Trainees Taking Next Steps
One of the important functions of the RIRC is training young scientists for research on spinal cord injury, nerve regeneration and stem cell applications. Our trainees then go on to positions at other universities or private companies, thereby expanding the spinal cord injury workforce. The most important metric is the success our training fellows have in taking their career in the direction they desire.
Accordingly, we are pleased to announce that two RIRC postdoctoral fellows have completed their training and been offered positions at other universities. Dr. Zack Gallaher has just been recruited to a faculty position at the University of Western Washington. Zack and his family come from Washington state and are thrilled to be returning to the area and their families there. In his time at RIRC, Dr. Gallaher carried out a comprehensive experiment to test whether manipulations of the PTEN gene would enhance regeneration of peripheral nerves in the same way that occurs with nerve connections (axons) in the central nervous system (CNS). Dr. Gallaher discovered that manipulations of PTEN did enhance regeneration of peripheral nerve, but not as extensively as in the central nervous system. A major research paper describing these studies is under review for publication.
Dr. Aminata Coulibaly will be completing her postdoctoral fellowship with Os Steward in January, and was offered a position as Research Associate at the University of Virginia. She will be moving to UVA in January to undertake studies on the specialized immune system that serves the brain. This is a new and exciting area of research launched in 2015 by the discovery of a brain lymphatic system. This discovery was a candidate for one of the top 10 discoveries of the year in 2015. Dr. Coulibaly's research at RIRC focused on how nerve cells and glial cells responded to deletion of the gene PTEN in the cortex in the way that we have shown to enhance regeneration after spinal cord injury. She'll complete her studies in January, but it is already clear that there are some very exciting discoveries that we will describe in detail in future Spinal Connections.
The Reeve-Irvine Research Center would also like to congratulate Dr. Patricia Salgado who completed her final requirements for her Ph.D. in August! Dr. Salgado's Dissertation, entitled "Phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 as a mechanism to regulate translation at activated synapses" described novel molecular mechanisms of synaptic changes due to experience. A central theory of modem neuroscience is that changes in synapses due to activity are the way the brain stores memories. For example, brief patterns of activity actually change the structure of synapses, increasing their strength. Repeated activity patterns then reinforce the structural changes, and this underlies long-term memory. Patty discovered a fundamental mechanism underlying this process through which signals from synapses trigger molecular changes in the machinery that synthesizes proteins, specifically, small structures in the cell called "ribosomes". These changes in ribosomes then change the types of proteins that are being produced at synapses. Our graduate researchers are an important part of our RIRC team please join us in congratulating Dr. Salgado and help us to recognize her for her research accomplishments.
