The Normandale Community College Biology Department will host a pair of Slice of Life Science Seminars on Monday, April 14 and April 21 from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Lorenz Auditorium on both days.
The two events are “The Self-Discovery of your Immune System) with Dr. Michael Manoharan Valerio (April 14) and the "Unconventional Regulatory Pathways of G-protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs)" with Dr. Nisha Patel (April 21).
The “Self-Discovery Journey of your Immune System” talks about how you rely on your senses to distinguish between yourself, humans, plants and animals. In the same manner, your immune system needs to use its "senses" to identify when the body is healthy or invaded by a foreign entity. This seminar will discuss how one branch of your immune system is trained to hone their senses in order to distinguish the aforementioned scenarios and what are the consequences of failing to do so.
Dr. Manoharan Valerio is a postdoctoral fellow whose research is focused the development of regulatory T cells after systemic cytoreductive therapies.
He was born and raised in Puerto Rico and carries his heritage with pride and joy. He has loved science ever since he was boy reading comics and watching sci-fi films. The world of academia has allowed me to indulge in my curiosity and pursue “figuring out how things work” as a career. In his bio he states that he I eventually want to become a professor and help foster and nurture the innate curiosity we all possess. He also wants to change the image of a scientist and help empower Latinx and non-native English speakers in the world of STEM. Siempre representando a mi isla del encanto!
The "Unconventional Regulatory Pathways of G-protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs)" focuses on how G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are transmembrane proteins that respond to external stimuli. GPCRs regulate various physiological processes and are major target of pharmaceutical drugs. Patel’s research is focused on regulation of GPCR trafficking and signaling by cytoskeletal motors.
Dr. Patel is also a postdoctoral fellow who is a cell biologist primarily interested in understanding the role of cytoskeletal elements in regulation of GPCR trafficking and signaling.
To study this, she uses various experimental approaches, including biophysical, spectroscopic, chemogenetic, and signaling techniques. Currently, she is NIH IRACDA postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
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