Centers
Co-Directors: Bhanu P. Jena [MMI] & Won Jin Cho [MMI].
Participating Institutions & Investigators: Sophie Erhardt [Karolinska Institute]; Mzia Zhvania [Ilia State University]; Pavel Thelidze [New Vision University]; Robert Flaumenhaft [Harvard Medical School];Yongxin Zhao [Carnegie Mellon University]; Octavian Bucur [MMI].
Implementing neuroimaging approaches such as fMRI to examine complementary brain processes engaged in perception of time and space.
Center for Biomembrane Chemistry (CBC)
Co-Directors: Bhanu P. Jena [MMI] & Douglas J. Taatjes [UVM]
Participating Institutions & Investigators: Ionita Ghiran [Harvard Medical School]; Walter F. Boron [Case Western]; Yongxin Zhao [Carnegie Mellon University]; Won Jin Cho [MMI].
Repurposing naturally available small molecules to reversibly modulate biomembrane transport functions
The mission of CBC is to establish fundamental new approaches to reversibly program the chemistry of biological membranes to selectively prevent the entry of toxins and pathogens into the cellular environment, while enabling normal membrane transport functions in cells. This will transform our molecular level understanding of biological membranes and enable the development of novel technologies and the design and use of naturally occurring small biomolecules to regulate membrane functions in a sustainable manner, to benefit science and society. To achieve this, we have assembled a multidisciplinary collaborative team to leverage our understanding of the chemistry of lipids and proteins in biological membranes, to modulate their chemistry with great precision.
METABOLISM-SKELETAL MUSCLE-DIABETES
Center for Diabetes
Center for Muscle Biology
Center for Muscle Biology (CMB)
Co-Directors: Lars Larsson [Karolinska Institute & MMI] & Bhanu P. Jena [WSU & MMI].
Participating Institutions & Investigators: Yongxin Zhao [Carnegie Mellon University]; Octavian Bucur [MMI].
Old age and muscle wasting are the two factors which most strongly predict morbidity and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and the negative effects of old age on survival in ICU patients have become strikingly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neuromuscular dysfunction resulting in general muscle paralysis of limb muscles (critical illness myopathy, CIM) and prolonged weaning from the ventilator due to the ventilation induced diaphragm dysfunction (VIDD), strongly contribute to the negative consequences on mortality/morbidity and skyrocketing health care costs. The objective of the center is to (a) understand the mechanisms underlying acute and chronic weakness in ICU patients, (b) develop diagnostic tools and approaches to monitor neuromuscular dysfunction, and (c) develop effective therapeutic and intervention strategies for CIM and VIDD.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Immunology and Virology Research Center
DIAGNOSTIC AND MOLECULAR PATHOLOGY
Center for Pathology Innovations and Biobank
Center for Molecular Imaging
Center for Machine Learning and AI