Symposium
May 3, 2023 // University Club
Cross-talk in Bone Biology: Basic Science and Clinical Implications
Keynote Presentation:
Translating Genetics of Skeletal Dysplasias into Therapy
Brendan Lee, MD, PhD
Robert and Janice McNair Endowed Chair and Professor
Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Register and Submit Abstracts
Submit your abstract by April 23, 2023 for consideration for a short podium presentation and win poster awards!
Tentative Agenda: May 3, 2023
8:00am | Registration Opens / Poster Set Up Breakfast available 8:00am-10:00am |
9:00am - 9:15am | Welcome and Opening Remarks Shilpa Sant, PhD |
9:15am - 10:30am | Session 1: Bone and Metabolic Disorders Moderators: Pouneh K. Fazeli, MD, MPH & Kristen J. Koltun, PhD
Selected from Abstracts (5 min each)
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10:30am - 10:45am | Coffee Break |
10:45am - Noon | Session 2: Bone and Cancer Moderators: Giuseppe Intini, DDS, PhD & Deborah L. Galson, PhD
Selected from Abstracts (5 min each)
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Noon - 1:15pm | Lunch |
1:15pm - 2:30pm | Session 3: Regeneration and Functional Integration of Mineralized Tissues Moderators: Fatima N. Syed-Picard, MSE, PhD & Hang Lin, PhD
Selected from Abstracts (5 min each)
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2:30pm - 2:45pm | Coffee Break |
2:45pm - 3:45pm | Keynote Presentation
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3:45pm - 4:30pm | Mentoring Sessions
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4:30pm - 6:00pm | Poster Session and Reception |
Symposium Co-Chairs
Giuseppe Intini, DDS, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Periodontics and Preventive Dentistry
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
Bio
Dr. Intini’s research focuses on skeletal stem cells and of bone cancer stem cells. He uses genetic strategies and in vivo imaging to study the location and function of these cells and the molecular mechanisms that control their “stemness” in health and disease.
Shilpa Sant, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
Bio
Speakers
Kelly Bailey, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatrics
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
Dr. Bailey is a pediatric oncologist specializing in the clinical treatment and biology of bone sarcomas, with a focus on the adolescent primary bone tumor Ewing sarcoma. She directs a laboratory-based research program that focuses on understanding the intersection of DNA damage and immunobiology with the translational goal of discovering better treatment options for patients with advanced Ewing sarcoma. Dr. Bailey was awarded the UPMC Children’s Resident Teaching award in both 2018 and 2022. Nationally, Dr. Bailey is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research. She holds leadership roles within the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), currently heading the Localized Ewing sarcoma Task Force, a group of 30+ national bone tumor experts tasked with developing the next national clinical trial for localized Ewing sarcoma. Dr. Bailey is also national Vice Chair for the COG clinical trial AOST2121, examining a maintenance immunotherapeutic for the treatment of relapsed osteosarcoma.
Joel Boerckel, PhD
Assistant Professor
Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Bio
Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD
Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He serves as Co-Director, Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center and Medical Director, Women’s Cancer Center at the UPMC Magee Women’s Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA. He also serves as the Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives for the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
Dr. Brufsky received an in Chemistry (Cum Laude) from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He earned his MD and his PhD in Developmental Biology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, CT. He was an Intern and Resident in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. He then completed a Fellowship in Medical Oncology and Bone Marrow
Transplantation and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, where his appointments included Associate Physician and Instructor in Medicine at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.
Dr. Brufsky is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. He has authored or coauthored more than 300 abstracts and research articles in leading journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Clinical
Oncology, and Lancet Oncology. Dr. Brufsky is a Principal Investigator on a number of research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and US Army Breast Cancer Research Program.
