MHI Seminar Series: Mugé N. Kuyumcu-Martinez, Rbfox2 regulated alternative splicing networks modulate Hippo signaling during cardiovascular development
2019-04-10 10:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States

MHI Seminar Series: Christopher Hughes, Ph.D
2019-04-03 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Christopher Hughes, Ph.D, Professor & Chair, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine
Topic: Tissue engineering of functional vascular networks for organ-on-chip applications
Brief summary: The seminar will cover development of vascularized micro-organs (organ-on-chip technology), including brain, liver and tumors, and the potential for these in basic research, drug development/validation and personalized medicine.

MHI Seminar Series: Joyce Bischoff, Ph.D
2019-03-20 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Joyce Bischoff, Ph.D, Professor, Surgery/Vascular Biology Program, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Topic: Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Mitral Valve Adaptation and Growth

MHI Seminar Series: Mugé N. Kuyumcu-Martinez, Ph.D
2019-03-06 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Mugé N. Kuyumcu-Martinez, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Dept. of Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Texas Medical Branch
Topic: Rbfox2 controls cardiovascular development via modulating Hippo signaling

IVB/MHI Annual Research Symposium
2019-03-05 09:00 - 17:00 | George Watts Alumni Center, 150 Stadium Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
UNC’s Integrative Vascular Biology (IVB) T32 Training Program and the McAllister Heart Institute (MHI) jointly announce their Annual Research Symposium on Tuesday, March 5th, 2019. This year’s event will be held from 9AM – 5PM at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC campus (150 Stadium Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514). The symposium highlights research from graduate students, postdocs, and medical fellows within the cardiovascular community at UNC and the greater Chapel Hill area and promotes multi-disciplinary collaborative research in this important field. This year’s keynote speakers will be Lance L. Munn (Harvard) who uses biomedical engineering approaches to study blood vessel structure and function and Joseph A. Hill (UT Southwestern) whose research is focused on deciphering the mechanisms that control cardiac remodeling. Dr. Munn will present a talk entitled “Endothelial mechanobiology and morphogenesis” while Dr. Hill will present on “Heart failure: Two inflammatory tales”.
Registration and Abstract submission – Please register on-line at http://tinyurl.com/ya5wa7fz by Friday, March 1st. For those who wish to present data at the symposium, the abstract submission deadline is Monday, February 18th. Abstracts should include a title and all authors and are limited to 250 words (not including the title, etc). Note that you will need to have your abstract on hand during the registration process, and please indicate whether you wish to be considered for a limited number of oral presentations. Poster board dimensions are 3ft high by 4ft wide.
Symposium Social Event – All symposium attendees are invited to the on-site social event that begins at 4PM. We are including some games and prizes this year so we hope that everyone has a chance to stick around.
Please address questions to IVB Trainee, Ben Keepers (benjamin_keepers@med.unc.edu).

MHI Seminar Series: Elizabeth Murphy, Ph.D, "Novel mechanisms of cardioprotection"
2019-02-20 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Elizabeth Murphy, Ph.D, National Institutes of Health
Topic: Novel mechanisms of cardioprotection
Summary:
In the heart, interruption of the blood supply can result in cardiac cell death and irreversible muscle damage. Dr. Murphy’s laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms involved in cardiac cell death, as well as the mechanisms that protect the heart against damage. The knowledge gained from these studies may help identify novel therapies to reduce cardiac injury during ischemia and reperfusion. The current dogma suggests that calcium overload and reactive oxygen species generated during ischemia and heart failure lead to activation of a mitochondrial pore (mPTP) which initiates cell death. To better understand the regulation of the mPTP her lab has studied the mechanisms regulated by cyclophilin D, the only currently established member (albeit a regulator) of the mPTP. These studies demonstrated that cyclophilin D regulates mitochondrial acetylation (Nguyen et al Circ. Res, 2013). Collaborative studies with the Finkel laboratory leveraged recent advances identifying the mitochondrial transporter responsible for mitochondrial calcium uptake, which allowed for mechanistic studies of the role of calcium in activating cell death (Pan et al Nat Cell Biol, 2013).

