Institute for Network Medicine (iNetMed)’s Post

This month marks two months since the launch of our inaugural cohort of LEAP Trainees! LEAP – Lab Experience as a Pathway to Graduate School – is a one-year program for postbaccalaureate trainees interested in pursuing PhDs. Throughout the year, they train in the lab of a matched PI while exploring various professional development topics and experiences.     Last week we caught up with one of our eight trainees, Isabel Sakowicz, a UCR alumna, and Riverside native, to hear her thoughts on our Annual Biomedical Research Symposium, an event designed to showcase the research of postdocs and graduate students. Through experiences like this, our trainees can develop their scientific communication skills by learning from the presentation styles of other trainees at our Institute. As Isabel noted, “We are researching diseases that affect everyone, so it’s essential to present our science in an accessible way.” This experience not only enhances their understanding but also equips them with the skills to frame their research within a broader context.      Inspired by Gabriele Guarnaccia’s ability to break down complex concepts, like pancreatic cancer cachexia, Isabel left with valuable insights that will inform her own work. Currently, she is investigating how nutrient overload dysregulates transcriptional responses involved in functional fertility and ovarian fibrosis in her mentor’s, Kevin Tharp, Ph.D., lab.     We look forward to sharing what our trainees are up to next week! #biomedicalresearch #postbaccalaureate #cancerresearch

April 1999-April 2024: Exactly 25 years ago, as a PhD student, I attended my very first #AACR meeting in Philadelphia - to give an oral communication on my thesis project on suicide-gene approaches in oncology - because my boss at the time had convinced me that, as a young researcher, it's absolutely essential to systematically go to #scientific #meetings to compare your work with the rest of the community and to network with your peers. It was advice that changed my career, and I haven't missed a major meeting in the field since, and attended dozen of conferences all over the world. Now that I'm head of the lab, it's my turn to persuade my PhD students, once they have some experience and convincing data, to take their work to the four corners of the world. You don't do research in a vacuum - you don't do research within the 4 walls of a lab. Going and/or sending your students to international conferences requires a budget, organisation, time and fatigue (yesterday it took me more than 24 hours to get back from San Diego, including transit, but well, I had to be at the University Hospital this morning to run DPD testing and make some adaptive dosing with high dose Busulfan first thing in the morning), but the effort is worth it. Advice to those who want to do a #PhD: When choosing a lab, ask what the policy is on young researchers presenting at conferences. If they tell you that only the big boss is allowed to present, run away!  #science #research #oncology

After 5 years, 8 months, and 16 days of dedication, experiments, and learning, I am happy to share that I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis on September 25th, 2024, and have officially become Dr. Nilesh Khandelwal ! I began this journey on January 9th, 2019, with curiosity, hope, and a willingness to learn. Along the way, I encountered challenges that taught me the true meaning of patience and resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed my Ph.D. but it also brought new lessons and perspectives on tackling unforeseen challenges. Every failure became an opportunity to grow, and every success pushed the boundaries of my knowledge. Whether it was perfecting Western blots, running molecular cloning experiments to understand adipocyte biology, or delving into drug discovery for metabolic diseases, every step has been a challenge and a learning experience. My thesis, "Functional alterations in adipose tissue glucose homeostasis: Underlying epigenetic modulations and ameliorative therapeutic strategies," was a deep dive into metabolic health and novel therapeutic strategies. Under the mentorship of Dr. Anil Gaikwad at CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, I've had the privilege of working on both sides of science- fundamental biology with applied research for drug discovery. I am immensely grateful to everyone who supported me throughout this journey-your belief in me kept me going through every failed experiment and every moment of doubt. This chapter may have ended, but I am excited for the future—new discoveries, collaborations, and contributions to science and society await! #PhDDefense #ResearchJourney

Learn about Sydney (Abbey) Oliver, who is joining #UNCPharmacy not only as a Ph.D. student, but as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow! Learn more about Abbey by reading the story below:

