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SUMMARY:Exploring the lipid world
DTSTART:20200612T161500
DTEND:20200612T180000
DTSTAMP:20260407T114602Z
UID:b655ed99869fb96b1249c2278e93034e10af8d754adcf9d294a8c0fa
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Devaraj\n\nNeal K. Devaraj is a Professor of Chemistry a
 nd Biochemistry at the University of California\, San Diego. A major resea
 rch thrust of his lab involves understanding how non-living matter\, such 
 as simple organic molecules\, can assemble to form life. Along these line
 s\, he has developed approaches for the in-situ synthesis of synthetic cel
 l membranes by using selective reactions to “stitch” together lipid fr
 agments. His lab’s work has enabled the first demonstration of perpetua
 lly self-reproducing lipid vesicles and artificial membranes that can dyna
 mically remodel their chemical structure. Recently\, his lab has demonstra
 ted that in situ synthesis can assemble lipid species within living cells
 \, enabling studies that decipher how lipid structure affects cellular fun
 ction.\n\nProf. Devaraj joined the faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry a
 t the University of California\, San Diego in 2011. His work has been reco
 gnized by the 2016 National Fresenius Award\, the 2017 American Chemical 
 Society Award in Pure Chemistry\, being selected as the 2018 Blavatnik Nat
 ional Laureate in Chemistry\, a 2019 Guggeheim Fellowship and the 2019 Eli
  Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry. In recognition of his contributions
  to teaching\, Dr. Devaraj was named a 2016 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Schola
 r.\nLipids remain one of the most enigmatic classes of biological molecule
 s. Lipids were likely one of the first components necessary for life\, yet
  our understanding of how lipid membranes could have arisen spontaneously 
 is a mystery.  Human cells produce thousands of unique lipid species\, b
 ut the purpose for such diversity remains unknown. Dysregulation of lipid 
 metabolism is a key factor in some of the most common diseases that afflic
 t human beings. I will discuss our lab’s efforts in using chemical and 
 imaging tools to understand the assembly and function lipids. We are watch
 ing the formation of artificial cells that consist of synthetic membranes 
 that can be produced de novo. We are designing specific chemical reaction
 s to manipulate and image lipids within living cells during cell death and
  disease. Our ultimate goal is to answer fundamental questions about the o
 rigins of lipid membranes and build a functional understanding of the div
 erse array of lipids present in life today.\n\n 
LOCATION:BCH 2201 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BCH%202201
STATUS:CANCELLED
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