2024
- August: Congratulations to lab member Zahid Manzar for his newly announced NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA for MD/PhD Fellowships (F30) grant award! Zahid’s research is on endothelial-derived extracellular vesicles and their role in vascular manifestations in mitochondrial diseases. The F30 award will support Zahid’s PhD research in the AVML for 2 years and his remaining MD education for 2 years. Many thanks to Dr. Kozicz, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, for serving as co-sponsor in Zahid’s F30 fellowship, and the MitoCure Foundation, for funding our lab to investigate the role of the vascular endothelium in mitochondrial diseases.
- May: Congratulations to Anu P. Bharathi Rajan for the BME Best MS research award, and to Erik Munoz, PhD candidate, for the Best BME TA award!
- Congratulations to Julia Pietromicca for successfully passing her qualifying exam on 5/28/24! Julia was also awarded the competitive Western New York Prosperity Fellowship! Supported by the Prentice Family Foundation, the WNY Prosperity Fellowship provides fellows with professional development opportunities, as well as resources and access to WNY business leaders and the community.
- Dr. Alevriadou delivered the keynote research talk titled “Horizontal Mitochondrial Transfer from Endothelial Cells under Mechanochemical Stress” at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Rochester Medical Center, annual retreat on March 11, 2024. The retreat was a big success attended by almost 100 faculty and students. Thank you to the faculty organizers Drs. Paul Brookes, Alan Grossfield, and Joseph Wedekind, and the staff (Thank you, Stephanie!) and students Maddie and Emily. Grateful to the Newman Educational Endowment for sponsoring this event.
2023
- Lab members and Dr. Alevriadou attended and presented at the Gordon Research Conference on Biomechanics in Vascular Biology & Disease, August 2023 (South Hadley, MA):
- Z.A. Manzar, H.H. Szeto, H. Minderman and B.R. Alevriadou, “Endothelial-derived extracellular vesicles regulate the function of target endothelial cells via mitochondrial donation”.
- E. Munoz, H.K. Manzar, J. Lim, A.J. Donato and B.R. Alevriadou, “Mechanisms of senescence induction in endothelial cells exposed to atheroprone flow”.
- J. Johnson*, A.P. Bharathi Rajan*, I. Alam, G.E. Atilla-Gokcumen and B.R. Alevriadou, “Ceramide and sphingomyelin metabolism of vascular endothelial cells exposed to hypertensive cyclic stretch”.
- B.R. Alevriadou “Role of Mitochondrial Ca2+ in Endothelial Cell Function under Shear Stress”.
2022
- December: We had a nice gathering at Dr. Alevriadou’s house to celebrate the upcoming holidays.
- November: Congratulations to Akshar for defending his Dissertation and starting his new job with Alcami in Research Triangle Park, NC, in January! We wish him all the best! We would not have the lab we have if it were not for Akshar’s hard work, dedication, and common sense!
- November: By now, all lab members have passed their preliminary exams: Congratulations to Jordan and Zahid.
- October: Great times at the Biomedical Engineering Society conference in San Antonio, TX (October 12-15, 2022)! Everybody got to present their work and exchange ideas with other attendees.
- May-August: Congratulations to Matt Simkulet for graduating and moving to Boston to start his PhD! This summer, the AVML welcomed two undergraduate research assistants, Elaye Ekiyor, for summer research under the UB CLIMB UP Program, and Hamid Manzar, who will continue his research with us during the academic year. Welcome!
2021
- October: The AVML celebrated Julia’s and Erik’s successful completion of the preliminary exam with lunch at the NY Beer Project restaurant
- April: AVML invites scientists with research interests related to the biology of mitochondria, calcium, and reactive oxygen species to join the Mitochondria Symposium at the Experimental Biology’21 Conference on April 27!
2020
- August: AVML welcomes three PhD students Julia, Erik, and Jordan to the team!
- April: Welcome Matt Simkulet who joined AVML as an undergraduate research assistant!
- February: Thank you to the UB Facilities for completing the renovations in the AVML space and to UB Procurement for all their assistance with our lab purchases!
- February: Congrats to Akshar for being awarded the 3rd prize at the annual UB BME poster competition!
2019
- October: Rita, Akshar and Michael had a great time attending the annual BMES meeting (October 16-19; Philadelphia, PA).
- September: Congrats to Akshar for presenting a poster at the NHLBI Mitochondrial Biology Symposium on Mitochondrial Networks and Energetics (September 26 – 27; Bethesda, MD)!
- August: Welcome Akshar Patel and Michael Udin who joined AVML as PhD students!
- August: Rita joined UB BME and immediately started the renovations in the AVML space!