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Dr. Elias I. Michaelis
University Distinguished Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Director of Higuchi Biosciences Center and
Center for Neurobiology and Immunology Research
University of Kansas, Lawrence
Thur,
Feb 7, 2008, 7pm
RESEARCH LECTURE, Jones
212 "Life
Among Neurons: Excitation, Alcoholism, Aging, and Neurodegeneration" Fri,
Feb 8, 2008, 3pm
CHEMISTRY CAREERS SESSION, Ivers
386 "Graduate Education and Research in the Biomedical Sciences in the
21st Century: The Best of Times, the Most Challenging of Times"
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Dr. Elias K. Michaelis is a University Distinguished Professor,
Chairman of the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department and Director of
Higuchi Biosciences Center and Center for Neurobiology and Immunology
Research at the University of Kansas. He received his B.S. in biology
in 1966 from Fairleigh Dickinson University, his M.D. in 1969 from St.
Louis University, and his Ph.D. in physiology and
biophysics-neurochemistry in 1973 from the University of Kentucky. As
director of the Higuchi Biosciences Center, Dr. Michaelis helps foster
research that may lead to answers about the bases of diseases such as
cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders. He directs the design
of therapeutic agents and investigation of basic chemical and biological
phenomena relevant to the biomedical sciences. Professor Michaelis and
his research group have been studying the brain proteins that function
as receptors for the neurotransmitters L-glutamic and L-aspartic acid in
mammalian brains. These proteins control excitability and viability of
nerve cells under several conditions and pathologic states such as
Huntington's disease, alcoholism, or Alzheimer's disease. Experimental
approaches include: Isolation and characterization of proteins that have
the characteristics of NMDA receptors; production of polyclonal and
monoclonal antibodies for topographic and molecular studies; sequencing
of proteins; synthesis of cDNA probes; study of expression of receptor
proteins under physiologic and pathologic conditions; reconstitution of
receptors in liposomes and measurement of ion channel activity by rapid
kinetic instrumentation and patch clamp techniques. More recent studies
are focused on the steps of signal transduction in neurons and the
modification produced by chronic alcoholism, oxidation and aging. Dr.
Michaelis travels the world presenting and participating in many
scientific conferences including the Drug Discovery for
Neurodegeneration Conference. |
