18^th Annual Scientific Meeting, Friday, June 17, 2005
Midwestern University
Downers Grove, IL

The Great Lakes Chapter of ASPET held its annual meeting on June 17, 2005 at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, IL.  The meeting, was attended by over 140 pharmacologists from the greater Chicago area and the surrounding states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.   This year’s meeting was dedicated to the memory of the late Louis (Loek) Van de Kar.  Dr. Van de Kar, who passed away last year after a courageous battle with cancer, was a highly respected pharmacologist at the Loyola University School of Medicine and served for many years as an officer of GLC-ASPET.  As a way of honoring Dr. Van de Kar, this year’s symposium focused on the theme “Recent Advances in Psychlopharmacology:  A Symposium in Memory of Louis Van de Kar”.  The symposium featured an outstanding panel of speakers including:  Janice Urban from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, who discussed her work on “Stress, Drugs and Neuropeptide Y”;  Irwin Lucki, from the University of Pennsylvania, who discussed his work on “Pharmacologic and Genetic Determinants of the Behavioral Effects of Antidepressant Drugs”; and Ana Basso, from Abbott Laboratories, who provided an industrial perspective in her presentation “Drug Discovery:  Can We Approach to a New Generation of Antidepressants?”.  The keynote address was presented by Rene Hen, from the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University, who discussed “The Requirement of Hippocampal Neurogenesis for the Behavioral and Physiologic Effects of Antidepressants”.  Along with this outstanding symposium and keynote address, the meeting featured a career workshop, vendor exhibits, a poster session and the annual student and postdoctoral research competitions.  The winners of the research competitions were:

 ·         First Place – John Allen, University of Illinois at Chicago, “Agonist Induced Internalization and Lipid Raft Trafficking of G alpha S Alters Adenylyl Cyclase Activity”.

·         Second Place –  Keshari Thakali, Michigan State University, “Endothelin-1 (ET-1) Increases Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) in Veins, but not Arteries”

·         Third Place – Charles Rudick, Rosalind Franklin University, “Prior Exposure to Cocaine Enhances the Effects of Stress on Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area”

·         Third Place – Brinda Desai, Rush University, “Evidence of Neovascularization in Parkinson’s Disease (PD)”.

 Postdocs

·         First Place – Joshua Edwards, Midwestern University, “Cadmium-Induced Disruption of Proximal Tubule Cell Adhesion is Associated with Redistribution of Cell Adhesion Molecules and Loss of Epithelial Polarity”

·         Second Place –  Gonzalo Carrasco, Loyola University, “Supersensitivity of 5-HT_2A Receptors in Rats Undergoing Cocaine Withdrawal”

·         Third Place – Rajesh Kumar, University of Illinois at Chicago, “IRL 1620, a Tumor Selective Vasodilator, Increases Tumor Perfusion and Enhances Paclitaxel Delivery to Tumor”

·         Third Place – David Rademacher, Medical College of Wisconsin, “Endocannabinoid Regulation of Stress-Induced Anhedonia”

The GLC-ASPET Executive Committee gratefully acknowledges support for the meeting from: ASPET; Abbott Laboratories; Chirality LLC; Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest; Loyola University School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology; Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Pharmacology; Midwestern University; Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine; Rosalind Franklin University, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology; Rush Medical College, Department of Pharmacology; University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology.  In addition, we would like the thank the following vendor exhibitors for their support:  Abcam Inc., ADInstruments, Beckman Coulter, Inc., BD Biosciences, Chemicon International, Inc., DiscoverRx Corporation, Heidolf Instruments, Iworx, Promega, Thermo Electron Corporation and VWR Scientific.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Lakes Chapter of ASPET held its annual meeting on June 3, 2004 at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, IL.  The meeting, was attended by over 100 pharmacologists from the greater Chicago area and the surrounding states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.  In developing the program for the 2004 meeting, the planning committee felt that it would be appropriate to honor Dr. Israel Hanin.  Dr. Hanin, who is retiring from the faculty of the Loyola University School of Medicine this year, was one of the founders of GLC-ASPET and has had a long and distinguished record of service to both our regional chapter and the national ASPET organization.  As way of honoring Dr. Hanin, this year’s symposium was focused on the theme of “New Frontiers in Neurodegenerative Disease Research:  A Tribute to Israel Hanin”.  This exciting symposium featured an outstanding panel of speakers including:  Benjamin Wolozin, Ph.D., of Loyola University, who discussed his work on the “Molecular and Cellular Biology of Parkinson’s Disease”; Annette Fleckenstein, Ph.D., of the University of Utah who discussed her work on the “Differential Effects of Psychostimulants on Monoaminergic Transporter Function and Implications of Neurotoxicity”; Elliot Mufson of the Rush University Medical Center who discussed his work on “Cholinotrophic Neuron Dysfunction During the Progression of  Alzhieimer’s Disease:  Potential Drug Targets”.  The keynote address was presented by Dr. David Holtzman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis who spoke about the “Potential Role of Amyloid-Beta Binding Molecules in the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease”.   Along with this outstanding symposium and keynote address, the meeting featured a career workshop, vendor exhibits, a poster session and the annual student and postdoctoral research competitions.  The winners of the research competitions were:

Graduate Students

• First Place – John Allen, University of Illinois at Chicago, Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation Promotes Gαs Endocytosis From Lipid Rafts
   

• Second Place – Patrick Osei-Owusu, Loyola University, 5-HT-_1A Receptor Activation Attenuates Lung Neutrophil Infiltration After Hemorrhage/Reperfusion.
   

