Visiting Speaker Series – Fall 2024/Winter 2025

MMRI is thrilled to host scientists from around the world as part of its Invited Speaker Series. Since August, three scientists have traveled to Utica, New York, to share their research with the staff at MMRI. All speakers research cardiovascular medicine. The featured speakers include Mirela Delibegovic, Ph.D., Sakthivel Sadayappan, Ph.D., MBA, FAHA, and Robert E. Gerszten, MD.

Dr. Mirela Delibegovic
On Friday, December 6, 2024, Dr. Mirela Delibegovic, regius chair of physiology at the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, UK, visited MMRI to discuss her research on the role of PTP1B in cardiometabolic diseases. Dr. Delibegovic explained that she and her laboratory have been working to improve outcomes in metabolic diseases, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and heart attack through the development of preventative measures. Her work focuses on improving atherosclerosis by targeting the PTP1B tyrosine phosphatase enzyme.
“Every person has a degree of atherosclerosis in our bodies from our early twenties and onwards,” said Dr. Delibegovic. “What I’m trying to understand is if we can use targeting of PTP1B, if we can drug it basically, to improve atherosclerosis.”

Dr. Sakthivel Sadayappan
On Thursday, October 17, 2024, Dr. Sakthivel Sadayappan, professor and head of the department of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona, visited MMRI to speak about his research, which is focused on exploring innovative therapeutic approaches for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. His findings relate to heart disease, specifically, genetically linked mutations in families that lead to structural changes in the heart.
“This facility reminds me of a European lab,” said Dr. Sadayappan. “It is very unique and you can get to know people quickly. You can interact with each other. It is nice to see it that way.”

Dr. Robert E. Gerszten
On Thursday, February 27, 2025, Robert E. Gerszten, MD, chief of cardiology at Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center, Herman Dana Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and senior associate member of the Broad Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, visited MMRI to speak about his research focused on the impact of exercise on the body. Dr. Gerszten investigates how exercise causes interactions with molecular signals to communicate with the body, its molecular underpinnings, and is working to profile chemicals in the blood to predict who will respond to exercise, specifically the kind of exercise that will cause a response – aerobic or anaerobic, to personalize therapeutics.