Episode #36: Mapping the Human Genome with Dr. Eric Green, MD, PhD
On this episode, Will sat down with Dr. Eric Green, the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (or NHGRI) since 2009, which is one of the research arms of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Prior to his appointment, Dr. Green trained at Washington University School of Medicine in the laboratory of Maynard Olson, and later as an assistant Professor of Genetics, where he spearheaded WashU’s contribution to the Human Genome Project from beginning to end. In his time as Director of NHGRI, Dr. Green has pioneered the development of the precision medicine agenda, which aims to deploy large, detailed, and diverse genomic and biometric datasets to inform personalized treatments to patients.
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Episode #35: The Story of Ubiquitin with Dr. Aaron Ciechanover
In this episode, Will sat down with Dr. Aaron Ciechanover, biologist and Distinguished Research Professor in the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Dr. Ciechanover is renowned for his work in studying the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins. While in the laboratory of Avram Hershko, they discovered that small proteins, called ubiquitin, were attached in chains to targeted proteins, marking them for degradation by a proteasome. This system is highly regulated and was subsequently found to be a factor in many diseases and areas of biology, so much that in 2004, Dr. Ciechanover was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry while on faculty at Washington University. Enjoy!
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Episode #34: Uncovering New Worlds with Prof. Tansu Daylan, PhD
Today, we sat down with Professor Tansu Daylan, astrophysicist, Assistant Professor of Physics, and faculty fellow at the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences here at WashU. Dr. Daylan works with data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite on the discovery and characterization of exoplanets. He is also interested in researching the particle nature of dark matter. Have you ever been interested in how researchers discover planets outside our solar system? Or perhaps wondered if there could exist life in other corners of our universe? Listen on to find out!
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Episode #33: Discovering Hepatitis C Virus with Dr. Charles Rice, PhD
Today we sat down with Dr. Charles Rice, the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor in Virology at Rockefeller University. Dr. Rice is an expert in RNA viruses, viruses that use RNA as opposed to DNA in their genome, and studies the body’s innate immune response to infection. However, he is most known for his work on Hepatitis C Virus, which causes liver disease and cirrhosis if untreated. Dr. Rice was the first to achieve a successful cell culture of Hepatitis C, create a functional clone of the virus, and prove that the virus causes the disease. This work led to the first effective treatments for Hepatitis C, saving millions of lives worldwide and earning Dr. Rice and his collaborators the 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.
Title music: World Is Holding Hands by WinnieTheMoog
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Episode #32: Autophagy and ATD with Dean David H. Perlmutter, MD
Today, we sat down with Dr. David H. Perlmutter, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of Washington University School of Medicine, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor. Dean Perlmutter leads one of the largest medical schools in the country, currently ranked #2 in NIH funding among US medical schools nationwide. He is also a pediatric gastroenterologist who is internationally known for his research on autophagy and on alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency or ATD, the latter of which is a genetic disorder resulting in liver damage. We hope you enjoy this episode with Dean David Perlmutter.
Title music: World Is Holding Hands by WinnieTheMoog
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
On this podcast, we sit down with experts and pioneers in the fields of medicine and technology to learn about everything from the scientific research of today to the innovation of tomorrow. Journey with us to tell the stories of Master Minds in the WashU community around us and beyond.
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