Environmental Exposures and Mechanism of Maternal-Fetal Communication

In 2014, Kjersti M. Aagaard, MD, PhD published the first in a series of landmark studies challenging the prevailing wisdom that babies are born sterile — that their microbiota are established only outside the womb. In The Placenta Harbors a Unique Microbiome (2014) in Science Translational Medicine, she was the first to identify a unique placental microbiome and to suggest that this is not only part of a healthy pregnancy but also that it might help establish the fetus’s own nonpathogenic commensal microbiota in utero.

In recognition of her groundbreaking research in the area of perinatal disease and the microbiome, Kjersti M. Aagaard has been selected to present this year’s Joseph Scaletti Catalyst Lecture, as part of a series dedicated to highlighting “powerful ideas from the iconoclasts of biomedical research, health education & delivery”.

A true physician-scientist, Dr. Aagaard leads a basic science and clinical research lab at Baylor College of Medicine and cares for patients at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women and at Ben Taub Hospital. Both her clinical practice and research interests center on emerging infectious diseases, preterm birth, diabetes, hypertensive disorders, maternal smoking, environmental exposures, and the detection and diagnosis of congenital and genetic anomalies.

Aagaard’s translational research focuses on the role of the microbiome in pregnancy and early development and on the impact that maternal diabetes, high fat diet, smoking, and other environmental chemical exposures has on fetal development and disease later in life. In a recent paper, Maternal and early life exposures and their potential to influence development of the microbiome (2022) in Genome Medicine, she writes:

…compelling evidence arising from a diverse array of studies across mammalian lineages suggest that modifications to our metagenome and/or microbiome occur following certain environmental exposures during pregnancy and lactation, which in turn render risk of childhood and adult diseases. In this review, we will consider the evidence suggesting that development of the offspring microbiome may be vulnerable to maternal exposures, including an analysis of the data regarding the presence or absence of a low-biomass intrauterine microbiome.

If you’re a student with a strong interest in understanding and exploring the mechanisms of perinatal disease and the microbiome, the Aagaard lab is currently recruiting graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who have a background in bioinformatics, *-omics research, computational biology, statistics, or perinatal health.

When not in the lab, teaching graduate and medical students, caring for patients, and raising her children, Aagaard can be found running marathons for fun.

Please join us at the Domenici Center Auditorium or via Zoom for the 2023 Joseph Scaletti Memorial Catalyst Lecture to hear about Dr Aagaard’s latest research results. A sampling of recent papers from the Aagaard lab includes:

• Maternal Western diet is associated with distinct preclinical pediatric NAFLD phenotypes in juvenile nonhuman primate offspring 
• Analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid metatranscriptomes among patients with COVID-19 disease Crucial nuances in understanding (mis)associations between the neonatal microbiome and Cesarean delivery 
• Shift work and sleep duration are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in a predominantly Latinx population with high rates of obesity 
• Placental Vascular and Inflammatory Findings from Pregnancies Diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
• Understanding the Placental Biology of Tobacco Smoke, Nicotine, and Marijuana (THC) Exposures During Pregnancy
• The impact of response to iron therapy on maternal and neonatal outcomes among pregnant women with anemia

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Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture series features scientific breakthroughs by a biomedical researcher at the forefront of biomedical research and education. Everyone is welcome to attend!

The Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture: A Public Forum for Envisioning the Future of Biomedical Research and Innovative Models for Healthcare Education and Delivery

Innovations in Population Health: Improving Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Manisha Jhamb, MD, MPH, has been invited to present the Joseph Scaletti Memorial Catalyst Lecture on June 24 2022

In this year’s Joseph Scaletti Memorial Catalyst Lecture, University of Pittsburgh nephrologist, Dr. Manisha Jhamb, MD, MPH, will discuss her innovative, data-driven approach to improving the quality of life and health outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease.

Expanding her outlook beyond the standard one-patient-at-a-time focus, Dr Jhamb employs a “Population health” model — a data-driven strategy for managing the health status, quality of life, and outcomes for an entire group of people.

By employing electronic health records in combination with a multidisciplinary approach, Dr Jhamb and colleagues are testing innovative strategies for improving the quality of life for patients with chronic kidney disease. By using telemedicine and newer models of care delivery, this approach brings nephrology resources such as pharmacy support, social worker support, and nurse led education to improve management and care co-ordination for patients. Additionally, this program helps primary care providers co-manage these highly complex patients and get nephrology guidance on implementation of latest evidence-based guidelines.

