BIOMED PhD Thesis Defense

Title:
Multiomics-based (MOB) Approach to Understanding Genomic and Functional Features Shared by Osteosarcoma and Bone Metastatic Prostate (BMP) Cancer

Speaker:
Waleed Iqbal, PhD Candidate
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University

Advisor:
Alessandro Fatatis, MD, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology, Physiology and Pathology
College of Medicine
Drexel University

Details:
This research identifies key molecular and epigenetic drivers of tumor cells’ survival and growth in the skeleton by investigating bone-metastatic prostate cancer and primary osteosarcoma, through the integration of gene expression and methylation data using statistical and machine learning approaches. Aim 1 focused on developing methodologies for analyzing methylation and gene expression data, including the design and analysis of the novel mm285 mouse methylation array. These approaches were applied in Aim 2 to bone-tropic prostate cancer, verifying the inverse relationship between the androgen receptor and the cytokine Interleukin-1beta and identifying differential methylation as a regulatory mechanism.

Additional analyses highlighted the role of the chemokine receptor CX3CR1 and also compared bone-metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma to neuroendocrine prostate cancer that metastasized to soft tissues. In Aim 3, a random forest model identified 140 genes differentiating bone metastatic from non-bone metastatic prostate cancers, with 88 showing consistent trends in primary osteosarcoma and 8 linked to significantly worse patients’ survival. Methylation data revealed 85 CpGs correlated with these genes, including 54 CpGs with positive and 31 with negative correlations, implicating enhancer-mediated activation and methylation-induced repression. These findings highlight critical regulatory elements and provide a foundation for experimental validation of the newly acquired information with the ultimate goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of both primary and secondary bone tumors.

Topic
The Impact of Early Antiretroviral Therapy on HIV Specific Antibody Responses

Topic
Dancing to a Different Tune: Spinal Cord Circuits for Movements Beyond Locomotion

Topic
Astrocytes in CNS Injury and Repair

A Certain Slant of Light: Dino Pelliccia, Bruce Pollock, and Stuart Rome  
January 7- March 18, 2025
 
Pearlstein Gallery is pleased to announce A Certain Slant of Light, the first exhibition of 2025. This three-person show features significant works from influential Philadelphia artists: Stuart Rome, Dino Pelliccia, and Bruce Pollock. Although the work on view is wide-ranging in media–sculpture, painting and photography–it shares an interest in natural forms, an investigation into materiality, and a mastery of highly-honed craft. The exhibition spans four decades of process-oriented work from these artists who also share a long standing connection to the Drexel community.
 
Dino Pelliccia is showing large, new sculptural forms made from solid wood. Both free-standing and mobile, these monumental works are simultaneously dynamic and timeless. Bruce Pollock’s paintings on view are from his intricate Indigo series in shades of blue. These meditative and energetic works feature fractal and geometric patterns inspired by deep observation of nature. Stuart Rome’s compelling works explore vantage, scale, and texture to expand the possibilities of photography. His Oculus series of black and white images are taken from within giant redwoods and sequoias, portals to new perspectives. Each ask where we stand in our relationship to the Natural world and within these patterns might there be a bridge to that understanding.
 
A Certain Slant of Light contains over fifty works of art by these three artists, balanced throughout the entire gallery space. We invite you to experience this introspective retrospective centered on material craft and organic form.
 
A companion publication will include an essay by noted art writer and critic, Judith Stein, who has most recently written the book Eye of the Sixties about Dick Belamy.

The Office of Sponsored Programs is excited to announce the return of the Lunch and Learn "How to" Series for its second season.

Topic
Sexually Dimorphic Mechanisms of Synapse Development in Autism and the Adult Brain