MHI Seminar Series: Yoh-suke Mukouyama, Ph.D
2019-02-06 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Yoh-suke Mukouyama, Ph.D, National Institutes of Health
Topic:Macrophage control of neuronal and vascular development
Brief summary: Macrophages have diverse functions in immunity as well as in homeostasis, yet their functions during organ development remain largely undefined. Our work employs high-resolution whole-mount imaging and genetic tools to determine how embryonic tissue-resident macrophages influence neuronal and vascular development at single-cell resolution.

MHI Seminar Series: Young-sup Yoon, M.D., Ph.D
2019-01-23 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Young-sup Yoon, M.D., Ph.D, Emory University

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Robert Wirka
2019-01-09 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Robert Wirka, Stanford University.
Topic: Single cell analysis of smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation in vivo reveals a critical role for coronary disease gene TCF21 in mice and humans

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Ann Murphy
2018-12-19 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Ann Murphy, Johns Hopkins University

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Da-zhi Wang
2018-12-05 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Da-zhi Wang, Harvard University

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Matthew C. Zimmerman
2018-11-28 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Matthew C Zimmerman, University of Nebraska Medical Center

MHI Seminar Series: Dr Matthias Nahrendorf
2018-11-07 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Matthias Nahrendorf, Professor, Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University
Topic: Myeloid Cells in Cardiovascular Disease

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Bill Polacheck
2018-10-24 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Lena Claesson-Walsh
2018-10-12 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Lena Claesson-Walsh, Uppsala University

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Brian Kim
2018-10-10 10:00 - 11:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Brian Kim, Stanford University

MHI Seminar Series: Dr. Anne Marie Schmidt, "Rage/Diaph1 Mechanism of Diabetic Complications and Metabolic Dysfunction"
2018-09-26 10:00 - 11:00 | 321 MacNider Hall, 333 S Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Anne Marie Schmidt, New York University
Topic: Rage/Diaph1 Mechanism of Diabetic Complications and Metabolic Dysfunction

Memorial Service for Dr. Hugh "Chip" McAllister
2018-07-12 14:00 | Chapel of the Cross, 304 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
A memorial service for Dr. Hugh “Chip” McAllister will be held on Thursday, July 12th at 2 pm at the Chapel of the Cross on E Franklin St in Chapel Hill, and all MHI faculty and staff are invited.
Memorial gifts in honor of Dr. McAllister can be made by following this link – http://go.unc.edu/McAllisterHeartInstitute
Regards,
Rick and Vicki
Co-Directors, UNC McAllister Heart Institute

MHI Seminar Series: David Zawieja, PhD, "Lymphatics: the link between the parenchyma, cardiovascular and immune systems"
2018-05-22 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: David Zawieja, PhD, Regents Professor and Department Head of Medical Physiology, Texas A&M University College of Medicine
Topic: Lymphatics: the link between the parenchyma, cardiovascular and immune systems

MHI Seminar Series: Melina Kibbe, MD, "When Mice are Men: Sex Bias in Surgical Research"
2018-04-24 11:00 - 12:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Melina Kibbe, MD, Colin G. Thomas Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery, UNC
Seminar Title: “When Mice are Men: Sex Bias in Surgical Research”
Objectives:

To explain the sex differences that exist with diseases processes.
To explain the sex disparity that exists in the development and evaluation of drugs, devices, and medical therapies.
To discuss the sex disparity that exists in biomedical and clinical research in surgery and other disciplines.
To present solutions that can improve sex inclusion in biomedical and clinical research

