Zhang Neuroscience Research Laboratories News Archive

 

Zhang Laboratory Visitors

2005

Dr. Jaroslaw Aronowski, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Director of Stroke Research in the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas - Houston, Medical School lectured for Neuroscience Grand Rounds at 8:00 a.m. on January 12, 2005. Dr. Aronowski focused on intracerebral hemorrhage, especially the secondary brain injury and role of inflammatory reaction.

Toshihiko Kuroiwa, MD, visited Zhang neuroscience lab in May 30, 2005 and did a seminar. Dr. Kuroiwa is a professor of neurosurgery and neuropathology from the Department of Neuropathology at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan. His research interests include experimental cerebral ischemia and trauma.

Dr. Patricia Hurn visited Zhang neuroscience lab in September, 2005 and did a seminar in the Basic Science Seminar Series. Dr. Hurn is Professor and Vice Chairman for Research Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Hurn's presentation was warmly appreciated by LLU researchers.

Dr. Robert Loch Macdonald visited Zhang neuroscience lab in November, 2005 and did the Neuroscience Grand Round. Dr. Macdonald is Professor of Neurosurgery and Residency Program Director at the University of Chicago.

2006

Dr. Eng Lo, Professor of Neuroscience at the Harvard University Medical School, visited LLU and did a presentation on stroke research in the Basic Science Seminar series on March 30, 2006. Many neuroscience researchers commented that Dr. Lo's talk was one of the best seminars in recent years in LLU.

Dr. Shimamura revisited Zhang lab in April 21, 2006 and presented a seminar in the LLU Neuroscience Consortium Research Conference. Dr. Shimamura finished research training at Zhang lab and went back to Japan in October 2005. His work has been accepted in Stroke and in Journal of Neuroscience Method.

Dr. Valina Dawson, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Physiology at Johns Hopkins, visited LLU and did a seminar on cell death pathways in the Basic Science Seminar Series on May 18, 2006. Her excellent work impressed the cell death research faculty members and graduate students in LLU.

Dr. Timothy Schallert, Professor of Psychology and Neurobiology from University of Texas at Austin, visited LLU and presented his work on animal behavior of stroke and Parkinson disease on June 1, 2006. LLU researchers enjoyed Dr. Schallert's unique techniques of handling animals.

Dr. Stephen C. Jones, Director of Anesthesiology Research, Professor of Anesthesiology, from Drexel University College of Medicine gave a lecture at the Basic Science Seminar at LLU on October 12, 2006. Dr. Jones also presented on MRI in cerebral ischemia on October 13, 2006 at the LLU Neuroscience Research Consortium Research Conference.

Dr. Michael Chopp, Professor and Director from Henry Ford Hospital, visited Loma Linda University and lectured at the Neuroscience Grand Round on November 29, 2006 and then the Basic Science Seminar on November 30, 2006. Dr. Chopp's lectures were well received and praised by graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members.

2007

Dr. Ulf Schneider, a neurosurgeon from University of Heidelberg Germany, visited the Zhang lab in January 2007 to conduct collaborative research of subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Dr. Alex Chen, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Neurology, and Neuroscience in Michigan State University visited and lectured on a role of eNOS in vascular function in the LLU Basic Science Seminar Series on January 18, 2007.

Dr. David Harder, Professor and Director of the Cardiovascular Institute at the Medical College of Wisconsin, visited and lectured in the Basic Science Seminar Series on February 8, 2007. Dr. Harder's lecture was warmly welcomed by faculty members and graduate students.

Dr. Robert Lee, Professor of Anesthesia from McMaster University in Ontario Canada, presented at the Loma Linda University Neuroscience Consortium Research Conference in March 2007. Dr. Lee's presentation was well accepted.

Dr. Talat Kiris, Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery from University of Istanbul Turkey, visited Loma Linda University in March 2007 and did the Neurosurgery Grand Round.

Dr. Marilyn Cipolla, Associate Professor from the Departments of Neurology, Pharmacology, and OB/GYN, University of Vermont, lectured in the LLU Basic Science Seminar Series on March 29, 2007. Marilyn is an established researcher in cerebral circulation and her presentation on cerebral vascular tone, BBB, and brain edema is greatly appreciated by faculty and graduate students.

