Office of Research Affairs

Research Retreat

 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration
 9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. Welcome
John Byrne, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
 9:05 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Remarks from the Dean
Barbara J. Stoll, M.D.,  H. Wayne Hightower Distinguished Professor in the Medical Sciences and Dean McGovern Medical School
9:15 a.m. – 10:35 a.m. Breakthrough Discovery Symposium I
Chaired by Francisco Fuentes, M.D., Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
“Oncometabolic tracks in the failing heart”

Heinrich Taegtmeyer, M.D., DPhil,  Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
“Neuronal signaling at the single molecule level”

Vasanthi Jayaraman, Ph.D.,  Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Oncolytic viral therapy for cancer”

Balveen Kaur, Ph.D., Professor, and John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Endowed Chair, Vice Chair Research, Department of Neurosurgery
 10:35 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. Break
10:50 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. Postdoctoral Symposium
Chaired by Jessica Cardenas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
“Sex differences in T cell immune responses, gut integrity and outcome after ischemic stroke in aged mice”

Hilda Ahnstedt, Ph.D., 1st Place Winner of Dean’s Excellence Award for Postdocs, Department of Neurology
“Insulin sensitization reverses high fat diet-induced changes in BMAL1 function in metabolically active tissues”

Aleix Ribas Latre, Ph.D., Runner-up of Dean’s Excellence Award for Postdocs, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Metabolic and Degenerative Diseases
“The role of epigenetic mechanisms in bipolar disorder”

Gabriel Fries, Ph.D., Third Place Winner Dean’s Excellence Award for Postdocs, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
 
11:35 a.m. – 1:35 p.m. Graduate Student Education Committee Poster Session and Lunch (Willerson Discovery Hall)
1:35 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. Keynote Address
Introduction by Dean Barbara Stoll, M.D.
Dean McGovern Medical School at UTHealth

John Ioannidis, M.D., DSc. 

C.F. Rehnborg Chair in Disease Prevention
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Health Research and Policy
Professor of Biomedical Data Science
Stanford University School of Medicine
Professor of Statistics
Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences
Co-Director, Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS)
“Research practices for reproducible and useful scientific investigation”

 
2:35 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. Break and Speaker Reception
3:05 p.m. – 4:25 p.m. Breakthrough Discovery Symposium II
Chaired by  Christophe Ribelayga, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences 
. “Risk factors and molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease”

Ines Moreno-Gonzalez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology
“Circadian rhythm: From genes to behavior”

Seung-Hee Yoo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
“Human umbilical cord patch for in-utero spina bifida repair”

Ramesha Papanna, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
 4:25 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Winners of GSEC Poster Competition Announced