Breakthrough Discovery Symposium I
Thomas Northrup, Ph.D.
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Wen Li, Ph.D. Dr. Wen Li, PhD/MD, is John S. Dunn Endowed Chair Professor and Director of the Center for Sensory and Systems Psychiatry (CSSP) within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She has a broad, integrated background in medicine, clinical psychology, and neuroscience, fostering a rich interdisciplinary approach that bridges the realms of basic science and clinical research. Dr. Li has pioneered research into sensory mechanisms underlying human threat processing and associated disorders such as PTSD, anxiety, and pain. Her laboratory employs cutting-edge techniques, including multimodal neuroimaging (e.g., simultaneous EEG-fMRI), brain stimulation, advanced data analysis, and clinical trials. Her work has consistently appeared in high-impact journals such as Science, Neuron, Brain, PNAS, and Current Biology. As a Principal Investigator, Dr. Li has successfully secured substantial funding from prominent institutions, including the NIH (with multiple R01s) and the DOD. Beyond her impactful research, she is deeply committed to shaping the future of scientific inquiry by mentoring and training the next generation of researchers. Graduates from her lab have gone on to achieve faculty positions at leading research institutions. Dr. Li further serves the scientific community through her roles as a longstanding study section reviewer for the NIH and NSF, including an elected Regular Membership on the NIH HCMF study section. She also provides review services for international funding agencies, such as the German Research Foundation. |
Jeff Temple, Ph.D. Dr. Temple is a professor, licensed psychologist, and the Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the School of Behavioral Health Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, where he also holds the Betty and Rose Pfefferbaum Chair in Child Mass Trauma and Resilience. As the Director of the first CDC-funded Injury Control Research Center in Texas, his work focuses on the prevention of interpersonal and community violence, including firearm violence. He has been continuously federally funded by the National Institute of Justice, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since finishing his training. He has over 205 peer-reviewed scholarly publications in a variety of high-impact journals including JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, Pediatrics, and the Journal of Adolescent Health. He recently co-edited a book on adolescent dating violence, co-chaired the Texas Task Force on Domestic Violence, serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Prevention Research, and served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Psychological Association. Locally, he served for 7 years as the Vice President of the Galveston Independent School District Board of Trustees. His work has been featured on Forbes, CNN, New York Times, TIME, Washington Post, and even the satirical website, The Onion. |
Pamela Wenzel, Ph.D. Pamela Wenzel, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Integrative Biology & Pharmacology at UTHealth Houston. Dr. Wenzel has the prestigious honor of being one of an exclusive few female two-time awardees of the American Hematology Society Scholar Award. In her postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Boston, she introduced a novel concept to the field of hematology—demonstrating that force generated by blood flow promotes blood cell development. Following her recruitment to UTHealth Houston, Dr. Wenzel continued to distinguish herself as an international authority in mechanobiology, showing that biomechanical force regulates the emergence of the first blood stem cells produced by the embryo. She has produced a body of research on the hematopoietic niche, revealing novel insights into how mechanical signals regulate stem cell fate and function. But, she has also shown that cancer cells can use force to hijack the lymphatic system for metastasis throughout the body. And, based on her discovery that biomechanical cues contribute to immunomodulatory and reparative activities of bone marrow stem cells, she has worked with clinicians to patent and license intellectual property for development of a stem cell therapy for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. Dr. Wenzel’s presentation will focus on her most recent research that centers on understanding how mitochondrial bioenergetics are regulated by flow in development of the blood system. |