Mo Ebrahimkhani, MD
Associate Professor
Department of Pathology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
Dr. Ebrahimkhani has an MD degree from Tehran University of Medical Sciences and was awarded a European Association for Study of Liver Sheila Sherlock Fellowship to investigate regenerative processes at University College London. His lab combines human stem cells, synthetic biology and in vivo mouse models to understand tissue development and regeneration and develop technologies to modulate these processes in a personalized fashion. Dr. Ebrahimkhani is the recipient of several research awards including RO1s from NIH, Mayo Clinic accelerated regenerative medicine award and New Investigator Award from Arizona Biomedical Research Council. He is also a member of PLOS ONE Editorial Board (2018- present).
His lab research combines systems and synthetic biology-based approaches to program development of induced pluripotent stem cells across the developmental trajectories and towards human designer liver organoids and hematopoietic niches. This approach will open novel opportunities for next generation genomically engineered human tissues, personalized disease modeling and more effective regenerative therapies. His vision is to advance regenerative medicine through integrating systems and synthetic biology.
Pouneh K. Fazeli, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
Dr. Pouneh Fazeli is Director of the Neuroendocrinology Unit at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and an Associate Professor of Medicine. She attended the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania before completing a residency in internal medicine at Columbia and a fellowship in endocrinology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a clinical/translational researcher whose research program is focused on understanding neuroendocrine adaptations to undernutrition and fasting. She has performed clinical studies investigating therapies for the treatment of bone loss in women with anorexia nervosa, a psychiatric disease characterized by self-induced starvation, and is currently investigating the effects of transdermal estrogen on bone parameters in this population through an NIH-funded protocol. Clinically, Dr. Fazeli sees patients with pituitary disease in the Neuroendocrinology Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and is Medical Director of the Pituitary Center of Excellence at UPMC.
Brendan Lee, MD, PhD
Robert and Janice McNair Endowed Chair and Professor
Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Bio
Dr. Brendan Lee is the Robert and Janice McNair Endowed Chair in Molecular and Human Genetics, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). Dr. Lee co-directs the joint MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas Health, and BCM Lawrence Family Bone Disease Program of Texas, and the BCM Center for Skeletal Medicine and Biology. He is Founder and Director of the Skeletal Dysplasia Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital, and of the Medical Student Research Pathway at Baylor. As a pediatrician and geneticist, Dr. Lee studies structural birth defects and inborn errors of metabolism. He has published over 320 peer reviewed papers and over 80 invited reviews, chapters, and books. His work has garnered over $82M in continuous NIH funding over his 25 years as an independent investigator. He currently leads the NIH BCM Undiagnosed Diseases Network Clinical Site, NIH BCM RE-JOIN Consortium site, NIH Brittle Bone Disorders Consortium, and the NIH All of US Evenings with Genetics Education Program. He holds multiple patents in drug discovery and gene therapy and several licensed technologies are in industry-sponsored clinical trials (for osteoarthritis, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and Maple Syrup Urine Disease).
Dr. Lee has received local, national, and international recognition including election to the National Academy of Medicine, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science, and Technology (TAMEST), the Association of American Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Society of Pediatric Research. He has also been awarded the American Society of Human Genetic Curt Stern Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research William F. Neuman Award for outstanding contributions to science, teaching, research, and administration, the TAMEST Peter and Edith O’Donnell Award in Medicine, the Society for Pediatrics Research E. Meade Johnson Award for Pediatrics Research, the Michael E. DeBakey Excellence in Research Award, the American Philosophical Society’s Judson Darland Prize for Patient-Oriented Clinical Investigation, and Foreign Member, National Academy of Medical and Surgical Sciences in Napoli, Italy. He has served on multiple nonprofit boards and advisory panels including the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) of the NIH.
Dr. Lee was previously an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute prior to becoming Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in 2014. The Department is the leading genetics and genomics program in the world integrating basic/translational/clinical research, prenatal/pediatric/adult clinical service, and molecular pathology activities. His global engagement activities include the establishment of the joint Baylor College of Medicine-Chinese University of Hong Kong Center for Medical Genetics in Hong Kong.