• Third Place – Michelle Florian-Kujawski, Loyola University, Effect of Heparins, Oral Anticoagulant, Anti-Xa and Anti-IIa Drugs on the Functional Levels of Thrombin Activatable Fibrinolytic Inhibitor as Measured by a Chromogenic Substrate Based Assay (Pefakit^Ò TAFI:  Implications on Endogenous Fibrinolysis
   

• Third Place – Robert Drolet, Michigan State University, Sub-Acute and Prolonged Chronic Administration of MPTP in Wild-Type and a-Synuclein Knock-Out Mice.

Postdocs

• First Place – Jing Qiao, Rush University, Endothelial Expression of a Lysophosphatidylcholine Receptor: Detection by Peptide Antibodies
   

• Second Place – Fei Huang, Rush University, Pro-Inflammatory Lysophosphatidylcholine Impairs  Endothelial Barrier Function by PKC-Dependent RhoA Activation   

The GLC-ASPET Executive Committee gratefully acknowledges support for the meeting from: Abbott Laboratories; ASPET; Chirality LLC; Indiana University School of Medicine, Northwest Center for Medical Education; Loyola University School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology; Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Pharmacology; Midwestern University, Department of Pharmacology; Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry;  Rosalind Franklin University, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology; Rush Medical College, Department of Pharmacology; University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology.  In addition, we would like the thank the following vendor exhibitors for their support:  AD Instruments, Cambrex, Chemicon and VWR Scientific.

The Great Lakes Chapter of ASPET held its annual meeting on May 8, 2003 at Northwestern University’s Feinburg School of Medicine in Chicago.  The meeting, which was attended by over 100 pharmacologists from the greater Chicago area, focused on the timely topic of “Stem Cells and Tissue Repair”.  The speakers in the afternoon symposium included John A. Kessler, M.D.,  of Northwestern University, who discussed his work on “The Biology and Therapeutics of Neural Stem Cells”;  Su-Chun Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin, who presented his work on “Directed Neural Differentiation from Embryonic Stem Cells” and Doris A. Taylor, Ph.D., of Duke University, who discussed her work on “Progenitor Cells for Cardiac Repair”.  The keynote address was presented by Hal Broxmeyer, Ph.D., of the Walther Oncology Center of Indiana University School of Medicine, who described his work on “The Biology and Therapeutics of Hematopoietic Stem Cells”. 

 

Symposium organizers, Subbian Sivam (left) and Andy Wasserstrom (right) with symposium speakers (left to right) Doris A. Taylor (Duke University Medical School), Su-Chun Zhang (University of Wisconsin) and keynote speaker Hal Broxmeyer (Walther Oncology Center, Indiana University School of Medicine).

 

 

 

Along with the outstanding symposium and keynote address, the meeting featured a career workshop, vendor exhibits, a poster session and the annual student and postdoctoral research competitions.  Abstracts will be published in the June 2003 issue of The Pharmacologist.  The winners of the research competitions were:

 Graduate Students

• First Place – Brent Kelly, Northwestern University, Potassium Channel Gating Observed With Site-Directed Mass Tagging.
   

• Second Place – Ayesha Shajahan, University of Illinois at Chicago,  Endocytosis of Caveolae in Endothelial Cells by Src-Dependent Dynamin-2 Phosphorylation.
   

• Third Place – Katarina Damjanoska, Loyola University, Fluoxetine-Induced Desensitization of 5-HT_1a Receptors. Differential Neuroendocrine Responses to a Full vs. a Partial 5-HT_1a Receptor Agonist.

First place winner in the student  research competition, Brent Kelly.

Postdocs

• First Place - Cordus Easington, University of Illinois at Chicago, NO and Nitrated Albumin Induce Actin Depolymerization and Shift to G Actin in Endothelial Cells.
   

• Second Place - Jiang-Tan Bian, Northwestern University, Alterations in the Molecular Components of Cardiac E-C Coupling Under Conditions of Chronic Ethanol Consumption.
   

• Third Place – Abdelhak Belmadani, Northwestern University, Regulation of the Migration and Development of Progenitors in the Mouse Sensory Nervous System: Role of SDF-1/CXCR4 Signaling.

First place winner in the post-doctoral research competition, Cordus Easington.

 The GLC-ASPET Executive Committee gratefully acknowledges support for the meeting from: Abbott Laboratories; ASPET; Astra Zeneca; Indiana University School of Medicine, Northwest Center for Medical Education; Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Pharmacology; Midwestern University, Department of Pharmacology; Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine; Pharmacia; Pfizer; Dr. Arthur V. Prancan and Rush Medical College, Department of Pharmacology