The Charles D. Kelman, M.D. Postdoctoral Scholar Award

Michael Lovelace, PhD — 2010

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:30 -0600

Michael Lovelace, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia, has been named the 2010 Charles D. Kelman, MD Postdoctoral Scholar in support of his study, Elucidating the role of astrocytes in glaucoma, nominated by Tailoi Chan-Ling, PhD, Professor of Neurobiology and Vision Science. After receiving his PhD from Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, Dr. Lovelace gained extensive postdoctoral experience in the laboratory of leading developmental neurobiologist, Professor Max Bennett, where he examined stress responses of astrocytes as a model of long-term brain alterations in schizophrenia. In 2009, Dr. Lovelace received the Dintenfass Memorial Plaque for the most interesting/innovating Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation grant proposal.

Dr. Lovelace is described as an excellent young researcher who supervises and mentors multiple research students and works hard to set an example for the younger investigators. In the coming year, Dr. Lovelace will work alongside Prof. Chan-Ling while collaborating with Dr. Claude Burgoyne in the United States, for an opportunity to work with the elegant primate experimental model of glaucoma developed by the Burgoyne laboratory.

Peter Barabas, PhD — 2009

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:10 -0600

Peter Barabas, PhD, Moran Eye Center, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, received the Charles D. Kelman, MD Postdoctoral Scholar Award in 2009 for his proposed study, Photoreceptor calcium homeostasis in rod-cone dystrophies.
The main focus of Dr. Barabas’s work is the new class of calcium-permeable ion channels in the retina that have a high likelihood of being involved in many, if not most, retinal diseases. These TRP (transient receptor potential) channels are currently one of the hottest topics in cellular neuroscience, having been implicated in a range of serious brain diseases from Alzheimer’s to neuropathic pain, hyperalgesia and mucolipidosis. More than 20 TRP channels have been identified to date with each cell expressing several types/classes. However, neither location nor function of any TRP channel in the retina is known, mainly because the field is so new.

Dr. Barabas received his B.Sc. in Biology from Warsaw University, Poland in 1996 and his PhD in Biochemistry at Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary in 2005. His thesis focused on measurements of glutamate release from rodent and amphibian retinas with a significant component involving the study of the effects of type VI phosphodiesterase inhibitors such as zaprinast on light responses and synaptic release of glutamate at photoreceptor synapses.

Dr. Barabas was nominated by Dr. David Krizaj, an expert in the field of photoreceptor physiology at the University of Utah, Moran Eye Center.

Publications by this Author:
Barabas Publications.pdf

Mark E. Kleinman, BS, MD — 2008

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:00:22 -0600

Dr. Kleinman is described as an unusually talented and highly motivated young physician-scientist. His fascination with vascular biology flourished in a high school summer research program at the Milwaukee Heart Project and continued at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where he joined The Greuntzig Laboratory for Interventional Cardiology and participated in several catheter-based biomedical engineering studies with an emphasis in intravascular brachytherapy. During his medical education at New York University (NYU), which included a pre-doctoral fellowship, Kleinman implemented a translational program in the Laboratory of Microvascular Research and Vascular Tissue Engineering under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Gurtner. It was here that he began to develop his ability to formulate approaches to scientifically address unanswered questions of clinical relevance.

Kleinman’s research at NYU significantly contributed to the field of endothelial stem/progenitor cell biology and anomalous vascular growth, in particular with the enigmatic clinical presentation of proliferating infantile hemangioma, for which he was awarded the Weston Research Grant. These findings were published in a wide array of scientific journals and include a seminal first-authored manuscript on hypoxia-induced mediators of progenitor cell trafficking in infantile hemangioma in the AHA publication, Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, which featured the article on the cover of the issue.

Publications by this Author:
Kleinman publications.pdf

Felix R Vazquez-Chona, PhD — 2007

Mon, 1 Jan 2007 00:00:11 -0600

Félix R. Vázquez-Chona, PhD, John A. Moran Eye Cener, University of Utah, was named the 2007 Charles D. Kelman, MD Postdoctoral Scholar Award for his project, Modulation of Müller glia using cell cycle inhibitors. Graduating Cum Laude, Dr. Vázquez-Chona earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Christian Brothers University, Memphis, Tennessee and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Rhodes College, Memphis. His Doctor of Philosophy was awarded by the University of Tennessee, Memphis from the Departments of Anatomy & Neurobiology and Ophthalmology.

As a doctoral student, Dr.Vázquez-Chona performed whole genome expression studies to identify genes and pathways associated with various forms of experimentally induced retinal injury. The project for which he was awarded the Kelman Award was accepted as a logical next step in his development toward becoming an independent investigator in retinal degeneration.

Sai H. Chavala, MD — 2006

Sun, 1 Jan 2006 00:00:38 -0600

Sai H. Chavala, MD received the 2006 Charles D. Kelman MD Postdoctoral Scholar Award for his study, Therapeutic applications of stem cells for the treatment of retinal disease. Dr. Chavala was nominated by Shahin Rafii, MD, A Howard Hughes Investigator and professor of Genetic Medicine in the Department of Genetic Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Chavala received his Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Doctor of Medicine at the University of Missouri in Kansas City with postdoctoral training at New York University. He has completed a Residency in Ophthalmology at Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland, Ohio and at the time of the Award, was fulfilling a Stem Cell Research Fellowship at Weill Medical College, Cornell University in New York, City.

Publications by this Author:
Stem Cell Breakthrough.pdf