NIH Director’s Lecture

TBA

The Fair laboratory focuses on mechanisms and principles that underlie the developing brain. The majority of this work uses functional MRI and resting state functional connectivity MRI to assess typical and atypical populations. Dr. Fair is the co-director of the new Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain.

Neurobiology of the World’s Most Dangerous Animal

The Vosshall Laboratory is interested in the molecular neurobiology of mosquito host-seeking behavior. Female mosquitoes require a blood meal to complete egg development. In carrying out this innate behavior, mosquitoes spread dangerous infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika, Chikungunya, and yellow fever. Humans attract mosquitoes via multiple sensory cues including emitted body odor, heat, and carbon dioxide in the breath. The mosquito perceives differences in these cues, both between and within species, to determine which animal or human to target for blood-feeding.

RNA Splicing, Chromatin Modification, and the Coordinated Control of Gene Expression

Tracy Johnson’s research program is focused on understanding the mechanisms of gene regulation, particularly RNA processing and chromatin modification. She developed the University of California, Los Angeles/Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pathways to Success program, a comprehensive strategy to provide students with an authentic research experience early in their academic careers while creating a rigorous, but supportive learning community.

Neurobiology of Social Behavior Circuits

Social interactions are essential for animals to survive, reproduce, raise their young. Over the years, my lab has attempted to decipher the unique characteristics of social recognition: what are the unique cues that trigger distinct social behaviors, what is the nature and identity of social behavior circuits, how is the function of these circuits different in males and females and how are they modulated by the animal physiological status?

Towards a Deeper and More Human-centric Medicine

My research is on individualized medicine, using the genome and digital technologies to understand each person at the biologic, physiologic granular level to determine appropriate therapies and prevention. An example is the use of pharmacogenomics and our research on clopidogrel (Plavix). By determining the reasons for why such a large proportion of people do not respond to this medication, we can use alternative treatment strategies to prevent blood clots.

On the Design of Bionic Limbs: The Science of Tissue-Synthetic Interface

Professor Herr's research program seeks to advance technologies that promise to accelerate the merging of body and machine, including device architectures that resemble the body’s musculoskeletal design, actuator technologies that behave like muscle, and control methodologies that exploit principles of biological movement. His methods encompass a diverse set of scientific and technological disciplines, from the science of biomechanics and biological movement control to the design of biomedical devices for the treatment of human physical disability.

Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer Therapy:  Historical Perspective, New Opportunities, and Prospects for Cures

Deciphering cancer genomes and networks

Brain Machine Interfaces: from Basic Science to Neuroprostheses and Neurological Recovery

“In this talk, I will describe how state-of-the-art research on brain–machine interfaces makes it possible for the brains of primates to interact directly and in a bi-directional way with mechanical, computational and virtual devices without any interference of the body’s muscles or sensory organs. I will review a series of recent experiments using real-time computational models to investigate how ensembles of neurons encode motor information.

Autoantigens and autoimmunity: a bedside to bench and back again story

Noncoding RNAs play critical roles in the metabolism of all cells. The Wolin laboratory studies how noncoding RNAs function, how cells recognize and degrade defective noncoding RNAs, and how failure to degrade these RNAs affects cell function and contributes to human disease. Their studies revealed new mechanisms by which defective RNAs are targeted for degradation and new classes of noncoding RNAs. Most recently, their work has contributed to a novel theory for how the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus may be triggered in genetically susceptible individuals.