Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for February
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Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Feb 01, 2016 @ 12:30 PM - 01:49 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dion Kai Dickman, PhD, Assistant Professor in Neurobiology, USC Dornsife
Talk Title: Homeostatic control of sleep and synaptic plasticity
Abstract: Homeostatic Control of Sleep and Synaptic Plasticity
Summary
Synapses have the remarkable ability to adaptively modulate synaptic strength in response to perturbations that would otherwise destabilize neurotransmission, referred to as homeostatic synaptic plasticity. Homeostatic signaling systems have emerged as robust and potent regulators of neural activity, enabling stable synaptic function while permitting the flexibility necessary for learning and memory, yet the molecules and mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. We have pioneered forward genetic approaches in Drosophila to identify genes required for homeostatic synaptic plasticity. We will first discuss an enigmatic protein complex that has emerged from this screen, which is associated with schizophrenia, and the role of this complex in synaptic function and homeostatic plasticity. We will then present data about how an individual synapse adapts to conflicting homeostatic perturbations to stable synaptic function. Finally, we are developing new tools, including translational profiling and light sheet microscopy, to reveal homeostatic adaptations to synaptic function, which may be linked to sleep, and ancient, essential, and fundamental homeostatic signaling system shared by all animal life.
Biography: Bio
Dion Dickman was born in Hawaii and did his undergraduate work at Washington University in St. Louis, studying synaptogenesis at the mouse neuromuscular junction in the lab of Joshua Sanes. He went to Harvard for graduate work and UCSF for his postdoctoral studies, performing electrophysiology-based, forward genetic screens in Drosophila, identifying new genes involved in synaptic development, function, and plasticity. He has recently started his own laboratory at the University of Southern California, where his group investigates how synaptic transmission is kept within stable physiological ranges in the nervous system, while still permitting the flexibility necessary for learning and memory. Using Drosophila as our model system, we are interested in the genes and molecular mechanisms that achieve and maintain the homeostatic control of synaptic strength, and how dysfunction in this process may contribute to neuropsychiatric disease. We are using a combination of genetic, electrophysiological, imaging, and behavioral approaches to gain insight into this complex and fundamental form of neural plasticity.
http://dornsife.usc.edu/labs/dickmanlab
Host: K. Kirk Shung, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
USC Stem Cell Seminar: Joanna Wysocka, Stanford University
Tue, Feb 02, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Joanna Wysocka, Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology, and Development Biology/Stanford Univeristy
Talk Title: On peculiarities of being a human: Transcriptional regulation in human development and evolution
Series: Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC Distinguished Speakers Series
Abstract: While studies in model organisms have led to great progress in unveiling the conserved mechanisms of gene regulation, many aspects of development that are unique to humans and other primates remain unexplored, as are regulatory principles underlying emergence of human-specific traits. I will discuss some of our recent progress in understanding transcriptional mechanisms governing human development and evolution, such as those involving the activity of transposable elements in early embryogenesis or our recent quantitative analyses of cis-regulatory divergence in the human and chimpanzee neural crest, an embryonic cell population that is most relevant for evolution of human craniofacial form.
Host: Gage Crump
More Info: http://stemcell.usc.edu/events/details/?event_id=916788
Webcast: http://keckmedia.usc.edu/stem-cell-seminarWebCast Link: http://keckmedia.usc.edu/stem-cell-seminar
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cristy Lytal/USC Stem Cell
Event Link: http://stemcell.usc.edu/events/details/?event_id=916788
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Feb 08, 2016 @ 12:30 PM - 01:49 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Jin Ho Chang, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Sogang University, Korea
Talk Title: Hybrid ultrasound imaging and therapeutic techniques for clinical applications,
Host: K. Kirk Shung, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
USC Stem Cell Seminar: Raymond Stevens, USC
Tue, Feb 09, 2016 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Raymond Stevens, Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Director of The Bridge@USC
Talk Title: Structure and drug discovery of the G-protein coupled receptor superfamily
Series: Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC Distinguished Speakers Series
Abstract: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute one of the largest protein families in the human genome and play essential roles in normal cell signaling processes. We have determined structures of more than 20 different GPCRs and made progress in understanding their structure and function. The use of the technology platform for drug discovery is now being established through an industry-academia open source GPCR Consortium, and the companies Receptos and RuiYi.