In this lecture, Dr Jhamb will share her research group’s experiences applying a “population health” approach to kidney disease and discuss future prospects for using electronic health records and telemedicine to reach underserved vulnerable populations who may not have access to specialists.

Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Manisha Jhamb is the Director of the Center for Population Health Management, Associate Chief of the Renal-Electrolyte Division, and Co-Director, Clinical Research, Renal-Electrolyte Division. Dr. Jhamb is a nephrologist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. In addition to her medical degree, she also holds a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Texas Health Center in Houston.

You can attend the lecture in person or join us via Zoom.

Innovations in Population Health: Improving Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

June 24, 2022 at 12 pm - 1 pm
Colleges of Nursing & Pharmacy Auditorium
Health Sciences Center Clinical and Translational Science Center
University of New Mexico

COVID-19 NOTICE: To protect the health of Dr McIntyre, his patients, and the students and faculty of UNM School of Medicine, this year’s Joseph V Scaletti Memorial Catalyst Lecture has been POSTPONED. Please follow the recommendations of the CDC to protect yourself, your family and your community during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Thank you.

Christopher McIntyre, MD, PhD

On April 3, one of the world’s leading kidney physician/researchers, Dr. Christopher McIntyre, will be at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine to present: Dialysis: the Terrible Things that Well-intentioned People Do

Dr. McIntyre, Professor of Medicine at Western Ontario University, holder of the Dr. Robert Lindsay Chair in Dialysis Research and Innovation, Director of the London Kidney Clinical Research Unit at London Health Sciences Centre and researcher at the Lawson Health Research Institute will present the 10th annual Joseph V Scaletti Catalyst Lecture as part of an ongoing series featuring researchers working at the forefront of biomedical research and implementing innovative models for healthcare delivery and education.

Live Stream starts Friday, April 3 2020 at 12 pm MST (18:00 UTC)

The cure should not contribute to disease…

Worldwide, there are over 2 million people who require periodic dialysis to help filter out harmful wastes, extra salt, and water from the blood when, due to chronic kidney disease, their kidneys are no longer able to perform this function; it is, in fact, a life-saving procedure.

But Chris McIntyre, the physician, started to notice that the leading cause of death in his dialysis patients was cardiovascular disease and that “tragically, dialysis patients…have a lower life expectancy than many cancer patients.” Not content to blame these outcomes solely on other risk factors, Dr. McIntyre, the scientist, started investigating and came to the unexpected conclusion that hemodialysis itself causes cardiac, liver, and gastro-intestinal injury and contributes to cognitive impairment.

By challenging conventional wisdom through a persistent program of systematic, data-driven research, Dr. McIntyre, the researcher/practitioner is now able to offer patients a better quality of life. For a brief video introduction to Dr. McIntyre research, including an interview with a participant in one of his clinical trials, see https://youtu.be/v-Apmk86Jvo

Chris McIntyre is the embodiment of the ideals of translational research—a compassionate physician who is also a rigorous scientific researcher, dedicated to transferring lessons gained through scientific research to improve the outcomes and the quality of life for his patients. He leads a team of multidisciplinary researchers focusing on the pathophysiology of the affected cardiovascular, brain, liver and gastro-intestinal structure and function in patients with chronic kidney disease. Here’s a link to some of their published research.

The focus of my research program is to deliver life-sustaining hemodialysis with maximal benefit and efficiency without patient harm. – Chris McIntyre, MD, PhD

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Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture series features scientific breakthroughs by a biomedical researcher at the forefront of biomedical research and education. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Friday, April 3, 2020

Including potential therapeutic strategies for countering sarcopenia

Video of Dr Arnold’s Lecture (recorded 19 April 2019)

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disorder in which a survival motor neuron (SMN) protein deficiency results in the degeneration of motor neurons. Until recently, SMA was the most common genetic cause of death in infants, but exciting progress over the last 10 years has led to some promising developments, including FDA approval to begin clinical trials of the first gene therapy for SMA.

In a Phase 1 clinical trial completed August 2017 at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, a one-time dose of the gene therapy extended the survival of patients with spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (SMA1). All of the patients surpassed the benchmark of 20 months, at which time only 8% of the patients with this disease typically survive without permanent ventilation.

