AuPS/ASB/PSNZ | Sydney 2012


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	2012 Sydney AuPS/ASB/PSNZ Meeting - 2-5 December 2012 A vignette of TRP ion channel physiology — Organizer: Gary Housley Multiple roles of TRP channels in liver function – Greg Barritt, Flinders University, Australia Protease-Activated Receptors and TRP channels in pain perception – Nigel Bunnett, Monash University, Australia TRPM2 channels in oxidative stress-induced cell death – Grigori Rychkov, University of Adelaide, Australia Myoendothelial microdomains and TRPC3: anatomical links to function – Shaun Sandow, University of New South Wales, Australia TRPC3 channels and hearing – Ann Chi Yan Wong, Univeristy of New South Wales, Australia Advances in methods for intestinal motility — Organizer: Marcello Costa Modelling of enteric neural motor patterns – Joel Bornstein, University of Melbourne, Australia Spatio-temporal maps of intestinal motor patterns – Marcello Costa, Dept. of Human Physiology, Australia Multipmodal recordings of intestinal motor activity – Phil Dinning, Flinders University, Australia Multiscale modelling of gastrointestinal motor functions – Greg O’Grady , University of Auckland, New Zealand Autonomic physiology - nutrient sensing in the GI tract — Organizer: Paul Bertrand Iron sensing by the intestine: A new model for iron-induced changes to GI motility – Paul Bertrand, Department of Physiology, Australia Nutrient-sensing in the GI tract: fat, the gut microbiota and obesity – Christine Feinle-Bisset, University of Adelaide, Australia Nutrient-sensing in the GI tract: fat, the gut microbiota and obesity – Helen Raybould, University of California Davis, USA I am an integrative physiologist with training in neurophysiology and gastrointestinal physiology. For the last twenty five years my research has focused on understanding the role of the vagal afferent pathway in mediating the effects of nutrients on gastrointestinal function and food intake. I have made contributions to this field, including some of the original observations that GI hormones, such as cholecystokinin, mediate their effects by stimulation of extrinsic sensory neurons innervating the gut. I have continued this line of research with important observations on how lipid, glucose and protein are sensed by endocrine cells in the gut and how this information is transmitted to the central nervous system to alter GI function and food intake. Latterly, my research program has focused on how these pathways are altered by long term changes in diets, such as ingestion of high fat, high calories diets. I have established collaborations and joint funding with investigators from the School of Medicine UC Davis that have been and remain important in allowing us to use different experimental paradigms to address these questions. Dysregulation of intestinal glucose sensing and transport in critical illness – Richard Young, University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA Brain dysfunction and translational neurophysiology — Organizers: Andrew Moorhouse and Arun Krishnan Central assessment of motor dysfunction using transcranial magnetic stimulation – Matthew Kiernan, University of New South Wales, Australia Molecular mechanisms of inhibitory neurotransmitter signalling in health and disease – Andrew Moorhouse, School of Medical Sciences, Australia Glial and Neuron interactions: role in neuronal plasticity – Junichi Nabekura, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan Professor Junichi Nabekura graduated from Kyushu University in Japan (MD 1982, PhD 1986) and undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University, returning to academic posts at Sendei, Akita and Kyushu Universities. He was appointed a Professor of Physiology at The National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki, in 2003. He has a significant track record of achievements in research regarding synaptic transmission and its modulation and development, and of injury induced plasticity in the brain. His laboratory at NIPS has developed into one of the leading two-photon in vivo imaging groups. Combined with electrophysiology and transgenic mice models of injury and behaviour, Prof. Nabekura’s team are investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying neuronal development and plasticity. Nabekura has published over 100 articles in journals including Science, Nature Neuroscience, and the Journal of Neuroscience. Sensory cortical hyper-excitation to complex input after traumatic brain injury – Ramesh Rajan, Monash University, Australia Sleep homeostasis and optogenetics – Akihiro Yamanaka, Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, Japan Associate Professor Akihiro Yamanaka graduated with a MSc from Shizuoka University (1996) and a PhD from Tsukuba University (2000). His postdoctoral work has been supported by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation and he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2002 (University of Tsukuba) and as an Associate Professor at The National Institutes for Physiological Sciences (Okazaki, Japan) in 2008. He has contributed significantly to the understanding of the role of orexin (hypocretins) to physiological homeostasis, with 33 publications including Nature, Neuron, PNAS, J Neuroscience, and J Clinical Investigations. 