M.S., Molecular Biology and Biotechology, University of Szeged, 1992 Ph.D., Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School / Semmelweis University of Medicine, 1997
Dr. Urban is a molecular geneticist. He received his postdoctoral training at the University of Hawaii and served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis from 2004 to 2009.
The Urban Lab is focused on inherited diseases of the extracellular matrix, particularly the elastic fiber system. Human genetic diseases under study include supravalvular aortic stenosis, Williams syndrome and cutis laxa. Cellular and zebrafish models are used to identify key molecules and processes of elastic fiber formation and maintenance. The insights from Mendelian diseases and models are applied to understand common, complex diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and aneurysms.
Research Interests:
Inherited diseases of the extracellular matrix, particularly the elastic fiber, using data on humans and cellular and zebrafish models
Mechanisms of emphysema in autosomal dominant cutis laxa. Qirui Hu, Adrian Shifren, Carla Sens, Jiwon Choi, Zoltan Szabo, Barry C Starcher, Russell H Knutsen, J Michael Shipley, Elaine C Davis, Robert P Mecham, Zsolt Urban Matrix Biol. 2010 Sep; 29:621-8