W. Dave Arnold, MD

Dr. W. David Arnold — presenter of the 2019 Joseph V Scaletti Memorial Catalyst Lecture — is part of the multidisciplinary team that developed the new SMN gene therapy and administered the clinical trial. In his April 19th talk, Dr. Arnold will provide an overview of therapies for SMA, discuss ongoing unmet needs in the care of patients with SMA, and present recent data suggesting that survival motor neuron protein may have additional roles in the repair and maintenance of motor neurons, including as a potential therapeutic strategy in sarcopenia (the age-related loss of 0.5-1% muscle mass per year after age 50).

Dr. Arnold completed his medical degree at the University of Louisville and his PM&R residency training at the University of Louisville and Frazier Rehabilitation Institute. He later completed fellowship training in neuromuscular medicine and then joined the faculty at the Ohio State University. Dr. Arnold’s research program is primarily focused on translational neuromuscular physiology in health and disease. His prior work helped define the natural history of motor unit loss in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and defined the effects of genetic therapies in preclinical models of SMA. As part of a multidisciplinary team at the Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, he was involved in the first-in-human clinical gene therapy trial in infants with SMA.

At the Arnold Lab for Translational Neuromuscular Physiology at Ohio State, his team is currently investigating the role of motor neuron degeneration in age-related loss of physical function and testing survival motor neuron protein, the protein that is deficient in SMA, as a potential therapeutic strategy in sarcopenia. Dr. Arnold is also interested in developing biomarkers and therapies for other genetic forms neuromuscular disorders, in particular, nondystrophic myotonic disorders and myotonic dystrophy.

His motto? “Nothing great is easy”.
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Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture series features scientific breakthroughs by a biomedical researcher at the forefront of biomedical research and education. Everyone is welcome to attend!

The Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture: A Public Forum for Envisioning the Future of Biomedical Research and Innovative Models for Healthcare Education and Delivery

Extensive use of antibiotics in medicine and the livestock industry has driven the evolution of drug resistant human pathogens on a global basis. The development of antibiotics with truly novel mechanisms of action is moving at a glacial pace. New approaches to the treatment of multidrug resistant bacterial infections are urgently needed.

On April 27, HIV pioneer and infectious disease researcher Dr. Robert T. Schooley will be at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine to describe his ground-breaking work on a newly “re-discovered” approach to the treatment of bacterial infection in humans: bacteriophage therapy.

Dr. Schooley, Senior Director of International Initiatives and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of California, San Diego has been invited to present the 2018 Joseph V Scaletti Catalyst Lecture as part of an ongoing series featuring researchers at the forefront of biomedical research and innovative models for healthcare delivery and education.

Back to the Future

Bacteriophage Therapy for MDR Bacterial Infections

Live Stream starts Friday, April 27 2018 at 12 pm MST (18:00 UTC)

Bacteriophages (literally “eaters of bacteria”) are viruses that attack and lyse bacteria. Originally discovered on the Indian subcontinent shortly after the turn of the 20th Century, they were briefly developed in Europe and the US for therapeutic applications in humans. A lack of understanding of optimal targeting coupled with the discovery of sulfonamides and penicillins shifted attention away from bacteriophage therapeutics in the West in the 1940’s although interest in their use persisted in a number of Iron Curtain countries. We were recently challenged with the need to treat a critically ill patient with a multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection acquired during a visit to Egypt who had failed to respond to multiple courses of antimicrobial therapy. Working with colleagues at Texas A&M University, the US Navy Biodefense Research Directorate and AmpliPhi Biosciences under an eIND protocol, we successfully treated the patient with sequential courses of personalized bacteriophage cocktails directed at the patient’s own Acinetobacter baumannii. We have since treated an additional four patients with drug-resistant bacterial infections with personalized bacteriophage cocktails. In the course of this work we have learned about the safety, tolerability, pharmacology, pharmacodynamics and evolution of bacterial resistance to therapeutic bacteriophages. Although our anecdotal experience has been quite positive, rigorous controlled clinical trials are required to fully understand the promise and challenges facing the evolution of bacteriophage therapy of human infections.
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Robert T. Schooley, M.D. is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, the Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine and the Senior Director of International Initiatives at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr Schooley began his research career studying the immunopathogenesis of herpesvirus infections in immuno-compromised patients but shifted his focus to AIDS in 1981 when the first cases of this syndrome began to appear in Boston. His research group was among the first to delineate the humoral and cellular immune responses to HIV infection. Over the next 15 years he became increasingly involved in the discovery and development of antiretroviral chemotherapeutic agents including reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors and entry inhibitors. During his tenure as Group Chair the NIAID’s AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) expanded to include research sites in Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia and Africa and is now the largest and most productive multinational clinical and translational research organization focusing on the pathogenesis and therapy of HIV and its complications.

