This seminar will begin at 4:00 pm at the Jerome L. Greene Science Center on Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus (L7-119). Light refreshments will be available starting at 3:30 pm.

This month's speakers:

Victoria Hewitt, PhD (Polleux Lab): "Decreasing ER-mitochondria contacts improves fitness by increasing mitophagy in neurons"

Mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are extraordinarily dynamic organelles. Interactions between these organelles have many important functions including mediating mitochondrial quality control. Maintaining healthy neuronal mitochondria is particularly important and challenging due to the complex architecture and longevity of neurons. I will discuss how decreasing ER-mitochondrial contacts in neurons may contribute to increased mitochondrial turn over and therefore improved mitochondrial quality control that helps support neuronal health with aging. 

Grace Shin, PhD (Grueber Lab): "Identifying protective mechanisms for nociceptive sensory neurons in models of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy"

Sensory neuron terminals embedded in our skin detect harmful stimuli, a critical ability for survival of both animals and humans alike. During chemotherapy, in addition to cancer cells, these sensory terminals are the most vulnerable structures. Damage to sensory terminals causes debilitating sensory dysfunction in cancer patients and survivors as a side effect. In this talk, I will discuss our ongoing project using intracellular, cellular and behavioral approaches in Drosophila and mouse models to identify and investigate pathways that can protect sensory terminals from toxic chemotherapeutic agents.

This seminar is part of the Zuckerman Institute Postdoctoral Seminar series. For questions about this or future seminars, please contact series organizers Helen Hou, PhD, or Amy Norovich, PhD.