News

When Lisa Cassis isn’t in her cardiovascular research lab, you’ll find her leading the research enterprise at the University of Kentucky. 

How does the UK researcher balance her time in the lab and in the office? What motivates her each morning? 

Watch the video below to find out what keeps Cassis motivated and why a special talent is her favorite way to relax after a long day of work.

The NIH Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases, in collaboration with the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) announce the availability of limited funds to support pilot projects focused on research examining obesity-associated diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, others). These pilot grants are intended to assist investigators new to this area of research to generate sufficient data to be competitive for extramural funding. 

Robin Shoemaker-Council on Hypertension Awardee. The American Heart Association held its annual Council on Hypertension session September 14-17th in Orlando, Florida. Our congratulations to Dr. Robin Shoemaker for winning an award in the Postdoctoral category entitled “Mas Receptor Deficiency Promotes Hypertension in Obese Female Mice and Cardiac Dysfunction in Obese Male Mice”. The Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences was well represented as Drs.

Congratulations to Dr. Florin Despa and colleagues for receiving TWO new grants to study the pathology of amylin dysregulation in neurodegenerative and/or vascular disease. His new NIH R01 is entitled “Role of Systemic Amylin Dyshomeostasis in Alzheimer’s Disease” and his AHA award is entitled “Amylin Vasculopathy, A Therapeutic Target to Reduce Stroke”.

Congratulations to all undergraduate student researchers and their mentors:

Miriam Hill (Xavier University, Louisianna) - Dr. Hollie Swanson 
Amanda Hoskins (University of Kentucky) - Drs.Sanda and Florin Despa 
Sydney Lammers (University of Kentucky) - Dr. Changcheng Zhou 
John Pina  (University of Kentucky) - Dr. Olivier Thibault
Meghan Turner  (University of Kentucky) - Dr. Elizabeth Head

Over the last six months, videos of 22 biomedical researchers from the University of Kentucky, featured on the national website LabTV, have garnered 324,000 views.

LabTV.com features thousands of researchers working at dozens of leading universities, corporations, and the National Institutes of Health. In these videos medical researchers tell where they came from, how they chose their career, what they do each day in the lab, and why they love it.

 

Plants put up a natural defense system against bacteria and disease through bioactive chemical constituents called flavonoids.

While humans have turned to plants and herbs for medicinal purposes throughout history, researchers are now learning how to harness the chemopreventive properties of flavonoids to prevent human disease. Medical research suggests flavonoids can prevent the development of steroid-responsive cancers, but not all flavonoids serve the same beneficial function.

For University of Kentucky Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis the drive to conduct meaningful research is personal.

 “You don’t go into it for the money, you go into it because you want to help people,” Cassis said.

Analia Loria, assistant professor of pharmacology and nutritional sciences at the University of Kentucky, will be a featured presenter at the First Physiology and Gender Conference organized by the American Physiological Society this week.

Doctors commonly recommend patients increase their intake of calcium as a means of combating osteoporosis for aging bones. But calcium also plays an essential role in the neurological functioning of the brain, where it must be tightly regulated and not rise to excessive levels. A signaling molecule, calcium enables learning, cognition and the retention of memories.

Doctor of Philosophy: Junting Ai, China; Kate Townsend Creasy, Richmond, VA; Paulina Renee Davis, Temecula, CA; Leann Sara Fiore, Tulsa, OK; Sang Hee Lee, South Korea; Kristen Platt, Flemingsburg, KY; Robin Camille Shoemaker, Farmington, NM; Joel Christopher Thompson, Lexington, KY; Congqing Wu, Lexington, KY

The University of Kentucky’s fifth annual Barnstable Brown Obesity and Diabetes Research Day was held on May 20 at the Albert B. Chandler Hospital Pavilion A.

Since 2011, the event has focused on current findings in obesity and diabetes research and features presentations by nationally prominent physician-scientists as well as the work of regional researchers and UK students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty chosen from abstract submissions.

Two researchers from the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have received a multi-million dollar grant renewal to unlock the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and brain aging with the help of people with Down syndrome (DS).

"Drug Interactions in Breast Cancer" project has the potential to help scientists understand why the drug tamoxifen may not work as a therapy for breast cancer in some patients. Hollie Swanson, professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, and Ok-Kyong Park-Sarge, associate professor in the Department of Physiology, worked with 10 STEMCats students on the project.

Dr. John Fowlkes took the helm as new director of the University of Kentucky's Barnstable Brown Diabetes and Obesity Center earlier this year with a vision to build upon the center's past work and develop a robust and comprehensive adult and pediatric center providing research, education and patient care for the thousands of Kentuckians diagnosed with diabetes. But the Texas native who has spent the last decade at the University of Arkansas Children's Hospital, has found himself in familiar territory. Fowlkes, who succeeds Dr.

On Friday, February 6, 2015 the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences hosted the University of Kentucky’s inaugural “Wear Red Day” symposium to raise awareness for cardiovascular research in women. The event was a part of the annual “National Wear Red Day” sponsored by the American Heart Association (AHA) that takes place on the first Friday of February.

Registration is now available for the fifth annual Barnstable Brown Obesity & Diabetes Research Day set for May 20, 2015, at the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital Pavilion A. The event is sponsored by the Barnstable Brown Kentucky Diabetes and Obesity Center, Center of Research in Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease and the Nutrition and Oxidative Stress Training. Researchers from the University of Kentucky and other regional institutes will share their current findings and ongoing research about the alarming rise in obesity and diabetes rates.

Shuxia Wang, MD, Ph.D., has received NIH RO1 funding for a project titled "Thrombospondin1 in obesity associated inflammation and insulin resistance." The project will be supported by $1,204,651 grant for the period of August 2014 to May 2018. In addition, Dr. Wang recently received a competitive score for an R03 award to study interventions that may reduce acute kidney injury in the elderly. Dr. Wang joined the University of Kentucky faculty in 2005, and has served extensively in the areas of research, graduate training, and education. Dr.

Changcheng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, has received funding for an NIH R21 grant: "Mechanisms of atherogenic effects of bisphenol A," for the period April 1, 2014 - March 31, 2016. Dr. Zhou joined the faculty of University of Kentucky in 2010. He also holds an adjunct faculty position at Rockefeller University, NY. The main focus of Dr. Zhou’s laboratory is to investigate the molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis and metabolic disorders.