sullivan, D. P., Thorp, E. B. & Muller, W. A.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
6/1/16 → 5/31/21
Project: Research project
Research Output
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Spatiotemporal restriction of endothelial cell calcium signaling is required during leukocyte transmigration
Dalal, P. J., Sullivan, D. P., Weber, E. W., Sacks, D. B., Gunzer, M., Grumbach, I. M., Brown, J. H. & Muller, W. A., 2021, In: Journal of Experimental Medicine. 218, 1, e20192378.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Beyond genes and transcription factors: A potential mechanism for the pathogenesis of cerebral cavernous malformations
Muller, W. A., Sep 2020, In: Journal of Experimental Medicine. 217, 10, e20200858.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Endothelial Cell Calcium Signaling during Barrier Function and Inflammation
Dalal, P. J., Muller, W. A. & Sullivan, D. P., Mar 2020, In: American Journal of Pathology. 190, 3, p. 535-542 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access5 Scopus citations -
Human CD4+ T cell subsets differ in their abilities to cross endothelial and epithelial brain barriers in vitro
Nishihara, H., Soldati, S., Mossu, A., Rosito, M., Rudolph, H., Muller, W. A., Latorre, D., Sallusto, F., Sospedra, M., Martin, R., Ishikawa, H., Tenenbaum, T., Schroten, H., Gosselet, F. & Engelhardt, B., Feb 3 2020, In: Fluids and barriers of the CNS. 17, 1, 3.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access9 Scopus citations -
Return of Individual Research Results: A Guide for Biomedical Researchers Utilizing Human Biospecimens
Sobel, M. E., Dreyfus, J. C., Dillehay McKillip, K., Kolarcik, C., Muller, W. A., Scott, M. J., Siegal, G. P., Wadosky, K. & O'Leary, T. J., May 2020, In: American Journal of Pathology. 190, 5, p. 918-933 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Scopus citations