Congrats to Jared and Chunta, who were each recognized by this year’s departmental student awards! Jared received the Ben Weiss Scholar Award, which recognizes students who display scientific excellence in their dissertation research. Jared will carry the designation of Benjamin Weiss Scholar in Pharmacology and Physiology for one year. Chunta received the Mary Hoffman Shaw […]
Jared was invited to present his research this month as a part of the 2021-2022 Joint National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) center seminar series! Jared discussed his most recent work in a talk titled: Examining how CXCL12 affects structural plasticity and cortical network function. The seminar series is organized by the NIMH administrative core […]
This month, Dr. Elena Irollo enjoyed two outstanding events. She was promoted to a new position as a Research Assistant Professor in the department, and more importantly, she has tied the knot with her husband. Congratulations, Elena & Jonathan!
Dr. Meucci and her former student Dr. Lindsay Festa collaborated with Dr. Gaskill and his former student Dr. Emily Nickoloff on a new review article discussing how HIV co-receptor signaling can contribute to HIV pathogenesis. The review article starts with a primer on HIV pathogenesis and the chemokine co-receptors that HIV uses to infect cells, […]
In a new review article published in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Dr. Meucci’s group discusses clinical evidence of disrupted neuronal connectivity in HIV patients and the molecular mechanisms that drive neuronal dysfunction and cognitive impairment in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. The article is titled “Mechanisms of neuronal dysfunction in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders” and is freely […]
Jared Luchetta was appointed as a National Research Service Award (NRSA) pre-doctoral fellow on Drexel University’s Interdisciplinary and Translational Research Training Grant in NeuroAIDS. The training grant is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health as part of a long-standing collaboration between Drexel and Temple University investigators. Congratulations Jared!
The Meucci lab published a book chapter on known and potential mechanisms by which µ-opioid agonists regulate neuronal iron homeostasis, a new finding that has implications for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and other neurological disorders. The chapter expands on previous work from our lab showing that morphine regulates iron storage in endolysosomes, and this leads to […]
In collaboration with 15 researchers, Dr. Meucci contributed to a viewpoint article on how coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could be linked to Parkinson’s disease and Parkinsonism. The article discusses current knowledge and potential mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 may establish an infection in the brain, how brain infection might lead to clinical manifestations of Parkinsonism, and […]
The Meucci lab recently published a new study suggesting that learning and memory problems in patients with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) may be reversible. Using an animal model of HAND, Dr. Lindsay Festa and colleagues showed that treatment with the chemokine CXCL12 improved cognitive flexibility in a set-shifting task and increased dendritic spine density in […]