His current research interests include bacteriophage therapy, HIV and HCV pathogenesis and therapy and infections that cause morbidity and mortality in resource limited settings. Working with Dr. Emilia Noormahomed, he (together with Drs. Benson and Smith) provides leadership to the UEM-UCSD Medical Education Partnership Initiative.
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Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture series features scientific breakthroughs by a biomedical researcher at the forefront of biomedical research and education. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Friday, April 27, 2018

Live Stream starts Friday, April 14 2017 at 12 pm MST (18:00 UTC)

Each year, the Scaletti Catalyst Lecture features the work of a researcher at the forefront of biomedical research and innovative models for healthcare delivery and education.

This year’s featured researcher is Dr. Bertha K. Madras who will speak on how to seize unanticipated and serendipitous moments in life to generate new research and professional pathways.

Dr Madras is professor of psychobiology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and former Deputy Director for Demand Reduction (prevention, treatment) in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of President (a position for which she was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate).

Dr Madras’ research focuses on the relevance of dopamine signaling to addiction biology, ADHD, and Parkinson’s disease. She has authored over 200 scientific manuscripts, book chapters and essays, and she recently co-edited a book on the Cell Biology of Addiction.

Dr Madras and collaborators hold 19 patents for novel brain imaging agents and candidate therapeutics and her brain imaging agent, altropane, was listed by The Better World Report as “one of 25 technology transfer innovations that changed the world”.

Notable awards include an NIH MERIT award, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry Founders’ Award, and the NIDA Public Service Award, among others. She has delivered over 250 public presentations globally, and she developed a museum exhibit and a CD (licensed by Disney) with the Museum of Science, Boston.

Selected Publications:
Madras BK, Colvis CM, Pollack JD, Rutter JL, Shurtleff D, von Zastrow M, eds. Cell biology of addiction. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2006.

Madras BK, Kuhar MJ, eds. The effects of drug abuse on the human nervous system. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2013.

Seeman P, Madras BK, eds. Imaging of the human brain in health and disease. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2013.

Other Madras publications (via Google Scholar Search)

Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture series features scientific breakthroughs by a biomedical researcher at the forefront of biomedical research and education. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Friday, April 14, 2017

Many of us associate “nitrates” with the preservatives in bacon that can give you stomach cancer. But did you know that bacteria in your mouth can transform nitrites into nitrates which can then turn into nitric oxide (NO)? And that NO is a natural signaling path contributing to essential physiological functions like regulating blood pressure? Join us on April 15, 2016 as Dr. Mark T. Gladwin, Director of the newly formed Hemostasis and Vascular Biology Research Institute and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, presents some of his recent findings on therapeutic applications of NO in this year’s Joseph V Scaletti Catalyst Lecture:

Translating Redox Biology to Medicine

Nitrite as a hypoxic signaling molecule and new therapy for pulmonary hypertension

Nitrate and nitrite have traditionally been considered dietary toxins that increase the risk of stomach cancer. Recent scientific discoveries suggest that nitrate and nitrite are in fact natural signaling pathways in the human body, via a NO synthase independent reductive pathway from nitrate-to-nitrite-to-NO. Nitrite is now appreciated as a biological reservoir of nitric oxide (NO), present in plasma, red cells and organ systems, that is reduced to NO during physiological and pathological hypoxia. Current studies by multiple research groups indicate that nitrite forms via reduction of dietary nitrate to nitrite by commensal mouth bacteria, in addition to NOS-dependent nitrite formation from NO oxidation. Nitrite then contributes to critical physiological functions such as blood pressure control, hypoxic vasodilation, mitochondrial respiration and the cellular resilience to ischemic stress. Pre-clinical and clinical studies suggest that inhaled and oral nitrite may be able to prevent and reverse established pulmonary arterial hypertension and phase II proof of concept trials are currently in progress in the US and Europe. It is proposed that the nitrate – nitrite – NO pathway represents a fundamentally conserved pathway for physiological and pathological hypoxic NO-signaling in biology.

