Dr. Piña-Crespo earned a PhD in Pharmacology from University College London (UCL), England under the supervision of Profs. Alasdair Gibb & David Colquhoun FRS. He completed postdoctoral training as a Pew Fellow/Research Associate with Prof. Steve Heinemann in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California. Dr. Piña-Crespo has held faculty positions as Instructor and Assistant Professor at Universidad Centroccidental, Venezuela and as Lecturer in the Biology Department at the University of San Diego, California.
Education and Training
Postdoctoral training (Pew Fellow/Research Associate) The Salk Institute, California
PhD in Pharmacology University College London (University of London), England
Veterinarian (D.V.M.) Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Venezuela
Honors and Recognition
Pew Fellow in the Biomedical Sciences
Related Disease
Aging-Related Diseases, Alzheimer’s Disease, Brain Injury, Epilepsy, Molecular Biology, Nervous System Injury, Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Diseases, Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders, Parkinson’s Disease, Stroke, Traumatic Injury
Phenomena or Processes
Aging, Apoptosis and Cell Death, Calcium Signaling, Cell Biology, Cell Signaling, Cell Surface Receptors, Development of Neuronal Circuits, Disease Therapies, Neurobiology, Neurogenesis, Neuron-Glia Interactions in Myelin, Neurotransmitters, Synapse Function, Synaptic Transmission
Anatomical Systems and Sites
Brain, General Cell Biology, Nervous System
Research Models
Cultured Cell Lines, Human Cell Lines, Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Mouse, Mouse Cell Lines, Primary Cells, Primary Human Cells, Rat, Vertebrates, Xenopus
Techniques and Technologies
Biophysics, Biophysiology, Calcium Imaging, Cellular and Molecular Imaging, Electrophysiology, Fluorescence Microscopy, Ion Channels, Live Cell Imaging, Mouse Behavioral Analysis, Pharmacology, Transplantation
Working on basic neuroscience discovery research. I use cellular and animal models of neurodegeneration to identify basic disease-causing mechanisms and disease-relevant targets involved in abnormal neuron-glia signaling, synapse failure, neuronal network dysfunction and neuronal loss in age-related neurodegenerative diseases; including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Extensive hands-on experience working and managing projects that require a strong background in in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo neuroscience, pharmacology and electrophysiology.
After a successful teaching career at the University of Michigan I have had the privilege to “reboot” my research career at Sanford Burnham Prebys where I have had the opportunity to develop novel methodologies to understand cardiomyopathy. I have also had the opportunity to work with NASA scientists to do experiments on the International Space Station.
Education
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, Neurochemistry Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX, Neuroscience NIMH PhD, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, Neuroscience NIMH B.A., Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, Biology
Prestigious Runding Awards or Major Collaborative Grants
2015-2020: NIH R01 HL132241-01A1 – Using Drosophila genetics to identify molecular links between ion channel dysfunction and pathological cardiac remodeling. (PI) 2013-2018 NASA NRA #NNH12ZTT001N – The effects of microgravity on cardiac function, structure and gene expression using the Drosophila model. (Co-I)
Honor and Awards
2014: Space Florida International Space Station Research Competition Winner – Co-investigator – One of three Basic Research proposals selected for launch aboard SpaceX3 – Mission completed, live flies returned on May 18,2014 2001: Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Michigan 1997: Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Michigan 1986-1988: National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship 1983-1985: National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship 1981: Sigma Xi Research Award 1980 MBL Scholarship, Neural Systems and Behavior Course 1971-1975: National Merit Scholarship, Lehigh University
Board Appointments
2018-present: Board member American Society for Gravitational and Space Research
Anatomical Systems and Sites
Cardiovascular System, Heart
Research Models
Drosophila, Larval Zebrafish Heart, Zebrafish
Techniques and Technologies
Biophysiology, Cellular and Molecular Imaging, Fluorescence Microscopy, Gene Silencing, Genetics, In vivo Modeling, Ion Channels, Live Imaging, Microarrays, Microscopy and Imaging, Molecular Genetics, RNA Interference (RNAi), Semi-automated Optical Heartbeat Analysis (SOHA), Systems Biology, Transgenic Organisms
The Ocorr Lab is investigating the cellular and molecular basis of adult heart function and cardiomyopathies using the genetic model system Drosophila.
