Professor of Pediatrics
Section of Hematology/Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation

Vice Chairman for Academic Affairs
Department of Pediatrics

Dr. Beyer is a physician scientist who practices pediatric hematology/oncology and has a broad background in basic laboratory and translational research. His laboratory has spent more nearly 30 years investigating intercellular communication (as mediated by the channels contained within gap junctions) and how its disruptions contribute to disease. These studies encompass basic investigations including identification and cloning of the subunit proteins, characterization of structure-function physiological relationships, determination of pathways of biosynthesis and degradation.
Dr. Beyer's laboratory has also been pursuing translational examinations of the roles of these proteins in diseases including cataracts, deafness, arrhythmias, cancer, and premature labor. The group has spent many years studying the connexins expressed in the eye lens. They are elucidating the process of cataract development by studying mouse and cell culture models that mimic the pathologies seen in human families with connexin mutants and inherited cataracts. Dr. Beyer has investigated the roles of cardiac connexins in normal cardiac conduction and in the pathogenesis of arrhythmias. He is studying the roles of circulating extracellular vesicles in the vascular pathologies that underlie the crises of patients with sickle cell disease. He has mentored many students and post-doctoral fellows within his laboratory.