Thought-leaders in biomedical research share ideas from addiction recovery to zebrafish brains during Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series
The spring season of the lecture series, which begins Jan. 12, features 21 experts sharing leading discoveries at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute sites in Roanoke and Washington, D.C.
Addiction recovery. Dopamine. Exercise and heath. Metabolic origins of heart failure. Sex influences on the brain and body.
Twenty-one leading scholars will share the latest research across biomedical and health topics aligned with the major research themes and centers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in the Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series spring lineup.
The seminars are geared toward scientists at Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic, including graduate and medical students, undergraduates, faculty, and staff. Most of the in-person seminars are at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke; one is being hosted at the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C. All seminars are in-person, but they also may be attended virtually through the research institute’s website.
The Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series is a forum for sharing contemporary insights in biomedical science by the thought leaders who are pioneering new concepts and technological approaches in the most important areas of health sciences.
“It’s inspiring to learn from and share ideas with researchers who bring such powerful and innovative approaches to some of the most challenging problems in health,” said Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology and executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. “It’s always inspiring to learn how some of the most creative minds from across the country and globe are addressing many of the very issues that our faculty, students and staff are addressing. The interchanges include, not only the formal seminars, but also individual and small group meetings with our researchers and students, and informal idea-sharing at social events. These visits are a way to engage with the wider scientific community, not only about their discoveries, but about techniques, successes, shared challenges, and potential collaborations.”
The schedule for the second half of the program that runs in the spring follows, with each seminar starting at 11 a.m.:
- Jan. 12: “Quantitative Proteomics for Understanding Epigenetic Cancer Mechanisms,” Ben Garcia, Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine
- Jan. 19: “Building and Maintaining Biological Tubes,” Ondine Cleaver, professor, molecular biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Jan. 26: “Mapping Connections in the Zebrafish Brain,” Marnie Halpern, chair and Andrew J. Thomson Professor, molecular and systems biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
- Feb. 2: “Theta Oscillations, Memory, and Emotion: Insights from Mobile Intracranial EEG Recordings and Closed-Loop Stimulation in Humans,” Nanthia Suthana, assistant professor-in-residence, neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
- Feb. 9: “Novel Mechanism Mediating the Benefits of Exercise on Health,” Laurie Goodyear, professor of medicine, senior investigator, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School
- Feb. 16: “TBD,” Tera Fazzino, assistant professor of psychology, associate director, Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment, The University of Kansas
- Feb. 23: “Cytoskeletal Control of Local Protein Synthesis and Directed Cardiac Growth,” Benjamin Prosser, associate professor, physiology, Perelman School of Medicine
- March 1, Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus: “Understanding Glioma Heterogeneity Hierarchy,” Luis Parada, director, Brain Tumor Center, Foster Chair, American Cancer Society Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences
- March 8: “Presynaptic Plasticity: Novel Functions and Mechanisms,” Pablo Castillo, professor, neuroscience, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Harold and Muriel Block Chair Professor in Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- March 15: “Chromatin Regulation of Neuronal Maturation,” Anne Elizabeth West, professor, neurobiology, Duke University School of Medicine
- March 22: “Deciphering the Metabolic Origins of Heart Failure: Towards Novel Therapeutic Targets,” Daniel Kelly, Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor, Director, Penn and CHOP Cardiovascular Institutes, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- March 29: “Circadian Clocks in Skeletal Muscle; Contributions to Systemic Health,” Karyn Esser, professor and chair, physiology and aging, University of Florida College of Medicine
- April 5: “The Meaning of Dopamine,” Henry Yin, professor, psychology and neuroscience, Duke University School of Medicine
- April 12: “Addiction Recovery: From Culture to Science,” John Kelly, Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- April 19: “Continuous Decision-Making,” Benjamin Hayden, professor and McNair Scholar of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine
- April 26: “Our Mass Spectrometry Screening Studies in the Mouse and Human Hearts in Health and Disease,” Anthony Gramolini, professor, physiology and translational biology and engineering, Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, University of Toronto
- May 3: “Regulation of Mitochondrial Parameters in Skeletal Muscle,” Glenn Rowe, associate professor of medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- May 10: “Flavors in Tobacco and Nicotine Products: Science-based Regulation,” Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Albert E. Kent Professor of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine
- May 17: “Sex Influences on Brain and Body: An issue that is Here to Stay,” Larry Cahill, professor, neurobiology and behavior, University of California, Irvine
- May 24: “TBD,” William Eward, associate professor, orthopaedic surgery, Duke University School of Medicine
- May 31, “Three photon imaging of active neural networks during visual processing in the living brain,” Prakash Kara, professor, neuroscience, University of Minnesota School of Medicine
The series, which began in 2012, has hosted more than 150 scientists at the forefront of biomedical innovation. The visits are co-sponsored by one or more of the institute’s research centers or focus areas, including the Addiction Recovery and Research Center, the Center for Vascular and Heart Research, the Cancer Research Group, the Center for Human Neuroscience Research, the Center for Health Behaviors Research, the Center for Neurobiology Research, and the Center for Exercise Medicine Research.
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute also hosts the Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture Series, Brain School, international conferences, and the Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture Series.
