ChemBio Seminar by Prof. Saranna Fanning (Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, USA)
Event details
| Date | 28.03.2025 |
| Hour | 16:00 › 17:00 |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Title: Lipid Dyshomeostasis Pinpoints Therapeutic Target Strategies for Parkinson’s Disease and Synucleinopathies.
Speaker: Saranna Fanning is an Assistant Professor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Dr. Fanning received her BSc and PhD degrees in Microbiology from University College Cork (UCC), performing her doctoral research in the labs of Dr. Douwe Van Sinderen (UCC) and Dr. Aaron Mitchell (Columbia University, NY, Carnegie Mellon University, PA). She performed her postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Susan Lindquist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT, MA and Dr. Dennis Selkoe’s Lab at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s hospital. As an Assistant Professor, her lab investigates the role of lipid metabolism in neurodegenerative diseases. She is particularly focused on identifying therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease, one of which has entered clinical trials.
Abstract: Establishing mechanism-based therapeutics for synucleinopathies including Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia is a biomedical priority. Genetic and neuropathological discoveries implicate α-synuclein (αS) in these diseases. Hence, these diseases have traditionally been considered proteinopathies. Data now strongly support an αS/lipid interplay and a major role for lipids in modulating α-synucleinopathy phenotypes in the brain. Our goal is to apply a new proteinopathy+lipidopathy paradigm to identify new therapeutic targets and strategies premised on correcting the αS dysregulated lipidome.
Speaker: Saranna Fanning is an Assistant Professor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Dr. Fanning received her BSc and PhD degrees in Microbiology from University College Cork (UCC), performing her doctoral research in the labs of Dr. Douwe Van Sinderen (UCC) and Dr. Aaron Mitchell (Columbia University, NY, Carnegie Mellon University, PA). She performed her postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Susan Lindquist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT, MA and Dr. Dennis Selkoe’s Lab at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s hospital. As an Assistant Professor, her lab investigates the role of lipid metabolism in neurodegenerative diseases. She is particularly focused on identifying therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease, one of which has entered clinical trials.
Abstract: Establishing mechanism-based therapeutics for synucleinopathies including Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia is a biomedical priority. Genetic and neuropathological discoveries implicate α-synuclein (αS) in these diseases. Hence, these diseases have traditionally been considered proteinopathies. Data now strongly support an αS/lipid interplay and a major role for lipids in modulating α-synucleinopathy phenotypes in the brain. Our goal is to apply a new proteinopathy+lipidopathy paradigm to identify new therapeutic targets and strategies premised on correcting the αS dysregulated lipidome.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Milena Schuhmacher
Contact
- milena.schuhmacher@epfl.ch