Seminar Schedule
*The first seminar date of each month features two 30-min talks by WSU trainees, while the second date features a 60-min talk by an invited outside faculty member/postdoc. All seminars take place at 4:00 pm in room 1177 of the Biological Sciences Building (unless otherwise noted).
Click here to view all speaker abstracts.
| Date | Speaker(s) | Affiliation | Talk Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/2/2024 | Laimar Garmo | WSU Dept. of Pharmacology | Dysregulation of bone homeostasis through exposure to PFAS |
| Aaron Lotvola | WSU Dept. of Oncology | Regulation of c-Myc protein expression by ABHD5 in Prostate Cancer Cells | |
| 10/16/2024 | Mike Lange, Ph.D. | University of California - Berkeley | Protecting Stored Lipids From Damage: Ferroptosis Suppressor Protein 1 Prevents Lipid Peroxidation In Lipid Droplets |
| 11/6/2024 | Yaroslav Balytskyi, Ph.D. | WSU Dept. of Physics | Unsupervised Clustering of Docking Scores Predicts ABHD5 Ligands Activity |
| Mohamed Chakkour | WSU Dept. of Biological Sciences | Phospholipids Out of Context: From Structure to Signaling | |
| 11/20/2024 | Itay Budin, Ph.D. | University of California - San Diego | Phospholipid Curvature: A Biophysical Deep Dive |
| 12/4/2024 | Arifur Rahman | WSU Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences | Proteomic Profiling of PNPLA3 Mutants in Human Hepatocytes for Metabolic-Dysfunction Associated Fatty Liver Disease |
| Tyler Ralph-Epps | WSU Dept. of Biological Sciences | How does cardiolipin influence mitochondrial substrate utilization? | |
| 12/18/2024 | Kymberly Gowdy, Ph.D. | Ohio State University | Dietary N3-PUFAs Modulate the Pulmonary Response to Environmental Exposures |
| 1/8/2025 | Alexis Wilson | WSU Dept. of Oncology | |
| Amit Kumar | WSU Dept. of Physics | ||
| 1/22/2025 | Michael Schlame, M.D. | New York University | |
| 2/5/2025 | Raja Narayanasamy | WSU Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics | |
| Shahnaz Parveen | WSU Dept. of Physics | ||
| 2/19/2025 | |||
| 3/5/2025 | Andrew Butcko | WSU Dept. of Physiology | |
| Anuradha Anuradha | WSU Dept. of Physics | ||
| 3/19/2025 | Kanakadurga Singer, Ph.D. | University of Michigan | |
| 4/2/2025 | Justina Thomas | WSU Dept. of Biological Sciences | |
| Eseiwi Obaseki | WSU Dept. of Biological Sciences | ||
| 4/16/2025 | Judith Simcox, Ph.D. | University of Wisconsin - Madison |
Fall 2023 - Winter 2024
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 20, 2023 | Andres Contreras | Michigan State University | Oxylipins as Modulators of Inflammation in Periparturient Metabolic Stress |
| Nov 8, 2023 | Nine Amazing Speakers: https://lipids.wayne.edu/symposium/2023 | Symposium to honor the scientific legacy of the late Dr. Kenneth V. Honn | |
| Jan 17, 2024 | Saskia Neher | University of North Carolina | |
| Feb 21, 2024 | Yun-Hee Lee | Seoul National Univ | |
| Mar 20, 2024 | Wonhwa Cho | University of Illinois - Chicago | Cholesterol and Cancer: New mechanisms and therapy |
| April 17, 2024 | Jun Liu | Mayo Clinic | |
| May 1, 2024 | Keynotes: Jean Vance, U Alberta, | Annual Spring Lipids@Wayne Symposium |
Fall 2022 - Winter 2023
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2, 2022 | Jessica Swanson | University of Utah | From Bilayers to Monolayers: Exploring the Physicochemical Control of Protein Targeting to Lipid Droplets. |
| February 1, 2023 | Joel Goodman | UT Southwestern Medical Center | How seipin promotes lipid droplet assembly |
| April 16, 2023 | Charles Brown | Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri School of Medicine | Eicosanoids in the resolution of murine Lyme arthritis |
Fall 2021 - Winter 2022
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2021 | Nikhlesh Singh | Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences, Wayne State University | G-protein coupled receptor signaling and vascular pathologies |
| November 17, 2021 | Christopher Kassotis | Department of Pharmacology and Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (IEHS), Wayne State University | Combination effects of complex environmental mixtures on adipocyte development |
| December 15, 2021 | Alla Karnovsky | Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, the University of Michigan | Bioinformatics Tools for Data-Driven Analysis of Metabolomics and Lipidomics Data |
| February 2, 2022 | Hilary Marusak | Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine | The endocannabinoid system and brain development: Risks and therapeutic interventions |
