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Eileen Dolan, PhD

M. Eileen Dolan, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics at the University of Chicago. The Committee is a board-certified training program for clinical and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Dolan is an internationally recognized leader in developing cell-based methods to discover genetic variants contributing to chemotherapeutic-induced cytotoxicity, evaluating the relevance of these variants in a clinical setting, and elucidating the biochemical and cellular impact of the variants.

Her existing research program is focused on identifying cancer patients at risk for non-response or for dose-limiting toxicities prior to administration of chemotherapy. Her laboratory was the first to demonstrate that chemotherapeutic-induced cytotoxicity is a heritable trait. Her approach integrates multiple large datasets including: genetic variation, gene expression, miRNA, modified cytosine, transcription factor levels and chemotherapeutic induced pharmacologic traits (cytotoxicity, apoptosis). Her laboratory made the seminal observation that pharmacologic SNPs, identified through genome wide association studies, are enriched in expression quantitative trait loci. Her work has had continual support from the NIH, and she has multiple NIH grants (R01, R21) and, most notably, is co-PI of the U01 “Pharmacogenomics of Anticancer Agents Research (PAAR)” Group, which is part of the Pharmacogenomic Research Network (PGRN) through the NIH/NIGMS.

Dr. Dolan has over 200 publications and has presented her work both nationally and internationally. She has received several awards including the Purdue University Distinguished Women Scholars Award; Purdue University School of Pharmacy Distinguished Alumni Award; University of Dayton Distinguished Alumni Award; American Cancer Society Ambassador of Hope; American Cancer Society, IL Presidential Award for Volunteer Contributions to Research. As a volunteer for the American Cancer Society, she has given over 60 talks to raise money for cancer research.

She completed graduated training in Medicinal Chemistry at Purdue University and her post-doctoral training at Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine in Hershey. She has a bachelors of science degree in Chemistry from University of Dayton. She has been at the University of Chicago as a faculty member since 1989 and has served in a number of leadership positions. She is co-leader of the Pharmacogenomics and Experimental Program within the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. She served for a decade on the Biological Sciences Division Committee of Reappointment of Assistant Professors including serving as chair for 5 years.

Eugenia Mata-Greenwood, PharmD, PhD

Dr. Mata-Greenwood is a molecular vascular biologist whose research interests include the identification of new genetic and molecular markers of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, heart failure and pre-eclampsia. She studied and earned her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She began working with vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells in her first postdoctoral position at the Northwestern University in Chicago where she studied the molecular mechanisms responsible for persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn.  At her second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at San Diego she continued to study gene regulation in vascular cells from uterine and placental arteries and veins. In 2006 she got her first individual grant from the American Heart Association studying the differential regulation of nitric oxide production and signaling transduction in endothelial cells isolated from Caucasian and African American subjects. Currently, she is an assistant research professor in the Department of Basic Sciences and Center for Perinatal Biology, where she has continued her research on the molecular basis for human variability in the production of nitric oxide, vitamin D and steroid sensitivity, with the aid of mRNA microarrays, microRNA profiling and proteomics.

Salvador Soriano, PhD

Dr. Salvador Soriano is an Associate Professor of Anatomy at Loma Linda University. He earned his PhD in Cell Biology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, studying the role of integrins on cell cycle regulation. He then began postdoctoral training in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego before joining King’s College London as a Principal Investigator studying mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). His current research interests at Loma Linda University are a continuation of those studies and focus specifically on finding novel approaches to identify the pathogenic mechanisms that initiate AD. Current wisdom in the AD field dictates, through the amyloid hypothesis, that the accumulation of the so-called amyloid peptide in the brain is the key pathogenic trigger of the disease. This hypothesis has led researchers for more than two decades; it continues to be the most influential model of neurodegeneration, and it predicts that blocking accumulation of the amyloid peptide will ameliorate or halt progression of the disease. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly clear that amyloid peptide accumulation is unlikely to represent a key pathogenic factor, instead reflecting a secondary response to more upstream triggers still to be identified; the failure of therapeutic approaches designed to reduce amyloid levels in the brain also supports this notion, and highlights the urgency for a better understanding of what molecular events lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Current research in Dr. Soriano’s laboratory focuses on how best to address this urgent problem. His most recent results, making use of mRNA microarray analysis in brains from different mouse models, show that amyloid accumulation may indeed represent a secondary event in the progression of AD, and have also identified potential molecular pathways that appear to initiate pathogenesis.

Michael de Vera, MD

Dr. Michael E. de Vera is Professor of Surgery and Director of the Transplantation Institute at Loma Linda University. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Riverside and earned his M.D. degree at UCLA. He did his surgical residency training at the University of California, Davis-East Bay and also completed a research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh during his residency. He subsequently completed his fellowship in transplantation surgery at the University of Pittsburgh where he was Associate Professor of Surgery, Co-Director of the Liver Transplant program, and Director of the Transplant Fellowship program prior to his arrival at Loma Linda University (LLU). Dr. de Vera is an active member of numerous transplant and surgical societies and he serves in several local and national committees. His clinical research interests include the study of the progression and impact of viral infections after liver transplantation, specifically hepatitis C recurrence and HIV infection, and the use of extended criteria organs such as donation after circulatory death donor livers after transplantation. His previous laboratory studies focused on the immunobiology of human liver dendritic cells and the role of Damage Associated Molecular Pattern molecules in the growth and treatment of colorectal liver metastases. He has presented at numerous national and international meetings and has authored or co-authored over 60 publications. He has received intramural and extramural support for his work and has been the Co-PI in NIH clinical grants studying adherence & health outcomes in liver transplant recipients as well as surgical outcomes after adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation. Dr. de Vera will be leading the Transplantation Immunology Laboratory at LLU wherein one of the translational research focuses will be the immune monitoring of kidney and liver transplant patients to wean and guide the use of immunosuppressive agents and facilitate tailoring of immunosuppression in this population.

Ravi Goyal, MD, PhD

Dr. Goyal, MD, PhD is an Assistant Research Professor in the Center for Perinatal Biology, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University. In 1997, he earned his M.D. from Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, India. After completinghis residency in Internal Medicine and clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases, in 2004 he enrolled in the pharmacology PhD program at The University of Mississippi, MS. In 2008, after he earned his PhD, he came to Loma Linda University for post-doctoral training in Dr. Lawrence D. Longo’s laboratory. In 2009, he was appointed as an Assistant Research Professor, Basic Sciences. His major research interest is to explore interventions to increase life expectancy. He is currently working with C. elegans, cell culture, murine and ovine models to explore environmental stress on longevity and aging.