Our Team

Clinical profile: physicians.wustl.edu/people/f-sessions-cole-md
Research profile: profiles.wustl.edu/en/persons/sessions-cole
Lab: wambachcolelab.wustl.edu

Research interests include genetic regulation of neonatal pulmonary surfactant deficiency has been suggested by studies of gender, genetic linkage, recurrent familial cases, targeted gene ablation in murine lineages, and by racial disparity in risk of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. Successful fetal-neonatal pulmonary transition requires production of the pulmonary surfactant, a phospholipid-protein film that lines alveoli and maintains alveolar patency at end expiration. Our goal is to understand the genetic mechanisms that disrupt pulmonary surfactant metabolism and cause neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

Clinical profile: physicians.wustl.edu/people/patricia-dickson-md
Research profile: profiles.wustl.edu/en/persons/patricia-dickson
Lab: pediatricgeneticsgenomics.wustl.edu/items/dickson-lab

Patricia Dickson, MD, is the Centennial Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. She also is professor of genetics and chief of the Division of Genetics and Genomic Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. Her research focuses on pathogenesis and novel therapy development for central nervous system disease due to the genetic disease, mucopolysaccharidosis. She has been successful in bringing some of these therapies to clinical trials. To date, Dickson’s work has led to 80 publications and has been cited nearly 2,000 times. Her honors include the National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award Fellowship and the Richard B. Weitzman Memorial Award for Meritorious Research. She was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics.

Research profile: profiles.wustl.edu/en/persons/albert-lai

Albert M. Lai, PhD, is the Deputy Director for the Institute for Informatics, the Chief Research Information Officer for the School of Medicine, and a Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Medical Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Lai specializes in the development of research informatics infrastructure and is well recognized in the fields of clinical research informatics and consumer health informatics. His recent research has focused on the application of natural language processing, temporal reasoning and information fusion to generate a longitudinal computable phenotype to support clinical trial prescreening. His research portfolio has been supported by a combination of NCATS, NLM, NCI, AHRQ and PCORI grants and contracts. Previously, Dr. Lai served as the Associate Chief Research Information Officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Research profile: profiles.wustl.edu/en/persons/philip-payne

Philip Payne, PhD, is an internationally recognized leader in the field of clinical research informatics (CRI) and translational bioinformatics (TBI). His research portfolio is actively supported by a combination of NCATS, NLM, and NCI grants and contracts, as well as a variety of awards from both nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.

Clinical profile: physicians.wustl.edu/people/kathleen-sisco-rn-cpnp

Kathleen Sisco is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the Division of Genetics and Genomic Medicine. Along with her clinical practice, she is also the site coordinator for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network at Washington University. Sisco has over 20 years of experience working with children and families. She has a background in primary care and child psychiatry, and is an expert in the areas of developmental delay and metabolic disorders.