2007-2008 Medical-Student Trainees:

Amir Abu-Khalil                                                                                               

Mentor:      Ronald Li, PhD, Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy     

Project Summary: Cardiac stem cell biology. The research will test, in a clinically-relevant large animal (porcine) model of myocardial infarction, the hypothesis that pluripotent patient-specific embryonic stem cells with a genetic make-up identical to that of the donor can be derived via somatic nuclear transfer (SNT), and differentiated into an immunocompatible and functionally effective graft of cardiomyocytes that is then finally transplanted back to the same donor “patient” swine.

Ranti S. Bolaji                                                                        

Mentor:      Rivkah Isseroff, MD, Professor, Department of Dermatology                                                                  

Project Summary: Mesenchymal stem cells and their role in wound healing.  Bone marrow stem cells may be recruited to healing wounds and contribute to wound repair.  The research is directed at determining how wound extracellular matrix plays a role in recruiting these mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to the wound site.  The goal is to determine which matrix molecules are best for recruiting MSC to the wound area. 

Randie Kim                                                                                          

Mentor:      Richard Bold, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery           

Project Summary: The effect of arginine deprivation by arginine deiminase as a novel anti-cancer therapy for prostate cancer.  Arginine deprivation therapy exploits the altered metabolic pathway of tumors that no longer express argininosuccinate synthetase, the rate limiting enzyme in arginine synthesis.  Arginine deprivation by arginine deiminase has already undergone Phase I/II clinical trials for hepatocellular carcinomas and melanomas.  Prostate cancer is another candidate that has been determined to potentially benefit from arginine deiminase.  Arginine deiminase is an attractive therapeutic agent for its selectivity and mild side effect profile.  In addition to its direct therapeutic applications, arginine deprivation can also be used to investigate fundamental biological principles such as arginine metabolism, autophagy and apoptosis.

Nhat To                                                                                    

Mentor:             Amir Jamali, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Project Summary: Fresh osteochondral allografting as a therapeutic treatment of focal joint degenerations.  The research will be focused on the understanding of cellular interaction between the host and graft’s chondrocytes in a rabbit fresh osteochondral allograft model using fluorescent in situ hybridization.  This will ultimately lead to a better understanding of fresh osteochondral allografting and improvement of how focal joint defects are repaired.  The objective of the project is to disprove the current belief of articular cartilage as a closed and “immunoprivileged” system.  We hypothesize that recipient cells are able to migrate into fresh osteochondral allografts and that articular cartilage is not necessarily a closed and “immunoprivileged” system.

2007-2008 Pre-Doctoral Basic Science Trainees:

Whitney Cheung

Mentor:      Kent Leach, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Project Summary: Developing novel approaches for treating spinal cord injury.  The research will pursue a cell-based therapy using a novel biomaterial scaffold which conforms to the shape of the defect site while simultaneously enabling the localized presentation of signals to direct the migration of target cell populations and promote nerve regeneration.  The identity of the cell population is a critical question and will be a major factor in the clinical success of this work.

Alexander Davies

Mentor:      Kenneth Kaplan, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Project Summary:  The current research consists of a novel project based upon previous results suggesting that binding of Sgt1 to Hsp90 involves a unique interaction surface on Hsp90 which can be targeted for chemical and peptide inhibitors.  Current therapies have focused on the inhibition of Hsp90 presenting a broadly directed and likely systemically toxic cancer therapy. The involvement of Sgt1 in directing the specificity of Hsp90 to a subset of proteins involved in kinetochore assembly, however, presents the opportunity to create a therapeutic specifically directed to inhibit cell division.

Jennifer Neugebauer

Mentor:      David Hawkins, PhD, Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior

Project Summary:  Quantification of the mechanical properties of musculoskeletal structures in children and identification of how these properties change with growth and development.  Once the mechanical properties have been quantified, the relative stresses imposed on various structures in children will provide a foundation for understanding injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies.

Arzu Ulu

Mentor:      Bruce Hammock, PhD, Professor, Department of Entomology

Project Summary:   Metabolomics, inflammation component of atherosclerosis.  We will use ApoE knockout mice, an animal model for atherosclerosis, to elucidate the influence of soluble epoxide hydrolase, a key enzyme in the arachidonic acid pathway.  The metabolomic profile of the knockout and wild type animals is in the process of being obtained.  The data will hopefully be instrumental in correlating biochemical pathways associated with and the differences between control and diseased animals.  The animal in vitro models will test basic hypotheses regarding the role of the arachidonic acid cascade on cardiovascular disease.  In addition, the lab will also run plasma metabolomic analysis and analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms related to the arachidonic acid cascade in the CARDIA human epidemiology study of cardiovascular health.