Seminar Schedule


2023 Fall - 2024 Winter

*All seminars take place at 4:00 pm in room 1167 of the Biological Sciences Building (unless otherwise noted).
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,
and Tamas Balla, NIH

Annual Spring Lipids@Wayne Symposium  

2022 Fall - 2023 Winter

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

2021 Fall - 2022 Winter

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

2021 Winter

Date Speaker Department/Institute Title
January 20

Xuequn Chen,
Ph.D. 

WSU - Physiology

Roles of ether lipids in pancreatic beta cell glucotoxicity and spermatogenesis

February 3

Grace Guo, 
Ph.D.

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,
Ph.D. candidate

WSU - Biological Sciences NAD supplementation improves mitochondrial functions in cardiolipin-deficient cells

November 4

Valerio Chiurchiu, 
Ph.D.

Roma & European Center for
Brain Research - Istituto di Farmacologia Traslazionale

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,
Ph.D. candidate

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
5

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