May/June 2024 News and Publications

May 2024

Presentations, Events, Lectures & Workshops

Robert Bloch, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology, was an invited speaker to the Wright State University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dayton, OH, March 27-28, 2024.

Robert Bloch, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology, was an invited speaker to the annual meeting of the Jain Foundation in Houston, TX, May 7-9, 2024.

Grants & Contracts

Robert Bloch, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology, received a 5-year, $2,720,438 from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, R01 Grant entitled “C2 domain therapeutics for muscular dystrophy.”

Anshu Kumari, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar in Dr. Vivek Garg’s Lab, Department of Physiology, received a two-year, $156,000, American Heart Association (AHA) postdoctoral fellowship to elucidate the role of cardiolipins in the modulation of mitochondrial calcium uniporter. This project was further selected by the Barth Syndrome Foundation for the collaborative support and recognition from both organizations.

Honors and Awards

Toni M. Antalis, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology and the Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases, has been named a fellow of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  She was recognized at the ASBMB annual meeting in March 2024 for her exemplary service to the ASBMB, her outstanding accomplishments in scientific research, mentorship of the next generation of diverse scientists, and service to the national scientific community.

Anshu Kumari, PhD, received a Spring 2024 Professional Development award from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, was honored in May as “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” by The Daily Record this year.

Publications

Toni M. Antalis, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology and the Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases, co-authored “Time-dependent ultrastructural changes during venous thrombogenesis and thrombus resolution,” which was published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis on March 14, 2024.

Mordecai P. Blaustein, MD, Professor Emeritus, and John M. Hamlyn, PhD, Professor, both in the Department of Physiology, authored a Landmark Review, “Sensational Site: the Sodium Pump Ouabain-binding Site and its Ligands,” which was published in the American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology on January 15, 2004.

Robert Bloch, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology, was among the co-authors of “Optimization of Methods for Generating Mature Xenografts of Human Skeletal Muscle in Mice in Cell Transplantation," first published online on April 11, 2024. 

Robert Bloch, PhD, Professor; Joaquin Muriel, PhD, Research Associate; and Valeriy Lukyanenko, PhD, Research Associate, all from the Department of Physiology, were among the co-authors of “Nanodysferlins Support Membrane Repair and Bind to TRIM72/MG53 but Do Not Target T-Tubules or Stabilize Ca2+ Signaling in Dysferlin-null Muscle in Molecular Therapy."

June 2024

Honors & Awards

Mordecai P. Blaustein, MD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physiology, was named an inaugural Highly Ranked Scholar (top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide) based on his accomplishments over the totality of his career in Life Sciences, Physiology and Cell Physiology by ScholarGPS on May 3, 2024.

Christina M. Ferrer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, was selected as a Forbeck Foundation Scholar and will attend the 2024 Fall Meeting Scholars Forum and Scholars Retreat over the next three years.

Publications

Aaron Levy, PhD, Research Associate; Poorna Dharmasri, PhD, formerly a graduate student in the Program in Neuroscience; and Thomas Blanpied, PhD, all in the Department of Physiology, were the authors of a paper entitled “Differential nanoscale organization of excitatory synapses onto excitatory vs inhibitory neurons” which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on April 16, 2024.