News
2022
- Congratulations to Dr. Maria Diakonova and her team for receiving a new R15 ($452,000 for three years) on the "Role of prolactin in adipocytes- breast cancer
cell crosstalk."
- Congratulations to Dr. Wissam Aboualaiwi and his team for receiving the Alzheimer's Association Research Grant 鈥� New to the Field Program (AARG/AARG-D-NTF)
for his proposal entitled "Cerebrovascular endothelial cilia in Alzheimer's Disease
and hypertension鈥�. This is a 3-year grant with a total budget of $165,000. Dr. William Messer and Dr. James Burkett from 淫妻社 are collaborators on the grant
and Dr. LaFerla from UC Davis is a consultant. Also Dr. Aboualaiwi鈥檚 NIH/NIA R03 grant with $309,000 total budget over two years was reviewed a week ago and received an impressive 8 percentile score with a funding decision to be made in October during council meeting. Drs.
Messer and Burkett are also collaborators on this NIH grant and Dr. Jurgen Wess from
NIDDK is a Consultant.
- Congratulations to Dr. Qian Chen and team, 淫妻社 Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental
Biology, who received an award of $1.6 million for his National Institutes of Health (NIH) RO1 funded project
titled, 'The mechanism of cell size regulation by polycystin'.
- Dr. Dayanidhi Raman, Department of Cancer Biology, has received an NIH R21 award for his application titled "Targeting of eIF4A along with immunotherapy
to overcome chemoresistance". This is a two-year grant for $333,561.
- Dr. Qian Chen, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, has received an NSF CAREER award for his application titled 鈥淐AREER: The regulation of calcium by calcium.鈥� This is a five-year grant for $700,904. Dr. Chen would like to thank many faculty members in this group, including Dr. Conti and Dr.听Karunarathne, who helped him improve the proposal.听
2021
- and Dr. Blair Grubb are collaborating on innovative research to prove the long-held
theory that POTS is an autoimmune disorder.
- Barkha Ramnani, Praveen Manivannan, Sarah Jaggernauth and Dr. Malathi Krishnamurthy published their latest manuscript, 鈥淎BCE1 Regulates RNase L-Induced Autophagy during
Viral Infections鈥�, in Viruses 2021, 13(2), 315; . This study by Ramnani et al investigates the mechanisms by which components of an
evolutionarily conserved recycling pathway of autophagy (also known as self-eating)
are regulated by antiviral proteins to affect the outcome of viral infections. These
studies will inform of commonly used drugs that induce autophagy as new regulators
of viral infection that may exacerbate viral diseases.
- Dr. Timothy Mueser's lab is conducting research showing that microgravity produces high-quality protein
crystals that can be analyzed to identify possible targets for drugs to treat disease.
According to Ph.D. candidate Victoria Drago (Mueser Lab), 鈥淩eal-Time Protein Crystal
Growth 2 affords us the opportunity to grow, monitor, and optimize protein crystal
growth in microgravity through real-time communication with space station crew members鈥�.
Astronauts will check the crystals, report on their growth, and then make changes
based on initial observations. Northrop Grumman Corporation is targeting no earlier
than 12:36 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, for the launch of its #Cygnus spacecraft on an
Antares rocket from the launch pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The Cygnus spacecraft
will carry crew supplies, scientific research, and hardware to the orbiting laboratory
to support the NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Expedition 64
and 65 crews. Full article:
- Dr. Ajith Karunarathne received funding on his National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 proposal, 鈥淥ptical
Control of Endogenous G Protein Coupled Receptor and G Protein Signaling鈥�. This three-year
grant for $939,848 is a collaboration with Dr. Steven Sucheck to develop photoligands
for in vivo applications.
- Dr. Qian Chen lab publication has been selected by The American Society for Cell Biology Molecular Biology of the Cell Journal as a highlight for its January 2021 Issue! The Chen Lab at 淫妻社 explored cytokinetic calcium transients in #FissionYeast by adopting GCaMP, a genetically encoded calcium indicator, to determine the intracellular calcium level of this model organism in the article, Calcium spikes accompany cleavage furrow ingression and cell separation during fission yeast #cytokinesis. Published online: 29 Dec 2020.
