Darren R. Tyson, Ph.D.
Laboratory Director
Specialty
Prostate cancer, tissue engineering, cell biology and proteomics
Darren R. Tyson was recruited to the Department in July 2003 as an Assistant Researcher and Director of Research. His experience in cellular and molecular biology has aided in the establishment of a basic science research laboratory for the Department.
Dr. Tyson received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Illinois in Urbana in 1990. He obtained an M.S. degree in Pathology from Saint Louis University in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the same institution in 1998. He went on to do his postdoctoral training in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at UC Irvine under the mentorship of Dr. Ralph A. Bradshaw. He obtained a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health from 1999 to 2002 to study the effects of mutation of the carboxyl terminus of the EGF receptor in PC12 cells. He has published over a dozen scientific manuscripts, including scientific journal articles and book chapters, and has served as an ad hoc manuscript reviewer for journals such as The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular & Cellular Proteomics and Nature Methods.
His current work is focused on two separate projects, growth factor signaling in prostate cancer (in collaboration with Dr. David Ornstein) and urinary bladder tissue engineering using bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (in collaboration with Dr. Ralph Clayman). Dr. Tyson is responsible for directing the research laboratory in the Department of Urology, providing his expertise to the clinical faculty, assisting in training the urology residents in conducting research, and maintaining his own research projects.
Training
Undergraduate: University of Illinois
Graduate School: Saint Louis University
Postdoctoral Training: University of California, Irvine