Dr. Gladwin has published over 320 manuscripts since 1996, which have had a significant impact on the fields of vascular and nitric oxide biology. His work is cited more than 3,700 times per year with an h-index of 85. Among his major scientific discoveries is the finding that the nitrite salt is a biological signaling molecule that regulates physiological and pathological hypoxic responses, blood pressure and flow, and dynamic mitochondrial electron transport. He characterized the role of hemoglobin and myoglobin as signaling nitrite reductases that regulate NO production under hypoxia. His seminal publication on this topic in 2003 has been cited more than 1150 times and is listed by Nature Medicine in its top ten Classic Collection. This work has led to the development and licensing of intravenous, oral and inhaled nitrite as a human therapeutic, with completion of animal toxicology, GMP formulations and phase Ia and Ib clinical trials. Phase II trials of inhaled nitrite are now underway for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. In addition to studies of nitrite, he characterized a novel mechanism of disease, hemolysis-associated endothelial dysfunction. This work has described a state of resistance to NO in patients with sickle cell disease, malaria, transfusion of aged blood, and other hemolytic conditions, caused by scavenging of nitric oxide by hemoglobin that is released into plasma during hemolysis. These studies translated to clinical and epidemiological descriptions of a human disease syndrome, hemolysis-associted pulmonary hypertension. These investigations form the backbone of Dr. Gladwin’s current work at the University of Pittsburgh’s Hemostasis and Vascular Biology Research Institute and the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine.

Mark Gladwin received his M.D. from the University of Miami Honors Program in Medical Education in 1991. After completing his internship and chief residency at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Ore., he joined the NIH in 1995 as a critical care fellow in the Clinical Center. After completion of a clinical fellowship in pulmonary medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, he returned for a research fellowship at the Critical Care Medicine Department under the mentorship of James Shelhamer, Frederick Ognibene, Alan Schechter, and Richard Cannon. He later served as the Chief of the Pulmonary and Vascular Medicine Branch within the NHLBI, NIH. In August of 2008, Dr. Gladwin became Chief of the Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Division at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Director of the newly formed Hemostasis and Vascular Biology Research Institute (now the Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, and Blood Vascular Medicine Institute). In March 2015, Dr. Gladwin was appointed Chairman of the Department of Medicine in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture series features scientific breakthroughs by a biomedical researcher at the forefront of the transition from lab bench and classroom to the bed side, contributing to more healthy and productive lives.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Many of us grew up with the metaphor of ‘germs’ as the enemy and ‘microbe hunters’ as the warriors in an ongoing battle against disease-causing microorganisms. But in the era of the human microbiome, we’ve begun to recognize that the distinctive colonies of microorganisms co-inhabiting our bodies are essential for the maintenance of life and health and that many of those ‘germs’ are on our side. In fact, the metaphor has shifted from “us against them” to “we’re all in this together”; in the words of biology-watcher Lewis Thomas, each of us “could be taken for a very large, motile colony of respiring bacteria, operating a complex system of nuclei, microtubules, and neurons for the pleasure and sustenance of their families”.

On Friday April 17 2015, Dr. Ramnik Xavier will be at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine to present an invited lecture in the Joseph Scaletti Memorial Catalyst Lecture series: “Genes, bugs and intestinal inflammation”.

Dr. Xavier is the Chief of Gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Kurt Isselbacher Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; he is also an institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, co-director of the MIT Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, and the director of MGH’s Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

As both a clinical gastroenterologist and molecular biologist, Dr Xavier studies the molecular mechanisms of innate and adaptive immunity and the genetic variants implicated in Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and autoimmunity.

Recent findings from Dr Xavier’s lab have shed light on the role of autophagy—the process by which cells break down and reuse proteins—in the development of Crohn’s disease.  As participants in the NIH Human Microbiome Project, Dr. Xavier’s team is actively investigating the relationship between genes, the microbes living in the human gut, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Dr. Xavier’s presentation is the keynote lecture of MOLECULAR GENETICS AND MICROBIOLOGY RESEARCH DAY 2015, organized in conjunction with the 50-year anniversary of the School of Medicine; the keynote lecture honors of one of school’s founding faculty members, microbiologist Joseph V. Scaletti, PhD.

Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture features an individual, institution, or idea responsible for accelerating the rate of positive change and forward progress in the areas of biomedical research, healthcare education, or healthcare delivery. In recognition of his ground breaking research in molecular biology and his application of that research in the diagnosis and treatment of human disease as a practicing physician, Dr. Ramnik Xavier has been invited to present this year’s Joseph V Scaletti Catalyst Lecture.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Everyone knows that air pollution affects the lungs. But how much do you know about the impact it has on the cardiovascular system?

Discover some of the lesser-known, more surprising effects of traffic pollution when Dr. Sverre Vedal presents the 2014 Joseph V Scaletti Catalyst Lecture at noon on Friday April 4 2014 at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

Dr. Vedal directs the University of Washington Center for Clean Air Research (UW CCAR) a multi-institutional center focused on the cardiovascular health effects of near-roadway pollution, defined as a complex mixture of components that come from vehicle emissions and the road surface, which vary with the age of the road surface, atmospheric conditions, and photochemical reactions.

Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences and Adjunct Professor of General Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, Dr. Vedal has an MD from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, a master’s in epidemiology from Harvard, and bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dr. Vedal has published research linking air pollution to hardening of the arteries, directs the Center for Clean Air Research, served as a member of the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), currently serves as a member of CASAC panels for particulate matter and ozone and the NIH Infectious, Reproductive, Asthma and Pulmonary Conditions (IRAP) Study Section, and sees patients in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center.

In 2011, Dr Vedal was invited to present the Distinguished Faculty Lecture at the University of Washington School of Public Health; the title of that talk was Air Pollution: Can it really be that bad for us?

Each year, the Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture features an individual, institution, or idea responsible for accelerating the rate of positive change and forward progress in the areas of biomedical research, healthcare education, or healthcare delivery. In recognition of his work as a practicing physician, a biomedical researcher, and an active advocate for quantifying the impact of environmental pollutants on human health, Dr. Sverre Vedal has been invited to present this year’s Joseph V Scaletti Catalyst Lecture.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Sand Fly-Leishmania Interactions: Applying what we know

Entomologist/molecular biologist Marcelo Ramalho-Ortigao takes a comprehensive approach to Leishmaniasis, integrating research at the molecular level, with research on the responses of individual vertebrates to the disease, and extending into biogeographic studies of how land-use policies may affect the spread of disease, with the ultimate goal of furthering our understanding of the vector-pathogen interaction in general.

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by the parasitic protozoan Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of the female sandfly. The disease takes two forms, Cutaneous leishmanaisis which affects the skin and mucous membranes and, more severely, Visceral leishmanaisis in which the parasites migrate to the vital organs.

As principal investigator in the Department of Entomology’s Biology of Disease Vectors Laboratory at Kansas State University, Dr Marcelo Ramalho-Ortigao’s research focuses on the primary vector for this disease: the sand fly. He has demonstrated that, by targeting vector molecules, he can interfere with pathogen development within the vector, opening some new avenues for exciting future discoveries.

Dr Ramalho-Ortigao (center) in his lab: From L to R 1st row Nathan Elliott (MS student, summer NIH-ARRA intern), Dr. Ortigao, Dr. Narinder Sharma (posdoc), Iliano Coutinho-Abreu (PhD candidate); 2nd row Emma Hayes (MS student, summer NIH-ARRA intern), Maricela Robles-Murguia (Lab tech). Two students are not pictured: Leah Cox (MS student), and Shawna (undergrad). Photo from Biotekchina.com.cn

It’s this potential for Dr Ramalho-Ortigao’s approach to catalyze new research discoveries related to the prevention and treatment of this neglected tropical disease, that resulted in an invitation to present this year’s Joseph V. Scaletti Catalyst Lecture. Each year, the Catalyst Lecture features an individual, institution, or idea responsible for accelerating the rate of positive change and forward progress in the areas of biomedical research, healthcare education, or healthcare delivery. The lecture series honors the work and ideals of one of the founders of the UNM School of Medicine, microbiologist Dr Joseph V Scaletti.

Scheduled for 12 noon on April 12, 2013, Dr Ramalho-Ortigao’s talk, Sand Fly-Leishmania Interactions: Applying What We Know will cover various aspects of molecular interactions of the sand fly and Leishmania – focusing on the midgut of the vector, including details of midgut targets that might be used in prevention of disease transmission by sand flies, as well as basic biological functions of the disease.

Friday, April 12, 2013