Edith Porter, M.D. (Biological Sciences, CSU Los Angeles)
Dr. Porter is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at CSU Los Angeles whose primary research is focused on innate immunity, the base line host defense that is functional at birth and widely conserved in nature.
Dr. Porter's new research explores the role of lipids in innate immunity in collaboration with Dr. Krishna Foster from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, CSULA. In addition, her lab is collaborating with Dr. Annie Wong-Behringer, University of Southern California, on efflux pump inhibitors on resistance patterns in the bacterial pathogen P. aeruginosa. Please visit http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/eporter/ for further information.
Tom Scott, Ph.D. (Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, UC Berkeley)
Dr. Scott is currently the Associate Director for Outreach for the Center for Conservation Biology at UC Riverside. His general research and outreach include: Wildlife ecology, population demography, behavior, and conservation; Ecosystem processes and management along the Wildland Urban Gradient; Natural Resource Management, Wildlife, and Endangered Species Policies.
Dr. Scott's specific project is the impact of West Nile Virus on California wildlife; wildlife response, adjustment, and habituation to human activities; wildlife status and conservation in the wildland/urban gradient; conservation of endangered species; studies of species at the margins of their distributions, endemism.
Anthony James, Ph.D. (Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, UC Irvine)
Dr. James is Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (School of Medicine) and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry (School of Biological Sciences) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), who is working on vector-parasite interactions, mosquito molecular biology, and other problems in insect developmental biology.
His work focuses on using genetic and molecular genetic tools to interrupt parasite transmission by mosquitoes. His recent work includes the identification and isolation of mosquito genes that encode salivary proteins with potent vasodilatory, anticoagulant, and platelet anti-aggregating activities. Please visit Anthony A. James for further information.
Dianne Langford, Ph.D. (Department of Pathology, UC San Diego)
Dr. Langford is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at UC San Diego. Her research interests include: NeuroAIDS and HIV-associated opportunistic infections of the central nervous system; central nervous system disease progression in anti-retroviral therapy-experienced and treatment naïve HIV patients; interactions among host-derived protective factors, HIV proteins and anti-retrovirals at the blood-brain interface and blood-brain interface signaling during exposure to HIV-1 and potential differences.
Dr. Langford's current work focuses on understanding signaling crosstalk among cellular components of the BBI (cerebral endothelial cells, astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes and neurons) with HIV. Please visit Dianne Langford for further information.
James Ito, M.D. (City of Hope National Medical Center)
Dr. Ito is currently Director, Department of Infectious Diseases at the City of Hope National Medical Center, a National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center.
Dr. Ito's research interests include the immunobiology of infections due to Chlamydia trachomatis and Aspergillus. His clinical research interests focus on opportunistic infections in the immunocompromised cancer patient. He has published both articles and textbook chapters, in these areas. He also serves on advisory boards and committees that make policies and recommendations in the areas of opportunistic infections.
Lauren Pecorino, Ph.D. (Department of Life Sciences, University of Greenwich , U.K.)
Dr. Lauren Pecorino received her Ph.D. in Cellular and Developmental Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She carried out a post-doctoral tenure as an EMBO Fellow at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, London, England, working on limb regeneration. Currently, she is a Biochemistry Programme Leader at the University of Greenwich, U.K. She recently published a textbook on cancer biology. Please visit Lauren Pecorino for further information.