2020
- First author Myoung Soo Choi and the Crawley Lab publication in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 鈥淭he small EF-hand protein CALML4
functions as a critical myosin light chain within the intermicrovillar adhesion complex鈥�
(July 2020). The cover image for this JBC issue was chosen from this article submission and the
article was chosen as an Editors鈥� Picks in this issue which represent the top-rated
papers published in JBC across the field of biological chemistry! This article was
also recently selected to be in a special issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry
focusing on the eukaryotic #cytoskeleton. Articles chosen for this special issue best
represented the exciting advances in this field!
- Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss received a three-year U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research
Initiative (AFRI), grant award in the amount of $500,000 for a project being conducted
in collaboration with Bo Harstine, director of research, Select Sires Inc. Brief project
objective: 鈥淭he long-term goal of this project is to provide new methods for understanding
and, consequently, for improving cattle fertility via the identification of centriolar
biomarkers associated with reproductive efficiency. The project outcomes are the production
of tools and methods for selecting sires for improved productivity, which will promote
sustainable dairy production in the U.S.鈥�. 鈥� Dr. Avidor-Reiss.
- was awarded a five-year, $1.95 million research grant from the National Institutes
of Health to develop new therapeutics that could prevent secondary injuries for those
who suffer a hemorrhagic stroke as the neurological damage can continue well after
the bleeding stops.
- Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata et al. received an award from The American Society for Cell Biology 2020 Public Engagement
Grant Award of $33,396 for use in conjunction with the 淫妻社 SCOPE
Program. The SCOPE Program at 淫妻社 allows students to access state-of-the-art
microscopes via the internet. The team works with middle and high school students
and homeschoolers to remotely control an electron confocal microscope located at the
淫妻社.
- Dr. Malathi Krishnamurthy Lab received a grant award by the USDA Agricultural Research Service for the project,
"Reducing Impacts of Disease on Rainbow Trout Aquaculture Production鈥�. This is a five-year
grant for 淫妻社 with funding of $287,791 per year! Research project
objective: 鈥淩ainbow trout are an important recreational and food fish species in the
U.S., and it is thus important to improve disease resistance and improve methods for
combatting outbreaks of disease to increase production and profitability of U.S. aquaculture.鈥�
- Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata and research lab team received funding for their study proposal, "Regulation of epithelial
junctions and lumen morphogenesis by the Scribble/SGEF/Dlg1 complex". The Garcia-Mata
Lab was awarded R01 grant funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
and the National Institute of Health for project funding of $465,198 per year for
four years ... totaling $1,350,000!
- Dr. Malathi Krishnamurthy and team published a research article in the Journal of Virology, which shows how
cells in our body use a unique platform that is normally made during stress to combat
virus infection. These new targets have potential to lead to new drug therapies to
prevent serious damage to human health by harmful viruses. (Full research article:
https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00205-20) "In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
this is a promising avenue to protect people by enhancing immune response and stop
the spread of deadly viral infections," Dr. Krishnamurthy said. "There is an urgent
need to identify new drugs and new drug targets." 淫妻社 Press Release:
https://bit.ly/3bo8bis
- Dr. Timothey Mueser's lab is one of only a handful of groups in the U.S. working on neutron #crystallography
grown aboard the International Space Station. They鈥檝e sent experiments on three prior
space flights and regularly collaborate with Oak Ridge National Lab and Institut Laue-Langevin,
a leading nuclear research facility in Grenoble, France. Victoria Drago, who completed
an undergraduate degree in #biochemistry at 淫妻社 returned to pursue
her doctorate specifically to work in Mueser鈥檚 lab. The decision has afforded her
unique opportunities, including being present for the launch of two #SpaceX rockets
that carried their experiments to the #InternationalSpaceStation and working closely
with national and international laboratories. 鈥淚鈥檝e got to experience a lot because
of coming here. I wouldn鈥檛 be doing what I鈥檓 doing, and I wouldn鈥檛 have the connections
I have if I was anywhere else,鈥� Drago said.
- Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss and grad student Katerina Turner published the article, 鈥淢ale Infertility is a Women鈥檚
Health Issue鈥擱esearch and Clinical Evaluation of Male Infertility Is Needed鈥�, in the
journal Cells which highlights the disparity in infertility treatment between men
and women. It combines medicine, biology and equality between the sexes. "Infertility
is a devastating experience for both partners as they try to conceive. Historically,
when a couple could not conceive, the woman has carried the stigma of infertility;
however, men and women are just as likely to contribute to the couple鈥檚 infertility."
Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9040990
- Dr. Song-Tao Liu, Sreemita Majumdar (Ph.D. student) and the Liu Lab received a 3-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) /NCI grant award of $468,255 for the collaborative project 鈥淯nderstanding and Targeting MELK Overexpression in Breast Cancer Cells.鈥� The team will be looking to provide urgently needed information to assess the relevance of MELK, an enzyme, and MELK inhibitors in cancer treatment. The project will be collaborated with Dr. Saori Furuta in the Dept. of Cancer Biology and Dr. Jason Sheltzer, Cold Harbor Spring Laboratory.
2019
- Dr. Wissam Aboualaiwi has received a NIH NOA for his R15 supplement grant.
- 鈥婦r. Silvia Goicoechea was awarded by the with a Judge Award Program to support their mission of promoting听STEM by encouraging
underrepresented minorities in their research endeavors.鈥�
- Congratulations to Dr. William听Gunning!!!听听National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded him with an MRI grant to buy a听cutting-edge
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM).
- Toledo CellulART 2019: 听Please visit our website at to register for Posters and Image Competition.听 Registration is required for all
attendees and is FREE, but priority will be given to individual that are presenting.听
Breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks will be provided free of charge. 鈥�
- Dr. Malathi Krishnamurthy lab publication "" has been accepted by International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
- Dr. Guofa Liu NIH-RO3 application has just been awarded. 鈥�
- Dr. Eda Yildirim-Ayan lab publication "" has been accepted by Annals of Biomedical Engineering.
- Dr. William Taylor and Dr. Viranga Tillekeratne lab publication "" has been accepted by Scientific Reports.
- Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata lab publication "" has been accepted by the Journal of Cell Biology.
- Dr. Eisenmann lab publication 听has been accepted by听Cancers (Basel).
- Dr Guofa Liu lab publication听PLoS One.
- Dr. Malathi Krishnamurthy has been听awarded continued funding听from the USDA for the
project, "Immune Evasion in Aquatic Rhabdoviral Pathogens鈥�.
- Dr. Qian Chen lab publication听Molecular Biology of the Cell.
- Dr. Daya Raman lab publication has been accepted by Frontiers in Oncology. 鈥嬧��
- Dr. Qian Chen R15 grant submission was recommended to be funded. Congratulations!!!!!
听
- Dr. Song-Tao Liu, Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata, Dr. Lirim Shemshidini and Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss
have been selected to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Grantsmanship
because of their success in securing external funds to support their research.
- Our CellulART meeting has been selected to participate in the first titled "Impacting Our region through Community-Engaged research".听The inaugural event will be held Wednesday, April 17, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex and include a special panel discussion from 5 to 6 p.m. in Nitschke Auditorium.
- Dr. Crawley, Dr. Garcia-Mata and Dr. Chen's laboratories will attend the 听meeting on March 15th at Northwestern University, The Robert H. Lurie Medical Research
Center, Chicago, IL.
- Dr.听AbouAlaiwi's听graduate student听Hannah Saternos has been awarded a highly competitive predoctoral fellowship grant from the American Heart Association.
- Our super resolution microscope has arrived to UT. We hope that by the end of the
month it will be up and running.
- Dr. Guofa Liu NIH-R15 application has just been awarded.
- Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata NIH-RO3 application has just been awarded.听
2018
- Dr. Maria Diakonova听NIH-R15 grant award.
- 鈥婦r. Ajith Karunarathne's听lab听publication "" accepted by Scientific Reports.
- 鈥婦r. Guofa Liu's lab publication听"" accepted by Cell Reports.
- 鈥婦r. Scott Crawley NIH-R15 grant award.
- Dr. AbouAlaiwi received an R15HL140523 award, 01/01/2018-12/31/2021,听NIH/NHLBI $378,984. NCE Title: 鈥淧rimary cilia dysfunction and cardiovascular complications in Polycystic Kidney Disease鈥�. The major goal of this project is to study the role of primary cilia in cardiovascular complications in Polycystic Kidney Disease with a major focus on the role of primary cilia in hypertension.