We use functional, electrophysiological, biochemical and immunohistochemical techniques that allow us to examine the roles of genes and gene products in cardiac channelopathies and stress-related cardiomyopathies.
Our lab pioneered the development of a novel methodology (Semi-automatic Optical Heartbeat Analysis, SOHA) that permits the quantification of heartbeat parameters in model systems with small hearts.
Using this system we have identified several ion channels in the fly heart that play prominent roles in repolarization of the human heart and cause arrhythmia in both the fly and in humans when mutated. We also have developed a number of other disease models including a diabetic-like cardiomyopathy induced by high sugar diet and hypoxia-induced cardiomyopathy.
Recently we have begun collaborations with NASA (by winning a Space Florida International Space Station Research Competition). We are using the fly to uncover the molecular/cellular basis for cardiac and muscle atrophy in astronauts exposed to extended periods of microgravity despite extensive exercise regimes aboard the ISS. Our flies were launched aboard SpaceX 3 for a month-long exposure to micro-gravity.
Karen Ocorr’s Research Report
My lab is working to understand the cellular and molecular basis of heart disease. One project is focused on the genetic basis of Atrial Fibrillation. This project is a collaborative one with the lab of Alexandre Colas. We are combining two model systems, the fly in my lab and human induced cardiomyocytes in his lab, to identify AFib genes that have been implicated from patient studies. Another project focuses on the role of metabolism in cardiomyopathies. This is because obesity and metabolic syndrome are linked to an increased risk of heart disease. We are studying the role of a key metabolic signaling molecule in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. A separate effort is focused on the role of gravity in heart function. These studies will provide important information for future habitants of colonies on the moon and Mars. But they are also relevant to patients who are bedridden and to patients with muscle wasting (sarcopenia).
Shengjie Feng is an expert in how to leverage the powers of cryo-EM. “My research is truly interdisciplinary,” she says. “I believe that the strong cryo-EM core facility, drug discovery, cancer research and neuroscience research at Sanford Burnham Prebys will play a crucial role in advancing my work.
Previously, Feng was a postdoctoral scholar at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and UC San Francisco, where she worked with biophysicist Yifan Cheng, MD and neuroscientist Lily Jan, PhD
Feng earned her PhD in neuroscience at the Institute of Neuroscience, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she used mouse models to understand the mechanisms and functions of membrane proteins and ion channels during neural development and disease.
Techniques and Technologies
Electron Cryo-Microscopy, Ion Channels
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is science’s view of the future, or more precisely, a look at life at the smallest of scales. The imaging technology uses the very tiny wavelengths of electrons (much shorter than the wavelengths of light) to make clear images of equally tiny things.
Feng focuses on the creation and characteristics of ion channels, both in healthy cells and in disease conditions. Ion channels are protein molecules that span the cell membrane, allowing passage of ions (atoms or molecules with a net electric charge, such as sodium, calcium and potassium) from one side of the cell membrane to the other, from outside in or inside out. They are critical to cellular operations, including facilitating communications between cells. Feng has specifically studied ion channels in neural cells.
“We perceive the outer world and construct our inner world through neural circuits in our brain,” she says. “While neurons are the fundamental unit of information integration, responsible for all cognitive behaviors, ion channels serve as the molecular foundation of the electrical signaling that facilitates cell-cell communication. The coordinated opening and closing of these molecules generate a continuous wave of electrical signals throughout the nervous system, which underlies our perception and cognition.
More broadly, Feng notes that ion channel dysfunction is associated with a wide range of diseases, including epilepsy, muscle tension, diabetes and various types of cancers.
