Posts classified under: Molecular & Medical Pharmacology

Ming Guo, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

Ming Guo, M.D., Ph.D., is P. Gene & Elaine Smith Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Professor at UCLA Department of Neurology, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. As a practicing Neurologist, she sees patients with memory disorders, neurodegenerative and neurogenetic disorders, referred from both domestic and international sources. As a researcher, her lab investigates molecular mechanisms of the two most common neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Mutations in PINK1 and PARKIN lead to inherited forms of Parkinson’s disease. Her lab is one of the first two labs worldwide to report the function of PINK1, and to discover that PINK1, a mitochondria-localized serine-threonine kinase, and PARKIN, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, act in a common genetic pathway to regulate mitochondrial integrity and mitochondrial quality control. Her work has wide-range implications for controlling processes in aging, and other aging-related diseases including other neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease and metabolic disorders. Dr. Guo is an elected member of the American Neurological Association (ANA), and has received many awards. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellow, a McKnight Neuroscience Foundation Brain Disorder Awardee, an Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Aging, a Klingenstein-Simon’s Fellow in Neuroscience, and the Klingenstein-Simon Foundation Robert H. Ebert Clinical Scholar. Her work is also supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) EUREKA (Exceptional Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) award. In addition, she was selected to receive the ANA Derek Denny Brown Neurological Scholar Award that is given to one or two awardees each year, and the John Walsh Young Investigator Award, which is given to one Assistant or Associate professor every three years for their research creativity at UCLA. Dr. Guo is actively involved in community service. She is Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS). She also serves as a member of a Blue Ribbon Panel for the NIH/NINDS, the ANA Scientific Program Advisory Committee, the Society of Neuroscience Program Committee, and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the A.P. Giannini Foundation in California.

Harley Kornblum, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Kornblum is a basic and translational researcher in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center of the Semel Research Institute. He is Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is also an attending Pediatric Neurologist at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA and the founding director of the Neural Stem Cell Research Center. He is a member of the Brain Research Institute, The Broad Stem Cell Research Center and the Molecular Biology Institute and serves on the Steering Committe of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center. Dr. Kornblum received his AB degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his MD and PhD degrees from UC Irvine. He trained as a Pediatrics Resident and Pediatric Neurology Fellow at UCLA. He did undergraduate research with Dr. Eugene M. Johnson and received his PhD in the laboratory of Frances M. Leslie. He pursued postdoctoral research with Dr. Christine M. Gall at UCI and Dr. Harry Chugani at UCLA. Dr. Kornblum is a frequent lecturer on the topics of neural stem cells and brain tumors at conferences and universities world-wide and has published over 100 research articles and book chapters. Dr. Kornblum is the recipient of numerous grants from the Federal Government as well as philanthropic foundations. He served as the Eleanor Leslie Professor of Pioneering Brain Research.