About Our Center

Welcome to the University of Houston’s Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling! We opened in January 2009 as the centerpiece of a major new initiative to make UH a leader in biomedical research.

The Center houses what is fast becoming one of the world’s leading nuclear receptor research groups. We combine basic, translational and clinical biosciences to create a dynamic collaboration between academia and industry with the goal of finding new treatments for an array of ailments such as cancer, diabetes and obesity. The Center has close research ties and ongoing collaborations with the Karolinska Institute, Houston’s Methodist Hospital Research Institute, the Institute of Biotechnology at Texas A&M University and others.

Our Center is located in the new Science and Engineering Research Center building on UH’s main campus, together with a number of core facilities and inter-disciplinary research groups. Our Center is part of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at UH, where our faculty have primary appointments. Start-up funding includes a $5.5 million Emerging Technology Grant from the Office of the Governor of Texas and the Center’s sprawling state-of-the-art laboratories are up and running.  The scientific activities of this Center build on the groundbreaking research on nuclear receptors conducted at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, during the past several decades.

We aspire to train the next generation of research professionals in nuclear receptors and cell signaling, and to lay a strong foundation for growing international prominence in health research for the Center, the University of Houston and the City of Houston for years to come. We are assembling a world-class research team in nuclear receptors and cell signaling and anticipate recruiting several leading faculties and research groups during the coming few years.

Jan-Åke Gustafsson

Director