The Carver College of Medicine has announced the formation of a new seminar series to begin Fall 2009. The Distinguished Biomedical Scholars Lecture Series will feature top-tier scientists and physicians performing high-impact research in a variety of areas.
Most lectures, with few exceptions, will be held on the third Thursday of each month beginning in September. The seminars will be of broad interest and are open to all CCOM faculty, staff and students.
For those not able to attend the seminars, information on previous speakers and lecture videos are available.
David Allis received his PhD in 1978 from Indiana University and performed postdoctoral work with Dr. Martin Gorovsky at the University of Rochester. Allis has held several academic positions including appointments at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Virginia Health System. Currently, Allis is the Joy and Jack Fishman Professor at the Rockefeller University and serves as the head of the Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Allis' research focuses on the DNA-histone protein complex chromatin, which packages the genetic information that exists with each cell and serves as a means of gene regulation that lies outside of the DNA itself— the basis of epigenetics.
In 2008, Allis was presented with the ASBMB-Merck Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research in biology and biochemistry. Allis was also the recipient of the 2007 Gairdner Foundation International Award, the 2004 Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences, the 2003 Massry Prize and the 2002 Dickson Prize in Biomedical Sciences.
Hal Dietz received his MD from the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in 1984. Following medical school, Dietz completed his residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in cardiology both at Johns Hopkins Hospital before continuting postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University. Currently, Dietz is the Victor A. McKusick Professor of Genetics and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as well as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dietz is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
Research in the Dietz laboratory focuses on the development and homeostasis of the arterial wall. One goal is to understand genetic factors that predispose to aortic aneurysm. The lab has been studying Marfan syndrome (MFS), a genetic disease that includes aortic aneurysm as part of the condition and that is caused by mutations in a single gene. The Dietz group is also interested in other vascular disorders including: familial tetralogy of Fallot, cerebral cavernous malformation, and novel and Loeys-Dietz syndrome. The second major interest in the lab is to understand the mechanism of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and to evaluate its basic biologic purpose and to assess its role as a potent modulator of disease severity in many genetic disorders.
Dr. Dietz has been recognized for his outstanding research and was named a Richard Starr Ross Research Scholar of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. For his work as a young investigator, Dietz was presented with the Richard D. Rowe Award in Perinatal Cardiology by the Society for Pediatric Research. In 2006, Dietz was the recipient of the American Society of Human Genetics' Curt Stern Award for outstanding scientific acheivement in human genetics.
Deepak Srivastava received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch and performed his residency at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California- San Franscisco. Following his residency, Srivastava performed fellowships in pediatric cardiology at the Children's Hospital of Harvard Medical School and in pediatric scientist development at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. Currently, Srivastava is the Wilma and Adeline Pirag Distinguished Professor in Pediatric Development and professor of biochemistry and biophysiology at the University of California- San Francisco. Srivastava also directs the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at UCSF.
Srivastava's research focuses on focuses on the fundamental events involved in cell fate determination and differentiation and organogenesis, specifically investigating the molecular events regulating developmental decisions that instruct cardiac progenitor cells to adopt a cardiac cell fate and subsequently fashion a functioning heart. The laboratory focuses on transcriptional and post-transcriptional steps, particularly those involving microRNAs. The Srivastava group also investigates the causes of human cardiovascular disease by applying modern genetic technologies for the study of complex traits such as congenital heart disease.
In 2007, Srivastava received the E. Mead Johnson from the Society for Pediatric Research in recognition of his outstanding research accomplishments in pediatrics. Specifically, Srivastava was recognized for his work in discovering the intricate networks that regulate normal and abnormal cardiogenesis, along with his contributions in understanding the genetic causes of human cardiac malformations.
Hollis Cline received her PhD in Neurobiology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985. Cline is currently a professor of cell biology and Chemical Physiology at the Scripps Research Institute and holds adjunct appointments at the University of California, San Diego, and at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where she served as director of research from 2002-2006. She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, American Academy for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Cell Biology and American Physiological Society. Cline also serves on the board of scientific counselors the National Institutes of Mental Health. In 2005, Dr. Cline was recognized with a National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award for highly creative, high-risk research.
The Cline laboratory is working to determine the mechanisms by which sensory experience affects the development of brain structures and function. To address these issues, the lab utilizes in vivo imaging, electrophysiology and manipulation of gene expression. The lab has discovered that neuronal activity regulates the development of the visual system through a variety of mechanisms, including changes in neuronal structure, synaptic strength, synaptogeneis and gene expression. Visual system activity also engages homeostatic mechanisms which maintain the function of the visual system over a wide range of input levels.