Host: Andy McMahon
More Info: http://stemcell.usc.edu/events/details/?event_id=916789
Webcast: http://keckmedia.usc.edu/stem-cell-seminarWebCast Link: http://keckmedia.usc.edu/stem-cell-seminar
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cristy Lytal/USC Stem Cell
Event Link: http://stemcell.usc.edu/events/details/?event_id=916789
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Systems Cellular-Molecular Bioengineering Distinguished Speaker Series
Fri, Feb 12, 2016 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Elliot Botvinick, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, UC Irvine
Talk Title: Feeling Pericellular Mechanical Heterogeneities
Abstract: While there is strong evidence for roles of bulk stromal stiffness in cell regulation, roles for the pericellular mechanical microenvironment are less clear, in large part due to the difficulty of measurement. My group implements automated Active Microrheology (aAMR), an optical tweezers technology, to probe extracellular stiffness and map it in the volume surrounding cells. Our aAMR applies sinusoidal optical forces onto microbeads embedded within natural extracellular matrices (ECMs), including those comprised of fibrin and type 1 collagen. As in the case of passive microrheology, aAMR reports the complex material response function of the ECM just surrounding each microbead. Different from passive methods, aAMR is valid for systems not in thermal equilibrium, as is typical for regions of the ECM near to contractile cells. Our aAMR microscope can probe many beads surrounding each cell to map the mechanical landscape, allowing us to seek correlations between local stiffness distributions and cell properties such as contractility, signaling, and differentiation. I will present specific examples for which the distribution of pericellular stiffness correlates with cell phenotype/state including: MT1-MMP deficient mesenchymal stem cells, human aortic smooth muscle cells with compromised contractility and fibrosarcoma cells cultured in type 1 collagen gels.
Biography: My research program has two areas of focus: mechanobiology and medical device development. My research group uses photonic tools to investigate roles for mechanical forces and physical properties in the regulation of tissues. We have expertise in the areas of photonics, laser ablation, imaging, tissue engineering and mechanobiology. Specifically, we develop instrumentation and devices for quantitative biophysical measurements towards the study of single molecule biophysics and cell-tissue physical interactions. In particular, we use optical tweezers to measure single receptor-ligand interactions and have discovered strong evidence for the role of ligand-endocytic forces in the activation of the Notch receptor. We also use optical tweezers/scissors to measure local continuum viscoelastic parameters in order to seek correlations between microenvironment mechanics and cell function. We have applied these tools to test mechanical hypotheses in the areas of cancer biology, microvascular morphogenesis, tissue engineering, stem cell biology and the transition of ductal carcinoma in situ into an invasive phenotype.
Host: Megan McCain
More Information: botvinick_flyer.pdf
Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 146
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Megan McCain
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Feb 15, 2016 @ 12:30 PM - 01:49 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: NO CLASS, HOLIDAY, NO CLASS, HOLIDAY
Talk Title: NO CLASS, HOLIDAY
Host: K. Kirk Shung, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Feb 22, 2016 @ 12:30 PM - 01:49 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Rong Lu, Assistant Professor Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine
Talk Title: TBA
Biography: Professor Rong Lu's lab studies stem cell coordination, regulation and malfunction from a single cell perspective. They use mouse hematopoietic stem cells as a model system and integrate research strategies from various disciplines including molecular biology, cell biology, systems biology, genetics and bioinformatics. Her research focuses on understanding the differences between individual stem cells and how they coordinate with each other. These studies can provide new insights into the origin of diseases such as leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome as well as identify new therapeutic targets to treat them. http://pibbs.usc.edu/faculty/profile/?fid=457
Host: K. Kirk Shung, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Seminars in Biomedical Engineering
Mon, Feb 29, 2016 @ 12:30 PM - 01:49 PM
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Stuart Ibsen, Postdoctoral fellow, Salk Institute
Talk Title: TBA
Biography: Stuart Ibsen received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Hawaii and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. Stuart has 10 years of experience designing and building scientific instrumentation to use ultrasound to understand bioacoustic echolocation sonar sensory systems in dolphins and to explore biological phenomena in C. elegans and in cancer cell research. Stuart is also designing new drug delivery vehicles for chemotherapy applications
Host: K. Kirk Shung, PhD
Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.