Wendy Lee, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Anatomy and Cell Biology, The Section of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, visited Loma Linda University and gave a lecture on rediscovering insulin-like growth factor 1 in the Basic Science Seminar Series on April 26, 2007.

Zhengwei Cai, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics in the University of Mississippi Medical Center lectured on neonatal hypoxia-ischemia in the Loma Linda University Neuroscience Consortium Research Conference on July 20, 2007. His new animal model impressed all neuroscience researchers.

Rose Du, MD, PhD, a faculty member from Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School visited the Zhang Laboratory in August 2007.

Dr. Weihai Ying, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology from University of California San Francisco, did an impressive presentation in the Loma Linda University Neuroscience Research Consortium on August 10, 2007. His NAD nasal application stroke treatment strategy received warm discussion.

Nabil J. Alkayed, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Physiology and Pharmacology, Director, Core Molecular Laboratories and Training, Department of Anesthesiology and Peri-Operative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, lectured on "Lipid signaling and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) in Neuroprotection" on November 30, 2007, in the Loma Linda University Neuroscience Consortium Research Conference. Dr. Alkayed's presentation impressed neuroscience researchers.

Ying Xia, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics from Yale University School of Medicine, lectured at the Loma Linda University Neuroscience Consortium Research Conference on December 7, 2007, on "Insight of neuroprotection mechanisms." Unique signaling pathways presented attracted warm attention.

2008

LLU Awards

At the LLU Annual Post-graduate Convention research symposium on March 5, 2007, Miss Wanqiu Chen took first place in the basic science graduate student competition and Dr. Steve Lee took third place in the basic science research fellow competition. Congratulation to both of them--may they spend their award money wisely.

WARC Awards

Dr. Matchett attended the Western Anesthesia Resident Conference research competition, which was held in Utah on May 5-7, 2006. A total of 108 abstracts were submitted from residents across the Western US including UCLA, UCSF, Stanford, UC Irvine, UCSD, U Wash, and Oregon, etc. Dr. Matchett was in the top 12 finalists on the poster competition and was invited to give an oral presentation. Based on the oral presentation, Dr. Matchett was the overall winner of the conference.

Dr. Steve Lee won the first place in poster presentation and then won the first place for oral and overall presentation in the Western Anesthesia Research Conference on May 5, 2007. This is the second time Loma Linda won the first place in this competition. Congratulations to Steve.

Zhang Lab Renovation

Zhang lab renovation is complete and Zhang lab researchers have moved into the new lab in Risley Hall in June 2006. The new lab has four long work benches and can accommodate more than 16 researchers to conduct experiments. There are two adjacent offices, a culture lab, a library, a conference room, and a special bench for morphological studies.

Dr. Jiping Tang, Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, will share part of the new lab to conduct research using transgenic mice.

D. Richard Hartman's neurobehavioral functional lab is also located on the second floor of Risley Hall.

Research Money for Neuroscience

Several core members of the LLU Neuroscience Consortium have more research supports from NIH. Dr. Steve Ashwal got his NIH grant a few months ago to study pediatric traumatic brain injury and diffuse axonal injury. Dr. Jiping Tang was awarded an NIH grant to study oxidative brain injury after intracerebral hemorrhage. Dr. Andre Obenaus achieved two NASA awards to develop novel imaging approaches to visualize radiation-related brain injury and to study charged particle radiation on brain structure and function.

Farewell to Zhang Researchers

Dr. Elena Titova is a neurologist from Russia who has done a great job in the Tang Laboratory and has published several papers within two years. Dr. Titova began to pursue electrophysiological studies in other laboratories at LLU in June 2007.

Dr. Steve Lee is a general surgeon from California. He had a great year at the Zhang laboratory, and he is admitted into residency in anesthesiology at LLU in June 2007.

Dr. Hugo Rojas is accepted by pathology at LLU in June 2007 after he finished his one-year research in the Zhang Laboratory.

Dr. Tamiji Tsubokawa is a neurosurgeon from Tokyo who spent two years in Zhang Lab. Tamiji is interested in focal cerebral ischemia and is extremely productive. Tamiji went back to Tokyo to resume his clinical duties on August 6, 2006. We hope Tamiji will come back to visit us and work with us again in the near future.

Dr. Solaroglu finished his research work in Zhang lab and will leave in May 2006 for Turkey. Ihsan is a neurosurgeon and a productive researcher. He has published two review articles and several co-authored papers while at Zhang lab and has submitted his original article for publication. We hope Ihsan will come back to work with us again.

