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RESEARCH ISSUE

4 NEW LAUNCHPAD FOR CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH The Innovation and Research Park 16 GENOMICS: A FIELD ON FIRE The Center for Genetic Diseases aims to deliver options

30 PATHFINDER Alumna named director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute

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HE

LIX

INVITATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENTRosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science is seeking comments from the public about the university in preparation for its periodic evaluation by the Higher Learning Commission, its regional accrediting agency. The university will host a visit, Oct. 1-2, 2018, with a team representing the commission. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet HLC’s criteria for accreditation. The public is invited to submit comments regarding the university to the following address:

Public Comment on Rosalind Franklin University Higher Learning Commission 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500 Chicago, IL 60604-1411

The public may also submit comments on HLC’s website at www.hlcommission.org/comment.

Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Comments must be in writing and should include the name, address and telephone number of the person providing the comments. Please note that comments will not be treated as confidential. They must be signed and they must be sent to HLC no later than one month prior to Oct. 1, 2018.

Cover photo: Michelle Hastings, PhD, director of the Center for Genetic Diseases

Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science proudly presents the summer issue of Helix magazine, dedicated to the exceptional research of its many investigators who are working to improve the health of all people.

2 MESSAGE FROM DR. MICHAEL WELCH AND DR. RONALD KAPLAN

INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PARK

4 NEW LAUNCHPAD FOR CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCHThe new Innovation and Research Park helps fulfill RFU’s mission to create and translate knowledge that will improve the health of the population.

8 WORLD EXPERTISE IN NEUROSCIENCE The Brain Science Institute

10 NEW DIRECTIONS IN ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCHThe Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Therapeutics

12 DECODING THE SECRETS OF THE BRAINThe Center for Brain Function and Repair

14 SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF RESILIENCE The Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders

16 GENOMICS: A FIELD ON FIREThe Center for Genetic Diseases

18 BIG DATA, HUGE DISEASE TARGETSThe Center for Proteomics and Molecular Therapeutics

20 INTEGRATIVE IN APPROACH TO CANCER RESEARCHThe Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection

FEATURES

22 SUMMER LABSStudents explore the exciting world of academic research.

26 BENCH STRENGTHRFU researchers and Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center clinicians collaborate to improve the lives of veterans and active duty military.

30 PATHFINDERLisa Monteggia, PhD ’99, is the new director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute.

RFU GIVING SOCIETIES

32 LIVING LEGACYMrs. Monica Ply honors her late husband through gifts to RFU medical research and Lovell FHCC.

RESEARCH ISSUE SUMMER 2018

OUR LATEST RESEARCH EXPANSION AND REORGANIZATION SPEAKS VOLUMES

ABOUT OUR UNIVERSITY AND SENDS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY,

OUR PEER INSTITUTIONS, THE BIOSCIENCE INDUSTRY, OUR CLINICAL AND RESEARCH

PARTNERS AND ALL WHO SUPPORT OUR MISSION.

It says that we are moving forward with confidence and purpose by renewing our investment

in discovery while building our capabilities for translational research as a means to producing

new diagnostics and therapeutics that will improve the health and well-being of individuals

and populations.

It says that we are committed to overcoming barriers to innovation, to taking

risks, to adapting and evolving to help solve seemingly intractable problems

of chronic, preventable and genetic diseases.

It says that we are determined to break down the silos that so easily rise up

between fields of research and institutions and their communities through

our interprofessional culture of teamwork, civility, inclusion and excellence

in scholarship.

Our new disease-focused Innovation and Research Park, which you will read

about in this issue of Helix, will create new synergies and new stimulus and

vitality that will foster the progress of our research.

Designed to increase interaction, the free exchange of ideas and a sharing

of expertise and scientific tools, the new building will provide a supportive

environment and enriching milieu for investigators, postdocs, students

and life science partners. This highly collegial environment will facilitate

workforce pathways, intensive mentoring and informal networking that

will help launch young scientists, biomedical and health professionals from

diverse backgrounds and experiences who are the lifeblood of our future.

We must continue to look to the future, to move forward by building upon

core ideas and expanding our scientific knowledge. We continue to rely

on your commitment and our nation’s support for the basic and applied

research that, generation upon generation, fuels scholarship and innovations

that improve health and an ever deeper understanding of life and the world

in which we live.

“Our new disease-focused Innovation and Research Park, which you will read about in this issue of Helix, will create new synergies and new stimulus and vitality that will foster the progress of our research.”

K. MICHAEL WELCH, MB, ChB, FRCPPRESIDENT AND CEO

RONALD S. KAPLAN, PhDEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH

2 ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY

MESSAGE FROM UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

TOTAL AND FEDERAL RESEARCH DOLLARS PER YEAR

Total Research Dollars Federal Research Dollars * As of June 30, 2018, also includes recommended awards

MENTORING UNDERGRADUATE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OUR RESEARCH LABORATORIES

DePaul Lake Forest College INSPIRE Undergraduate and high school volunteers

NUMBER OF STUDENTS

2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017

2017 11 19 18 37 TOTAL: 85

2016 9 20 15 35 TOTAL: 79

2015 11 18 13 25 TOTAL: 67

2014 14 15 14 23 TOTAL: 66

2013 12 13 10 23 TOTAL: 58

2012 9 9 7 18 TOTAL: 43

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

2017/2018*

9,5

33

,65

5

11,0

19,4

85

10,8

90

,67

4

13,5

02

,65

0

13,5

48

,86

5

11,2

66

,15

7

11,2

62

,86

5

12,1

72

,76

7

12,7

51,

09

5

7,2

07

,42

0

9,1

65

,32

1

8,8

15,5

34

10,9

92

,66

1

10,5

84

,76

1

9,1

96

,00

4

7,4

64

,50

6

7,9

60

,37

0

9,9

98

,72

4

9,6

15,1

42

2008/2009 2009/2010 20010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018

13,1

08

,17

2

2017 11 19 18 37 TOTAL: 85

2016 9 20 15 35 TOTAL: 79

2015 11 18 13 25 TOTAL: 67

2014 14 15 14 23 TOTAL: 66

2013 12 13 10 23 TOTAL: 58

2012 9 9 7 18 TOTAL: 43

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

$14M

$12M

$10M

$8M

$6M

$4M

$2M

$0M

RFU RESEARCH

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS AND EXTRAMURAL FUNDINGVisit https://rfu.ms/research2018

Rosalind Franklin University’s more than 50 researchers are nationally recognized for

their work in basic and clinical sciences. They are making important contributions to

the scientific literature in major disease-related research areas, including neuroscience,

neurodegenerative disease, proteomics, diabetes and cancer.

Our research funding is substantial, despite an increasingly competitive grant environment.

HELIX SUMMER 2018 3

THE INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PARK AND ITS DISEASE-

FOCUSED CENTERS WILL DRIVE THE TRANSLATION

OF NOVEL MEDICAL DISCOVERIES VIA EXPANDED

COLLABORATIONS WITH INDUSTRY AND BIOTECH

ENTREPRENEURS, RENEWED EMPHASIS ON CAPTURING

AND COMMERCIALIZING THE UNIVERSITY’S INVENTIONS,

AND SUPPORT OF THOSE FACULTY ENGAGED IN FORMING

NEW COMPANIES.

“We’re fulfilling our mission of not only advancing knowledge but

creating knowledge that can be translated into improving the health

of the population,” said Executive Vice President for Research

Ronald Kaplan, PhD. “That’s part of our mission that we’re seeking

to better fulfill, including capturing and commercializing our high-

impact inventions.”

