Research Retreat
Image:Holger Eltzschig, MD, PhD
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine
1825 Pressler, Houston, Texas 77030
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Research Retreat Agenda
| 8:30 am - 9:00 am Registration |
| 9:00 am - 9:05 am Welcome John Byrne, PhD Associate Dean for Research |
| 9:05 am - 9:15 am Remarks LaTanya Love, MD Dean, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston H. Wayne Hightower Distinguished Professor in the Medical Sciences |
| 9:15 am - 10:35 am Breakthrough Discovery Symposium I |
| Holger Eltzschig, MD, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine Hypoxia-inducible factors during myocardial injury |
| Valeria Vasquez, PhD Associate Professor Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PIEZO1 hyperfunction in sickle cell disease: A dietary intervention improves symptoms |
| Xinzhu Yu, PhD Associate Professor Institute of Molecular Medicine - Center Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology Unraveling astrocytic role in neural circuits and behaviors |
| 10:35 am - 10:50 am Break |
| 10:50 am - 11:50 am Ernst Knobil Distinguished Lecture and Keynote Address: Kjetil Tasken, PhD Head, Institute of Cancer Research Oslo University Hospital Group Leader Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Cancer Immunology Director, Oslo University Hospital Center for Precision Cancer Medicine Advancing precision cancer medicine by building national initiatives and via international collaboration Introduction by: Carmen Dessauer, Ph.D., Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology |
| 11:50 am - 12:20 pm Postdoctoral Data Blitz Symposium |
| Van An Duong, PhD Institute of Molecular Medicine Functional readouts of the gut microbiome: Opportunities and challenges in metaproteomics Mentor: Sheng Pan, PhD |
| Bibek G C, PhD Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Editing the uneditable: Unlocking genetics in recalcitrant fusobacterium Mentor: Chenggang Wu, PhD |
| Evanta Kabir, PhD Institute of Molecular Medicine Microglia activation imaging by TREM2-immunoPET Mentor: Federica Pisaneschi, PhD |
| Antonio Pagan, PhD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Biological liability for autism spectrum disorder: A replicable, heritable, and cognitively-linked neuroanatomical endophenotype Mentors: Ronald Acierno, PhD and Dr. Katherine Loveland, PhD |
| Fenfen Wang, PhD Department of Anesthesiology Mitochondrial regulation of adipose tissue inflammation and homeostasis Mentor: Yu An, Ph.D. |
| 12:20 pm - 2:35 pm Graduate Student Education Committee Poster Session and Lunch |
| 2:35 pm - 3:55 pm Breakthrough Discovery Symposium II |
| Xiaoming Du, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Transcranial magnetic stimulation for treating core and comorbid symptoms of schizophrenia |
| David Murdock, MD Assistant Professor Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics Computational approaches to improving diagnosis and management in heritable thoracic aortic disease |
| Jennifer Walker, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics S. aureus adaptation during long-term colonization of urinary catheters impacts persistence and pathogenic potential |
| 3:55 pm - 4:15 pm Presentation of Awards for the Poster Competition Sponsored by the Graduate Student Education Committee |