Sunday, August 14, 2022
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Chemistry AND Physics

Pagliarini earns presidential recognition for research on mitochondria

February 22, 2016
in Chemistry AND Physics
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

MADISON — Dave Pagliarini, director of metabolism at the Morgridge Institute for Research and associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has received the U.S. government's highest honor for scientists in the early stages of their careers.

President Barack Obama announced this month that Pagliarini is among 105 recipients nationally of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The awards recognize scientists "who show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge in the 21st century." PECASE was created in 1996 with the goal of maintaining U.S. global leadership in science.

The Pagliarini lab focuses on the composition and function of mitochondria, tiny cellular structures at the heart of metabolism and energy production. Mitochondria still hold many secrets, and their dysfunction is associated with as many as 150 human diseases, including cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's.

Pagliarini's team is focused on hundreds of "orphan" proteins used by the mitochondria — proteins that currently have no clear, defined function. Defining these proteins and understanding how they work together as a system will be a major step toward finding their link to disease and developing targeted therapies.

"An award like this, to me, is much more of a call to action than it is an affirmation of what we have already done," says Pagliarini. "It's reflective of the hard work of my entire team and of the collaborative environment we enjoy at UW-Madison. It really motivates us to be aggressive with our science and to take on the most important problems in our field."

"We are very proud of Dave's accomplishment," adds Kathryn VandenBosch, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. "The significant potential of his work on the fundamental cell machinery of mitochondria has always been evident to those of us at UW-Madison. This acknowledgement demonstrates that others also appreciate his creativity and innovation."

Pagliarini's nomination came from the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders (NIDDK), which funds part of his program aimed at understanding how cells turn mitochondrial functions on or off –research that could prove very important for treating mitochondrial dysfunction. Because mitochondria are independent, double-membraned structures within a cell, they are very difficult to infiltrate for potential treatment. Pagliarini's NIDDK funding is enabling his lab to explore an alternative therapeutic approach .

"The idea is that if we could understand which cellular communication pathways influence mitochondrial metabolism, we would have new therapeutic options," he says. "Enzymes in signaling pathways have emerged as effective drug targets for diseases like cancer, but the analogous enzymes important for mitochondrial activity aren't yet sufficiently understood to design a rational therapy. We're trying to fix that."

Pagliarini joined the Morgridge Institute in fall 2015 to lead a campus-wide initiative to bolster metabolism research. Pagliarini is charged with hiring new research talent in strategic areas, investing in technology critical to this field, and helping build community among more than 200 metabolism researchers across UW-Madison.

Pagliarini emphasizes to his biochemistry undergraduate students that "science is a living, ongoing enterprise, not merely a collection of established facts. When students realize that science is a process in which they they can actively participate and make a difference, they light up and want to know more."

###

Media Contact

Brian Mattmiller
[email protected]
608-316-4332

http://discovery.wisc.edu/morgridge/

Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • Amanda Poholek, Ph.D.

    Reinvigorating ‘lost cause’ exhausted T cells could improve cancer immunotherapy

    122 shares
    Share 49 Tweet 31
  • A new method boosts wind farms’ energy output, without new equipment

    75 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Researchers fabricate cobalt copper catalysts for methane on metal-organic framework Contributes to goal of methane production from carbon dioxide emissions

    67 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • New insights on how some individuals with obesity can lose weight – and keep it off

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Brightest stars in the night sky can strip Neptune-sized planets to their rocky cores

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • The North American Menopause Society releases its 2022 Hormone Therapy Position Statement

    145 shares
    Share 58 Tweet 36
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

Reinvigorating ‘lost cause’ exhausted T cells could improve cancer immunotherapy

Experts optimistic about converting coal plants to production of clean geothermal energy

A role for cell ‘antennae’ in managing dopamine signals in the brain

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 193 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In