“The centers will serve as focal points for industry collaborations,

whether or not potential partners choose to actually locate within

the park,” said Steven Kuemmerle, PhD, RFU’s special advisor for

innovation and industry partnerships. “They serve as a signal to

industry that we are collaboration ready, that we’re disease- and

platform-focused, that we’re giving these initiatives the best possible

launchpad for conducting novel and cutting-edge research. Our

renewed effort to commercialize our patent portfolio shows that we

are serious about deploying our discoveries to benefit patients.”

RFU’s shift to disease-focused research represents an holistic

approach to translational medicine, said Chicago Medical School

alumnus Jeffrey W. Sherman, MD ’81, FACP, chief medical officer and

executive vice president for Lake Forest, IL-based Horizon Pharma.

“People can relate to disease-focused research, understand it and

it resonates with everyone,” Dr. Sherman said. “There are finite

government dollars to support research with more and more

emphasis on the translation of basic science into possible therapies

that can impact health and well-being. We’re seeing that at the

NIH level and in foundations and patient groups eager to fund

translational research.”

Universities that leverage translational research into commercial

therapeutics help improve both human health and their own financial

health through diverse revenue streams, Dr. Sherman added.

Each center director, Dr. Kaplan said, is charged with “making new

research happen that’s bigger than a single investigator, bigger than

an NIH research project grant.”

“We’re aiming for center grants, program project grants and

philanthropic disease-oriented funding,” Dr. Kaplan said. “We want

to boost our intrinsic research development and achieve synergies

we haven’t achieved to date.”

“We’re aiming for center grants, program project grants and philanthropic disease-oriented funding.”

RONALD S. KAPLAN, PhD

RFU RESEARCH


NEW LAUNCHPAD FOR CUTTING-EDGERESEARCH

Innovation and Research Park, architectural rendering.

THE INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PARK, SCHEDULED TO

OPEN IN THE SUMMER OF 2019, WILL BE HOME TO THE

BRAIN SCIENCE INSTITUTE AND SIX DISEASE- AND

PLATFORM-BASED RESEARCH CENTERS.

Center directors are taking a lead role in designing the spaces

they and their colleagues will occupy. Each center, designed to

facilitate collaboration, will include offices, labs, a conference

room and meeting spaces. The building, which will feature direct

access to the existing Basic Sciences Building, will also include

lecture and meeting space and break rooms, a coffee shop and

lounge — areas aimed at generating “aha” moments among

academic and industry scientists and biomedical entrepreneurs.

Design of the building, the centers, the industry and incubator

space, and the human cocktail that will undertake the work of

discovery in those spaces, are all important ingredients in an

optimized incubation mix, said Ronald Kaplan, PhD, executive

vice president for research. “What chemical collisions take

off between industry and academic labs will be based on

opportunities that our academic scientists and industry see as

potentially realizable,” Dr. Kaplan said. “We will do everything

we can to try to support that.”

Opposite page, top left and right: Construction of the Innovation and Research Park is underway, with completion expected by summer 2019. Top center and bottom: Architectural renderings of interior spaces. Below: Heinz Steiner, PhD, a researcher in the Center for Brain Function and Repair, confers with architect Jerry Percifield on details for his lab. Atlanta-based tvsdesign is the architectural firm for the project.

DESIGNED TO WORK


WORLD EXPERTISE IN NEUROSCIENCETHE BRAIN SCIENCE INSTITUTE

DIRECTOR JEREMY AMIEL ROSENKRANZ, PhD

FOCUS: TO ACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIAGNOSTICS

AND THERAPEUTICS FOR MAJOR BRAIN DISORDERS INCLUDING

ALZHEIMER’S AND PARKINSON’S, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) AND

ANXIETY DISORDERS.

Dr. Amiel Rosenkranz will help the university’s many top neuroscientists find new

ways to work with each other, look for new opportunities to expand their research

and identify gaps that can be filled by new scientist recruits.

“The challenge and the opportunity is to combine and do more than any of us can

do individually,” said Dr. Rosenkranz, who is working to facilitate more ways for

researchers in the Brain Science Institute to work across the breadth of neuroscience

disciplines at RFU.

RFU is home to world-renowned investigators in the area of neurodegenerative

diseases, in particular, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, who will work together with more

intention as members of the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Therapeutics.

“That group has people looking at many different levels and approaches, from

human-related research all the way down to the cellular level,” Dr. Rosenkranz said.

The university is also known for its neuroscientists, who are world leaders in asking

questions about how neurons work with each other to produce behaviors. RFU’s

scientists also include internationally recognized experts, including Dr. Rosenkranz,

in the neural systems related to stress and psychiatric disorders and, in particular, the

identification of factors that may be useful for stress resilience.

The success of the institute, the centers and the Innovation and Research Park

hinges on cross-discipline and cross-center collaboration, said Dr. Rosenkranz, who

is determined to help other scientists succeed by working together. Collaboration

across neuroscience and immunology disciplines is one opportunity.

“There is a strong interest among neuroscientists in how the nervous system and

the immune system interact, how abnormalities in this interaction may contribute to

neurological or psychiatric diseases, and how an understanding of these processes

may be leveraged to find new treatments for these diseases,” Dr. Rosenkranz said.

“There’s also great opportunity here because a number of RFU immunologists have

an interest in the impact of the immune system on the nervous system.

“It should be fun,” he said. “There will be a period of growth as people work to

understand their new roles and acclimate to the new structure. But I think it will work

really well because of the personalities we have here. People genuinely want to help

each other succeed here. They’re forward-looking people who can see how the new

structure will benefit the university. They’re eager to see what can happen.”

The disease-focused, platform-based strategy should help capture new investment.

“Funding is always a challenge,” Dr. Rosenkranz added. “NIH grants are going in

the direction of supporting teams of researchers who add different elements to the

overall research goal, which is something we are now better positioned to pursue.

“This change might not work at a lot of places,” he said. “But we have the right mix of

people, the right breadth of expertise, the leadership and culture to make it happen.”

“NIH grants are going in the direction of supporting teams of researchers who add different elements to the overall research goal, which is something we are now better positioned to pursue.”

JEREMY AMIEL ROSENKRANZ, PhD

HELIX SUMMER 2018 9

NEW DIRECTIONS INALZHEIMER’S RESEARCHTHE CENTER FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND THERAPEUTICS

DIRECTOR GRACE “BETH” STUTZMANN, PhD

“We’re trying to generate a more comprehensive understanding of what is driving all the main features of the disease, not just a single component.”

GRACE “BETH” STUTZMANN, PhD

FOCUS: TO IDENTIFY DISEASE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING

NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS SUCH AS PARKINSON’S,

ALZHEIMER’S, HUNTINGTON’S AND BRAIN INJURY, AND ADVANCE NEW

APPROACHES FOR THEIR DIAGNOSIS, DETECTION AND TREATMENT.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD) ALONE AFFECTS MORE THAN 5 MILLION

PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES.

The Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Therapeutics takes a highly

collaborative team approach to understand how a disease develops and key

points of therapeutic intervention. Center scientists represent expertise in deep

molecular analysis, detailed in vivo networks and behavioral analysis, cellular

optical imaging and work with human neurons that can model neurodegenerative

diseases in a dish.

