Kevin Lynch, Ph.D. Professor, Pharmacology 

 

Did you ever wonder how they caught Floyd Landis doping with testosterone in the Tour de France? How the doctor knows your blood vitamin D level? We can provide you some insight into those questions with a demonstration of drug detection using a mass spectrometer (MS). After a brief explanation of the technique, we'll introduce you to our mass spectrometer and we will watch it generate spectra (i.e., graphs) revealing minuscule amounts of substances in a blood extract after we send it on a search for a specific drug metabolite. 

 

 

Wladek Minor, Ph.D. Professor, Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics 

 

 The Minor laboratory studies the detailed structure of large proteins with an aim toward in-depth understanding of how the structure of a protein at an atomic level relates to its function. This is one of the major unsolved mysteries in biology and holds the key to understanding diseases and designing new treatments. I will show you how we use x-ray crystallography and molecular modeling to visualize these elegant structures.   

 

 

James Nataro, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, FAAP Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics 

 

The Nataro laboratory group focuses on diarrhea and dysentery among children in developing countries. We have discovered several new disease-causing organisms, including the one responsible for the large lethal outbreak in Germany in May and June of this year (causing 50 deaths). The laboratory seeks to understand the molecular basis of disease, to develop innovative ways to treat and prevent illness, and also works to understand the burden of diarrhea throughout the developing world. During the evening we will demonstrate the laboratory methods we use to culture the disease-causing organisms and to probe the fundamental pathogenesis of diarrhea.

 

 

John C. Herr, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Cell Biology 

 

Dr. Herr is a reproductive and developmental cell biologist who studies novel genes involved in sperm and egg production [in the testis and ovary] and the process of fertilization [fusion of sperm and egg]. His lab has named more than 35 previously uncharacterized genes in the human genome that are turned on during formation of sperm and eggs. Some of these genes encode proteins that are useful as targets for contraception, and interestingly, some normally gamete specific proteins are going to be helpful as new targets for cancer therapeutics. Dr. Herr is the inventor of the home sperm test SpermCheck, introduced to consumers on the family planning shelves of Walgreens Drug stores in the spring of 2012. The SpermCheck test uses monoclonal antibodies to measure a sperm specific protein located in the head of the human sperm. Visit Dr. Herr's lab to understand the science behind SpermCheck. 

 

 

Shayn Peirce-Cottler, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering 

 

The Peirce-Cottler Laboratory is a biomedical engineering laboratory at UVa that studies vascular growth and remodeling by combining experimental and computational systems and bioengineering approaches in order to develop new therapies for tissue engineering. We seek to understand how the smallest blood vessels in our body adapt during health and disease. We then use this knowledge to engineer adult stem cell treatments and identify new drug targets that can affect microvascular growth to regenerate tissues in the body. Our active research areas include diabetes, ischemic disease (stroke, heart disease, and peripheral vascular disease), and obesity. 

 

 

Jonathan Kipnis, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Departments of Neuroscience 

 

The Kipnis laboratory is working to better understand the complex interactions between the immune and nervous systems. Until very recently, scientists assumed that any activity of the immune system within or around the central nervous system (CNS) was a hallmark of pathology. However, new evidence supports the notion that immune support is actually required for optimal neuronal survival following CNS injury. In parallel, Dr. Kipnis recently showed that immune-compromised mice exhibit behavioral and cognitive abnormalities when compared to mice with normally-functioning immune systems. Animals that lack the population of unique T lymphocytes, or key molecular factors produced by these cells, are strikingly impaired in learning and memory tasks, adult neurogenesis, and neuronal plasticity. Moreover, a well-controlled boost of immune response improves learning abilities in normal animals and accelerates the process of neurogenesis. The goal of the Kipnis laboratory is to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of immune cells in healthy and diseased CNS. On the therapeutic “frontline”, he is designing vaccines and developing novel therapies with a potential to promote neuronal survival, improve cognitive functions, and slow down progression of neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental and cognitive disorders (including dementia).

