Dr. GPCR Podcast

For more details, visit the #DrGPCR Podcast Episode #75 pagehttps://www.drgpcr.com/episode-75-with-vaithish-velazhahan/

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About Vaithish Velazhahan

Vaithish obtained dual bachelor’s degrees with honors in Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology from Kansas State University, USA. His undergraduate thesis work on studying the biochemical mechanisms of flavonoids in cancer using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) led to a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. He then received a prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study for a Ph.D. at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the University of Cambridge, where he is currently a final year Ph.D. candidate. His Ph.D. work has been focused on understanding the structure and activation of Class D fungal GPCRs. He has developed novel tools and methodologies to study fungal GPCRs which allowed the determination of the first structures of the prototypical fungal GPCR Ste2. This work has led to two first-authored manuscripts published in the journal Nature. Vaithish has been recognized with the MRC LMB's Max Perutz Prize for outstanding Ph.D. work and has been elected a Research Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, which is one of the most prestigious positions at the University of Cambridge.

Vaithish Velazhahan on the web

• Twitter
• GatesCambridge
• PubMed

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Become a #DrGPCR Ecosystem Member

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Imagine a world in which the vast majority of us are healthy.

The #DrGPCR Ecosystem is all about dynamic interactions between us who are working towards exploiting the druggability of #GPCR's. We aspire to provide opportunities to connect, share, form trusting partnerships, grow, and thrive together.

To build our #GPCR Ecosystem, we created various enabling outlets.

• Individuals
• Organizations

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Are you a #GPCR professional?

• Subscribe to #DrGPCR Monthly Newsletter
• Listen and subscribe to #DrGPCR Podcasts
• Listen and watch GPCR focused scientific talks at #VirtualCafe

For more details, visit the #DrGPCR Podcast Episode #72 pagehttps://www.drgpcr.com/episode-72-with-stuart-maudsley/

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About Dr. Stuart Maudsley

Stuart graduated from the University of Leeds in the U.K. with a First Class Honors degree in Pharmacology. At the end of his studies, he was awarded the Pfizer Prize for undergraduate research. He then completed his Ph.D. at Leeds as well as the University’s Ackroyd, Brotherton, and Brown Scholar.

Following his Ph.D., Dr. Maudsley was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship to train with Professor Robert Lefkowitz at Duke University. Following this tremendous experience, he was recruited to be the Principal Investigator of the Receptor Biology Section at the Medical Research Council (MRC) -Human Reproductive Sciences Unit within the University of Edinburgh.

At the MRC he developed novel prostate cancer therapeutics based upon his research into GPCR pluridimensional signaling. To broaden his biomedical skill-set Stuart next accepted the position of Head of the Receptor Pharmacology Unit at the National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Aging at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. At the NIH he was the recipient of the coveted NIH ‘Bench-to-Bedside’ Translational Research Grant Award, one of the few awards available within the intramural NIH program. Upon starting a new family, and returning to Europe, Dr. Maudsley continued his scientific journey with the award of the highly-valued Odysseus Program Type I Program Grant to work as both the Adjunct Director of the VIB Center for Molecular Neurology and also Vice-Chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Antwerp.

Stuart’s current research, in the Receptor Biology Lab, focuses on the development of novel GPCR-based therapeutics that interdict diseases based on their gerontological underpinnings. This research stream is now forming the basis of a new technology-based start-up company, HeptOME, to help screen and develop novel longevity/disease-regulating compounds with multidimensional disease efficacy profiles.

Dr. Stuart Maudsley on the web

• Maudsley Lab
• LinkedIn
• Google Scholar
• ResearchGate
• Maudsley Lab on Facebook
• Receptor Biology Lab Facebook Group
• Twitter
• Semantic Scholar
• Instagram
• Neurotree
• Dimensions
• Reddit

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We aspire to provide opportunities to connect, share, form trusting partnerships, grow, and thrive together.

Fill out the Ecosystem waitlist form today to be the first to explore our brand new and improved space!

For more details, visit our website http://www.DrGPCR.com/Ecosystem/.

For more details, visit the #DrGPCR Podcast Episode #70 page

https://www.drgpcr.com/episode-70-with-dr-stephen-ferguson/

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About Dr. Stephen Ferguson

Dr. Stephen Ferguson is a Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He did B.Sc. in biology at McGill University and received his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Dr. Brian Collier in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University (1994).
He did his postdoctoral training with Dr. Marc G. Caron at Duke University (1994-1997), where he and his colleagues investigated the role of G protein-coupled receptor kinases and beta-arrestin in regulating G protein-coupled receptor endocytosis, trafficking, and signaling. He has held four Canada Research Chairs since 2001 and was previously a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada MacDonald Scholar (1998-2003) and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Career Investigator (2003-2016).
He was a recipient of Canada's Top 40 under 40 award in 2004 and received Queen Elizabeth II, Diamond Jubilee Medal, in 2012. He has also received both Junior (2001) and Senior (2005) investigator awards from the Pharmacological Society of Canada. Most recently, in 2021, he was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Science (FCAHS). His research career has focused on the investigation of the regulation of G protein-coupled receptors signaling mechanisms in health and disease. He currently holds multiple research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for his research investigating the role of metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling in Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Stephen Ferguson on the web