“Everyone in the center is doing something novel in their respective fields, and

the technical strengths of each lab are highly complementary,” Dr. Grace “Beth”

Stutzmann said. “Combined, it’s a very powerful group.”

Dr. Stutzmann is taking two “giant” steps back from the overwhelming focus of

much Alzheimer’s research — the formation in the brain of abnormal clumps of

amyloid plaques — before moving forward by focusing on the cellular sites of

memory formation directly.

“Within the AD field, there’s a growing realization for a need to revisit early

pathogenic mechanisms, particularly in light of the lack of correlation between

amyloid plaque levels in the brain and cognitive status,” Dr. Stutzmann said.

“Furthermore, numerous clinical trials targeting these pathways have failed to

improve memory functions, and have not generated the desired therapeutic

outcomes despite billions of dollars invested. So there’s a bit of a rift in the

field — those who feel we should continue to target amyloid or protein aggregates

primarily and those, like me, who think we need to redirect efforts and start

investigating alternative mechanisms. I feel that signaling deficits at the synaptic

level, where learning and memory processes initiate, drive the memory deficits

we see in Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Stutzmann has long been interested in early mechanisms of Alzheimer’s at the

cellular and synaptic levels, striving to identify very early changes that take place

in the brain that lead to disease. Her lab has expanded in new directions in an

attempt to identify the systems that go wrong to produce the overall observable

characteristics of the disease.

“We’re trying to generate a more comprehensive understanding of what is driving

all the main features of the disease, not just a single component,” she said. “A

common denominator seems to be the upstream calcium dyshomeostasis that

impinges on many of these features, including protein aggregations, neuronal

stress and synaptic defects. With our collaborators, we are currently developing

novel drugs that would restore normal functioning of the calcium channels.”

The center is also moving into traumatic brain injury and the study of how

previous head injury can accelerate dementia or increase the likelihood of getting

Alzheimer’s-like dementia. Dr. Stutzmann’s lab recently received a Department of

Defense grant to study this pathway, an extension of a successful, interdisciplinary

pilot project between RFU and DePaul University.

“It’s that kind of collaborative and productive working relationship among and

between the centers, as well as industry and biotech partners, that we want to

foster in the Innovation and Research Park,” Dr. Stutzmann said.

FACULTY STARTUP DEVELOPING NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO ALZHEIMER’S NeuroLucent, a biotech startup founded by Dr. Beth Stutzmann, recently earned a grant award from the NIH Small Business Technology Transfer program. The company, which is working to accelerate the drug discovery pipeline by screening compounds using neurons from Alzheimer’s patients, also received investment funding from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.

There’s enormous opportunity, particularly on the biotech startup side, in interfacing with industry and potential corporate sponsors, particularly when academic researchers control, vet and filter the primary research, said Dr. Stutzmann.

NeuroLucent is aided by the expertise of neuroscientist and co-founder Robert Marr, PhD, who is utilizing new tools to transform neurons from Alzheimer’s patients, and by chemist John Buolamwini, PhD, who is involved in generating and optimizing new compounds.

“We’re developing a new therapeutic approach by directly targeting the signaling abnormalities that alter synaptic function, and, with help from Dr. Marr, incorporating clinically-relevant screening tools such as human neurons derived from Alzheimer’s disease patients,”

Dr. Stutzmann said.

HELIX SUMMER 2018 11

DECODING THESECRETS OF THE BRAINTHE CENTER FOR BRAIN FUNCTION AND REPAIR

DIRECTOR WILLIAM N. FROST, PhD

FOCUS: TO DISCOVER THE PRINCIPLES OF NORMAL BRAIN FUNCTION,

WITH THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING IMPROVED METHODS FOR REPAIR.

Dr. Bill Frost and his colleagues in the Center for Brain Function and Repair possess

skills and expertise in brain stimulation and large-scale recording that are of keen

interest to the NIH Brain Initiative.

“The field is in an exciting phase, with rapidly developing tools that can monitor the

activity of hundreds to thousands of neurons at a time in the brain,” said Dr. Frost,

who uses optical recording to image neural network activity in sea slugs and also

in vertebrates.

“Understanding how we think, how we form and recall memories, and even how we

feel depends on the ability to watch as neurons interact and change their alliances

during ongoing motor programs and behavior,” he said.

The center includes labs that use tools like holographic laser spatial light modulation

to stimulate or inhibit specific neurons in three-dimensional space, in addition

to large-scale recording tools, both sought after by NIH. Dr. Frost wants to add

computational colleagues “who can help mine the gold in our rich data sets.”

“The secrets of the brain are in these recordings,” Dr. Frost says, holding up a sheet

of paper packed with what look like tiny stunted seismograms that represent activity

in neural networks. “We need mathematical people working with physiologists to

reveal the general principles of brain network function, and how these are affected

by learning, disease and addiction.

“This is where the field is — large-scale recording and very precise optogenetic

stimulation,” Dr. Frost said. “There’s enormous potential for collaboration with

colleagues who are using disease and head trauma models, for example.”

He and Dr. Beth Stutzmann recently joined forces to conduct imaging of the

hippocampus, the region of the brain where memories are stored, a project funded

by a university pilot award.

“We’re combining research strengths — Bill’s voltage-sensitive dye imaging and

analysis approaches, our animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and use of acute

hippocampal brain slice preparations to study neuronal signaling,” Dr. Stutzmann said.

The collaboration has added a new dimension to each of their research programs.

“Looking at mice that have been engineered to have the human Alzheimer’s defect,

we can watch how that activity flows through that region of neurons and how it

breaks down with the development of the disease,” Dr. Frost said.

The new Innovation and Research Park is key to expanding those kinds

of collaborations.

“To make it work, we have to get people into a place where they physically have

proximity to each other,” Dr. Frost said. “We will collaborate to find projects that

make sense, that can get funded and that we can work on together.”

“There’s enormous potential for collaboration with colleagues who are using disease and head trauma models...”

WILLIAM N. FROST, PhD

WE NEED YOUR HELP to grow interdisciplinary collaborations between our

scientists who, working together, can accelerate discoveries that will transform

lives. Visit https://rfu.ms/research


SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF RESILIENCETHE CENTER FOR NEUROBIOLOGY OF STRESS RESILIENCE AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

DIRECTOR JANICE H. URBAN, PhD

FOCUS: TO PROMOTE RESEARCH THAT FOCUSES ON RESILIENCE AND

IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS.

The new research Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders,

under the direction of Dr. Janice Urban, is intensifying efforts to understand the neural

circuitry and novel mechanisms underlying many stress-associated disorders.

“I am excited about the research potential of this new center,” Dr. Urban said. “Our group is

starting from a position of strength as our lab groups are already very interactive. A number

of us are already collaborating, which means we have been working as a center. We have an

excellent group of researchers with complementary expertise to address a variety of questions:

What is stress? How is the body affected by chronic stress? What is resilience and how is it

generated?”

The group speaks the same scientific language and it’s asking the same general questions,

including how to promote research that focuses on improving resilience as a means to

improving or preventing mental health conditions.

It’s a challenge to keep current with the fast pace of science and the development of different

techniques that can enhance research, Dr. Urban said. But the challenge can be met by hiring

promising investigators who will integrate with, as well as enhance, the strengths of the center.

“Those new ideas and energy is what keeps these scientific centers moving forward and

growing,” she said.

Leading scientists with new skills will be attracted by the Innovation and Research Park’s

open spaces and collaborative design.

