Marks Lab Members
Daniel Marks, MD, PhD
Daniel L. Marks graduated magna cum laude from the University of Oregon in 1988 with a degree in biology and chemistry. He then entered the University of Washington where he received a Ph.D. in 1993 and an M.D. in 1995. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Utah, then a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Oregon Health & Science University in 2001. He is currently a Scientist in the Center for the Study of Weight Regulation and Associated Disorders, and an Associate Professor in Pediatric Endocrinology at OHSU. Dr. Marks has an extensive research background and has published numerous original research manuscripts. Recently, his work has focused on the neuroendocrine control of body weight, with a particular interest in pediatric weight regulation, including obesity, failure to thrive, and disease-associated wasting. The primary focus of his lab is to understand the involuntary weight loss that often accompanies chronic diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Dr. Marks' research has led to the development of drug compounds that are capable of preventing weight loss and poor growth that is found in models of chronic disease. These compounds have the potential to greatly improve the quality of life and mortality in numerous chronic disease states.
Stephanie Krasnow
Stephanie Krasnow received a B.S. in Physiology from the University of California, Davis in 1997. She attended graduate school at the University of Washington and earned a Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics in 2004. Her dissertation research was focused on studying the metabolic control of reproduction and resulted in the publication of several manuscripts. Dr. Krasnow is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Daniel Marks’ laboratory at Oregon Health & Science University, where she is working on a project investigating the neural mechanisms underlying inflammation-induced reproductive dysfunction.
Peter R. Levasseur
Peter R. Levasseur graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1996 with a degree in Environmental Science. In 2002 he completed a Masters degree in Biology from Portland State University with a focus in plant molecular systematics. He taught English in Seoul, South Korea from 2002 to 2003. He joined the Marks lab in 2004 as a research assistant and has been co-author on several publications. He recently completed an initial teaching licensure in Biology from Portland State University.
XinXia Zhu
Xinxia Zhu (M.D equivalent) graduated from Zhenjiang Medical College in China in 1983 with a degree in Medical Laboratory Science. She received a Bachelor Degree (M.D equivalent) from Hunan Medical University in Clinic Medicine in 1992. As a medical researcher, she joined Dr. Daniel Marks’ lab in 2003 to assist him with his studies, which are related to body weight regulation, particularly in the study of neuroendocrine mechanisms and therapies of both cachexia and obesity.
