Ion channels are biological membrane proteins that control the flux of ions (charged atoms) and play crucial roles in all fundamental cell processes including neurotransmission, gene regulation and sensory transduction. The CHArT working group brings together a community within the Broad Institute of researchers with a special interest in ion channels from both biological and therapeutic perspectives.
Our core activity is a seminar series designed to foster the exchange of scientific ideas and technical expertise, as well as provide opportunities for collaboration particularly within the local Boston research ecosystem. These seminars are held periodically throughout the academic year on selected Tuesdays in the Olympus room. Please write to barresi@broadinstitute.org to be added to our mailing list.
Past CHArT Speakers
SPEAKER |
TALK TOPIC |
|
Dr. Bruce Bean
Robert Winthrop Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard University |
Ion Channels to Control Neuronal Hyperexcitability | |
Dr. David Corey
Bertarelli Professor of Translational Medical Science |
A Sound-Activated Ion Channel Complex in the Inner Ear: Understanding and Treating Deafness | |
Dr. Adam Cohen
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and of Physics at Harvard University |
Applications of optical electrophysiology in disease modeling and pharmacology | |
Dr. Diomedes Logothetis
Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Northeastern University |
Small molecule modulators of ion channel and GPCR activity | |
Dr. Gary Yellen
Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School |
Reverse engineering a metabolic therapy for epilepsy: BAD and KATP channels in the brain | |
Dr. Diane Lipscombe
Professor of Neuroscience, Director of Brown Institute for Brain Science (BIBS) at Brown University |
RNA and DNA binding proteins that regulate cell-specific choice of functional exons in the calcium ion channel CACNA1B gene | |
Dr. Naoshige Uchida
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University |
Multiple dopamine systems: weal and woe of dopamine | |
Dr. Christopher Miller
Professor of Biochemistry at Brandeis University |
A weird ion channel for a weird ion: Fluoride resistance in microbiology | |
Dr. Yiming Zhou
affiliated with Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Woman's Hospital |
TRP channels in health and disease | |
Dr. Alfred L. George Jr.
Director, Center for Pharmacogenomics |
Decrypting Variants of Unknown Significance in the Channelopathies | |
Dr. Chinfei Chen
Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School |
Insights into the Developmental Refinement of Thalamic Circuits | |
Dr. Clifford Woolf
Director, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s Hospital |
Screening for pain-selective sodium channel blockers | |
Dr. Jun Chen
Senior Scientist and Head of Electrophysiology, Genentech |
Evolution of the Nociceptive Ion Channel TRPA1: Functional Divergence and Conservation | |
Dr. Irina Vetter
Deputy Director, Centre for Pain Research, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland |
The contribution of NaV isoforms to pain pathways: insight from venom peptides. | |
Dr. Ricardo Dolmetsch
VP and Global Head of Neuroscience, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research |
Developing drugs that modulate ion channels for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental diseases | |
Dr. Bernardo Sabatini
Alice and Rodman W. Moorhead III Professor of Neurobiology, HHMI investigator, Harvard Medical School |
Mysteries of Neurotransmission | |
Dr. Jeffrey R. Holt
Director of Research, Otolaryngology, F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital |
Structure, Function and Restoration of TMC1 Channels in Mechanosensory Hair Cells | |
Dr. Samouil Farhi
Broad Institute |
Molecular and Optical tools for All-Optical Electrophysiology | |
Dr. Maofu Liao
Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School |
High-resolution single-particle cryo-EM and its application in studying membrane proteins | |
Dr. Michael Levin
Vannevar Bush Professor, Biology Department, Director, Allen Discovery Center at Tufts, Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, Tufts University |
Endogenous bioelectric networks enable cell cooperation toward building anatomies and away from cancer: opportunities for electroceuticals | |
Dr. Hao Wu
Asa and Patricia Springer Professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital |
Structural elucidation of the inflammasome pathway – calcium flux and pore formation | |
Dr. Elena Oancea Associate Professor of Medical Science, Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology, Brown University |
Ion channels in black and white or how does our skin get its color |