“We will all share one large space instead of being floors apart,” Dr. Urban said. “This will benefit

the science overall. When people are working side by side, it is a lot easier to communicate

and share ideas: ‘Hey, look at these new results,’ or ‘Did you see this paper?’ This spontaneity

and increased frequency of hallway discussions more often than not bring about new ideas.”

Dr. Urban’s lab studies Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a compound found in the brain that is associated

with enhanced resilience and is particularly effective in the amygdala, a brain region that

controls emotion and fear responses. She hopes to prevent anxiety and depression by

learning more about the neural circuitry that generates stress resistance and strengthens

those connections to improve resilience.

“We have some recent data that defines some of the neural circuitry to home in on a pathway

that might be targetable, something much more selective than just using the neuropeptide,”

Dr. Urban said. “There are different receptors for Neuropeptide Y and there’s one in particular

that seems to be very important for this resilience. What we’re finding is that our target may

be an understudied area.”

Dr. Urban wants to strengthen ties with clinical research groups at RFU partner Captain James

A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center that are working with stress and PTSD and traumatic

brain injury. The interaction between the basic science and clinical practice requires “give and

take,” she said, but is imperative to understand more about the gaps in patient treatment,

which can drive more effective basic science research.

“We can identify ‘druggable’ targets,” Dr. Urban said. “But refinement of these targets and

moving these ideas to the point of developing new therapeutics is where the industry and the

biotech side can help. Ideally, a balance of interaction among basic science, clinical and biotech

groups efficiently drives new research ideas. I anticipate that through these interactions, our

center and research programs will grow as we move forward.”

“Ideally, a balance of interaction among basic science, clinical and biotech groups efficiently drives new research ideas.”

JANICE H. URBAN, PhD


GENOMICS:A FIELD ON FIRETHE CENTER FOR GENETIC DISEASES

DIRECTOR MICHELLE HASTINGS, PhD

“A collaborative environment with other investigators in close proximity will strengthen our science and increase our impact. That’s the goal of every lab.”

MICHELLE HASTINGS, PhD

FOCUS: TO DELIVER OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO EITHER HAVE

A GENETIC DISEASE OR A RISK FOR A GENETIC DISEASE, SOME 7,000

CURRENTLY IDENTIFIED, AFFECTING 10 PERCENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION

AND 350 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE.

Dr. Michelle Hastings is steering the Center for Genetic Diseases into a future fueled

by genomics. Her aim, to improve the health and lives of humankind, is both a

reflection of and inheritance from the university’s namesake, Rosalind Franklin, PhD,

whose data was fundamental to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

That discovery opened the door to a lifesaving science and technology that now

occupies Dr. Hastings and numerous other RFU scientists.

“New genetic diseases are being discovered every day,” Dr. Hastings said. “It’s a field

on fire. Our goal is to deliver options for people who learn that they either have a

genetic disease or a risk for a genetic disease.”

An expert in modulating gene expression, Dr. Hastings predicts that of the

approximately 21,000 human genes, it is likely that mutations and variations in many

will eventually be associated with pathological conditions — and that people will have

access to this information. Personal genomics and genome sequencing are exploding,

she said, as a diagnostic in the clinic and as more people access DNA testing through

at-home genetic testing services, such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA.

“People want to learn more about their personal genetics,” she said. “That’s

creating a real need and desire for some solutions, which could include novel

therapeutics, bioinformatic genetic support and counseling, and lifestyle and

nutrition counseling to mitigate risk.”

The center’s research includes Dr. Hastings’ quest to develop antisense

oligonucleotide technology or genetic “patches,” a therapeutic platform that has

the potential to be applied to a large number of inherited maladies, such as Usher

syndrome and Batten disease, currently under investigation, as well as other diseases

with forms linked to genetic defects such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Work on

cystic fibrosis (CF), caused by a defect in the CFTR gene, consists of a multi-

pronged investigation among several labs within the center with expertise in

the mechanism of disease and approaches for treating disease conditions.

Dr. Hastings’ vision for the center includes the addition of more expansive

bioinformatic and computer analysis capabilities to mine genomic data to

better understand population genetics and identify targets for therapeutics.

“We want to grow our pipeline of targeted diseases by designing intelligent

approaches to therapeutics,” she said. “This process includes understanding

better the etiology and mutational landscape of disease.”

Dr. Hastings is also looking forward to potential expanded collaborations with RFU

scientists and investigators and entrepreneurs in the Innovation and Research Park.

“We can apply our approach for modulating gene expression to any number of

human conditions,” she said. “A collaborative environment with other investigators

in close proximity will strengthen our science and increase our impact. That’s the

goal of every lab.”

LIFE IN DISCOVERY David M. Mueller, PhD, RFU professor and researcher in the university’s Center for Genetic Diseases, recently led a team of scientists from Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health in the successful pursuit of a scientific holy grail — solving the complete structure of ATP synthase.

ATP synthase makes life possible. Working through a rotary mechanism, it converts food into ATP [adenosine triphosphate], the body’s main form of energy. The visualization of the enzyme ATP synthase promises to reveal secrets that could lead to therapeutic target identification and advance understanding of metabolic disease and other cellular pathologies.

Dr. Mueller served as principal investigator on a study, published by the journal Science on April 12, that used the advanced technology cryo-EM analysis to capture the three-dimensional molecular structure of ATP synthase at the atomic level.

The complete structure eluded scientists for more than 70 years. Partial solutions were considered so transformative that they earned Nobel prizes. Those include work by John E. Walker at England’s Medical Research Council (MRC). Dr. Mueller studied X-ray crystallography in Dr. Walker’s lab from 2000 to 2001 as a Fogarty Fellow and

visiting professor through the MRC.

In a recent presentation to the RFU Board of Trustees, Dr. Mueller shared that the discovery will bring

lasting recognition to the university.

Holding up a recent biochemistry textbook, he

said: “They will replace the figure in this book with our figure. They will reference our paper in Science and readers will see, attributed first, Rosalind Franklin University.”

Inset: Structure of the monomeric yeast ATP synthase as determined by cryo-electron microscopy, shown as a surface representation.

YOU CAN HELP Dr. Hastings and the Center for Genetic Diseases

discover new treatments and approaches to inherited diseases.

Visit https://rfu.ms/research


BIG DATA, HUGE DISEASE TARGETSTHE CENTER FOR PROTEOMICS AND MOLECULAR THERAPEUTICS

DIRECTOR MARC J. GLUCKSMAN, PhD

FOCUS: TO IDENTIFY BIOMARKERS, CRITICAL TO THE DIAGNOSIS

AND DEVELOPMENT OF THERAPEUTICS FOR DISEASES INCLUDING

ALZHEIMER’S, DIABETES, SCHIZOPHRENIA AND ENDOCRINE CANCERS.

It sounds like a lot — 21,000 — but Dr. Marc Glucksman is quick to put the estimated

number of human genes, expected to trend downward as sequencing methods

improve, into humbling context.

“The mustard weed has a few thousand less and rice has a few thousand more,”

he said. “We like to think we are at least as complex as rice, and we are. Our

complexity lies in the products, the proteins our genes produce.”

The study of those proteins is the specialty of the Center for Proteomics and

Molecular Therapeutics. Each gene can churn out about a dozen different

products, some longer or shorter, some with sugars or phosphorus attached;

each can have different functions, accounting for up to a quarter of a million

protein forms.