This summer I had the amazing opportunity conducting undergraduate research through the Oregon State University College of Science Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program ( SURE ). I also got the amazing opportunity to present my research at FORTE-Learn By Doing symposium and the Summer Undergraduate Research symposium. 🤩 My research was on innovating the identification of estrous cycle stages within experimental mice via Machine Learning Applications. This is super significant as endrocrine research for treatment on STI and endorcrine conditions are mostly done on Female Mice ( which don’t get much testing due to the complexity of thier estrous cycle ) and discovering potential sites for treatment had became increasingly difficult due to antibiotics resistance. Aiding researchers in this front will substantially increase the potential treatments for STI such as Gonorrhea and endocrine conditions like Polycystic ovary syndrome. 🌸 This research wouldn’t be possible without the amazing Sikora Lab from Oregon State University College of Pharmacy and our collaborators, the Nicholas lab from UC Irvine.👩🏾🔬 The laboratory skills I learned over the summer such as enzyme linked immunosorbent Assay and Colony Formation Analysis are irreplaceable and will help me in my career goals within drug development. 🧫 I can’t thank Gabs James and Rachel Palmer enough for supporting me and giving this remarkable experience, as well as all my donors. 🌟 #summer2024 #womeninSTEM #research #AI #WomensHealth #Pharmacy #summerresearch

Meet the Omini Team 👥 🙋🏿♂️ Introducing Pascal Preira, PhD., our Senior Researcher in Biology and Sensor Functionalization! 🎓 After receiving his PhD in Biochemistry from Aix-Marseille University, where he developed and optimized microfluidic chips for the study of cell stiffness associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome, for his thesis. 📰 This thesis was carried out in a multidisciplinary team made up of physicists, doctors and biologists. The work has been the subject of several publications. ✍ Pascal then carried out posdoc research at IPBS-Toulouse (CNRS-UT3) on the study of the role of CD4 and CCR5 receptors on HIV infection using the single particle tracking technique. His research led him to join the LOB (Laboratoire d’optique et de biosciences, École Polytechnique) as a research and development engineer. 🤝 It was here Pascal co-founded biotech start-up LumediX, where he was in charge of perfecting, developing and optimizing innovative products and processes, in very diverse fields, ranging from the synthesis of nanoparticles, their bio-functionalization to their tests on nitrocellulose membranes.   💥Before he joined Omini, Pascal worked at E-sana as a Head of Bioassay Development, where he worked on analytical methods (ELISA) using classical extended gate transistors (i.e. non-organic) sensitive to ions via the application of a conductive polymer, coupled to lateral flow systems for Point-Of-Care applications (POC). 🗣 What does a day at Omini look like for you? 💬 "Most of my time is spent on the bench developing and improving sensors. I am in charge of the R&D of enzymatic and immunological sensors. All my work is based on the improvement and robustness of the sensors, which involves working on the functionalization and choice of physical parameters to carry out experiments that give satisfactory results." #meettheteam #diagnostics #medtech #innovation #teamwork #biosensors #researchanddevelopment #biology

🌟 First Day as a PhD Student! 🌟 I’m excited to share that today is my first day as a PhD student, working under the supervision of Dr. Jean Armengaud and Dr. Clément Lozano at CEA Marcoule, in the Li2D team. The project is entitled "Cutting-edge diagnostic proteomics for stratifying patients suffering sepsis" in which I’ll be researching new ways to improve how we diagnose sepsis, a life-threatening condition, by finding new diagnostic biomarkers in patients. Our goal is to use mass spectrometry techniques to study blood and fecal samples from patients to better understand sepsis and help create faster tests for hospitals. During this PhD, I’ll be studying the body’s response to infections and also analyzing the gut microbiome to see what we can learn about sepsis. We hope our findings will lead to better, faster tests to help doctors care for patients more effectively. This research is part of the Prometheus IHU framework and I’m also thrilled to be working with the ProGénoMix platform, which is part of the French National Infrastructure for Proteomics. #PhDJourney #FirstDay #CEA #Marcoule #Li2D #MassSpectrometry #Proteomics #SepsisResearch #Diagnostics #BiomarkerDiscovery #PrometheusIHU #ProGénoMix #MedicalResearch

Bursaries to support sharing and networking in organoid research! #Organoids24 Don't let financial barriers prevent you from attending our 2024 Organoids: Advances and Applications conference.  Our bursary scheme provides up to 50% off the conference registration fee, enabling you to participate in discussion with leading researchers working across organ systems, and specialising in complementary methods. Join a multidisciplinary community for: ✅ Knowledge exchange and sparking new thinking across many disciplines. ✅ Feedback on your own research from leaders and peers. ✅ New connections to expand your professional network.  Discussion will focus on these key areas: 🔵 Engineering complexity 🔵 Complex interfaces 🔵 Tissue morphogenesis 🔵 Tissue scale imaging 🔵 Large scale profiling 🔵 Computational modelling Multiple opportunities to contribute your own research to the conference programme are available. We particularly welcome abstract submissions from bursary applicants, enabling you to participate fully and support the field of organoid modelling. 📎 Find out more about the conference and applying for a bursary on our website: bit.ly/3NUcng2  #Organoids #OrganoidResearch #OrganoidModels #DiseaseModelling #CancerResearch #SingleCell  #Genomics #Bioinformatics #ComputationalSkills #ResearchMeetings #Bursaries #FinancialSupport #ScientificConferences  #AcademicChatter #PhDchat #PhDlife

This is perhaps one of the best piece of news lately. I am happy to let you know that Ethungshan Shitiri has won a prestigious Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission to develop his work at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya with me and Eduard Alarcon for the next two years, with two secondments: one at Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) with Samuel Sánchez Ordóñez and one at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) with Ilangko Balasingham. These grants are extremely competitive, and Ethungshan has excelled with a mindblowing score over 97/100. The project, called BeNiFIt, aims to drastically reduce the economic burden and eliminate the long turnaround times in the detection of chronic diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, or diabetes. Through the innovative application of intra-body nanoscale communications, we hope to cut down the delay of lab results from days to hours. Indeed, we seek to enable real-time data transmission from within the bloodstream directly to medical personnel or patients, hence revolutionizing healthcare through minimally invasive, highly efficient diagnostics. See more details about the project here: https://lnkd.in/d5CHmG3n We are very happy for him! We were sure that we would be able to do great things when he came to UPC about a year ago, but this is another level. Stay tuned! #msca #cancerdetection #postdoc

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ron Viola, Distinguished University Professor Emeriti (h-index 40) in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Toledo, on two new outstanding achievements!   Dr. Viola has secured collaborative funding on a project led by Professor Bob Blumenthal in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology through The University of Toledo Research Innovation Grant awarded by UToledo Research & Sponsored Programs Office. This award, totaling $45,000, is a testament to the promising nature of their research in biochemistry, as noted by the reviewers, and its potential to attract further external funding.   Additionally, Dr. Viola’s significant contribution as a coauthor to the manuscript titled "AI is a Viable Alternative to High Throughput Screening: a 318-Target Study", published in Nature Portfolio, Scientific Reports (14, Article number: 7526. 2024), marks a landmark accomplishment. His lab's involvement in two of the 318 target projects within this extensive study, involving around 600 co-authors, underscores the significance of their work. Article: bit.ly/3VXUHot   Summarized from Atomwise's press release, it is noted: "The manuscript details the results of the AIMS (Artificial Intelligence Molecular Screen) initiative, establishing the AtomNet AI Platform as a credible alternative to high-throughput screening (HTS) and utilizes a virtual chemical library of more than 15 quadrillion compounds. This study, conducted through collaborations with over 250 academic labs across 30 countries, represents the largest and most comprehensive virtual HTS campaign reported to date" and is, yet another example of the impact AI will have on the pace of scientific advancement in the years to come. Full press release: bit.ly/49C81St   Amazing work Ron and team!   #EmpoweringExcellence #UToledoNSM #UToledoRocketScience #UToledo #ChemistryToledo