Dr. Yata is a neurologist from Mie, Japan. He has finished his research training in Zhang lab and will leave for Japan in May 2006. Ken is a hard working person and has co-authored papers. His original article has been submitted for publication. We wish Ken all the best in his clinical job in Japan.

Dr. Zhou finished his research training in Zhang Lab and went back in March 2006 to China to resume his position as the Chairman of Anesthesiology in the Loma Linda Hospital in Hangzhou China. Mike worked very hard and performed a study on the role of HIF in global cerebral ischemia. Good luck Mike!

Dr. Cahill has finished training in the Zhang Lab and went back to Cork, Ireland on December 21, 2005. Julian has prepared three papers and will write one or two more papers. His first review article on early brain injury after SAH has been accepted for publication in the JCBFM.

John Win Calvert did a great dissertation in November 2005 and was awarded a PhD in physiology by Loma Linda University. Dr. Calvert will be going to Albert Einstein College in New York for a postdoc training.

Dr. Norihito Shimamura did one-year postdoc training in the Zhang lab and went back to Japan September 2005. The one-year visit by Dr. Shimamura was so fruitful that three scientific papers were prepared.

Dr. Hiroshi Yatsushige has spent two years in the Zhang Lab and went back to Japan October 2005. Hiroshi has published one paper recently in Stroke and has prepared two more papers before he left.

Dr. Yamaguchi finished his research training in the Zhang lab and published a number of papers in the high impact journals before went back to Japan.

Summer Research Completed

Several summer students joined Neuroscience laboratories in June 2006 including Jeffrey C. Chiu from Florida State University College of Medicine, Cara Monroe, Wendy Lo and Thomas Bravo from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Jason Calinisan from University of California Riverside, Neal Dach from San Bernardino Valley College, Brandon Schmid from Andrews University, as well as Jennifer Zhang from Poly High School, California. All of them had made great contributions to the ongoing research projects.

Thomas Bravo and Aliiah Jourdain, two Loma Linda Medical Students, Brendan Matus from Andrews, and Connie Chang from University of California Riverside joined Zhang Laboratory in 2007 summer.

Loma Linda Neuroscience Consortium

The neuroscience consortium in Loma Linda University has been growing quickly in the past few months. In addition to Zhang Lab, Tang Lab, Ashwal Lab, Obenaus Lab, other faculty members including Bill Pearce, Danilyn Angeles, and Richard Hartman have participated and contributed by attending and by giving lectures in the consortium conference which is held every Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the Anatomy Museum. Dr. Miao from pediatric endocrinology and Dr. Nie from radiation biology are also involved. We want to encourage more neuroscience faculty members and graduate student interested in neuroscience to attend this conference. Please contact Dr. John Zhang, the coordinator of the consortium for additional information.

Cerebral Physiology Graduate Course

A new graduate course on cerebral physiology will be offered this summer to graduate students, residents, clinical or research fellows, and junior faculty members. Drs. Zhang, Tang, Angeles, Wolf, Jadhav, Ostrowski, Obenaus, and Hartman from physiology, biochemistry, radiation biology, and psychology will speak on pathophysiology of cerebral circulation including brain edema, BBB, CBF, ICP, neuro-imaging, neurobehavioral testing, biochemical neurol-markers, clinical trials, and neurological disorders including neonatal hypoxia-ischemia, cerebral ischemia, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral vasospasm, neuro-radiology, neurol-ICU, and cerebral anesthesiology. Please contact Dr. John Zhang, the course director, for additional information.

NeuroUpdate - 2006

The first Joint Clinical Neuroscience Conference: NeuroUpdate-2006 was held on February 15, 2006 in the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center at Loma Linda University. Faculty members from neurosurgery, neurology, neuroophthalmology, and neuroradiology including Drs. Swope, Hsu, Uber-Zak, Osterdock, Su, Luh, Johnson, Agarwal, Tong, Zouros, Giang, and Kirsch presented in this conference. Dr. Robert F. Spetzler, MD, J. N. Harber Chair of Neurosurgery from the Barrow Neurological Institute, served as the special honored guest. This event was organized by Dr. Colohan, Chief of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Zhang, Director of Neurosurgical Research.