Scientific Program
(Click here for MDIBL Campus Map)

June 28th

Session 1: Heart.  Maren Auditorium, MDIBL Conference Center.

Chairs: James N. Weiss, Martin Morad

 2:00 PM  James N. Weiss. Opening remarks.

 2:10 PM  “The structural basis for calcium signaling in cardiac muscle”
Clara Franzini-Armstrong, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

 2:30 PM  “Ca Cycling and Cardiac Arrhythmias”
James N. Weiss, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

 2:50 PM  "Cardiac Arrhythmias in a Dish"
Leslie Tung, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

 3:10 PM – 3:40 PM Coffee Break - MDIBL Dining Hall

Chairs: Jürgen Hescheler, Martin Morad

 3:40 PM  “The electrophysiology of pulmonary vein arrhythmogenesis and Ca currents"
Allan Greenspan, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA

 4:00 PM  "Transgenic embryonic stem cells in cardiovascular research and regenerative medicine"
Jürgen Hescheler, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

 4:20 PM  "Pacemaking and excitation-contraction coupling in the early embryonic heart"
Philipp Sasse, University of Bonn, Germany

 4:40 PM  “Comparision of the electrophysiological effects of resveratrol and astringinin on rat ventrcular cells”
Ming-Jai Su, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

June 29th

 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Coffee - Lobby, MDIBL Conference Center

Session 2: Channels.   Maren Auditorium, MDIBL Conference Center.

Chairs: Yoshihisa Kurachi, Martin Morad

 9:30 AM  Franz Hofmann. Opening remarks.

 9:40 AM  “Analysis of L-type calcium channels by site-specific mutation in the mouse”
Franz Hofmann, Technical University of München, München, Germany

10:00 AM  “Regulatory mechanism of atrial L-type Ca2+ channels”
Satomi Adachi-Akahane, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan

10:20 AM  “Human Ca2+ channel: from physiology to molecular design and mechanisms”
Nikolai M Soldatov, NIA, NIH, Baltimore, MD

10:40 AM – 11:10 AM Coffee Break - Lobby, MDIBL Conference Center

Chairs: Franz Hofmann, Martin Morad

11:10 AM  “T-type channel recruitment and “low-threshold” secretion following stressful conditions in chromaffin cells”
Emilio Carbone, NIS Center of Excellence, Torino, Italy

11:30 AM  “Cholesterol and plasma membrane expression of Kv channels in cardiac myocytes”
Stéphane N Hatem, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.

11:50 AM  "Cardiac muscarinic K+ channel"
Yoshihisa Kurachi, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

12:10 PM  "Ion channels and prostate cancer: what is the link?"
Yaroslav M. Shuba, Bogomoletz Institute, Kiev, Ukraine

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Lunch - MDIBL Dining Hall

Session 3: Keynote lecture.   Maren Auditorium, MDIBL Conference Center.

Chairs: Clara Franzini-Armstrong and Martin Morad

 2:00 PM  Martin Morad. Introductory remarks.

 2:10 PM  Keynote address, Richard Orkand Memorial lecture
Erwin Neher, Max-Planck-Institut fuer biophysikalische Chemie, Goettingen, Germany.
“A biophysical dissection of glutamate release at the Calyx of Held synapse”

 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM Coffee Break and Poster session - Lobby, MDIBL Conference Center

Poster Session:

Spectral Analysis of FRET Using Linear Unmixing.
Jakub Wlodarczyk (1,2), Andrew Woehler (1), Fritz Kobe (1), Evgeni Ponimaskin (1), Andre Zeug (1), Erwin Neher (1,2)
(1) DFG-Research Center for the Molecular Physiology of the Brain (CMPB) , Göttingen, Germany
(2) Max-Planck institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany

2D Wavelet Transform Analysis of FRET Revealed Signaling Microdomains and Heterogenous Signaling Pattern of PKC Activity Associated with the Cav1.2 Calcium Channel Current.
E. Kobrnsky, S. Thomas, A. Masoudieh, and N.M. Soldatov
NIA, NIH, Baltimore, MD

Unmasking HCM, DCM and RCM Phenotypes Utilizing Biochemical and Biophysical Approaches. Is Cardiac TnC the Culprit?”
Jose Pinto, Michelle Parvatiyar and James D. Potter
Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami

Assessing Mitochondrial Ca²⁺ Regulation in Rat Cardiac Myocytes.
S. Belmonte and M. Morad
Department of Pharmacology, Georgetown University Medical Center
Washington, D.C.

IP3 and RyR Calcium Signaling in Rat Embryonic and Neonatal Cardiomyocytes
Einsley Janowski, Melissa Berrios, and Martin Morad
Department of Pharmacology, Georgetown University Medical Center
Washington, D.C.

Novel Epibatidine Analogs with alpha4beta2 nAChR Subtype-selective Activity
Galya R. Abdrakhmanova

Detecting Vesicular Proton Release and Consequent Post-synaptic NMDA Receptor Modulation.
Craig J. Dietrich, E. K. Oermann, L. Cleemann and M. Morad
Department of Pharmacology, Georgetown University Medical Center
Washington, D.C.

The poster boards are double-sided, fabric-covered, and vertical in dimension. They are 46 inches wide by 69.5 inches tall. They are free-standing. The ideal poster size is 46X46-50 inches.

June 30th

 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Coffee - Lobby, MDIBL Conference Center

Session 4: Ca signaling.   Maren Auditorium, MDIBL Conference Center.

Chairs: Alan Grinnell and Martin Morad

 9:30 AM  Alan Grinnell. Opening remarks.

 9:40 AM  “Unconventional myosins studied one at a time”
Yale E Goldman, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

10:00 AM  “Evolutionary aspects of the vertebrate cardiac Na-Ca exchanger”
Lars Cleemann, Georgetown University, Washington DC

10:20 AM  “Calsequestrin in cardiac calcium signaling – new tricks by an old friend”
Bjorn C. Knollmann, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

10:40 AM – 11:10 AM Coffee Break - Lobby, MDIBL Conference Center

Chairs: Yale E. Goldman, Martin Morad

11:10 AM  "Triadin, an 'essential' for EC coupling"
Paul D. Allen, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA

11:30 AM  "Characterizations of microdomain Ca²⁺ signaling and intracellular Ca²⁺ channels in autorhythmic atrial cell line HL-1"
Sun-Hee Woo, Chungnam University, Deajeon, Korea

11:50 AM  "Ca signaling in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells"
James S.K. Sham, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

12:10 PM  "Using BK channels to characterize Ca++ domains at presynaptic active zones"
Alan Grinnell, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

12:30 PM  "Labor and myometrial contraction in relation with oxytocin receptor"
Teruyuki Yanagisawa, Tohoku University. Sch. Med., Japan 

12:50 PM  "Hormonal regulation of cardiac ion channels via a non-genomic pathway"
Junko Kurokawa, Tokyo Medical Dental University, Japan

 1:10 PM – 2:30 PM Lunch - MDIBL Dining Hall

Session 5: Martin Morad: Celebrating great career in science

Chairs: Clay Armstrong, Erwin Neher

 2:30 PM  Clay Armstrong. Introductory remarks

 2:40 PM  Martin Morad, Closing Words