Date/Time: Tuesday, April 16, 10:00am.

Speaker: Prof. Yabing Chen

Title: Vascular Stiffness and Aging:  Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutical Potential

Dr. Yabing Chen is currently Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as Principal Investigator at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. Dr. Chen’s research program focuses on the molecular mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle cell regulation and their contributions to the pathogenesis of vascular disease, including vascular calcification in atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness, diabetic vasculopathy as well as vascular aging. Her research has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), VA and American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Chen's contribution to the vascular biology research has been recognized by the 2018 Vascular Biology Special Recognition Award from the AHA Council on Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB); and she has also received a Research Career Scientist Award from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Chen serves as an editorial board member for Circulation Research, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology，Frontier in cardiovascular Medicine, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. She is a Guest Associate Editor of ATVB Special Topic on “Metabolic Stress and Vascular Disease” as well as Frontier in Cardiovascular Medicine Special Topic on “Vascular Calcification”. She has been as a regular member or Chair on several grant review study sections for the NIH, VA and AHA, including the NIH Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology and Atherosclerosis and Inflammation of the Cardiovascular System study sections, VA Cardiology review panel and AHA Vascular Biology and Vascular Wall Biology review committees. Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the American Heart Association(FAHA) and Chair of the ATVB Committee on Scientific Sessions Program of the AHA.

Speaker: Prof. Yan Zheng

Title: Metabolomic profiling identifies novel biomarkers of cardiovascular disease

Prof. Yan Zheng's research interest is focused on the role of diet and lifestyle factors in the development of cardiometabolic disease, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which is a leading cause of death in the United States and world wide. In particular, she is interested in utilizing circulating metabolomic profile to explore the potential mechanism underlying the exposure-disease association. My research area also includes gene-diet interaction and Mendelian randomization studies in the cardiometabolic disease.

Location: A208. School of Life Sciences Building