Ben Nacev, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
Dr. Nacev received his MD and PhD degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he studied under PhD mentor, Prof. Jun O. Liu in the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences. Dr. Nacev’s doctoral thesis focused on drugs with repurposing potential as angiogenesis inhibitors, including itraconazole and cyclosporine. Dr. Nacev’s work explored the mechanisms of this antiangiogenic activity, including work towards target identification.
Following doctoral training, Dr. Nacev joined the Osler Medical Residency where he received internal medicine training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He then went on to Medical Oncology fellowship at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he served as co-Chief Fellow and later joined the clinical faculty. In parallel, Dr. Nacev completed postdoctoral research training at The Rockefeller University, studying under Prof. C. David Allis. During this time, Dr. Nacev’s research focused on identifying and understanding the mechanisms of a new class of cancer-associated histone mutations known as oncohistones. In 2022, Dr. Nacev joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Nacev cares for adult patients with sarcomas in the medical oncology clinic, an experience which motivates and inspires his laboratory research program.
Dobrawa Napierala, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
Bio
Dr. Dobrawa Napierala is an Associate Professor, School of Dental Medicine, Center for Craniofacial Regeneration, University of Pittsburgh. Prior to her appointment to Pitt in 2016, Dr. Napierala held positions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL (2011-2016), and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (2008-2011).
Dr. Napierala received an MSc, Biotechnology in 1995 from the A. Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. In 1999 she received a PhD in Chemical Sciences/Biochemistry from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland. She completed her post-doctoral training in molecular biology and genetics from Baylor College of Medicine (1999-2008).
Dr. Napierala served as the president of the Mineralized Tissue Group of the International Association for Dental Research (2017-18). She was also a co-organizer of the 13th International Conference on the Chemistry and Biology of Mineralized Tissues (2019)
A list of her current research interests includes:
- Molecular and cellular biology of the mineralization process.
- Genetic diseases and animal models of skeletal and dental development and homeostasis.
- Phosphate signaling in mineralizing tissues.
- Regeneration and repair of mineralizing tissues.
- Biogenesis of mineralization-competent extracellular vesicles.
View a list of Dr. Napierala’s publications here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22napierala%20d%22
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. Dobrawa Napierala
Phone: 412-624-9225
Email: don11@pitt.edu
Bradley Nindl, PhD
Professor
Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition
University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Bio
Bradley C. Nindl, PhD, FACSM is the Director of the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory/Warrior Human Performance Research Center and tenured professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. He also has dual appointments as the Senior Military and Scientific Advisor for the University’s Center for Military Medicine Research and at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and an adjunct professor in the Department of Military and Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD.
Prior to coming to the University of Pittsburgh, Nindl worked for over 20 years in successive scientific leadership roles as an Army Medical Department government scientist working for the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) within the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC) from 1999-2011 and the Army Institute of Public Health (AIPH) within the US Army Public Health Command (USAPHC) from 2012-2015. He was the MRDC Research Task Area Manager for Physiological Mechanisms of Musculoskeletal Injury from 2008-2011. Nindl graduated from Philips Exeter Academy in 1985, received a Bachelor of Science in biology from Clarkson University in 1989, a Master of Science in physiology of exercise from Springfield College in 1993, a Doctor of Philosophy in physiology from The Pennsylvania State University in 1999 and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College in 2012.
His research interests span human performance optimization/injury prevention and biomarker domains with a focus on adaptations of the neuromuscular and endocrine systems (growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I axis) to both exercise and military operational stress. He is internationally recognized for his work in these areas and was Co-Chair of the 3rd International Congress on Soldiers’ Physical Performance (ICSPP) in 2014 and has performed research sabbaticals at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland (2009) and the University of Wollongong in Australia (2014) with the Finnish and Australian Defence forces, respectively. He is currently a principal investigator or co-invenstigator on funded studies addressing resiliency, biomarkers, physical and musculoskeletal readiness and training adaptations from the DoD (MRDC and ONR), NIH, NASA and the British Ministry of Defence.
