Institute for Translational Neuroscience News and Events

Juliana Navia Pelaez, Ph.D. will join the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, on Feb. 1, 2024, as assistant professor (TT). Navia Pelaez completed her graduate studies in vascular biology at UFMG, Brazil, focusing on cellular responses to oxidized lipids. Subsequently, she pursued postdoctoral training in pain and metabolism at the University of California, San Diego, under the dual mentorship of Tony Yaksh (vice chair for research in anesthesiology and Distinguished Professor in Anesthesiology and Pharmacology) and Yury Miller (M.D., Ph.D.; professor of medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism). As a postdoc, her findings, which revealed increased lipid rafts and intracellular lipid storage in microglia and neurons, contributed to the growing knowledge linking dysregulated lipid metabolism to hypersensitivity and pain states. Now, she is set to lead a new laboratory at SLU in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, dedicated to understanding how lipid metabolism influences pain states and susceptibility to chronic pain. Her research will primarily investigate immuno-metabolic changes and the related transcriptional regulation underlying chronic pain development. Leveraging diverse animal models of chronic pain and advanced omics and biochemistry tools, her lab will explore neuroimmune interactions, cellular reprogramming, and metabolic shifts across various cell types involved in nociceptive pathways, particularly macrophages and microglia. The lab aims to discover early pain biomarkers and uncover new pathways and potential therapeutic targets for treating various chronic pain conditions.

We are happy to announce that the Institute for Translational Neuroscience Inaugural Research Symposium will take place in person on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Our keynote speaker is Catherine Cahill, Ph.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles. In addition to the keynote address, there will be talks by several prominent St. Louis-based researchers (see flyer).

Abstract submission is now open. 

This event is free and open to the public. Register before Oct. 11.

Submit an Abstract. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top poster presentations.

For general information, click here. 

The Institute for Translational Neuroscience, are happy to announce our new SYNAPSES panel discussion, which will allow communication and dialogue about the newest advances and technologies in neuroscience research. A “synapse” is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to communicate with another neuron by transmission of information and signals. 

Our 2nd SYNAPSES panel discussion will beat 2 p.m., Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. The event will be in-person at the Sinquefield Room in DuBourg Hall, at Saint Louis University (click here for the address). The topic will be “The Use of Organoids in Neuroscience”.  

There will be a light reception following the event to facilitate more conversations on the topics and networking. Please make sure to RSVP to attend this free event.

Register for SYNAPSES

Everyone is welcome to attend.

The SLU Research Institute has produced a new video promoting ITN. If this one slipped by you, take some time to check it out and share with your friends, colleagues and social networks.

 

Anutosh Chakraborty, Ph.D., from the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology has been awarded a four-year R01 grant (DK132162, $2,133,260.00, 2023 - 2026). The grant titled, "Determining hepatocyte-specific mechanisms by which Ube4A regulates NAFLD/NASH", will allow Dr. Chakraborty, an associate professor, and his team to decipher the role of a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase protein Ube4A in obesity and obesity-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH).  The outcome of the work is anticipated to define novel mechanisms that regulate metabolism and survival of hepatocytes, understanding which could identify new targets for effective pharmacotherapies to treat obesity and NAFLD/NASH. Other members of the team are Kyle McCommis, Ph.D., Jinsong Zhang, Ph.D., Brent Tetri, M.D., Danielle Carpenter, M.D., and Molee Chakraborty, M.S. from Saint Louis University and Louise Lantier, Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.   

Silviya Petrova Zustiak, Ph.D. was chosen for a SLU 2023 Women of the Year Award. The award: Since 1977, the University has set aside a day to recognize the contributions made by individual women toward accomplishing its educational mission. Honorees are selected because they exemplify ongoing commitment and dedication to the ideas of Saint Louis University, and they have a history of achievement and service that have encouraged others to emulate and appreciate them.

Ammar Mahmood, a Ph.D., student in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, was selected for an oral presentation in the session of “Hot Topics in Endocrinology & Metabolism” for the American Physiological Society Summit being held in April 2023.

• Gina Yosten, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and physiology, has been appointed for a second 3-year term as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology (Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology).   
• The American Physiology Society honored Gina Yosten, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and physiology, by selection for the 2023 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecture. The awardee is chosen annually by a select committee as the most outstanding research contributor in the society under the age of 42. Yosten's lecture was presented online Tuesday, March 7. Congratulations Gina Yosten!

Our very own Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., Susan Farr, Ph.D., and Silvia Squillace, Ph.D., recently participated at The Winter Conference on Brain Research 2023 in Utah! Dr. Squillace presented a poster on A3AR agonists in cancer-related cognitive impairment. 

This newsletter will keep everyone updated with all the current events, funding opportunities and other crucial information with our collaborators! Here is the link to see it: January 2023 Neurotransmitter

In December we celebrated  Terry Egan, Ph.D. He was recognized and toasted to kick off his retirement after 30 years at SLU. Enjoy your next chapter! You will be missed around here. We cannot wait to hear of your new adventures! 

• Congrats to Rachel Schafer, Ph.D. Candidate for winning the 2022 Westfall Graduate Fellowship Award 

Saint Louis University pain researcher Dr. Daniela Salvemini joins Fox 2 News to discuss “chemo brain.”