Sarcopenia/Aging-Related Muscle Atrophy Archives - Sanford Burnham Prebys

Dr. Yu Xin (Will) Wang received his PhD at the University of Ottawa where he identified cellular asymmetry and polarity mechanisms regulating muscle stem cell self-renewal and skeletal muscle regeneration. He then carried out postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine developing single cell multi-omic approaches to characterize the regenerative process and what goes awry with disease and aging.  

“I’ve always had a passion for science and became fascinated with how the body repairs and heals itself when I was introduced to the potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. I was struck by the ability of a small pool of muscle stem cells that can rebuild and restore the function of muscle. My lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys aims to better understanding the repair process and harness our body’s ability to heal in order to combat chronic diseases and even counteract aging.”

Education and Training

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University School of Medicine
PhD in Cellular Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
BS in Biomedical Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada

Prestigious Funding Awards

2020: NINDS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Honors and Recognition

Governor General’s Gold Medal – Canada

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Pier Lorenzo Puri earned his MD at the University of Rome “la Sapienza” in 1991. Dr. Puri completed his internship in Internal Medicine at the hospital “Policlinico Umberto I” (Rome) from 1992 to 1997, and defended an experimental thesis on the vascular effects of angiotensin II to graduate as Specialist in Internal medicine at the University of Rome “la Sapienza” in 1997. During this time he was frequently working at the Freien University of Berlin, as visiting scientist at the Deprtment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, to perform experiments of protein and DNA microinjection in cultured cells. Dr. Puri trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), in the department of Cell Biology, under the supervision of Dr. Wang, from 1997 to 2001. He was appointed as Staff Scientist at the Salk Institute (La Jolla) in 2001, and became an Assistant Telethon Scientist at the Dulbecco Telethon Institute in Rome in 2002. He was upgraded to Associate Telethon Scientist at the Dulbecco Telethon Institute in Rome since 2007 and became Senior Telethon Scientist, Dulbecco Telethon Institute, in 2012, but declined this position. Dr. Puri joined Sanford Burnham Prebys as an Assistant Professor in 2004. He has been promoted to Associate Professor in 2010 and full Professor in 2015. From 2008 to 2016 Dr. Puri served as Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. From 2008 to 2013 Dr Puri was an Associate Member of Sanford Children’s Health Research Center. Dr Puri has been Director of the laboratory of Epigenetics and Regeneration at Fondazione S. Lucia, Roma, Italy, but stepped down this position since 2019.

Education

University of California San Diego, Postdoctoral, Department of Biology
University of Rome La Sapienza, PhD, Internal Medicine
University of Rome La Sapienza, MD, Internal Medicine
University of Rome La Sapienza, Undergraduate, Internal Medicine

Other Appointments

2020-2024: Member of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) European Commission-funded Consortium BIND (Brain Involvement In Dystrophinopathies)
2015-2019: Standing Member, NIH Study Section (SMEP)
2010-present: Member of Editorial Board of Skeletal Muscle

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Alessandra Sacco completed her studies at La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. In 2002, Dr. Sacco joined the laboratory of Prof. Helen M. Blau at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow (2002-2009), where she studied cell fusion between hematopoietic cells and muscle cells, as a potential mechanism for tissue repair. Recently she defined strategies to isolate adult skeletal muscle stem cells and performed single cell transplantation experiments, providing the first definitive evidence that adult muscle stem cells are able to self-renew in vivo. She received research funding from Muscular Dystrophy Association (2006-2008). In 2010, Dr. Sacco was recruited as Assistant Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

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