Aquaculture America 2020

February 9 - 12, 2020

Honolulu, Hawaii

PATHWAY TOWARDS BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER: LESSONS FROM CELLULAR SIGNALING

 Henrique Cheng  DVM  MS  PhD
 
 School of Veterinary Medicine
Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
hcheng@lsu.edu
 

Cellular signaling is a  process by which all living cells communicate and is essential for  physiological responses  such  as proliferation, differentiation, secretion, fertilization and apoptosis. Th is network of  information transfer is often multi-step, and  involves several proteins, ions, enzymes, and transcription factors located in the plasma membrane and cytoplasm. Furthermore, defects in cellular signaling can lead to cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and  many other diseases. Although cellular signaling systems have been extensively studied in mammalian cells, there is a significant lack of knowledge in aquatic species. The fact that aquatic species (e.g. zebrafish) have  now  emerged as a dominant alternative to mammalian models for biomedical research makes it even more relevant to understand how cellular  signaling takes place in these animals. The se findings  are critical  for drug development  and  disease  treatment; hence they  rely on our understanding of how different cell types communicate. This  presentation  will address some important requirements for establishing a research program in the field of  cellular signaling. Topics include academic and postdoctoral training ;  types of  techniques and equipment utilized ; setting up an independent research program; application in aquaculture.