| March 16, 2022 | Imad Shureiqi | University of Michigan | ALOX15 loss in colorectal carcinogenesis: Oxidative lipid metabolism matters |
| April 6, 2022 | Erica Scheller | Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis | Neural regulation of bone marrow adipose tissue |
Winter 2021
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 20 | Xuequn Chen, | WSU - Physiology | Roles of ether lipids in pancreatic beta cell glucotoxicity and spermatogenesis |
| February 3 | Grace Guo, | Rutgers University - Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy | Bile Acids, FXR, and FGF15/19 in Liver Functions and Diseases |
| March 3 | Hanaa Hariri, Ph.D. | WSU - Biological Scineces | Inter-organelle contact sites in nutrient signaling and metabolic crosstalk |
| April 21 | Abdou Rachid Thiam, Ph.D. | Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - Laboratoire de Physique | Binding of amphipathic helices to the oil/water interface of lipid droplets |
Fall 2020
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 7 | Jiajia Ji, | WSU - Biological Sciences | NAD supplementation improves mitochondrial functions in cardiolipin-deficient cells |
| November 4 | Valerio Chiurchiu, | Roma & European Center for | Resolution of neuroinflammation: Where do we stand at? |
| December 9 | Kin Sing Stephen Lee, Ph.D. | Michigan State Univesrity - Pharmacology and Toxicology | Cytochrome P450 metabolism of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and healthspan of C. elegans |
Fall 2019 - Winter 2020
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 8 | Ormond MacDougald, Ph.D. | University of Michigan - Molecular and Integrative Physiology | How bariatric surgery and environmental temperature influence the bone marrow niche |
| January 22 | Alexander Yang, MD/Ph.D. candidate | WSU - Molecular Medicine and Genetics | Balancing the fat: Dynamic interactions of ABHD5 with PNPLA3 in the regulation of triacylglycerol metabolism |
| February 5 | Jeeyun Chung, Ph.D. | Harvard University - Howard Hughes Medical Institute | Protein machinery of lipid droplet formation |
| February 19 | Michael Petriello, Ph.D. | WSU - Pharmacology | Emerging roles of xenobiotic detoxification enzymes in metabolic diseases |
| March 4 | George Carman, Ph.D. | Rutgers University - Food Science | Roles and Regulation of Phosphatidic Acid Phosphatase in Lipid Metabolism |
| March 18 | Jiajia Ji, | WSU - Biological Sciences | NAD supplementation improves mitochondrial functions in cardiolipin-deficient cells -CANCELED |
| April 1 | Charles Brown, Ph.D. | University of Missouri - Molecular Microbiology and Immunology | CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 |
| September18 | Michael Salsaa, Ph.D. | WSU - Biological Sciences | Perturbation of energy metabolism at the center of the mechanism of action of valproate |
| November 6 | Christine Keating, Ph.D. | Pennsylvania State University - Chemistry | Lipidmembranes in and around aqueous multiphase systems |
| December 4 | Jonathan Mark Brown, Ph.D. | Cleveland Clinic - Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences | Obesity-Linked Suppression of Membrane-Bound O-Acyltransferase 7 (MBOAT7) Drives Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Progression |
Fall 2018 - Winter 2019
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 20 | Sarah Shelby, Ph.D. | University of Michigan - Biophysics | Membrane Phase-like Domains in B Cell Receptor Signalling |
| March 6 | Kezhong Zhang, Ph.D. | WSU - Molecular Medicine and Genetics | Mechanism of Particulate Air Pollution-induced Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis and Type-2 Diabetes |
| March 20 | James Olzmann, Ph.D. | UC Berkeley - Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology | Membrane Phase-like Domains in B Cell Receptor Signalling |
| April 3 | Alexander Gow, Ph.D. | WSU - Molecular Medicine and Genetics | Toward a Membrane Biophysics Understanding of CNS Myelin Physiology |
| April 17 | Tina Tootle | Univeristy of Iowa Health Care - Anatomy and Cell Biology | Prostaglandins: Master Regulators of Actin in the Cytoskeleton and the Nucleus |
| October 3 | James Markworth, Ph.D. | University of Michigan - Molecular and Integrative Physiology | Inflammation and its resolution following skeletal muscle Injury: Role of bioactive lipid mediators. |
| November 7 | Laura Musselman, Ph.D. | Binghamton University - Biological Sciences | Using Drosophila to understand lipotoxicity |