• Carlton University
• Canada Research Chairs
• Twitter
• ResearchGate
• LinkedIn

Great Lakes GPCR Retreat on the web

• 21st Great Lakes GPCR Retreat
• More about previous GPCR Retreat meetings

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Register to become a Virtual Cafe speaker

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Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter

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Share your feedback with us:

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For more details, visit #DrGPCR Episode #62 page

https://www.drgpcr.com/episode-62-with-dr-sai-prasad-pydi/

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About Dr. Sai Prasad Pydi

Dr. Sai Prasad Pydi obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba – Canada, where he was introduced to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) by Prof. Prashen Chelikani. His doctoral research focused on the structural and functional characterization of bitter taste receptors (T2Rs). In 2014, Dr. Pydi joined Dr. Jurgen Wess’s lab at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) - NIH, USA as a postdoctoral fellow and trained on understanding the physiological role of GPCR signaling and beta-arrestins in diabetes and obesity. In February 2021, Dr. Pydi joined BSBE department at IIT-Kanpur. The main target of Dr. Pydi's laboratory is to develop GPCR-based drugs for the treatment of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) by exploring metabolically important signaling pathways in immune cells and insulin-sensitive tissues (liver, pancreas, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, and brain). His laboratory uses knock-out and transgenic mouse models, along with different cell culture systems, to understand the role of immune cell GPCRs and their cross-talk with other insulin-sensitive tissues regulating glucose and lipid metabolism.

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Dr. Sai Prasad Pydi on the web

Molecular Metabolism & Cell Signaling Laboratory

https://www.mmcsliitk.in/

Website

https://www.iitk.ac.in/bsbe/sai-prasad-pydi

Twitter

https://twitter.com/saip_pydi

Research Gate

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sai-Prasad-Pydi

PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=pydi%20SP

Google Scholar

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VLWGR5gAAAAJ&hl=en

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Imagine a world in which the vast majority of us are healthy.

The #DrGPCR Ecosystem is all about dynamic interactions between us who are working towards exploiting the druggability of #GPCR's. We aspire to provide opportunities to connect, share, form trusting partnerships, grow, and thrive together.

To build our #GPCR Ecosystem, we created various enabling outlets.

For more details, visit our website http://www.DrGPCR.com/Ecosystem/.

-------------------------------------------

Are you a #GPCR professional?

Register to become a Virtual Cafe speaker

http://www.drgpcr.com/virtual-cafe/

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter

http://www.drgpcr.com/newsletter/

Listen and subscribe to #DrGPCR Podcasts

http://www.drgpcr.com/podcast/

Support #DrGPCR Ecosystem with your Donation.

http://www.drgpcr.com/sponsors/

Reserve your spots for the next #DrGPCR Virtual Cafe

http://www.drgpcr.com/virtual-cafe/

Watch recorded #DRGPCR Virtual Cafe presentations:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJvKL3smMEEXBulKdgT_yCw

Bring in a #GPCR Consultant

http://www.drgpcr.com/consulting/

About Dr. Timo De Groof

Dr. Timo De Groof studied Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Ghent where he graduated in 2015. During his master's studies, he specialized in Biomedical Biotechnology and Structural Biology/Biochemistry. During his last year of studies, Timo performed research in the biopharmaceutical company Argen x and gained experience in the identification and characterization of llama-derived antibodies in inflammatory diseases and oncology.
From 2015 to 2019, he completed his Ph.D. in the Medicinal Chemistry group at VU University Amsterdam under the supervision of prof. dr. Martine Smit. During his Ph.D., Timo, together with Dr. Raimond Heukers, developed a nanobody platform within the research group and used this platform to develop nanobodies targeting viral G protein-coupled receptors with a special focus on the human cytomegalovirus-encoded chemokine receptor US28. During his Ph.D., he used these nanobodies as research tools, to investigate different GPCR conformations, while also focusing on their therapeutic potential in oncology and transplant infectious disease.
Starting from September 2019, Timo started working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging (ICMI) group that is focused on translational/clinical applications of nanobodies. He currently is focusing on the development of nanobody-based immunotracers as part of the IMI/EFPIA project entitled "Immune Image". Moreover, he is closely involved in multiple projects where he focuses on the generation of nanobodies against "difficult-to-target" proteins. In the near future, Timo hopes to combine his previous GPCR experience with his current focus to set up his own research line focusing on translational applications of GPCR-targeting nanobodies.

-------------------------------------------

Imagine a world in which the vast majority of us are healthy.

The #DrGPCR Ecosystem is all about dynamic interactions between us who are working towards exploiting the druggability of #GPCR's. We aspire to provide opportunities to connect, share, form trusting partnerships, grow, and thrive together.

To build our #GPCR Ecosystem, we created various enabling outlets.

For more details, visit our website http://www.DrGPCR.com/Ecosystem/

-------------------------------------------

Are you a #GPCR professional?

Register to become a Virtual Cafe speaker

http://www.drgpcr.com/virtual-cafe/

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter

http://www.drgpcr.com/newsletter/

Listen and subscribe to #DrGPCR Podcasts

http://www.drgpcr.com/podcast/

Support #DrGPCR Ecosystem with your Donation.

http://www.drgpcr.com/sponsors/

Reserve your spots for the next #DrGPCR Virtual Cafe

http://www.drgpcr.com/virtual-cafe/