DMM is fully committed to advancing disease research and fostering communication and collaboration in the disease research community. Thus, DMM awards Travelling Fellowships to young researchers, so that they can expand and enhance their research goals through visits to other laboratories. Here are five new recipients of the DMM Travelling Fellowship with descriptions of their work:
Elia Di Schiavi of the National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) in Naples, Italy, is using C. elegans to study the molecular signals that accompany axonal injury and cause subsequent neurodegeneration. His work in the lab of Massimo A. Hilliard at the University of Queensland, Australia, aims to study the gene changes associated with axonal breakage in worm mechanosensory neurons. He will also bring laser axotomy techniques to his colleagues in the Bazzicalupo laboratory at the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics in Naples.
One potential therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) involves initiating immune tolerance in order to combat ongoing demyelination. Daniel R. Getts of Stephen Miller’s laboratory at Northwestern University, IL, is studying the mechanisms underlying innate immunity in the mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of human MS. He will collaborate with Nicholas King at the University of Sydney to analyze mouse immune cell changes in response to immunological tolerance treatment of autoimmune disease.
Point mutations and deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are increasingly implicated in many human diseases, particularly those involving neurodegenerative dysfunction. The mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genetic research group at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, has isolated mtDNA mutations that disrupt important components of the OXPHOS pathway. Ana Latorre Pellicer will work with Douglas Wallace and colleagues at the University of California Irvine in order to use the Wallace protocol of expressing mtDNA mutants in mice, and thereby create novel mouse models of mitochondrial disease.
Andrew Whittle of the Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge is examining the role of bone morphogenic proteins (BMP) on brown adipose tissue (BAT). These proteins might regulate the thermogenic activity of BAT, and are thus viewed as potential targets for the treatment of obesity. Whittle will work with Kamal Rahmouni of the University of Iowa to assess sympathetic nerve responses in mice lacking BMP8, in order to understand the role of BMP8 in regulating BAT activity.
Developmental abnormalities in the hindbrain are implicated in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and perinatal death owing to maternal cigarette smoking. Leigh Jane Wilson of the MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College in London is using mouse models to investigate the cause of such smoking-induced abnormalities. In collaboration with Malcolm Maden of the University of Florida, Wilson will investigate the role of retinoic acid signaling in brain development, and the effect of nicotine exposure on this process.