| December | Cunqi Ye, Ph.D. | UT Southwestern Medical Center - Biochemistry | The methyl sink function for phospholipid and histone methylation |
Winter 2018
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 17 | Chris Madden, Ph.D. | Oregon Health & Science University - Neurological Surgery | Neural regulation of brown adipose tissue in diet-induced obesity |
| February 7 | Emilio Mottillo, Ph.D. | WSU - CMMG | Illuminating Fatty Acid Metabolism |
| February 21 | Ilce Medina Meza, Ph.D. | Michigan State University - Engineering | Cholesterol Oxidation: Old Tale, New Approaches |
| March 7 | Robert Chapkin, Ph.D. | Texas A&M - Nutrition & Food Science | Targeting Plasma Membrane Lipid Composition as a Novel Approach to Anti-Cancer Therapy |
| March 21 | Klaus van Leyen, Ph.D. | Harvard University - Radiology | Lipoxygenase Inhibition as Therapeutic Approach to Treat Stroke: Injury Mechanisms and Treatment |
| April 4 | Marianna Sadagurski, Ph.D. | WSU - Biological Sciences | Novel Role for Hypothalamic Growth Hormone Receptor Neurons in Glucose Homeostasis |
| April 18 | Rolf Bodmer, Ph.D. | Sanford University - Burnham Medical Research Institute | Congenital and Lipotoxic Heart Disease Modeling and Gene Discovery Using Drosophila |
Fall 2016 - Winter 2017
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 21 | Christopher V. Kelly, Ph.D. | WSU Physics | The Biophysics Nanoscale Membrane Curvature Revealed by Polarized Localization Microscopy |
| October 5 | Jun Hee Lee, Ph.D. | University of Michigan | Sestrin, a versatile regulator of lipid and glucose metabolism |
| October 19 | Travis Ness (Hendrickson lab) | WSU Chemistry | Insight into the assembly and function of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GPI transamidase |
| November 2 | Papasani V. Subbaiah, Ph.D. | University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago | Food for thought: Novel strategy to enrich brain DHA through diet |
| November 16 | Joseph Wider (Przyklink lab) | WSU School of Medicine Physiology | Cardioprotective role of Exosomes: Sometimes good things come in small packages |
| December 7 | Michael Holinstat, Ph.D. | University of Michigan Medical School | Omega-6 oxylipins from 12-LOX represent a new class of platelet regulators |
| January 18 | James Granneman, Ph.D. | WSU School of Medicine | A New Locus of Lipolysis Control in Fat and Muscle |
| February 1 | Nathan Alder, Ph.D. | University of Connecticuit | Cardiolipin as a mediator of protein interactions in the mitochondrial inner membrane |
| February 15 | Maria Bykhovskaia, Ph.D. | WSU School of Medicine Neurology | Interaction Of Neuronal Ca2+ Sensor Synaptotagmin With Lipid Bilayer |
| March 1 | Julian G. Cambronero, Ph.D. | Wright University | Phospholipase D (PLD) Cell Signaling in Cancer, Inflammation and Heart Ischemia |
| March 15 | Elizabeth Berger, Ph.D. | WSU School of Medicine Ophthalmology | Lipid Mediator Pathways in the Pathogenesis of Bacterial Keratitis |
| April 5 | Scott Hansen, Ph.D. | The Scripps Research Institute | Lipid Raft Disruption and the Molecular Basis of Force Transduction |
| April 19 | Krishna Rao Maddipati, Ph.D. | WSU School of Medicine - Pathology & Lipidomics Core | Lipidomic Analytical Strategies |
Fall 2015 - Winter 2016
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 16 | Shyamala Jadav | WSU Biological Sciences | Valproic acid increases ceramide levels and induces the unfolded protein response |
| October 7 | Gabor J. Tigyi, MD, Ph.D. | University of Tennessee HSC | Curing Radiation Injury Using Rationally-Designed Analogues of Lysophospholipids |
| October 21 | Stephen Cala, Ph.D. | WSU Physiology | Membrane Subcompartmentalization in the Heart |
| November 4 | Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D. | University of Rocheter Medical Center | Resolvin D1 blunts tobacco smoke-induced lung inflammation and increases alternatively activated macrophages (M2) |
| November 18 | Bhanu P. Jena, Ph.D. | WSU Physiology | Lipids on Porosome Structure-Function and on SNARE-Induced Membrane Fusion |
| December 2 | Monica Driscoll, Ph.D. | Rutgers University | Losing it: A novel mechanism for keeping neurons young |
| January 20 | Izabela Podogorski, Ph.D. | WSU Pharmacology | Bone Marrow Adipocytes: Fuel Engine Systems in Metastatic Prostate Cancer? |
| February 3 | Andrew Morris, Ph.D. | University of Kentucky | Bioactive lysophospholipids link diet and heritable cardiovascular disease risk |
