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New patent issued for Professor Hocking

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

The patent titled "Chimeric Fibronectin Matrix Mimetics and Uses Thereof" (US 9,072,706) has recently been assigned to the University of Rochester with inventors Denise C. Hocking, Ph.D. (Pharmacology and Physiology, BME, RCBU) and Daniel Roy, Ph.D. (BME PhD 2012 alumnus). The patent relates to a series of recombinant fibronectin peptide mimetics developed to promote wound repair. The technology falls under a new and exciting class of therapies known as wound biologics. The primary commercial application for this technology is to promote healing of hard-to-heal or chronic wounds, including diabetic, venous, and pressure ulcers, which impose a significant health care burden worldwide. Encouraging results from recent studies indicate that topical application of these fibronectin peptide mimetics to full-thickness excisional wounds in diabetic mice accelerates wound closure and promotes granulation tissue deposition, remodeling, and re-vascularization. Denise Hocking is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology and of Biomedical Engineering. Daniel Roy is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, TX.

$10 Million Grant Funds Center to Study OCD at UR School of Medicine and Dentistry

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Suzanne HaberSuzanne Haber leads a research team to investigate OCD. She says the disease is characterized by intrusive, ruminating thoughts (obsessions), and impulses to carry out repetitive behaviors (compulsions), despite the awareness by most patients that these behaviors don't make sense.

The goal of a new $10 million grant awarded to the scientists is to improve our understanding of the brain networks that play a central role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Together with leading mental health researchers at four other institutions in the U.S., they will pinpoint specific abnormalities within the brain circuits that are associated with the disease and use this information to guide new treatment options for the three million-plus Americans who live with the disorder.

The five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) establishes a new Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic and Translational Mental Health Research at the University of Rochester. Conte Centers are designed to bring scientists with diverse but complimentary backgrounds together to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders.

Read More: $10 Million Grant Funds Center to Study OCD at UR School of Medicine and Dentistry

Pharmacology Speakers and Students Win Poster Awards at UNYPS

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Congratulations to the following Graduate Students and Invited Student Speakers for winning poster awards at the 4th Annual Upstate New York Pharmacology Society (UNYPS) meeting G-Protein Coupled Receptor Signaling Systems in Health and Diseasewhich was held at the University of Rochester on May 19th, 2015. Graduate student winners were Hannah Stoveken, working in the lab of Dr. Gregory G. Tall, Isaac Fisher, working in the lab of Dr. Alan V. Smrcka Alex Hajduczok, working in the lab of Dr. Gregory G. Tall and Rafael Gil de Rubio, working in the lab of Dr. Alan V. Smrcka Invited student speaker winners were Walter Knight, Bharti Patel, graduate student in the lab of Dr. Gregory G. Tall and Jesi Lee Anne To, graduate student in the lab of Dr. Alan V. Smrcka

Professors Dalecki and Hocking Research Wins Best Paper Award at SPIE-DSS

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The latest research by Professor Diane Dalecki (BME, RCBU) and Professor Denise C. Hocking (Pharmacology & Physiology, BME, RCBU) was recognized with the Best Paper Award at the Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications Conference of the SPIE Defense + Security Symposium held recently in Baltimore, Maryland. Their invited paper titled "Guiding Tissue Regeneration with Ultrasound In Vitro and In Vivo" detailed three biomedical ultrasound technologies under development in their laboratories to stimulate tissue formation and regeneration. Co-authors of the paper included Sally Child, Carol Raeman, and BME graduate students Eric Comeau and Laura Hobbs. One technology under development employs forces within an ultrasound standing wave field to provide a noninvasive approach to spatially pattern endothelial cells and thereby guide the development of complex microvessel networks. A second technology uses ultrasound to site-specifically control the microstructure of collagen fibers within engineered hydrogels to direct cell function. The third line of research focuses on developing ultrasound as a therapeutic approach to enhance tissue regeneration in chronic wounds. These ultrasound technologies offer new solutions to key challenges currently facing the fields of tissue engineering, biomaterials fabrication, and regenerative medicine.

The SPIE DSS 2015 Defense + Security Symposium consisted of 32 separate conferences spanning 5 days with over 1200 total presentations. Conferences focused on a wide range of topics of interest to defense and security, including imaging, sensing, photonics, materials, and biomedical applications. The Symposium is the leading meeting for scientists, researchers and engineers from industry, military, government agencies, and academia throughout the world. The Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications Conference is one of the two largest conferences within the entire Defense + Security Symposium, and Professors Hocking's and Dalecki's presentation was one of over 100 invited presentations in the conference.

Dr. David Yule invited to join Editorial Board of Gastroenterology

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

David I. Yule, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology; of Medicine, Gastroenterology/Hepatology; and in the Center for Oral Biology has been invited to join the Editorial Board of Gastroenterology. Gastroenterology is the preeminent journal in the field of gastrointestinal disease. Gastroenterology is ranked 1st of 74 journals in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology category on the 2013 Journal Citation Reports, and has an Impact Factor of 13.926. As the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, Gastroenterology delivers up-to-date and authoritative coverage of both basic and clinical gastroenterology. Regular features include articles by leading authorities and reports on the latest treatments for diseases. Original research is organized by clinical and basic-translational content, as well as by alimentary tract, liver, pancreas, and biliary content.

Melinda Vander Horst presents at NCUR

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Melinda Vander Horst (BME Class 2015) presented her recent research at the 29th Annual National Undergraduate Research Conference (NCUR) held at Eastern Washington University in April. NCUR is an interdisciplinary conference where undergraduate students representing universities from around the world present their research and creative works. Melinda presented her poster, titled Development of a dual transducer system for ultrasound standing wave field-induced particle banding, with co-authors Eric Comeau (BME graduate student), Denise C. Hocking (Pharmacology & Physiology), and Diane Dalecki (BME). Melinda is a Xerox Undergraduate Research Fellow working with Professors Dalecki and Hocking on new ultrasound technologies for tissue engineering.

Robert Dirksen to Head Department of Pharmacology and Physiology

Monday, March 30, 2015

Robert T. Dirksen, Ph.D. will serve as chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry effective July 1, 2015, pending approval by the University Board of Trustees. Dirksen, who has conducted research and taught medical and graduate students at the University since 1998, is known for his superb track record of federal funding, his collaborative nature and his ability to inspire and engage trainees and colleagues alike.

“Bob recognizes the central role that Pharmacology and Physiology plays in much of the research that is conducted at the Medical Center and has a very clear and compelling vision for the future of the department,” said Mark B. Taubman, M.D., Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry and CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center. “He is the perfect person to lead a group that bridges multiple scientific fields and clinical areas and we’re very excited for him to take the reins.”

Read More: Robert Dirksen to Head Department of Pharmacology and Physiology

Stoveken, Lerman Win Awards at Falling Walls Competition

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Congratulations to Hannah Stoveken, Graduate student in the lab of Gregory G. Tall Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, who took second place in the University's First Falling Walls Competition and $300. Honorable mention went to Yelena Lerman, a graduate student working with Minsoo Kim, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology.

Read More: Stoveken, Lerman Win Awards at Falling Walls Competition