alz_1.jpg
What if a failed leukemia drug could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease? A team at the University of Kentucky recently led an effort to investigate this hypothesis. Their results were published today in the journal, Human Molecular Genetics. The UK researchers, led by Steve Estus at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, study a genetic variant in a gene called CD33 that reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The Estus group recently published findings suggesting that this variant promotes production of a truncated form of the CD33 protein that lacks a putative functional domain.
mcclintock_see_discovery.k24_4.jpg
A group of physiologists led by University of Kentucky’s Tim McClintock have identified the receptors activated by two odors using a new method that tracks responses to smells in live mice.
Four students seeking their master's degrees and five students doctoral programs competed last week in an event designed to prepare them for presenting research. The "Three Minute Thesis" event, hosted by the UK Graduate School and the Graduate Student Congress, is a research communication initiative requiring graduate students to speak succinctly and engagingly about their current research to a nonspecialist audience. It provides students with the opportunity to practice presenting their work, and to receive feedback from a panel of judges.
dsc_00773.jpg
On Oct. 17, the Lexington Convention Center teemed with more than 200 students and scientists sharing their latest research on cardiovascular health for the 17th annual Gill Heart Institute Cardiovascular Research Day. Nigel Mackman, Ph.D., director of the McAllister Heart Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented "Hematosis, Thrombosis and Immunity," demonstrating the diverse roles of hemostasis and thrombosis in cardiovascular diseases, cancers and infections. Kathryn J.

NIH recently featured translational research performed by Premi Haynes as part of her PhD project. Premi discovered a new pattern of contraction in human hearts and you can read about her findings in a press release issued by UK Now.

http://uknow.uky.edu/content/haynes-first-identify-cellular-patterns-contraction-human-hearts

haynes_p_v12.jpg
When Premi Haynes was growing up in Pune, India, she attended Stella Maris High School, an English language convent school founded by Swiss nuns. Her second grade singing class used a book of English songs. One of the songs was "My Old Kentucky Home." At that time, Haynes had never heard of Kentucky, had no idea where it was, and had no particular ambition to go there. Some 20 years and a twist of fate later, today Haynes is defending her Ph.D.
wilcock_1_0.jpg
Donna Wilcock, assistant professor in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Physiology and the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, has been invited to join the editorial board of The Journal of Neuroscience in 2014 as an associate editor in the Neurobiology of Disease section. She was been selected by the senior and reviewing editors of the journal based on her expertise and history of reviews. As an associate editor, Wilcock will provide frequent reviews as well as suggesting appropriate reviewers for manuscripts.

The Rabchevsky lab utilizes recombinant viral vectors encoding growth factors to transduce host cells to express specific transgenes in normal or injured spinal cord of adult rats to assess their influence on histological and behavioral outcome measures.

j_ambati-2010-1_1.jpg
Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice-chair in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, professor in the Department of Physiology, and the E. Vernon and Eloise C. Smith Endowed Chair in Macular Degeneration Research, at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, recently received the 2013 William R. Willard Dean's Recognition Award.

A PAINFUL ADDICTION

science_cover.jpg
The bodies of mammals, including humans, respond to injury by releasing endogenous opioids — compounds that mitigate acute pain. A team of researchers, led by those at the University of Kentucky, has uncovered groundbreaking new information about how the body responds to traumatic injury with the development of a surprisingly long-lasting opioid mechanism of natural chronic pain control. Remarkably, the body develops both physical and physiological dependence on this opioid system, just as it does on opiate narcotic drugs.
wallace.jpg
Welcome to the UK Physiology website. You’ll find that our department is a large, diverse community. We have 32 primary faculty, 50 trainees, and almost a hundred laboratory and administrative staff. Our scientific expertise ranges from neurophysiology to cardiovascular biology, from reproductive endocrinology to muscle biology. With $6.8M in extramural support this year, our award-winning investigators are making major advances in biomedical research. Our training programs are preparing scientists for successful careers in academia, industry, and government.