| February 17 | Wenjia Lou | WSU Biological Sciences | What are the functions of cardiolipin remodeling? |
| March 2 | Rashmi Chandra | WSU Biological Sciences | Regulation of the insulin-like peptide network: Mechanisms for optimal survival |
| March 16 | No seminar | ||
| April 6 | Besim Ogretmen, Ph.D. | Medical University of South Carolina | Systemic verses Nuclear Sphingosine 1-Phosphoate Signaling for the Regulation of Tumor Metastasis and Cellular Senescence |
| April 20 | Robert J. Wessells, Ph.D. | WSU Physiology | Drosophila as a Model for the Discvoery of Exercise Mimetics |
Fall 2014 - Winter 2015
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 15 | Ren Zhang, Ph.D. | WSU CMMG & Endocrinology | A dual role for lipasin/betatrophin in lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis |
| October 1 | Michael Schlame, MD | New York University Langone Medical Center | Aberrant Cardiolipin Dynamics in Barth Syndrome |
| November 5 | Narasimham Parinandi, Ph.D. | The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center | Phospholipase D, a Stress-Activated Lipid Signaling Enzyme, is a Potential Drug Target in Vascular Disease |
| December 3 | Susan Veatch, Ph.D. | University of Michigan | Phases and Fluctuations in Biological Membranes |
| January 28 | Michael Schmidke | WSU Biological Sciences | Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Adrenal Medullary Hormone Secretion |
| January 28 | Tejeshwar Rao | WSU Biological Sciences | Synaptotagmin-1 and Synaptotagmin-7 differ in their stimulus and Ca2+ dependence of activation |
| February 4 | Anant Menon, Ph.D. | Cornell University | How sterols walk on water |
| February 18 | Abby Parill-Baker, Ph.D. | University of Memphis | Evolving Approaches to Characterization of the Structure-Function Relationship in Lipid Receptors |
| March 4 | Domenico Gatti, Ph.D. | WSU Biochemistry | Nodal verses total axonal strain and the role of cholesterol in traumatic brain injury |
| April 1 | Jefferson Knight, Ph.D. | UC-Denver | Diverse mechanisms of membrane assocation by C2 domains from synaptotagmin isoforms |
| April 15 | Alexander Gasparski | WSU Biological Sciences | Mechanical forces enhance cancer cell invasion |
Fall 2013 - Winter 2014
| Date | Speaker | Department/Institute |
|---|---|---|
| October 8 | Greg Auner | WSU Electrical & Computer Engineering |
| October 22 | Rachael Kast | WSU Electrical & Computer Engineering |
| November 12 | Yun-Hee Lee | WSU Psychiatry |
| November 26 | William Smith | University of Michigan |
| December 10 | Dean Brenner | University of Michigan |
| January 22 | Katelyn Powell | WSU Urology |
| February 19 | Assia Shisheva | WSU Physiology |
| March 5 | Cunqi Ye | WSU Biological Sciences |
| March 19 | Jiawei Zhao | WSU Pathology |
| April 2 | Corinne Lutmoski | WSU Chemistry |
| April 9 | Berhane Seyoum | WSU Internal Medicine |
| April 16 | Dilani Gamage | WSU Chemistry |
Fall 2012 - Winter 2013
| Date | Speaker | Department |
|---|---|---|
| November 1 | Dr. Wenlinag Zhang | Pathology |
| November 15 | Dr. Mita Vargese | Psychiatry |
| December 6 | Vaishnavi Raja | Biological Sciences |
| December 20 | Dr. Ashok Dilli | Pathology |
| January 10 | Dr. Jiawei Zhao | Pathology |
| January 24 | Dr. Todd Leff | Pathology |
| February 7 | Rania Deranieh | Biological Sciences |
| February 21 | Dr. Wanyu Lambiv | Pathology |
| March 7 | Allison Gartung | Pathology |
| March 21 | Emilio Mottillo | Psychiatry |
| April 4 | Wenxi Yu | Biological Sciences |
| April 18 | Elizabeth Tovar | Pathology |
| May 2 | Vicki Kimler | Psychiatry |
| May 16 | Dr. Jeffrey Potoff | Chemical Engineering |
| June 6 | Dr. Sarah Trimpin | Chemistry |
| June 20 | Dr. James Granneman | Psychiatry |
Fall 2011 - Winter 2012
| Date | Speakers | Department |
|---|---|---|
| December 14 | James Granneman Todd Leff Jianjun Wang Pramod Khosla Bharati Mitra Menq-Jer Lee Lab Miriam Greenberg Assia Shisheva Mustapha Kandouz Stephanie Tucker Krishna Rao Maddipati Bonnie Sloan Lab | Psychiatry Pathology Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Nutrition & Food Science Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Pathology Biological Sciences Physiology Pathology Pathology Pathology Pharmacology |
| January 25 | Howard Matthew Tom Holland Nicholas Davis | Chem. Engineering Materials Science Immunology & Microbiology Pharmacology |
| February 29 | Krishna Rao Maddipati Steve Salley | Pathology Chemistry Engineering |
| March 28 | Sandamali Ekayanaka James Granneman | Chemistry Psychiatry |