Thursday, February 23, 2017

Insulin Signaling Defects Tied to Conditions Beyond Diabetes






Aurelio Galli, PhD, is a psychiatry professor at Vanderbilt University who had an integral role in the creation of a substance-abuse neuroscience program. Respected in his field, Dr. Aurelio Galli has undertaken extensive research on the neurobiology of addiction. In 2010, his work was featured in an article in The Scientist that explored his groundbreaking collaboration with an endocrinologist on the way in which molecular-level insulin signaling may be responsible for a host of major illnesses. 

Known best for its role in the development of diabetes, insulin is a hormone that serves to regulate energy and is released by pancreatic beta cells following glucose blood sugar spikes after meals. Insulin activates certain proteins through binding to cell membranes’ insulin receptors. In diabetics, this signaling pathway gets disrupted, with the hormone either not being secreted (Type 1 diabetes) or the cells failing to respond normally to insulin (Type 2). 

Dr. Galli’s research focused on the protein kinase Akt suggests that when signaling is defective, other conditions, such as schizophrenia, may occur. This relates to the ways in which insulin and Akt impact dopamine levels in the brain. Insulin signaling issues have also been connected to a diversity of other disease processes, from bone-mass regulation defects to cancerous growths.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

The Society for Neuroscience - Neuroscience 2017

 

Serving as the associate director for research strategy at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Dr. Aurelio Galli helps guide the institute’s research strategy. Also a professor of molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Aurelio Galli belongs to the Society for Neuroscience.

The Society for Neuroscience is currently preparing for Neuroscience 2017, the society’s 47th annual meeting. The largest neuroscience conference in the world, Neuroscience 2017 expects more than 30,000 attendees from all over. The conference is designed to provide neuroscientists a place to network and collaborate, as well as learn and explore the new technologies, tools, and discoveries in the field.

Scheduled for November 11-15, 2017, the annual meeting will be held at Washington DC’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center. For those hoping to take a more active role in this year’s meeting, the Society for Neuroscience’s website confirms abstract submissions will be open from April 13 to May 4, 2017.

To learn more about the Society for Neuroscience and Neuroscience 2017, visit the organization online at sfn.org.