“Our focus in one respect appears simple: Correlate the structure of a protein involved

in a disease with its function,” Dr. Glucksman said. “If we understand the mechanism

of pathology, we can attempt to effect a compensatory ‘cure’ or workaround by a

therapeutic. Our center has the talent and the tools to tackle this venture.”

The center’s roster of targets spans the modern-day scourge of chronic disease —

cancer, diabetes, reproductive dysfunction, aging/neurodegeneration, antibiotic

resistance, obesity and other metabolic and pediatric disorders.

“Big data is our business,” said Dr. Glucksman, whose team members interact

with other centers, lending their expertise in systems, high throughput and

bioinformatic approaches for discovery and validation of medical targets.

“The biggest barriers to this kind of science are recruitment and funding,” he

said. “We are fortunate in both areas. We have talented, facile scientists with

creative minds and diverse skills in specific disease and technological areas.

While our translational focus from bench-to-bedside requires massive funding,

and associated technologies are very expensive to acquire and maintain —

sometimes we need to 3D print our own parts — there’s enormous opportunity in

collaborations within our center, with other academics and through partnerships

with industry, and relationships with philanthropists who share our vision.”

Using a systems biology approach, the center monitors tens of thousands of

proteins simultaneously. It works to identify markers and assess structure-

function relationships for diagnostics, risk factors and targets for treatment.

“Much of our quest is for biomarkers, objective measurements and evaluation of a

normal versus pathological biological process,” Dr. Glucksman said. “More are better!”

Dr. Glucksman, who as a young scientist trained in an open lab, which he said

promoted collaboration and energized discovery, looks forward to working

closely with new potential partners who share research interests.

“Industry startups that come to our new Innovation and Research Park are

essentially entering an incubator,” he said. “Couple that with larger outside

biotech or pharma and we’ve established a biomedical ecosystem that is more

than the sum of its parts.”

“Industry startups that come to our new Innovation and Research Park are essentially entering an incubator.”

MARC J. GLUCKSMAN, PhD


INTEGRATIVE IN APPROACH TO CANCER RESEARCHTHE CENTER FOR CANCER CELL BIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY AND INFECTION

ACTING DIRECTOR RONALD KAPLAN, PhD

FOCUS: TO DEVELOP SUCCESSFUL THERAPIES AND CURES AND

RESEARCH PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC

CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, INFECTION AND CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY.

Cancer and infectious diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide and continuous

new therapeutic interventions have revolutionized the field. The 14 researchers who

constitute the Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection investigate the

mechanisms that underlie fundamental biological processes such as tissue development,

oncogenic viral infections and their associated malignancies, oncogenesis, and stress and

immune responses.

The power of the center stems from the intersection of fundamental understanding and

insights in virology, oncology, immunology and infection. Knowledge gained provides insights

that lead to the development of new preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for

cancer and immunocompromised diseases like AIDS, leukemia and multiple myeloma.

Neelam Sharma-Walia, PhD, investigates long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Her research

has shown that these lipids, and their metabolites, even when present outside the cell in the

microenvironment, police the activities of inflammatory cells that can help cancer develop.

The new center structure, like cancer biology, is more integrative in approach, Dr.

Sharma-Walia said.

“People with different expertise can come together, from different directions in the field,

and that means more knowledge, more interactions, more brainstorming and more fruitful

collaborations,” she said. “Sharing our unique expertise will benefit our grant writing, open

more funding opportunities and make our work more meaningful.”

Center researchers, who also study the changes in genome architecture and gene

expression during stress, oncogenesis and metastasis, aim to spur innovations and progress

in discovering new targets to effectively trigger death in cancer cells and, most importantly,

to understand the basic cell biology and immune regulation mechanisms underlying cancer.

The interplay of infection, immune response and cancer is a focus of studies by Kwang Poo

Chang, PhD, of parasitic protozoa in mammalian cells, which led to the development of

novel photo-inactivated, whole-cell vaccine platforms with potential for therapeutic cancer

vaccines, and as therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for tropical diseases that debilitate

developing nations.

Another lab in the center, led by Joseph Reynolds, PhD, is spearheading the quest to

understand the mechanisms governing inflammatory responses and mucosal immunity by

focusing on the role of the IL-17 family of cytokines in the promotion of inflammation and their

implication in irritable bowel disease, cancer, allergy, arthritis, healing and parasite defense.

The center’s various lines of investigation are augmented and supported by the Clinical

Immunology Laboratory, headed by Kenneth Beaman, PhD, which provides patient diagnosis

and fosters basic and clinical research programs in the fields of oncology, hematology,

reproductive immunology, infectious diseases, bone marrow and organ transplantation.

“It’s exciting to contemplate the promise of research across virology, immunology and

infection coming together to drive progress for patients suffering from cancer, infectious

and autoimmune diseases,” said Acting Director Ronald Kaplan, PhD, RFU executive vice

president for research.

“It’s exciting to contemplate the promise of research across virology, immunology and infection coming together to drive progress for patients suffering from cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases.”

ACTING DIRECTOR RONALD KAPLAN, PhD


SUMMER LABS

RFU RESEARCH

RFU LABS ARE BUSY DURING THE

SUMMER AS STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC

PROGRAMS INCLUDING PODIATRIC MEDICINE,

PHARMACY AND ALLOPATHIC MEDICINE

EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, IN ADDITION

TO UNDERGRADUATE AND HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE

EXPERIENCE IS OFTEN TRANSFORMATIVE.

Research at Rosalind Franklin University does

not stop or even slow a little in summer. It perks

up, in fact, as students stream into labs for eight-

to 10-week mentoring, learning and fellowship

programs and internships. Students, faculty and

academic institutions benefit when students focus

on research.

“Our scientists offer meaningful experiences to

college undergraduates and high school students,”

said Ronald Kaplan, PhD, RFU executive vice

president for research, who is hosting four students

in his lab this summer. “We have the opportunity to

fundamentally change their career pathway and in

a certain percentage that’s exactly what happens.”

Rachel Domijancic, who graduated Lake Forest

College (LFC) in May, spent a transformative summer

in 2016 in the Gait Lab at the Center for Lower

Extremity Ambulatory Research (CLEAR) in the Dr.

William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine.

“That internship inspired me to change my future

career plans to podiatric medicine,” she said.

Rachel is one of approximately 100 LFC life science

majors who since 2009 have learned in RFU basic

science and clinical research labs in summer.

Accepted students also flow in from DePaul

University, other universities and colleges around

the country, from RFU’s own academic programs

and from INSPIRE, RFU’s mentoring and applied

research initiative for local, highly motivated Latino

high school students.

“It’s a great opportunity for students that gives

them exposure which may ultimately have an

impact on what they choose to do professionally,”

said Ryan Crews, MS, CCRP, a kinesiologist and

assistant professor who co-mentors students with

other CLEAR faculty.

“There’s no doubt that students are producing useful results that we can publish.”

ERIC WALTERS, PhD

Opposite page: Members of INSPIRE, RFU’s nationally recognized summer mentoring and applied research program designed to build the STEM pipeline for Hispanic students, are joined by faculty researchers, graduate student mentors and staff.


“A lot of students do basic science, but in CLEAR they’re primarily devoted to human subjects

research,” Mr. Crews said. “That’s helpful if they’re looking, as many of them are, at careers

in the health professions, because we’re engaging in practical problems, offering early

exposure with human patient populations. They’re working on a clinical trial; they’re exposed

to collecting a medical history and starting to apply concepts about what may be going on

with a patient and their health and how we’re looking to improve their health.”

“Mr. Crews gave me a lot of responsibility,” said Rachel, who helped reinvigorate one study,

piloting data collection methodology and learning to operate an instrument that measures

spinal alignment. The project led to two award-winning oral presentations, featuring co-

authorship by Rachel and an intern from DePaul University, delivered at national conferences.

“There’s no doubt that students are producing useful results that we can publish,” said Eric

Walters, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical sciences and associate dean of research for the

College of Pharmacy. “Part of our job as faculty

is to create new knowledge — research and

scholarship — and students can participate in

that. We also want them to be aware of what’s

involved in generating new therapies and new

knowledge about disease and treatments —

and career paths, which are very diverse for

our students.”

Dr. Walters oversees an optional research

program for first- and second-year pharmacy

students who are exposed to a wide range of

pharmaceutical science on campus and off,

synthesizing potential new drugs and working

on antibiotic stewardship in clinical settings.

Yelena Sahakian, COP ’20, worked last summer

with Associate Professor Ateequr Rahman,

PhD, MBA, to produce two review papers that

looked at the economics of caregiving and the

toll caregiving takes on the health of caregivers.

“We found serious health issues, particularly

mental health, and issues of social isolation,”

said Yelena, who plans a career in clinical and

academic pharmacy. “My review of the literature

really let me see the big picture of caregiving

and I know I’ll remember that as a clinician.”

Second-year INSPIRE student Abigail Lopez, a

senior at Round Lake High School, said she was

focused on forensics as a potential career but

that her experience in the lab of award-winning

researcher Robert Marr, PhD, whose work

includes therapeutic applications to Alzheimer’s

disease, has shifted her interest to neuroscience.

“There’s so much we still don’t know about the

brain,” said Abigail, who next year will become

the first member of her family to graduate high

school and attend college. “There’s so much to

discover and learn.”

Professor Hector Rasgado-Flores, MSc, PhD, chair of INSPIRE and Chicago Medical School director

of diversity outreach and success, said the program offers the opportunity to underserved

students to develop their potential. It also is an important way that the university supports STEM

education among underrepresented students in the local community.

“Science, like any profession, benefits enormously from diversity,” Dr. Rasgado-Flores said.

“Too often, we are missing the talent that comes from different experiences, cultures, histories

and different approaches to thinking. If we attract a diverse body of students to do science,

we’re enriching science.”

Second-year INSPIRE student Abigail Lopez is a senior at Round Lake High School.

“If we attract a diverse body of students to do science, we’re enriching science.”

HECTOR RASGADO-FLORES, MSc, PhD


Research experience offers a foundational step in preparing students for the healthcare and

biomedical workforce, said Bill Rudman, PhD, executive director of RFU’s Interprofessional

Healthcare Workforce Institute.

“Hands-on experience, especially the kind students get in our research labs, is very powerful at

the early exploration stage,” Dr. Rudman said. “It really provides them with valuable knowledge

about choosing a profession.”

Shubhik DebBurman, PhD, Disque D. and

Carol Gram Deane Professor of Biological

Sciences at LFC, said the LFC-RFU

Research Fellows program, initiated by RFU

researchers in 2008, has helped students

enter a diverse range of STEM and health-

related careers and postgraduate programs.

“We use it as a recruitment tool; we certainly

prominently talk about our connection with

RFU,” Dr. DebBurman said. “Our fellows

program is a unique partnership between

a small liberal arts college and a nationally

recognized medical school.”

The opportunity for direct mentorship by a

medical school professor is valuable, especially for students planning to pursue doctoral

degrees, like recent LFC graduate Michael Janecek, who conducted his senior

thesis with RFU neuropharmacologist Joanna Dabrowska, PhD, PharmD. He

defended the thesis with distinction, earning the Phi Beta Kappa Senior

Thesis Award — the first time LFC’s top research prize was awarded to

a project conducted outside of the college.

The thesis project looked at how social isolation in rodents affects

their ability to both acquire and forget fearful experiences, and

what role the hormone oxytocin plays in the process.

“We need to understand the health consequences and the

mechanism of social isolation-induced mortality and morbidity

of psychiatric disorders,” said Michael, who this summer began

a PhD program in neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh.

He and Dr. Dabrowska are working on a review paper that’s been

accepted for publication, in addition to preparing an article based

on his thesis research.

“Witnessing Michael’s professionalism and in-depth knowledge of the

field during his senior thesis presentation amazed me,” Dr. Dabrowska

said. “In that very moment, I realized that I was part of that and it left me

feeling very proud and moved.”

“Dr. Dabrowska opened my eyes to the world of academic research and the excitement of

creating my own questions,” Michael said. “She helped me decide that neuroscience research

is what I want to do.”

“Dr. Dabrowska opened my eyes to the world of academic research and the excitement of creating my own questions.”

MICHAEL JANECEK, LFC GRADUATE

Above: Recent Lake Forest College graduate Michael Janecek conducted his senior thesis with RFU neuropharmacologist Joanna Dabrowska, PhD, PharmD (inset).


RFU RESEARCH

BENCH STRENGTH

RFU RESEARCHERS AND CAPTAIN JAMES A. LOVELL

FEDERAL HEALTH CARE CENTER (FHCC) CLINICIANS ARE WORKING

TOGETHER IN INTERDISCIPLINARY, CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL TEAMS TO

IMPROVE THE HEALTH AND LIVES OF VETERANS AND ACTIVE DUTY

MILITARY. NUMEROUS STUDIES ARE NOW UNDERWAY, INCLUDING IN THE

AREAS OF FALLS PREVENTION, GUT HEALTH AND RESPIRATION.

Ongoing conversations led by Ronald Kaplan, PhD, RFU executive vice president

for research, and Walid Khayr, MD, Chicago Medical School professor and FHCC

infectious disease section chief, are aimed at developing collaborative research

projects with an emphasis on discovery of new approaches to the treatment of post-

traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health issue that will affect between 11

and 30 percent of veterans at some point in their lives, according to the Department

of Veterans Affairs. “Our goal is the translation of our conversations into projects

that are very patient-centered,” Dr. Khayr said. “We’re meeting in a very

structured way so we can reach that outcome.”

THE GRANT“Targeting Balance Confidence as a Strategy to Increase Integration

and Improve Outcomes in Users of Lower-Limb Prostheses,” a three-

year, $500,000 grant from the Department of Defense, aims to

demonstrate that an intervention combining physical therapy (PT)

exercise to improve function with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to

address fears and thoughts associated with low confidence and activity

restriction can significantly improve balance confidence and in turn

promote community participation by lower-limb prosthetic wearers.

THE SCIENCEThe expected benefits of the study, including a reduction of injurious

falls, could potentially impact 1,600 service members who as of June

2015 have endured major limb amputations, in addition to the more

than 2,500 older veterans who each year receive major lower-limb

amputation. Studies have shown that low levels of balance confidence

threaten to hinder social integration, a harm to well-being.

Study participants wear prosthetic monitors to track activity, play

active video games to improve balance and gait, and take part in

exposure therapy.

“This is the first study I’ve ever run where our primary outcomes are not

biomechanical measures,” Dr. Rosenblatt said. “We’re really trying to

change behavior here by changing thoughts that might interfere with

physical skills or improving the physical skills directly. That’s where our

psychology and physical therapy faculty are invaluable.”

Behavioral psychology plays a crucial role in the prevention of falls,

which are the leading cause of disability and trauma-related death in

persons over 65 years of age.

“I think sometimes in my field we feel the need to justify the importance

of behavior and psychological principles,” Dr. Schneider said. “But we

don’t have to convince our PI, because he’s seen the need in his work

in other studies.”

Captain Reddin, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, works with study participants at

FHCC to manage mental health issues and medication.

“We’re trying to improve balance confidence and prevent falls in veterans who have

traumatic injuries, but this project is really the beginning of falls science,” he said. “It’s

really about retraining the mind, attacking the anxiety and symptoms that lead to

falls, which costs billions of dollars in direct and indirect costs every year.”

Clockwise: Dr. Noah Rosenblatt, Dr. John Calamari, Dr. Kristin Schneider, Captain Christopher Reddin and Dr. Roberta Henderson, former chair, Department of Physical Therapy.

Inset: Dr. Rosenblatt and Captain Reddin work with study participant Alfred Smith.

REDUCING FALLS AMONG WEARERS OF PROSTHETICS

THE TEAMPI: NOAH ROSENBLATT, PhD

Dr. William M. Scholl College of

Podiatric Medicine

COLLABORATORS: KRISTIN SCHNEIDER, PhD RFU Department of Psychology

JOHN CALAMARI, PhD RFU Department of Psychology

ROBERTA HENDERSON, PT, PhD

CAPT. CHRISTOPHER REDDIN, NP, PhD FHCC Behavioral Health


THE GRANTThe primary goal is to identify novel mechanisms that contribute to gastrointestinal

(GI) disorders in patients with Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses (GWVI). Work by

the group and others suggests that the IL-17 family of cytokines, small proteins

important in cell signaling, may be critical in regulating gastrointestinal distress

observed in GWVI patients. Under the two-year, $300,000 grant, investigators

hope to determine if the cytokines represent viable therapeutic targets.

THE SCIENCEGI distress can be triggered by severe stress and digestive tract infections —

both risk factors faced by deployed military personnel. In addition, functional

GI disorders have been identified by the National Academy of Medicine, among

several multi-symptom illnesses present in veterans, as related to service during

the Gulf War.

“The goal is to improve therapies for our veterans,” said Dr. Reynolds, who is

heading a team that includes experts in next-generation gene sequencing,

statistical computation, neuropharmacology and a clinician who has seen a

dramatic increase in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among his patients.

Research has shown stress to be a causal factor in IBS.

“There’s a direct line between the brain and gut ‘brain’,” said Dr. Reynolds, who cites

gut/brain communication and the composition of a person’s microbiome — bacteria

and microbes that live in the body — as additional stressors that can induce cytokines

to act on nerves in the gut and exacerbate symptoms of irritable bowel disease.

“When I met Dr. Reynolds three years ago, he was working on mouse models

of inflammatory bowel disease — Crohn’s and colitis — which in terms

of incidence in both combat veterans and non-combat veterans and

even in young kids joining the service is really high,” Dr. Feller

said. “He’s isolated some cytokines produced by the immune

system in mice that could contribute either to susceptibility or

protection from IBD [inflammatory bowel disease]. There’s

some evidence that may lead to identifying a certain

cytokine. Then comes the translation and maybe better

therapeutics for the condition. Maybe we can treat it more

specifically, with fewer side effects.”

Dr. Reynolds has worked closely with Dr. Feller in

knowledge integration.

“There has to be give and take to put together a good

grant application,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I didn’t train as a

physician. Dr. Feller didn’t train as a researcher. I need to

share detailed immunology in a digestible way. He needs

to share what he’s seeing in his patient population and his

thoughts about what’s going on.”

“IBS is a health issue across the globe,” Dr. Feller said. “What Dr.

Reynolds is doing has a direct application to many of the patients

we see here at FHCC.”

“There’s a direct line between the brain and gut ‘brain’.”JOSEPH REYNOLDS, PhD

GI DISTRESS: SEARCHING FOR THERAPEUTIC TARGETS

THE TEAMPI: JOSEPH REYNOLDS, PhD Center for Cancer Cell Biology,

Immunology and Infection

CO-INVESTIGATOR: AXEL FELLER, MD FHCC Chief, Gastroenterology

RFU Department of Medicine

COLLABORATORS: MASHKOOR CHOUDHRY, PhD Loyola University Medical Center

Departments of Surgery and Microbiology

and Immunology

JOANNA DABROWSKA, PhD, PharmD RFU Center for Neurobiology of Stress

Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders

GUSTAVO MARTINEZ, PhD, MSc RFU Center for Cancer Cell Biology,

Immunology and Infection

STEVEN MILLER, PhD, MS RFU Department of Psychology

(statistical computation)

Above: Dr. Joseph Reynolds and Dr. Axel Feller.


THE GRANTA $650,000, four-year, VA Merit Review grant could determine whether

the effects of cyclophilin-D (Cyp-D) — a protein inside mitochondria —

can be manipulated pharmacologically to enable organs to perform more

efficiently with less oxygen. Researchers at the Resuscitation Institute

discovered that Cyp-D regulates the expression of mitochondrial genes

and thereby influences oxidative phosphorylation, the process cells use in

the presence of oxygen to transfer energy from nutrients into molecules of

ATP, the “energy currency” of life.

THE SCIENCEUnderstanding the mechanisms by which mitochondria, the powerhouse

of cells, regulate oxygen utilization could lead to important advances

in health and longevity, given that impaired mitochondrial function is

increasingly associated with diseases related to aging, including cancer,

neurodegenerative and vascular disorders, and heart failure. It could also

help the military enhance physical performance and adaptation to altitude.

Careful reduction of Cyp-D levels might permit organs to save energy while increasing their

resistance to various illnesses and improve outcomes in acute conditions in which oxygen

availability is reduced, including hemorrhagic shock and cardiac arrest.

The grant resulted from a serendipitous observation made during a project aimed at improving

survival from cardiac arrest. Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Gazmuri’s research partner for 14 years, was

using anti-viral vectors in isolated cardiac cells to inhibit Cyp-D — an effect reported to make

cells more resistant to stressors. While Cyp-D inhibition reduced oxidative phosphorylation, the

process in which ATP is formed, the cells died.

“When I told Dr. Gazmuri, ‘The cells are dead,’ he was intrigued and asked me to review all other

functions of cyclophilins,” Dr. Radhakrishnan recalled. “We came up with a novel hypothesis:

Cyp-D might be involved in the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression, which codes for

proteins responsible for oxidative phosphorylation. We went on to confirm our hypothesis and

published the findings in the FASEB Journal. It was a radical departure from our original plan.”

Dr. Gazmuri and his team continued to study the role of Cyp-D under pilot grant funding through

the Alliance for Health Sciences between RFU and DePaul University. They tested mice born

without Cyp-D in which the defect is not fatal and, as expected, oxygen consumption was

reduced. They were amazed that the mice were still able to achieve higher and longer levels of

exercise and use nutrients more efficiently — proving their hypothesis true.

Above, from left: Dr. Raúl Gazmuri, Dr. John Buolamwini, Dr. Eric Walters and Dr. Jeejabai Radhakrishnan.

HELPING THE HEART PERFORM MORE EFFICIENTLY

THE TEAMPI: RAÚL J. GAZMURI, MD, PhD ’94, FCCM Director, RFU Resuscitation Institute

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center

Section Chief of Critical Care and ICU Director

CO-PIS: JEEJABAI RADHAKRISHNAN, PhD RFU Resuscitation Institute, Director,

Molecular Laboratory

JOHN K. BUOLAMWINI, PhD RFU Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

ERIC WALTERS, PhD RFU Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

LIHUA JIN, PhD DePaul University

Department of Chemistry


PATHFINDER

Dr. Lisa Monteggia on the campus of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN.

RFU RESEARCH

RFU ALUMNA LISA MONTEGGIA, PhD ’99, IS THE

NEW DIRECTOR OF THE VANDERBILT BRAIN INSTITUTE AT THE VANDERBILT

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.

Dr. Lisa Monteggia is at the forefront of NIH-funded research aimed at discovering more

effective therapeutics to help the 350 million people worldwide who suffer from depression.

Her work to identify the molecular mechanism in the brain targeted by the highly touted

drug ketamine, prescribed off-label for the rapid alleviation of symptoms of severe

depression in treatment-resistant patients, generated tremendous excitement in the field.

Published in the journal Nature and discussed in the journal Science, it has opened a new

molecular pathway for study and for the development of safer, fast-acting antidepressants.

“The clinical work showing that an acute low dose of ketamine can produce rapid

antidepressant effects was very surprising,” Dr. Monteggia said. “We’ve shown potential in

working backward to understand the mechanism that produces the fast-action response

and that we might be able to trigger that without the side effects associated with ketamine.”

Dr. Monteggia’s work to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the efficacy of

antidepressants began as a doctoral candidate in RFU’s Department of Neuroscience,

where she was inspired to search for underlying causes or contributions to a disease state or

treatment advance while thinking about implications for patients. Her formation as a scientist

took place at the intersection of academic medical research and for-profit pharmaceutical

research. She worked for seven years in a drug discovery unit at Abbott Laboratories, the last

four while earning her PhD under the mentorship of Marina Wolf, PhD, former chair.

“Seeing how people from different disciplines came together to ask questions, how one

person’s approach could be so incredibly different from but just as valid as someone else’s

— seeing that in action taught me the importance of listening,” Dr. Monteggia said. “I was

shaped by the diversity of people with whom I interacted on a daily basis.”

In announcing Dr. Monteggia’s appointment as director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute,

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN, said it had identified the ideal leader,

one with the “proven ability to reach across discipline lines to advance research on some of

the most challenging questions and issues in neuroscience.” Dr. Monteggia’s research, the

university also noted, “complements and extends” key areas of investigation at Vanderbilt.

“I’m eager to expand on the groundwork that’s been laid by the institute, which has

excellent graduate training and community outreach,” Dr. Monteggia said. “I’m hoping to

recruit dynamic neuroscientists and bridge across different disciplines and departments

to synergize and create a dynamic neuroscience environment on campus.”

Dr. Monteggia’s career trajectory has been swift. After two years of postdoctoral training

in molecular psychiatry at Yale University’s Department of Psychiatry, in 2002 she

joined UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She was awarded tenure in 2009 and

appointed full professor in 2013.

A proponent for the recruitment, promotion and mentorship of women, Dr. Monteggia’s

directorship of a nationally recognized brain institute bodes well for gender equality in

academic medicine and in the field of neuroscience, where women outnumber men in earning

PhDs. Carnegie Mellon University has also appointed a woman to lead its neuroscience institute.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity and I am honored to serve as director,” Dr. Monteggia said.

“I look forward to continuing our research focus as well as uniting and expanding the

neuroscience community across the Vanderbilt community.”

“I’m hoping to recruit dynamic neuroscientists and bridge across different disciplines and departments to synergize and create a dynamic neuroscience environment on campus.”

LISA MONTEGGIA, PhD

READ MORE more about Rosalind Franklin University’s commitment to research at

https://rfu.ms/research

THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES, established in

1968, marks a half-century

of scientific discovery. RFU

proudly celebrates SGPS

students, postdocs and alumni.


LIVING LEGACY

MRS. MONICA PLY IS A MEMBER OF THE ROSALIND FRANKLIN

UNIVERSITY LEGACY SOCIETY, WHICH RECOGNIZES THOSE

WHO HAVE COMMITTED TO RFU’S MISSION THROUGH

ESTATE PLANNING. HER MEANINGFUL, TARGETED GIFTS ARE

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, PATIENT CARE AND THE HEALTH

OF THOSE WHO SERVE.

A resident of Wildwood, IL, Mrs. Ply channels her love, faith and

unwavering support for those who answer the call to serve into

informed, insightful philanthropy aimed at improving their health.

“Few people understand what our veterans have gone through and how it

affects them in later life,” said Mrs. Ply, whose husband of 53 years, Navy Chief

Robert Ply, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006 — four years before the

illness was declared service-connected by the Veterans Administration.

She committed funds that she and the chief, who died in 2008, had

planned to use to enhance their retirement to the establishment of

the Ply Research Fund for Parkinson’s Disease and Heart Research,

and the Parkinson’s and Heart Disease Foundation. The fund

and the foundation each support work by RFU and the Captain

James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, longtime clinical and

research partners.

The foundation helps Lovell FHCC clinicians keep abreast of

advancements in care for patients battling Parkinson’s and heart disease. The Ply Research

Fund helps RFU investigators Anthony West, PhD, and Raúl J. Gazmuri, MD, PhD ’94, find

better ways to treat and prevent the ailments.

Dr. West, a neuroscientist in the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Therapeutics,

is working to develop and test potential therapeutics that can slow the progression of

Parkinson’s. Dr. Gazmuri, who as head of the ICU at Lovell FHCC treated Chief Ply in the final

days of his illness, is working to generate novel therapeutic interventions for resuscitation,

which could save lives in tactical combat casualty care.

“I’m helping them do good, to find answers that will help my veterans,” Mrs. Ply said. “We

are not wealthy people. But every penny I share with RFU goes directly to research. We’ve

got to diagnose these diseases earlier and treat patients and their families with the utmost

competence, honesty and compassion.”

Mrs. Ply volunteers almost daily at Lovell FHCC, where her encounters with RFU students

and medical residents have fostered in her an appreciation for the university and its mission.

“I feel called to make a difference, too,” she said. “Education and research are so important

for patients and their families and the professionals who care for them.”

Above: Mrs. Monica Ply with Anthony West, PhD, and Raúl Gazmuri, MD, PhD ’94.

“...every penny I share with RFU goes directly to research.”

MRS. MONICA PLYMember, Rosalind Franklin University Legacy Society

RFU GIVING SOCIETIES


Learn more about our Giving Societies at https://rfu.ms/giving-societies

T HE GI V I NG SOCIET IE S

MRS. MONICA PLY

L E A D E R S H I P L I F E T I M E L E G A C Y

Imagine a society formed and informed by the act of generosity.

Rosalind Franklin University recognizes those who surpass expectations of lasting and impactful giving through membership in our Giving Societies. Mrs. Monica Ply champions the health of veterans and service members by supporting the work

of RFU researchers who are determined to find better ways to treat and prevent Parkinson’s and heart disease. Her thoughtful, targeted investment in our mission to discover knowledge that improves wellness fuels our resolve and offers hope for a healthier future.

THE LEGACY GIVING SOCIETY recognizes MRS. MONICA PLY for her generosity

and vision of a planned gift to RFU.

LIVES INSPIRED BY THE GIFT OF A LEGACY

NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

OAK BROOK, IL

PERMIT NO. 100

3333 Green Bay RoadNorth Chicago, IL 60064-3095

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