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Weisi Fu successfully defended her dissertation on Thursday, September 29, 2016

Doctoral Committee Members

Dr. Bradley K. Taylor
Mentor, Department of Physiology

Dr. Karin W. High
Department of Physiology

Dr. Gregory Frolenkov
Department of Physiology

Dr. Kimberly Nixon
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Outside Examiner
Dr. Gregory Bix
Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology

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In ivory towers all over the world, experts ponder the factors that foster career success and overall well-being in their college graduates. Gallup tried to answer the same question. In a 2014 poll of more than 30,000 graduates, the polling juggernaut tried to find connections between the college experience and long-term career and personal "wellness." In other words: did graduates feel they had achieved personal and career success?
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In honor of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, this podcast features Joe Abisambra, an assistant professor in the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and three of his lab trainees—Sarah Fontaine, Shelby Meier and Brittani Price.

On Thursday, June 2, 2016 Erin Wolf Horrell successfully defended her dissertation.

"Regulation of UV-Protective Pathways Downstream of the Melanocortin 1 Receptor in Melanocytes”

Abstract of Dissertation

On Monday, May 16, 2016 Paul A. Mueller successfully defended his dissertation titled:

"PPAP2B EXPRESSION LIMITS LESION FORMATION IN MURINE MODELS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS”

Abstract of Dissertation

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 3, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today approved 17 University Research Professorships for the 2016-17 year. To align with the overall objective for research within UK's 2015-2020 Strategic Plan, the revised University Research Professors Program now recognizes excellence across the full spectrum of research, scholarship, and creative endeavors within each college.
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Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, professor of physiology and vice chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been named to The Ophthalmologist Power List 2016 'Top 100 Most Influential People in the World of Ophthalmology.' This international list features the most influential and innovative individuals in the worlds of ophthalmic surgery, research and industry. Ambati is an internationally recognized authority who has pioneered innovative concepts in macular degeneration, a blinding disease that affects nearly 200 million people worldwide.

As Vice President for Research, I am frequently asked, “What is it like to be a researcher at UK?” Well, to be honest, I have only known one research environment as a faculty member performing academic research for the past 27 years, and that environment is UK. While this might be construed as making me shortsighted, I believe that one of the primary reasons I have remained at UK throughout my academic career is the collaborative nature of research. 

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On April 20th, 2016, Amanda Bolton Hall successfully defended her dissertation.

“Histological and Behavioral Consequences of Repeated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice”

Two researchers from the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging won awards at the National Charleston Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (CCAD) earlier this month. Ai-Ling Lin, Ph.D., and Jose Abisambra, Ph.D., were two of 15 researchers selected from high-caliber institutions such as Harvard, Mount Sinai and New York University to attend the conference based on the quality and originality of their research. Of the four awards presented, Sanders-Brown researchers were awarded two. Lin was one of three recipients who received the $50,000 New Vision Award.
Assistant, Associate or Full Professor Positions Now Available Cardiovascular Research Department of Physiology University of Kentucky Lexington, KY The Department of Physiology within the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is seeking candidates for full time tenure track faculty positions at the ASSISTANT, ASSOCIATE or FULL PROFESSOR levels. The primary focus of these recruitments will be investigators with expertise in cardiovascular research. However, applications will also be considered in other areas of departmental strength including neuroscience, metabolic diseases and aging.
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At the age of 19, Sasha Rabchevsky was a strong safety on the Hampden-Sydney College football team when a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the chest down.

Rabchevsky has transformed that dreadful turn of events into a meaningful career searching for ways to repair spinal cord damage and improve the lives of those living with spinal cord injury (SCI).

"After my accident, I knew I wanted to pursue research to understand what my condition was and if not cure it, figure out and understand why there was no cure," he said.

The 4th Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Physiological Society will be held on Thursday, March 24, 2016 on the campus of the University of Kentucky.  The day will include scientific sessions with presentations by trainees and invited speakers, career development lectures and the an

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The University of Kentucky College of Medicine recently hosted the eighth annual Postdoctoral Poster Presentation Session where three students received top honors for significant research in diverse medical science subjects. Nineteen posters from the basic and clinical sciences were presented in the atrium of the Biomedical Biological Sciences Research Building in December. The program is designed as a training exercise to prepare postdoctoral students for presenting research at conferences.
Assistant Professor Joe Abisambra, researcher at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, has demonstrated for the first time that tau impairs protein synthesis — a key component in memory loss. "Though the exact mechanisms leading to memory loss in tauopathies are not yet known, the scientific community has acknowledged for years that in Alzheimer’s disease brains, tau associates with ribosomes, the hub of protein production. " said Abisambra. Ribosomes are our cellular "factories," tasked with making the proteins essential to proper cellular function.
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Congratulations to Moriel Vandsburger, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center and Department of Physiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky.  He was recently named a “Researcher to Watch” by The Lane Report, a Kentucky regional business and economic magazine.

Read the magazine article by clicking here.

 

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Every day throughout 2015, University of Kentucky physiologist Ken Campbell laced up his running shoes and took off for a 5-kilometer run, regardless of his schedule, plans or location.

Regular running routes were plotted through his neighborhood and around the university’s campus. When traveling on business, he explored new territories and scenery on his runs. He also logged many miles running next to students on treadmills at the Johnson Center. Nothing stopped Campbell from completing a "5K a day." 

Dr. Brad Taylor’s lab in the Medical Sciences Building in the Department of Physiology has openings for 2 part time positions for undergraduates or temporary staff interested in research.  Both positions are 12 month commitments, including summer research.

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University of Kentucky researcher Bradley Taylor recently received a five-year, $3 million research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to better understand the physiological mechanisms of chronic pain. For many patients recovering from an injury, pain disappears after the injury heals, but for others, pain persists for months, years or even decades.
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The National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) has awarded a five-year, $1.6 million grant to John C. Gensel, Ph.D., of the University of Kentucky Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC), to study the potential role of the immune system in repairing spinal cord injuries. Spinal cord injuries can result in permanent paralysis. Macrophages, white blood cells involved in immune responses, migrate to wounded areas of the spinal cord following an injury, where they assume M1 (i.e. pro-inflammatory) or M2 (i.e. pro-tissue repair) functions.