Congratulations to Amy Hong who was awarded the Randy N. Rosier Predoctoral Winner at the 14th Annual Center for Musculoskeletal Research (CMSR) Symposium

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Cih-Li (Amy) Hong, 2nd year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Shu-Chi (Allison) Yeh was awarded the Randy N. Rosier Predoctoral Winner for her oral presentation at the Annual CMSR meeting, titled, “Local Bone Remodeling Shapes Clonal Expansion and Niche Interactions of Hematopoietic Stem Cells”.

The Symposium is designed to not only showcase the current year's musculoskeletal research but also provide a platform for trainees to present their data and interact with scientists throughout the URMC community and visiting scientists from other institutions. The events that take place during the Symposium include: a poster session for all trainees in the Center as well as trainees outside the Center performing musculoskeletal research, two plenary speaker sessions with five trainee presentations, three faculty presentations, and a visiting keynote speaker presentation. Three trainee travel awards are presented to two pre-doctoral and one post-doctoral candidates. Following the Symposium, the CMSR has a social event to celebrate the accomplishments of all trainees. The Annual CMSR Symposium is supported in part by NIH T32 Training Grant (AR053459)

Congratulations to Amy Hong for receiving the Young Investigator Award at the 2024 American Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Annual Meeting

Saturday, September 28, 2024

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Cih-Li (Amy) Hong, 2nd year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Shu-Chi (Allison) Yeh was awarded the Young Investigator Award  for her oral presentation at the ASBMR annual meeting, titled, “Local Bone Remodeling Shapes Compartmentalized Clonal Expansion of Hematopoietic Cells and their Interactions with the Niche”, held in Toronto, ON, Canada.

The Young Investigator Award recognizes early-career researchers who submit high-ranking abstracts to the ASBMR annual meeting, essentially rewarding promising young scientists in the field of bone and mineral research with top-tier abstracts for their work; this award includes a monetary prize and recognition at the Annual Meeting.

University of Rochester Researchers are Using Ultrasounds to Build New Blood Vessels

Thursday, September 19, 2024

When you picture an ultrasound, you usually think of using it to capture images during pregnancy, but according to a team of researchers from the University of Rochester it can do much more, including helping to build and create new blood vessels in the body.

Research: How the Immune System Fails as Cancer Arises

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Cancer has been described as “a wound that does not heal,” implying that the immune system is unable to wipe out invading tumor cells. A new discovery confirms that a key molecule can reprogram immune cells that normally protect against infection and cancer, turning them into bad guys that promote cancer growth.

Studying the behavior of these “pro-tumor” immune cells is important because they could be targets for therapies that block their harmful activity, said Minsoo Kim, PhD, corresponding author of the study and a research leader at the Wilmot Cancer Institute.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the discovery.

Kim led a team of scientists investigating the dynamic interactions that occur between cells in the tumor environment, and the underlying factors that cause the harmful transformation of immune cells from good to bad.

They found that PAF (platelet-activating factor) is the key molecule that controls the destiny of the immune cells. PAF not only recruits cancer-promoting cells, but it also suppresses the immune system’s ability to fight back. In addition, they found that multiple cancers rely on the same PAF signals.

Congratulations to Xiaoyi Liu as the recipient of Top Student/Trainee Abstract Award at the 2024 BCVS Scientific Sessions

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Xiaoyi Liu, 5th year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Small was the recipient of the Top Student/Trainee Abstract Award in The 2024 Early Career Poster Competition for her poster entitled, “P53 regulates the extent of fibroblast proliferation and fibrosis in left ventricle pressure overload”. Xiaoyi was presented this award at The American Heart Association Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS) 2024 Scientific Sessions, held in Chicago, IL on July 22-25, 2024.

Congratulations to Xiaoyi Liu as the Recipient of a Two-Year Predoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association

Monday, January 1, 2024

Xiaoyi Liu, 4th year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Small was awarded a two-year American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship entitled, “Sprr2b/p53 dependent control of cardiac fibroblast proliferation and fibrosis”.
 
Project Summary
Heart disease is accompanied by the accumulation of cardiac fibroblasts that deposit extracellular matrix to generate a fibrotic scar. In this project, we will investigate how tumor suppressor proteins, including p53, control the magnitude and timing of cardiac fibroblast proliferation and cardiac fibrosis. We will also test a novel mechanism that regulates ubiquitin-mediated degradation of p53 in cardiac fibroblasts, via interactions with the Sprr2b protein. Ultimately, our findings will identify strategies to limit fibroblast expansion and the development of pathological cardiac fibrosis in heart disease.