Sphingolipids as Signaling and Regulatory Molecules

CHARLES CHALFANT is a tenured Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University-School of Medicine. He is also a Research Career Scientist in the Veterans Administration based at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. His main research interests lie in lipid signaling, specifically the role of intracellular lipid second messengers (e.g., ceramide-1-phosphate) in regulating eicosanoid synthesis. He also studies the role of oncogenic signaling pathways in regulating the alternative splicing of tumor suppressor genes such as caspase 9. Dr. Chalfant serves on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Lipid Research as well as on several National Panels of Scientific Review including formal membership on the Cancer Molecular Pathobiology Study Section for the National Institutes of Health and the Oncology A Study Section for the Veterans Administration. He received his PhD degree from the University of South Florida-College of Medicine and did his postdoctoral studies at Duke University and the Medical University of South Carolina. MAURIZIO DEL POETA , MD is a tenured Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, Craniofacial Biology, and for the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. He is also the Director of the Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MUSC. Main research interests include the study of the role of sphingolipids in fungal pathogenesis and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against fungal infections. He received many awards for his research discoveries and teaching. He is also a member of
many national and international societies such as the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the American Society for Microbiology. Dr. Del Poeta is a Burroughs Wellcome New Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases.