Spring Edition - May 2021
In our Spring edition of the UMPA Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Shakti Bhattarai’s work with the Bucci lab. We are delighted to feature his work, “Gastrointestinal microbiota composition predicts peripheral inflammatory state during treatment of human tuberculosis”, published in Nature Communications. In this article, Shakti and his co-authors discuss how the composition of gastrointestinal microbiota influences systemic immune responses, and its role in infectious disease pathogenesis and antibiotic therapy outcome.
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In our Spring edition of the UMPA Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Manish Muhuri’s work with the Gao lab. We are delighted to feature his review article, “Overcoming innate immune barriers that impede AAV gene therapy vectors”, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. In this article, Manish and his co-authors, discuss recombinant adeno-associated virus gene therapy vectors, an exciting emerging tool in gene therapeutics for rare diseases, outlining strategies to overcoming immune barriers that affect their effectiveness.
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In our Spring edition of the UMPA Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Anuradha Ratna’s work with the Mandrekar lab. We are delighted to feature her article, “Myeloid Endoplasmic Reticulum Resident Chaperone GP96 Facilitates Inflammation and Steatosis in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease”, published in Hepatology Communications. In this article, Anuradha and her co-authors discuss cellular stress–mediated chaperones linked to liver macrophage activation and inflammation in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), and present a promising therapeutic approach in ALD. This work was recognized and featured as one of the “Best of Liver Meeting” at the 2020 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
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Fall Edition - September 2020
In our first edition of the Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Paurav Desai’s work with the Pazour Lab. We are delighted to feature the paper, “Ubiquitin links smoothened to intraflagellar transport to regulate Hedgehog signaling,” published in Journal of Cell Biology.
In this article, Paurav and his co-authors, describe the molecular mechanisms regulating Hedgehog signaling. Hedgehog signaling plays a fundamental role in development and homeostasis. Its improper functioning leads to multiple disorders that cause various developmental defects and basal cell carcinoma.
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In our first edition of the Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Hung-Lun Hsu’s work with the Gao Lab. We are delighted to feature the paper, “Structural characterization of a novel human adeno-associated virus capsid with neurotropic properties,” published in Nature Communications. In this article, Hung-Lun and his co-authors, describe a novel Recombinant adeno-associated virus capsid, identified in a human clinical sample by high-throughput, long-read sequencing. Their findings underscore the potential of the recombinant adenovirus capsid as a gene therapy vector.
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In our first edition of the Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Daniel O'Reilly's work with the Khvorova Lab and his fellowship award from the Hereditary Disease Foundation towards his research, "Investigating the role of different HTT mRNA isoforms in Huntington's Disease progression."
Dan investigates mechanisms underlying Huntgington's Disease, and seeks to develop oligonucleotides (siRNA) as potential treatments for rare diseases.
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In our first edition of the Postdoc Spotlight Series, we celebrate Dr. Sneha Shah’s work with the Richter Lab. We are delighted to feature the paper, “FMRP Control of Ribosome Translocation Promotes Chromatin Modifications and Alternative Splicing of Neuronal Genes Linked to Autism”, published in Cell Reports.
In this article, Sneha and her co-authors, report the molecular defects associated with Fmr1 gene, implicated in the Fragile X syndrome (FXS). An improved understanding of FXS will eventually be helpful in treating intellectual disabilities.
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