 

 

Vesna Jevtovi-Todorivic, MD, Ph.D, MBA. Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology and Neuroscience 

 

All physicians take an oath to first “do no harm” in taking care of our patients. Dr. Jevtovic-Todorovic’s research is focused on challenging our “do-no-harm” philosophy when we put very young children to sleep. Do we truly understand how general anesthetics affect their developing brain? Do they cause long-term impairments in learning and memory? What about the long-term effects on behavior? We can help you understand some of these important issues by demonstrating our anesthesia delivery system. You will be able to see how very young animals respond to general anesthesia. 

 

 

Yan Laboratory – Muscle Biology 

Zhen Yan, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Departments of Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine 

 

We all know that exercise is the most effective way to improve athletic performance and curb many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and cancers. Most importantly, how fit you are is a good predictor of all-cause of mortality and a measure of quality of life. However, the mechanisms by which regular exercise mediates the beneficial effects are largely unknown. It is now known that exercise training increases mitochondrial number and quality in skeletal muscle, which is the basis for many of the benefits of exercise. We can introduce to you a novel technology developed in this laboratory to look at how exercise training results in increased number and quality of mitochondria in skeletal muscle using a combination of reporter gene, gene transfer and confocal microscopy techniques. 

 

 

Ira Schulman, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Departments of Pharmacology  

 

There is growing worldwide epidemic of metabolic disease that includes obesity, type II diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. The cost of this epidemic both in human lives and in dollars is staggering. For instance the American Heart Association estimates that over half the adults in the Unites States have cholesterol levels that put them at risk for cardiovascular disease; the number 1 killer in the western world. Work in the Schulman lab is focused on the genetic control of cholesterol metabolism. In particular his laboratory is studying the genetic networks that control the movement of cholesterol out of the body with the expectation that we will uncover new ways to treat cardiovascular disease. 

 

Jay Fox, Ph.D. Professor and Associate Dean of Research, Department of Microbiology 

 

The Fox laboratory investigates natural toxins primarily focusing on snake venoms. The goal of the research is to better understand the molecular basis of snake envenomation pathology so we can develop more effective treatments. Dr. Fox is also investigating venom toxins as potential novel drug leads and therapeutics.   

 

 

Benjamin Purow, MD Associate Professor, Departments of Neurology 

 

The Purow laboratory is dedicated to better understanding the molecular signaling pathways that underlie brain tumors to develop better and more targeted therapies. Dr. Purow has identified novel targets in glioblastoma, the most common and lethal brain cancer, that we are exploiting with both locally-delivered genetic therapies and also with new drugs. 

 

 

Frederick Epstein, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Departments of Biomedical Engineering

 

While most cardiac imaging studies are performed using ultrasound or nuclear imaging, based on the fundamental principles of magnetic resonance, we postulate that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has major advantages for assessment of the heart. Dr. Epstein is developing improved MRI methods for imaging cardiac function and myocardial blood flow, parameters that are central to the evaluation of ischemic heart disease. As biomedical engineers, the goal of the laboratory is to develop new strategies for acquiring cardiac images rapidly and for quantifying physiologically important parameters. Dr. Epstein also collaborates with physicians and basic scientists to apply new cardiac MRI methods to patients with heart disease and in the evaluation of novel therapies for heart disease. 

 

French Laboratory – Developing New Diagnostics & Novel Therapies for Heart Attack 

Brent French, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering 

 

The French laboratory studies heart attack and heart failure in mice so that we can better understand these diseases and develop new diagnostics and novel therapies for them. Dr. French has also developed efficient methods for delivering gene therapy to the mouse heart, which enables scientists to predict how well these therapies might one day work in people. Gene therapy for cardiovascular disease may be closer to reality than many people think, given that there are more than 75 clinical trials now being conducted worldwide. 

 

 

John Lazo, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Pharmacology 

 

Attending this laboratory will introduce you to how drugs are discovered, who are the players and what are the tools. Particular emphasis will be placed on the discovery of drugs for cancer Alzheimer’s disease and neglected diseases. Come and see why so many drug candidates fail and struggle with the critical decision points in the process; Grapple with getting the money to fuel your venture.