While much has been learned about the proteome in all organisms, a whole class of proteins—the smallest proteins—have been ignored due to challenges in their annotations and biochemical characterization. Thousands of these microproteins are now being discovered and shown to have regulatory roles in all organisms. By interacting with larger proteins, microproteins modulate the activities, subcellular localization and stabilities of these targets.
Electron Kebebew, MD Stanford University, Stanford Medicine
The lecture will focus on the concept of precision surgery. While there have been significant efforts and advances in precision medicine, there has been less attention on how surgical care can be individualized. Thus, the presentation will describe how advanced imaging and genetic testing can impact surgical approaches for endocrine tumors and how this can impact patient outcomes. Current research efforts for patients with surgical incurable rare cancers will also be discussed.
Genetic studies using the experimental animal Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) have identified a gene regulatory network (GRN) involving microRNAs, RNA-binding proteins, transcription factors, and other regulatory molecules that control the timing and progression of cell fates during larval development. Certain properties of this C. elegansdevelopmental timing GRN (also referred to as the ‘heterochronic gene cascade’) enable robust cell fate specification during development in the face of physiological stresses. The C.
Prion disease is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease that is universally fatal and currently untreatable. It is caused by the gain of function of a single causal protein, the prion protein, which misfolds into a so-called "prion" which spreads its corrupted conformation across the brain. Many lines of evidence suggest that reducing PrP levels in the brain is an effective and safe strategy for treating and preventing prion disease, and multiple therapeutic platforms now offer promise for targeting one disease-causing protein in the CNS.
Tom B Thompson , PhD University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
The TGF-β family comprises a diverse set of signaling ligands essential for processes ranging from developmental cell-fate determination to regulation of the reproductive axis. Dysregulation contributes to cancers, fibrosis, infertility, and skeletal disorders, driving decades of therapeutic efforts and recent drug approvals targeting these pathways. Multiple regulatory mechanisms have evolved, including distinct ligand–receptor complexes and extracellular antagonists that sequester ligands.
This lecture will describe three personal journeys of discovery that led my team and me from encountering a single enigmatic patient to uncovering new genes, mechanisms, and treatment approaches, while also providing fundamental insights into human neurobiology. The journey will take place in the space of the "Neurogenetics of Motion and Sensation" and will follow the peripheral nervous system from the motor neuron, via the muscle, to the sensory system.
In June of 2021, Care New England announced the appointment of Jill L. Maron, MD, MPH, to Chief of Pediatrics at Women & Infants Hospital. We enthusiastically welcomed Dr. Maron into our Department of Pediatrics on October 1, 2021. She serves as the Oh-Zopfi Endowed Chair of Pediatrics at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Previously, Dr. Maron served as the Vice Chair of Pediatric Research and Executive Director of the Mother Infant Research Institute (MIRI) at Tufts Children’s Hospital.
Huda Akil, Ph.D. Michigan Neuroscience Institute; University of Michigan
Huda Akil is a neuroscientist whose research has contributed to the understanding of the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Akil and her colleagues are best known for providing the first physiological evidence for a role of endorphins in the brain and demonstrating that endorphins are activated by stress and can cause pain inhibition. Akil is a Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Dr. Rice is the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Chair in Virology and serves as Head of the Laboratory for Virology and Infectious Disease at The Rockefeller University. He is one of the world’s most accomplished virologists and a prominent figure in research on members of the Flaviviridae including hepatitis C virus (HCV).
This page was last updated on Tuesday, September 2, 2025
