Program

Opening Remarks

Joan Conaway, Ph.D.
Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research

Jim Collins, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology
Keynote Address: Starting Your Lab and Making Your Mark at UT Southwestern

Session 1 (10:15-11 a.m.)

Introduction by Samuel McBrayer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern

Hijai Regina Shin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern
Topic: Lysosome GPCR Mediated Nutrient Sensing and Signaling

Introduction by Joseph Takahashi, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience

Supraja Varadarajan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute
Topic: Rewiring Neural Circuits to Restore Vision

Introduction by Jim Collins, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology

Fangyu Liu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Topic: Structure-Docking Synergy for Ligand Discovery

Break (11-11:15 a.m.)

Session 2 (11:15 a.m.-noon)

Introduction by Samir Parikh, M.D.
Professor and Division Chief of Nephrology in the Department of Internal Medicine

Hani Suleiman, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
Topic: Molecular Determinants of Podocyte Actin Cytoskeleton in Health and in Disease

Yoshiharu Muto, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Topic: Cracking the Code of Kidney Disease through Methionine Metabolism

Introduction by Orson Moe, M.D.
Director of the Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research

Jialiang “Shirley” Wang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and
Clinical Research and in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Physiology
Topic: Cell-Type Specific Transcription Regulation in Skeletal Disease and Bone Cancer

Lunch (noon-1 p.m.)

Session 3 (1-2 p.m.)

Introduction by Yang Xie, Ph.D.
Professor in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health

Wenqi Shi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the O’Donnell School of Public Health
Topic: Large Language Models Powered Autonomous Agents for Complex Medical Reasoning

Introduction by Isaac Pence, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Muhammad Rizwan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology
Topic: Advanced Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Introduction by James de Lemos, M.D.
Professor and Division Chief of Cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine

Laurel Y. Lee, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Topic: Immune-Vascular Crosstalk and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

Introduction by Andrew Koh, M.D.
Professor and Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology

Richard Voit, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern and
the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center
Topic: Misbehaving Stem Cells (and What We Can Do About Them)

Break (2-2:20 p.m.)

Session 4 (2:20-3:20 p.m.)

Introduction by James de Lemos, M.D.
Professor and Division Chief of Cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine

Glynnis Garry Bann, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Biology
Topic: Rewiring Fate: Epigenetic Factors as Drivers of Cardiac Reprogramming

Introduction by Nicolas Madsen, M.D.
Professor and Division Chief of Pediatric Cardiology in the Department of Pediatrics

Vivian Lee, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Biology
Topic: From Genomic Variants to Vascular Mechanisms

Introduction by Martin Pomper, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Radiology Florence

Florence Chiang, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Radiology, NIH FIRST Scholar
Topic: Brain Network Characterization of Neurodegenerative Diseases Using Computational Neuroimaging

Introduction by William Prinz, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology

Kevin Mark, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology
Topic: Quality Control of Protein Complexes Involved in Gene Expression

Closing Remarks (3:20-3:30 p.m.)

Lee Kraus, Ph.D.
Director of the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences