NIH Director’s Lecture
The Director’s Lectures feature leading researchers from around the globe. Nominated by scientists and interest groups throughout NIH, the speakers are specifically approved by the NIH Director. There are typically three NIH Director’s Lectures per year.
Tools for analyzing and repairing complex biological systems
The goal of the Boyden laboratory is to achieve ground truth understandings of complex biological systems, including entire cells and entire brains, and to use such insights to improve the human condition through novel inventions and therapeutics. To make this possible, Dr. Boyden and his colleagues are currently creating technologies that enable comprehensive observation and control of biological systems, aiming for molecular precision, millisecond resolution, and whole organ scale.
The depressed brain: sobering and hopeful lessons
In her talk, Dr. Akil will discuss the challenges of understanding the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder at the molecular and cellular level and the surprising insights derived from genomics and human postmortem studies. She will describe how animal models and neuroscience studies at multiple levels (from genetic to behaviorial) can be used to test and validate new targets for treatment and/or as biomarkers of the illness.
Inflammation, dysbiosis, and chronic disease
Dysregulation of the immune system and host-microbiota interaction has been associated with the development of a variety of inflammatory as well as metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Recent studies in Dr. Flavell's laboratory have elucidated the important function of inflammasomes as steady-state sensors and regulators of the gut microbiota. Mice with a disrupted inflammasome pathway have been shown to develop a colitogenic microbial community, which results in exacerbation of chemical-induced colitis and diet-induced steatohepatitis, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Tracing the Evolution of Adaptive Immunity
A search for the origin of our adaptive immune system has revealed that the jawed vertebrates and jawless vertebrates (lampreys and hagfish) use different strategies for generating large repertoires of lymphocyte receptors for antigens.
Skin stem cells in homeostasis, wound-repair and cancer
Typically, the genetic cause of a disease is identified by studying the DNA of affected individuals, finding the responsible gene, and trying to understand how a mutated version might have coded for a defective protein that led to the disease. Dr. Fuchs, however, has pioneered “reverse genetics”: She starts with the protein abnormality and works backwards to identify the human disease. She has applied this strategy to elucidate the genetic basis of a number of blistering skin disorders and tumors.
The structural basis of ebola viral pathogenesis
Dr. Saphire’s lab studies viruses with compact genomes that encode just four to seven genes each. Viruses with limited genomes offer a defined landscape of possible protein-protein interactions. Each protein is critical—many are obligated to perform multiple functions and some rearrange their structures to achieve those new functions. As a result, these few polypeptides accomplish a surprisingly complex set of biological functions including immune evasion, receptor recognition, cell entry, transcription, translation, assembly and exit. Dr.
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The page was last updated on Monday, February 11, 2019 - 2:31pm