Nindl’s previous awards include the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Young Investigator Award in 2002, NIH Biological Remodeling and Plasticity Young Investigator Travel Award in 2002, ACSM Exchange Lecturer for the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual meeting in 2006, Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Exercise Physiology at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland in 2009, Australian DSTO Black Box Lecturer in 2014, US Army’s Surgeon General “9A” Proficiency Designator (the Army Medical Department’s (AMEDD) highest award for professional excellence, bestowed on less than 2% of AMEDD military officers) in 2013, Springfield College Peter V. Karpovich lecturer in 2018, Order of Military Medical Merit (O2M3) in 2019 and Texas American Sports Medicine Fall Lecturer in 2019. He is an associate editor for Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport and the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, editorial board member for Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and Growth Hormone and IGF-I Research and a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine.
He has over 175 peer-reviewed publications indexed on PubMed that have been cited over 5,000 times with an h-index of 41. He is also an Army Reserve Officer (COL) having continuous military service since 1991 when he enlisted and has served in staff and command positions at the platoon, company, battalion and brigade level. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow (IMA) at the Joint Special Operations University, Special Operations Command in Tampa, FL and served as the Brigade Commander of the Southeast Medical Area Readiness Group (SE-MARSG) in Nashville, TN under the Army Reserve Medical Command (AR-MEDCOM) from 2017-2019. He was deployed in 2004-2005 in Mosul, Iraq as an executive officer (XO) for a military transition team (MiTT) with the 98th DIV(IT) embedded with the 25th ID as an Iraqi Army advisor and was awarded a Bronze Star and the Combat Action Badge. He and his wife Jeanne have 5 children: Ashley, Lyndsey, Zachary, Joshua and Cooper.
Juan Taboas, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
Bio
Dr. Juan Taboas is an Associate Professor with the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences in the School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a Professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Dr. Taboas earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida and earned his master’s in Engineering Science (Biomechanical Engineering) from Stanford University. He then entered the MS/PhD program at the University of Michigan, where he earned a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering. He performed his postgraduate training at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Polymers Division, NIST) and at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS, NIH) before he came to Pittsburgh.
Dr. Taboas is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Society for Biomaterials, the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), the Tissue Engineering International and Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS), and the American Association for Dental Research (AADR). He is a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD), and he reviews manuscripts for several journals, including Acta Biomaterialia, Biomedical Materials, PLOS One, and The Journal of Dental Research.
Dr. Taboas’ research seeks to regenerate craniofacial and skeletal tissues. His laboratory focuses on regenerating bone and tissues that interface with bone, such as the pulp of teeth and the cartilages of the growth plate and mandibular condyle. They have developed scaffold biomaterials, drug delivery systems, and live-cell imaging methods to study the biology and regeneration of these tissues. With these tools, they can control stem cell differentiation, tissue formation and endochondral ossification. The work is funded by the NIH and DoD.
Moderators
Pouneh K. Fazeli, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
Deborah L. Galson, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
The Galson lab research has two main themes: (1) The molecular mechanisms driving aberrant osteoclasts in Paget’s disease of bone. (2) Cancer-Bone interactions with a focus on Myeloma bone disease – communication between cancer cells and both osteoclasts and osteoblasts.
Giuseppe Intini, DDS, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Periodontics and Preventive Dentistry
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
Bio
Dr. Intini’s research focuses on skeletal stem cells and of bone cancer stem cells. He uses genetic strategies and in vivo imaging to study the location and function of these cells and the molecular mechanisms that control their “stemness” in health and disease.
Kristen J. Koltun, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Neuromuscular Research Lab
Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition
University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Bio
Dr. Koltun’s current research focuses on investigating sex-differences in the physiological mechanisms underlying bone adaptation to physical activity in exercising and military populations.
Hang Lin, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Bio
There are three integrated projects ongoing in Dr. Lin lab: investigating the association between aging and osteoarthritis (OA); establishing an in vitro microphysiological model for OA pathogenesis study and drug development; and testing stem cell-based therapy for the repair of cartilage injury.
Fatima Syed Picard, MSE, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Oral Biology
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine