Supercharging the immune system to destroy tumors: Silke Paust, PhD
November 16, 2022
Our immune system surveys our bodies for tumors, which it can eliminate. However, over time, tumors learn to escape immune surveillance mechanisms and immune cells become exhausted, resulting in malignancies. In this Front Row lecture, Silke Paust, PhD, shared how her laboratory is using powerful immunological and imaging techniques to understand what immune cells need to infiltrate and eradicate solid tumors and their metastatic tissues. This research will address knowledge gaps in the tumor immunology field and enable the design of safe and effective immunotherapy products for difficult-to-treat, highly metastatic cancers.
Hacking our body clocks to optimize health: Katja Lamia, PhD
October 19, 2022
Circadian clocks regulate our physiological processes—like sleeping and eating patterns—and greatly influence health and disease. Research by Katja Lamia, PhD, is showing how circadian clocks affect everything from metabolism to tumors. Her discoveries have the potential to lead to new therapies for a variety of diseases, including cancer.
Advancing maternal health with digital technologies: Tolúwalàṣé Àjàyí, MD
September 21, 2022
Every pregnancy is unique, yet little is known about the individual characteristics that contribute to healthy pregnancies. These knowledge gaps have tragic consequences. Over the past few decades, the United States has seen a rise in maternal morbidity and mortality, with Black mothers bearing the brunt of the health burden. In her Front Row lecture, Scripps Research’s Tolúwalàṣé Àjàyí discussed how digital technologies such as fitness trackers and mobile phone applications can help break down barriers related to clinical trial participation, empower participants with useful personalized health data and reduce disparities.
Frontiers in alcohol addiction science and medicine: Marisa Roberto, PhD
August 10, 2022
An estimated 14.5 million people in the U.S. have alcohol use disorder, which encompasses a range of unhealthy drinking behaviors. In her Front Row lecture, Scripps Research’s Marisa Roberto shared her cutting-edge work deciphering how stress and neuroimmune mechanisms play a role in addiction and how recent discoveries are paving the way to new treatments. Using innovative, multidisciplinary research techniques, Roberto is revealing novel therapeutic targets and approaches to help people heal from alcohol use disorder.
Accelerating the body’s natural healing powers: Michael Bollong, PhD
June 29, 2022
Our bodies have the ability to regenerate tissues damaged by disease or injury, but that capability is limited. In his Front Row lecture, Scripps Research assistant professor Michael Bollong shared how his lab is using high-throughput technologies and large-scale chemistry techniques to search for medicines to accelerate the body’s natural healing powers. This research is paving the way to new therapies for diseases ranging from heart disease to burns to inflammatory bowel diseases.
Taking a new view of vital signs: Jay Pandit, MD
April 20, 2022
Body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate have long been the first things measured in the clinic to assess the overall health of an individual. Deviations in each of these metrics are used to alert physicians, who contextualize them to arrive at a diagnosis. Now, with the explosion of wearable devices, each of these vital signs can be measured longitudinally outside the clinic to arrive at a better understanding of the unique physiology of each individual. In his Front Row lecture, Jay Pandit, MD, director of digital medicine at the Scripps Research Translational Institute and assistant professor of molecular medicine, discussed some of the promises and challenges of longitudinal vital sign data collection. Among other insights, he shared some novel use cases and provide an update on the ever-elusive goal of continuous, cuffless blood pressure measurement.
Beyond COVID-19: Preparing for future pandemic threats: Sumit Chanda, PhD
March 16, 2022
One thing that the COVID-19 pandemic laid clear is that when—not if—the next pandemic occurs, humanity needs to be much better prepared. In his Front Row lecture, leading infectious disease researcher Sumit Chanda, PhD, will share his research on how pathogens infect cells and how the immune system responds. He will talk about his team’s efforts against the SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, as well as influenza, Dengue virus, and HIV, and discuss how scientists are paving the way for better prevention and treatment for future pandemics.
Decoding cellular communications to find new therapies for human diseases: Xiang-Lei Yang, PhD
February 16, 2022
To stay healthy, our bodies must maintain a state of internal stability and be able to respond to environmental changes. When these cellular homeostasis mechanisms are disrupted, whether due to genetics or outside forces, it can lead to various diseases. In her Front Row lecture, Xiang-Lei Yang, Scripps Research professor and Ernest W. Hahn Chair, shares her research on an ancient family of proteins that evolved new functions to allow cellular communications to keep up with the ever-increasing complexity of the organisms. She also discusses some of the opportunities provided by the tRNA synthetase family in developing new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders, cancers and other diseases.