Joseph D. Fontes

Joseph D. Fontes serves as Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center's School of Medicine. He additionally holds the position of Assistant Dean for the Office of Medical Education since 2019.

Dr. Fontes' research program focuses on transcriptional regulation within the immune system, with particular emphasis on zinc finger X-linked duplicated (ZXD) family transcription factors. His laboratory has established critical roles for ZXDA and ZXDC in major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) gene expression, and currently investigates how ZXDC regulates monocyte lineage development through dual mechanisms: inhibition of the Bcl6 transcriptional repressor and interaction with chromatin modifying complexes. His research integrates molecular, cellular, and biochemical approaches to understand immune cell differentiation.

• Founding Member, Association of Biochemistry Educators (2025 recognition)
• Outstanding Lecturer Award for medical student education (2025)

Dr. Fontes maintains active collaborations with colleagues including Dr. Andrei Belousov on connexin-36 in neuronal development and Dr. Liksin Swint-Kruse on intrinsically disordered proteins, demonstrating his interdisciplinary research approach across molecular biology, immunology, and neuroscience domains.