Description:

The Department of Pharmacology welcomes Evangelos Kiskinis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Northwestern University.

Abstract:
Our laboratory seeks to harness the power of pluripotent stem cells to understand how neuronal function is impaired in neurological disease. We utilize patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and direct reprogramming methods to generate different neuronal subtypes of the central nervous system. We study these cells by using a combination of molecular, biochemical and functional electrophysiological assays. During this talk I will focus on our efforts to uncover the degenerative mechanisms that give rise to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS, a devastating and untreatable disease that targets motor neurons.