Science Changing Life

Are the mitochondria truly the powerhouses of the cell? In this episode, assistant professor Danielle Grotjahn shares why she thinks “the stress sensors of the cell” may be a more appropriate name for this cellular organelle–and more. Dr. Grotjahn works in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research, where her lab is answering how mitochondrial networks change shape in response to genetic, pharmacological or environmental stress. Listen as we talk about the links between mitochondrial dysfunction and disease, cell death, and the cutting-edge imaging technologies that are enabling Grotjahn and her team to peer into the mysteries of the mitochondria.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2023_images/danielle-grotjahn-transcript.pdf

Grotjahn lab website

https://grotjahnlab.org/

Twitter

@nani_grotjahn

Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Dr. Stuti Jaiswal is an assistant professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and an internist at Scripps Clinic. Listen in as we discuss the health issues associated with insufficient sleep, the best time to go to bed and what the latest wearables can tell us about our sleep patterns.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2023_images/stuti-jaiswal-transcript.pdf

REFRESH sleep study at Scripps Research

https://refresh.scripps.edu/

The Digital Trials Center current research

https://digitaltrials.scripps.edu/about/

Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Dr. Evert Njomen is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Professor Ben Cravatt, based in the Department of Chemistry. Listen as we talk about the autophagy process to cleanse cells, new ways of dealing with antibiotic resistance and cooking with homegrown herbs.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2022_images/podcast-images/Evert-Njomen-transcript.pdf

Evert awarded prestigious fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2021/20210304-njomen-howard-hughes-medical-institute-fellowship.html

Cravatt lab website

https://www.scripps.edu/cravatt/index.html

Tweet @EvertNjomen

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Subscribe to receive our monthly e-newsletter

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@scrippsresearch on Twitter

Professor Andrew Su is based in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, where his lab develops digital tools to draw conclusions from the vast streams of medical data generated each day. Listen to us discuss gaming as a way of being a scientist, the replacement of doctors with machine-learning and your Netflix watching history.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2022_images/podcast-images/Andrew-Su-transcript.pdf

Andrew’s TEDx talk: Building the knowledgebase of biology using citizen science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT_pj1cB0Q8

Su lab website

https://sulab.org/

Tweet: @andrewsu

Citizen science initiatives:

https://www.zooniverse.org/

https://fold.it/

https://stallcatchers.com/main

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Subscribe to receive our monthly e-newsletter

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@scrippsresearch on Twitter

Dr. Travis Young is the Vice President of Biologics at Calibr, the drug discovery and development division of Scripps Research. Travis and the team have created a new type of immunotherapy called “switchable” chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which is already delivering precise and powerful therapies to patients with the most difficult to treat cancers. Listen as we talk about reengineering an individual’s immune T cells, promising clinical trials in leukemia and lymphoma patients, and using similar approaches to treat autoimmune diseases.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2022_images/podcast-images/Travis-Young-transcript.pdf

Travis and his colleagues discuss ongoing therapies being developed at Calibr during the Front Row lecture series

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRzQniqUlHo&t=2625s

Preliminary results of switchable CAR-T cells in lymphoma patients

https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2021/20211208-calibr-announces-clinical-data-car-t-cells.html

Tweet: @CARTCellTherapy

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Subscribe to receive our monthly e-newsletter

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@scrippsresearch on Twitter

Part three of our mini-series centered on brain health. Professor Frederick Barrett is based in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Associate Director at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. Fred and his colleagues investigate the therapeutic effects of psychoactive substances in intractable patient populations, including those with depression, opioid use disorder and cognitive impairments. Listen as we talk about the different types of hallucinogenic mushrooms, whether psychedelics could one day treat neurodegeneration and the remedial value of a bad “trip.”

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2022_images/podcast-images/Frederick-Barrett-transcript.pdf

Fred’s TEDMED talk: The neuroscience of psychedelic drugs, music and nostalgia

https://www.ted.com/talks/frederick_streeter_barrett_the_neuroscience_of_psychedelic_drugs_music_and_nostalgia?language=en

Center for Psychedelics and Consciousness Research

https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/barrett

Tweet: @FredBarrettPhD

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Subscribe to receive our monthly e-newsletter

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@scrippsresearch on Twitter

The second part of our three-part mini-series on brain health. Professor Ryan Shenvi is based in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research, where his lab reconstructs useful molecules typically found in remote corners of the world. Listen as we talk about traditional remedies of indigenous cultures, formulating medicines from industrial waste and Charles Dickens’ drinking habits.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2022_images/podcast-images/Ryan-Shenvi-transcript.pdf

Shenvi finds a quick way to synthesize novel neuroactive compounds found in rainforest tree

https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2022/20220317-shenvi-neuroactive-compounds-in-rainforest-tree.html

Q&A with Ryan

https://magazine.scripps.edu/profiles/2022/online-exclusive/channeling-ethnomedicine-to-address-mental-health/

Shenvi lab website

https://www.shenvilab.org/

Tweet: @Shenvi_Lab

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Subscribe to receive our monthly e-newsletter

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@scrippsresearch on Twitter

We kick off the Summer 2022 podcast season with the first of a three-part mini-series dedicated to brain health. Professor Sandra Encalada is based in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research, where her lab investigates the transport of cargo within brain cells and its role in health and disease. Listen as we talk about new therapeutic agents to stop and reverse neurodegeneration, environmental neurotoxins and when to listen to your gut feeling.

Show notes:

Episode transcript: https://www.scripps.edu/_files/images/2022_images/podcast-images/Sandra-Encalada-transcript.pdf

Encalada illuminates how brain cells die in prion diseases

https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2021/20211222-encalada-brain-cells-prion-diseases.html

Encalada lab website

https://www.encalada.scripps.edu/

Tweet: @EncaladaLab

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

Subscribe to receive our monthly e-newsletter

https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1879047/1890109/

The fifth and final episode in our healthy aging series. We discover what happens inside the cell with age and how new chemical tools are leading us towards ways of repairing the damage and preserving our youth.

This article is taken from the Summer 2021 of our award-winning Scripps Research Magazine.

Show notes:

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/

The fourth segment of our series on healthy aging. We take a look at how breakthroughs in chemistry have enabled the rational design of therapies that can stop or slow complex diseases of the heart and nervous system.

This article is taken from the Summer 2021 of our award-winning Scripps Research Magazine.

Show notes:

Explore the Scripps Research Magazine

https://magazine.scripps.edu/