Completed: Biotechnological Interventions for Neurodegenerative Diseases2023 NRR Series Free Webinar: Biotechnological Interventions for Neurodegenerative Diseases Date and Time: The 15th of September, Friday 20:00-21:30 (Beijing) | 14:00-15:30 (CET) | 8:00 am-9:30 am (EST) PROGRAM
Speaker 1: Jay (Jiahua) Xie Professor Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, North Carolina Central University, USA Speech Title: A new approach to Huntington's disease research - insights from a plant-based model revealing mutant Huntingtin's impact on cellular pathways About the speaker: Dr. Jiahua (Jay) Xie is a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a principal investigator at BRITE, with 50% teaching and 50% research responsibilities. Prior to joining NCCU, Dr. Xie was a senior scientist at the Vector Tobacco Research Inc. (NC) for five years. Dr. Xie was one of the key scientists who investigated the tobacco alkaloid metabolism and developed the first nicotine-free transgenic tobacco plant in the world. Dr. Xie’s long-term research goals are (1) to utilize plant biotechnology and molecular techniques to efficiently produce natural products and pharmaceutical proteins of biomedical importance, (2) to study the functions of these plant-produced natural products and recombinant proteins in vitro and in vivo, and (3) to provide a good training platform for under-represented students to perform hypothesis-driven biotechnological and biomedical research. Glycoengineering of plants to produce a tissue-protective asialo-rhuEPO (EPO without sialic acids) is one of his research interests. Recently, his group has extended their research to study cell/tissue protective effects of plant-produced asialo-rhuEPO and its mechanisms of action in cell and animal models as well as to evaluate its pharmacological characteristics. Speaker 2: Eloy Bejarano Fernández Principal Investigator School of Health Sciences and Veterinary School, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Spain Speech Title: Targeting autophagy with natural Compounds to counteract (sugar-derived) proteinaceous deposition in brain About the speaker: The main interest of our laboratory is to gain a better understanding of the cellular and molecular processes that contribute to ageing and the impact that nutrition has on them. We use a variety of cellular and animal models to study the impact that elements of our diet have on the pathophysiology of tissues and organs. When the organism ages or is under pathological stress, there is an accumulation of damaged proteins, as well as a loss of communication between the cells that make up our tissues. In our laboratory we are focused on the study of these 2 altered processes during ageing and diseases associated with aging: loss of proteostasis (due to impaired function of cellular waste recycling systems) and loss of intercellular communication in our tissues. We explore how alterations in these cellular processes may contribute to aging and age-related diseases, with a special emphasis on ocular and neurodegenerative diseases. A better understanding of these processes will help us to identify compounds and develop strategies that will result in new therapies to combat these human diseases and promote healthy aging. Session Chair: Veronika E. Neubrand Assistant Professor Department of Cell Biology, Facultad de Ciencias, University of Granada, Spain About the Session Chair: Dr. Neubrand is mainly engaged in the molecular mechanisms in microglia, the brain's immune cells, during neuroinflammation, a common characteristic in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, endogenous factors that influence physiology and morphology, representing new therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Neubrand has extensive experience in characterizing cell populations of the central nervous system at the cellular and molecular level, with special interest in events related to immunopathological and degenerative processes. Her specialty lies in identifying the associated changes in different cell types with molecular scrutiny techniques and immunodetection analysis.
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