Center for Gene Regulation in
Health and Disease (GRHD)

Breaking News: Two PhD students of GRHD member Dr. Michael Kalafatis will present their recent discoveries on the blood coagulation Factor V in major national and international conferences. Joesph R. Wiencek has been selected by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry for the highly competitive $2,500 travel award to attend the 2013 AACC Annual Meeting in Houston, TX. Joe's work has also been selected for an oral presentation at the XXIV Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from June 29 to July 4, 2013. Joe has also another eposter presentation at the same meeting. Mahesheema Na, another PhD student in Dr. Kalafatis' group, is also presenting two studies in the same meeting: one oral presentation and an eposter. These studies offer important insights into the function of Factor V, deficiency in which leads to predisposition for hemorrhage, while some mutations (notably, Factor V Leiden) predispose for thrombosis. Our congratulations to Joe, Sheema and Prof. Kalafatis.

In Other News: Sujata Jha, a PhD student of Dr. Anton Komar, has been selected for oral presentation of her research at the EMBO conference, 'The Biology of Molecular Chaperones', 17 – 22 May 2013, Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy. Our congratulations to Sujata, and to Dr. Komar! The Conference home page is here: http://events.embo.org/13-chaperone

The Cleveland State University Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease focuses on research to improve understanding of biological processes and how malfunction of these processes results in various diseases. This research has significant potential to improve our understanding of the mechanisms and specific molecules that control reproductive health and those that control the aging process as well as implications for the diagnosis and treatment of many of the most common diseases found around the world, including heart disease, neurological disease, infectious disease and cancer.

Vision Statement:
To enhance and integrate research focused on Gene Regulation in Health and Disease leading to better understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling these processes and the identification of therapeutic targets.

Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Center is:

• To develop and support research focused on Gene Regulation in Health and Disease.
• To encourage and provide support mechanisms for the acquisition of extramural funding.
• To encourage and provide support mechanisms for the dissemination of research results.
• To create mechanisms to acquire resources to support research and student training focused on Gene Regulation in Health and Disease.
• To develop and expand partnerships with relevant public and private community entities with similar interests.
• To develop and promote Cleveland State University’s reputation as a local, national and international leader in Gene Regulation in Health and Disease.

Jan. 2013:
Congratulations to GRHD member Dr. Bin Su for receiving an NIH AREA award (R15) titled "Drug development of orally active anti-trypanosomiasis agents".
Dr. Su is a medicinal chemist focusing on anti-cancer and anti-parasite drug development. African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei. It threatens over 60 million people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. There are no effective vaccines and satisfactory drugs for its treatment. Dr. Su and T. Brucei biologist Dr. Bibo Li will work together to develop new small molecule drugs to treat this neglected disease.

Nov. 2012:
Congratulations to GRHD members for recently receiving a Federal grant (NIH/NCRR) titled "Nikon A1RSI Confocal Microscope" (PI: Dr. Sailen Barik; Major Users: Drs. Bibo Li, Barsanjit Mazumder, Xue-Long Sun, Roman Kondratov).
This high-power microscope, capable of capturing still and video images in fully programmed mode, will allow studies of cellular structures and their behavior in great detail and clarity.

Sep. 23, 2011:
Dr. Roman Kondratov's funding success and his breakthrough research have been featured in Crain's Cleveland Business
The Cleveland State researcher won a $1.5 million grant to study the aging process. Dr. Kondratov will examine the effects of circadian clocks on aging under dietary restriction. Circadian rhythms are 24-hour internal cycles found in many living organisms. Read more »

Sep. 19, 2011:
Congratulations to GRHD member Dr. Valentin Boerner for winning a three-year R15 Federal grant (NIH) to study "Control of pairing and recombination during meiosis".
Dr. Boerner is an expert in the mechanism of chromosome segregation during gamete formation, a key factor for reproductive health in humans.

Sep. 15, 2011:
Congratulations to GRHD member Dr. Roman Kondratov for winning a $1.4 million 5-year Federal (NIH) R01 grant to study "Circadian clock and dietary restriction".
Dietary restriction is powerful intervention that delays the development of age-associated pathologies and increases lifespan in many organisms including humans. Dr. Kondratov's laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of dietary restriction and its interaction with the circadian clock. Read article in Crain's!

Sep. 14, 2011:
Congratulations to our newest GRHD member, Dr. Andrew Resnick, for receiving an NIH AREA award (R15) titled "Fluid flow may be an environmental modifier of ADPKD disease progression".
Research in his project will shed light on the autosomal dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, which affects 1 in 1000 Americans, and for which no cure currently exists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_kidney_disease).