Arno Roscher

Unfortunately, this years speaker has cancelled but we have a short video that ties Dr Roscher’s interest in space exploration with the medical experiments that made space exploration possible. We put together a slide show of the presentation covering the first animals in space, human endurance, surgery in space, and telemedicine.
There wasn’t enough time to include all of the information on the Cosmos so there’s another short presentation on Exploring the Immensity of the Cosmos

Tobias Raabe PhD Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Perlman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Professor Raabe received a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics in the Lab Of Prof. Werner Arber at the University Of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, in 1988.

His lab is pioneering the derivation and characterization of adult mouse and human liver derived bipotent ductal organoids. These organoids can be cloned and passaged over many months in culture and can be readily genetically manipulated. His lab uses these organoids for liver cell/gene therapy as well as for liver disease modeling and drug screening. Recently, the Raabe lab discovered that bipotent ductal organoids can readily be derived from endstage NASH patient liver and have shown that they share many functional properties of the NASH liver they were derived from. This opens the new area of personalized functional analysis and medicine for NASH based on NASH patient liver derived organoids. In addition, the Raabe lab has strong expertise in CRISPR-mediated gene thargeting and collaborates with various researchers on CRISPR - generated knockin mouse models.

Ara Tilkian M.D. Director of Cardiology, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills, CA

Dr. Tilkian, a graduate of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, received his medical education from the University of Illinois School of Medicine, and completed his internal medicine and cardiology training at Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.

He has written numerous articles and two cardiology textbooks and is an editorial consultant to four specialty medical journals.

Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran M.D. Professor of Medicine and Pathology at USC, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner/Director (Retired)

Daniel Rader, M.D. Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine; Chair, Department of Genetics; Chief, Divisions of Human Genetics, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics; Perelman School of Medicine - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

The Rader laboratory is focused on two major themes: 1) novel pathways regulating lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis inspired by unbiased studies of human genetics; 2) factors regulating the structure and function of high density lipoproteins and the process of reverse cholesterol transport and their relationship to atherosclerosis. A variety of basic cell and molecular laboratory techniques, mouse models, and translational research approaches are used in addressing these questions.

Jonathan Epstein, M.D. William Wikoff Smith Professor of Cardiovascular Research, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received his medical education from Harvard Medical School.

The Epstein laboratory is interested in molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular development and stem cell biology, and the implications of these mechanisms for understanding human disease.

Recent work focuses on the role of chromatin remodeling, histone deacetylation (HDACs) and a small homeodomain protein called Hopx that is expressed in adult stem cells.

Ara Tilkian, M.D., FACC Director of Cardiology, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills, California, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA

Dr. Tilkian, a graduate of the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, received his medical education from the University of Illinois School of Medicine, and completed his internal medicine and cardiology training at Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.

He has written numerous articles and two cardiology textbooks and is an editorial consultant to four specialty medical journals.

Clive R. Taylor, M.D. D.Phil., FRCP (Ir)., FRCPath. Chair of Pathology, University of Southern California 1984-2009; Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists ( U.K.), Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Member of the Royal Society of Medicine and a Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology. He has served as President of the U.S. Association of Pathology Chairs, President of the U.S. Biological Stain Commission and Chair of the FDA Advisory Panel for Diagnostic Devices. He is Editor-in-Chief of AIMM, Applied Immunihistochemestry and Molecular Morphology.

Richard J. Cote, M.D., FRCPath, FCAP. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Professor and Joseph R. Coulter Jr. Chair, Department of Pathology, Chief of Pathology, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Director, Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute, Miami FL.

Wayne W. Grody M.D., PhD. Professor, Divisions of Medical Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Human Genetics, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA. USA.

Ira Shulman, M.D., Professor of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Director of Laboratories, Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, Transfusion Services, USC Norris Cancer Hospital, Los Angeles, CA.

He is the Editor and Moderator of a transfusion medicine discussion group called the e-Network Forum that is considered the premier educational program for distance learning (and networking) in transfusion medicine.

Guilherme Silva, M.D., Assistant Medical Director, Stem Cell Center, Texas Heart Institute at St Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston, TX.

During his training at the Texas Heart Institute, Dr. Silva held the position of Chief Cardiology Fellow and Chief Interventional Cardiology Fellow and was chosen as the outstanding cardiology fellow of the 2007 graduating class.

The major focus of Dr. Silva has been in cardiovascular disease research and is one of the pioneers in the utilization of stem cells for treating heart attacks and heart failure.

Harold Freeman, M.D., President and Founder of Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in New York, Founder, Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute, Senior Advisor to Director of National Cancer Institute, Director of NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities, Surgeon Oncologist, New York, NY.

In 1979, Dr. Freeman established two free breast and cervical cancer-screening centers in Harlem in order to improve the chances of early detection. He authored the landmark report, "Cancer in the Economically Disadvantaged," which established the links between poverty and excess cancer mortality. Dr. Freeman was national president of the American Cancer Society from 1988 to 1989, is the chief architect of its Initiative on Cancer and the Poor, and was honored in 1990 by the American Cancer Society with the creation of a special award in his name.