University of Virginia School of Medicine

The 2018 Joseph Larner Memorial Lecture in Pharmacology will be presented by Holly Ingraham, PhD (UCSF) this Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 9:30 AM in the Pinn Hall Conference Center Auditorium.  She will be speaking on “Female Bones and Behaviors Controlled by Sex-Dependent Hypothalamic Nodes.”

The lecture is free and open to all – please also plan to join us for a Welcome Reception with Dr. Ingraham at 8:45 AM in the PHCC Auditorium Lobby.

Dr. Ingraham is a Professor and Associate Vice Chair of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Herstein Distinguished Investigator at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. For more info about Dr. Ingraham’s research you can visit the Ingraham Lab here.

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) will be hosting a Summer Research Internship workshop series.  This workshop series will help students find and apply for summer research internships.  The following list of workshops will be held (click here to view flyer):

            ·         Landing a Summer Research Internship, November 6nd

            ·         Benefits of a Summer Research Internship, November 13th

    ·         Make the Most of your Internship, November 27th

       ·         Application Process: Nuts and Bolts, December 4th

All the workshops will be held in Clemons Library, Room 204 from 12 – 1 PM. Lunch will be provided.  Please have the students RSVP using this link:

https://goo.gl/hdzYhm

On Saturday, October 20, 2018 the University of Virginia partnered with the Charlottesville Track Club and the local Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) to hold the Community Bridges 5k Run/Walk in celebration of the inauguration of President James E. Ryan.

In addition to 1988 Olympians Paul Ereng and Margaret Groos, over 1500 people joined President Ryan and his wife Katie Ryan, on foot, for this special event. Out of these participants, 17 members of the Pharmacology Department joined together as a team in the CB 5k Run/Walk in support of the event and the Charlottesville community.  UVA was able to donate $25, 000 to the CNE as result of the many people who participated in this event.

The Pharmacology Department would like to send out a special thanks to Brittany Martinez for organizing the Pharm team and also to Dr. John Lazo for creating great Pharm camaraderie by  providing all Pharm participants with the gorgeous team hats they wore during the run/walk!

The Annual Pharmacology Research Retreat was held on Friday, October 5, 2018 on the beautiful landscape of Morven Farms ,of which we have grown to love more and more each year. It was a wonderful day of fellowship, sharing of the various research efforts of our students and faculty and various other fun activities. One of the most exciting parts of the day were the presentation of various awards.

This year’s winners include:

• Ted W. Rall Award (outstanding paper) – Michael Schappe (Desai lab) and Vlad Serbulea (Leitinger Lab)
• Best Predoctoral Presentation – Kathryn “Katie” Salvati (Beenhakker Lab)
• Best Poster Presentation – Marta Stremska (Pharm Student, Desai lab) and Miyuki Suzawa (Lab Spec, Bland Lab)

The Pharmacology Department is very proud of all of our hardworking, dedicated and scientifically passionate students and faculty! It was evident that a lot of work went into each presentation and they were all well-received by all. Everyone did such an amazing job which made it very difficult to decide the winners of these various awards. Please be sure to congratulate all of our winners when you see them around!

DIVERSITY DIALOGUES

There is a saying: “Nothing great ever comes from comfort zones.” The Diversity Dialogues are designed to encourage honest discussions in a safe environment with people who are in some way, different from us, about the ways that we are different and the ways that we are similar. These facilitated dialogues may feel uncomfortable, but are essential to building understanding and empathy so we can leverage our strengths and differences at work and in our communities.

The Diversity Dialogues are a series of facilitated conversations around specific topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion in our community. The same topic will be explored each month by members of different groups – students, housestaff, faculty, or staff.  We will invite one group each month – this month’s group are staff. The topic will rotate every 4 months.

Our current topic is “microaggression.” What are microaggressions? Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. Microaggressions can be based upon any group that is marginalized in this society. In this dialogue, we will examine with each other the impact that microaggressions have had on all of our lives.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Pinn Hall, G1-2
12pm-1pm
Lunch will be served
Please RSVP to jjp5s@virginia.edu if you plan to attend – space is limited

Sponsored by the SOM Office of Diversity/Inclusion

The Pharmacology Department would like to send a huge congrats to Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, Chairman of the Neuroscience and Director of Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG), for being the recent recipient of the NIH Director Pioneer Award. The award provides more than $5.6 million in research funding over five years. Kipnis’ Pioneer award is the first received by a School of Medicine researcher based on research done at UVA. Please visit  UVA Today  and EurekAlert for the full story. Way to go, Dr. Kipnis!

UVA Researchers, led by Jonathan Kipnis, PhD,  have found a way to impede the development of multiple sclerosis in mice by targeting the lymphatic vessels surrounding the brain.  These findings were published in, Nature:

Antoine Louveau, Jasmin Herz, Maria Nordheim Alme, Andrea Francesca Salvador, Michael Q. Dong, Kenneth E. Viar, Grace Herod, James Knopp, Joshua C. Setliff, Alexander L. Lupi, Sandro Da Mesquita, Elizabeth L. Frost, Alban Gaultier, Tajie H. Harris, Rui Cao, Song Hu, John R. Lukens, Igor Smirnov, Christopher C. Overall, Guillermo Oliver, and Jonathan Kipnis (2018). CNS lypmpathic drainage and neuroinflammation are regulated by meningeal lympathic vasculature. Nature Neuroscience, 1526-1726

Please visit the link below for the full story:

https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-identifies-brains-lymphatic-vessels-new-avenue-treat-multiple-sclerosis?utm_source=UFacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=news

Dr. Kipnis is a PSTG preceptor for Pharmacology, the Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair of the department of Neuroscience and the Director of the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG).

Kipnis Lab: https://med.virginia.edu/neuroscience/kipnis-lab/

Congratulations to Pharmacology Graduate Student Brittany Martinez (Bland Lab) who was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

According to the NIH, the purpose of this particular F31 program is to enhance the diversity of the health-related research workforce by supporting the research training of predoctoral students from population groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research workforce. The proposed mentored research training is expected to clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist.

Brittany will be exploring “Mechanisms underlying peripheral insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction caused by chronic immune activation.” She is the first predoctoral student in Pharmacology to receive the F31 Diversity Fellowship Award.

Exciting new research from Julius Zhu’s lab has lead to a new technique that lets scientists see how brain cells communicate. The new technique will provide answers about the brain and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and depression and will help facilitate new and improved treatments for these types of diseases.

Check out the full story on UVA Connect ,  NBC29.com and Spectrumnews.org

The Pharmacology Department would like to congratulate Drs. Mark Beenhakker and Bimal Desai who were recently promoted by the UVA Board of Visitors from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Pharmacology. In addition to recognition from the BOV, the SOM P&T Committee hosted a Promotion & Tenure Celebration on Thursday, August 2, 2018 at the Colonnade Club where both were recognized for their hard work and excellence.

Drs. Beenhakker and Desai were both mention on the SOM 2017-18 Promotion & Tenure list published in UVA Connect. Please visit the link to see the full list of promoted SOM faculty that were honored this year!

Please join us in congratulating Mark and Bimal for this major accomplishment when you see them around!