Graduate students in the labs of two faculty members in the Division of Molecular & Cellular Pathology recently celebrated dissertation defenses, publications, and grant awards.
Jennifer Valcin, PhD, successfully defended her doctoral dissertation titled, “Circadian Clock and Lipid Metabolism Disruption in Fatty Liver Disease” on July 17, 2020, and graduated August 2020. Dr. Valcin was a student in the UAB GBS Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics Theme mentored by Dr. Shannon Bailey, Professor, in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology.
Dr. Valcin’s dissertation research was recently published in a Special Issue Research Topic edition of "Frontiers in Physiology: Alcoholic Liver Disease – From Pathogenesis to Treatment." Dr. Sameer Al Diffalha, Assistant Professor, Anatomic Pathology, collaborated on the paper: Valcin JA, Udoh US, Swain TM, Andringa KA, Patel CR, Al Diffalha S, Baker PRS, Gamble KL, and Bailey SM. "Alcohol and liver clock disruption increase small droplet macrosteatosis, alter lipid metabolism and clock gene expression rhythms, and remodel the triglyceride lipidome in mouse liver." Front Physiol 11:1048. doi:org/10.3389/fphys.2020.01048 (2020).
Luke Potter, graduate student in the lab of Dr. Adam Wende, Associate Professor, MCP, recently received notice of an F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award for his project titled, "Interrogating the Role and Regulation of EGR2 in the Diabetic Heart." Potter is a GBS student studying under the theme of Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics,
The purpose of the F31 funding mechanism is to enhance the diversity of the health-related research workforce by supporting the research training of predoctoral students from population groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research workforce. The proposed mentored research training is expected to clearly enhance the individual's potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist.
Congratulations to each of these outstanding graduate students on their accomplishments.