MHI Seminar Series: Rong Tian, MD, PhD, "Metabolic Modulation of Cardiac Remodeling"
2018-04-10 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Rong Tian, MD, PhD, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Director of the Mitochondria and Metabolism Center, University of Washington
Seminar Title: “Metabolic Modulation of Cardiac Remodeling”
My research focuses on the molecular mechanisms regulating cell metabolism and energetics. A long-term goal of my laboratory is to understand the role of mitochondria and metabolism in the pathogenesis of human diseases, in particular cardiovascular diseases. We have utilized molecular and genetic approaches to identify and perturb specific regulators in the key pathways of cardiac energy metabolism in mice and subsequently interrogated the physiological and biochemical responses in vivo during the development of heart failure using multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy. Our work in the past two decades focused on the oxidative metabolism and mitochondrial ATP synthesis in heart failure using mouse models of altered glucose and fatty acid metabolism in the heart. Our recent work investigates the signaling role of cell metabolism through energy dependent and independent mechanisms. We also seek to decipher the mechanistic link between impaired mitochondrial function the cardiac stress responses. Results of these studies identified an important role of cellular redox state in diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction including cardiovascular and neurological pathologies. In collaboration with our clinical colleagues we are translating some of the research findings to clinical applications.

MHI Seminar Series: Xander Wehrens, MD, PhD, "Remodeling of calcium release unit proteins in Heart Failure"
2018-04-03 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Xander Wehrens, MD, PhD, Professor, Director of Cardiovascular Research Institute, Baylor University
Topic: “Remodeling of calcium release unit proteins in Heart Failure”

MHI Seminar Series: Kenneth Walsh, PhD, "Clonal Hematopoiesis and Cardiovascular Disease: New Mechanisms, New Therapeutic Opportunities"
2018-03-27 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Lockhart B. McGuire Professor, Director of Hematovascular Biology Center, University of Virginia
Topic: “Clonal Hematopoiesis and Cardiovascular Disease: New Mechanisms, New Therapeutic Opportunities”

MHI Seminar Series: Joan Taylor, PhD, "GRAFs mind the GAP between muscle fate and function"
2018-03-20 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Joan Taylor, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair for Research in Pathology and Lab Medicine, UNC School of Medicine
Topic: “GRAFs mind the GAP between muscle fate and function”
Seminar Synopsis: The overall goal of our research is to characterize the intracellular signaling pathways that govern normal and aberrant growth responses in the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system. For this seminar, I will focus on the role of GRAF family member RhoGAPs in muscle fate and function. We originally identified GRAF1 (GTPase-regulator for RhoA associated with FAK) in an un-biased screen for Focal Adhesion Kinase binding partners and over the past several years we have shown that GRAF1 (Arhgap26) and it’s family members GRAF2 (Arhgap10) and -3 (Arhgap42) are critical for limiting RhoA activity in muscle (cardiac, skeletal and smooth) wherein they play unique roles in co-regulating actin and membrane dynamics. In this seminar, I will highlight our latest studies on GRAF3 which indicate a critical role for this protein in the development and pathogenesis of human hypertension. Moreover, I will present new evidence to suggest that GRAF1 and GRAF2 may be equally as important for maintaining cardiac and skeletal muscle homeostasis respectively by novel mechanisms that involve mitochondrial quality control. Collectively, our findings support the possibility that targeting GRAFs might provide promising therapeutic strategies to limit hypertension and striated muscle degeneration.

2018 MHI/IVB Research Symposium
2018-03-13 09:00 - 17:00 | George Watts Alumni Center, 150 Stadium Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
UNC’s Integrative Vascular Biology (IVB) Training Program and the McAllister Heart Institute (MHI) jointly announce their Annual Research Symposium on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. This year’s event will be held from 9AM – 5PM at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC campus (150 Stadium Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514). The symposium highlights research from graduate students, postdocs, and medical fellows within the cardiovascular community at UNC and the greater Chapel Hill area and promotes multi-disciplinary collaborative research in this important field. This year’s keynote speakers will be Caroline and Geoffrey Burns (Harvard University) who will jointly present a talk entitled “New insights into zebrafish cardiovascular development and regeneration” and Karen Hirschi (Yale University) who will present a talk entitled “Regulation of endothelial cell specification”.
Abstract submission – For those who wish to present data at the symposium, the abstract submission deadline is Monday, February 26th. Abstracts should include a title and all authors and are limited to 250 words (not including the title, etc). Note that you will need to have your abstract on hand during the registration process, and please indicate whether you wish to be considered for a limited number of oral presentations. Poster board dimensions are 3ft high by 4ft wide. For more information please contact Hannah Perrin (hjperrin@email.unc.edu).
The registration deadline for those not presenting is March 8th.

MHI Seminar Series: James F. Martin, MD, PhD, “Hippo Signaling in Heart Regeneration”
2018-03-06 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: James F. Martin, MD, PhD, Vivian L. Smith Professor in Regenerative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine; Director, Cardiomyocyte Renewal Lab, Texas Heart Institute
Topic: “Hippo Signaling in Heart Regeneration”
Seminar Synopsis: Dr. Martin is an internationally recognized developmental and regenerative biologist who has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of development, disease, and regeneration. He has authored more than 135 peer-reviewed papers in top journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, Developmental Cell, Plos Genetics, Development, and PNAS. His recent groundbreaking work on the Hippo pathway in heart size regulation is a landmark study that led to the insight that the Hippo pathway is an inhibitor of adult heart muscle regeneration. Dr. Martin’s insights revealed new avenues for treatment of human heart failure. Dr. Martin has made fundamental insights into the role of the transcription factor Pitx2 in atrial fibrillation, the most common sustained arrhythmia in the human population. He made use of the mouse model to investigate Pitx2 in atrial homeostasis but also in left right asymmetric morphogenesis that is essential for human development. Dr. Martin’s studies investigating Pitx2 function in craniofacial development provided insight into the molecular basis of Rieger syndrome. He uncovered a pivotal function for Bmp signaling in endothelial-mesenchymal transition and cardiac valve development. Dr. Martin’s studies uncovered a novel role for canonical Wnt signaling in cardiac progenitor cell diversification. He found the first microRNA implicated in orofacial clefting. Dr. Martin’s studies are highly cited and also reported on by the lay media.

MHI Seminar Series: Douglas A. Marchuk, PhD, “Cerebral Cavernous Malformations: The Path from Gene Discovery to Therapy”
2018-02-27 14:00 - 15:00 | NC
Speaker: Dr. Douglas A. Marchuk, PhD, James B. Duke Professor, Dept. of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University
Topic: “Cerebral Cavernous Malformations: The Path from Gene Discovery to Therapy”

MHI Seminar Series: Deepak Voora, MD, “Genotype-informed Statin Therapy”
2018-02-20 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Speaker: Dr. Deepak Voora, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine at Duke University
Topic: “Genotype-informed Statin Therapy”
Seminar Synopsis: Statins are among the most commonly prescribed medications to lower cholesterol and to prevent cardiovascular disease. Although well tolerated by most patients, a significant proportion of patients develop musculoskeletal symptoms associated with statin therapy that can lead to premature statin discontinuation, elevated cholesterol, and increased risk for cardiovascular events. Our group was among the first to discover a reduced function genetic variant in the SLCO1B1 gene that predisposes to higher statin concentrations and statin-associated musculoskeletal symptoms (SAMS). We have extended this finding to higher cholesterol levels in patients with cardiovascular disease treated with statins and tested for effects on cardiovascular events. The statin-specific nature of SLCO1B1 associations with SAMS that we and others have identified laid the foundation to translate our findings into the clinic. We have developed a genotype-informed statin therapy (GIST) intervention based on communicating SLCO1B1 genotype based risk for SAMS and tailored prescriptions to reduce the risk of SAMS. In two prospective studies, including a randomized clinical trial, GIST improves perceptions of statin therapy, increased statin re-initiation, and lowered cholesterol levels in patients with statin-intolerance.

Christopher L. Holley, MD, PhD: “Non-coding RNA, RNA modifications, and Oxidative Stress in the Heart”
2018-02-13 14:00 - 15:00 | 1131 Bioinformatics Building, 130 Mason Farm Rd., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States

MHI Seminar Series Presents: Kristy Red-Horse, Ph.D, Stanford University
2017-12-11 12:00 - 13:10 | NC