8 of his publications have been cited > 100 times, with total citations in excess of 1500. His laboratory currently uses cutting edge techniques including in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, transgenic mice models and optogenetics to probe further the role of orexin neurons in control of sleep and body homeostasis. Bridging the gap between molecular reductionism and physiology- the usefulness of ‘omics’ — Organizer: Matthew Watt Excitability and the action potential in human axons – David Burke, University of Sydney, Australia Muscle secretory factors- where are we at a decade later? – Mark Febbraio, Cellular and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory, Australia Using target mass spectrometry metabolomics to dissect metabolic flux in health and disease – Deborah Muoio, Duke University , USA A/Prof. Muoio investigates mechanisms of metabolic regulation in skeletal muscle, with emphasis on molecular events that link overnutrition and inactivity to the development of insulin resistance. Her program features a multidisciplinary approach that combines integrative physiology and intermediary metabolism with cellular and molecular biochemistry, using model systems that range from primary human myocytes to genetically engineered mice. Recent studies by her research team have employed mass spectrometry-based metabolomics as a tool to understand the interplay between mitochondrial energetics and insulin action. A/Prof. Muoio has published >50 papers in high ranking general and specialist journals, she is a world-leader in her research field and consistently provides excellent presentations at International conferences. A gene expression signature for insulin resistance. – Ken Walder, Deakin University, Australia Determining the secretory profile of the fatty liver and the metabolic impact on other tissues – Matthew Watt, Buliding 13F, Australia Calcium signalling in microdomains essential to normal cell function — Organizer: Bradley Launikonis Factors affecting clinical outcomes in adults and patients with cochlear implants – Peter Blamey, University of Melbourne, Australia Professor Peter Blamey is the Deputy Director (IP and Commercialisation) at the Bionics Institute and Chairman of Blamey and Saunders Hearing Pty Ltd. He completed his BSc at ANU and his PhD at Monash University. His research qualifications are in theoretical and experimental physics. He has worked on cochlear implants, hearing aids, and the development of spoken language in children with impaired hearing since 1979 when he joined Graeme Clark’s team at The University of Melbourne. Prof Blamey is a co-author of over 175 peer reviewed papers in journals and book chapter and a co-inventor of over 20 patent and patent application families, many of which have been commercialised successfully. In 2002 he co-founded Dynamic Hearing Pty Ltd, a company that licenses signal processing technology to manufacturers of hearing aids and headsets. In 2007, Prof Blamey was awarded the American Academy of Audiology International Award for significant and sustained contributions to the field of audiology and to hearing-impaired adults and children worldwide. In his current role as Deputy Director, Prof Blamey manages the intellectual property portfolio of the Bionics Institute and the relationships between the Institute and its commercial partners and collaborators. He also contributes research leadership in the Bionic Hearing, Bionic Vision, and Neurobionics research programs. Specialization of the skeletal muscle junctional membranes allow rapid activation of store-operated calcium entry – Bradley Launikonis, School of Biomedical Sciences, Australia Tunneling membrane nanotubes generate local calcium signals and may actively propagate calcium signals between cells – Ian Smith, University of California - Irvine, USA Dr Ian Smith completed his graduate studies in 2003 at The University of Leeds, UK and is now an assistant professional researcher at UCI under the supervision of Prof Ian Parker. His work has garnered 30 peer reviewed articles that have accumulated over 800 citations. Dr Smith’s work over the past decade has focused on the study of the spatial and temporal aspects of calcium signaling. In particular there has been a strong focus on developing new imaging technologies. This includes the optical patch clamp technique that now enables us to not only image single channel activity of calcium permeable channels within intact cells but to simultaneously determine the position of these channels with nanometer precision. He has recently published on this topic, as lead author, an invited review article to the Journal of General Physiology and has also been an invited speaker on this topic. Dr Smith’s most recent publication investigates how tunneling membrane nanotubes transmit long range calcium signals between cells. This work has been used as foundation for a 5 year $1.4 million grant which has been very favorably reviewed by the NIH. Funding of this grant is pending a budget resolution for fiscal year 2012. Dr Smith is an outstanding early career researcher. His attendance at AuPS/PSNZ/ASB Meeting would be an excellent opportunity for Australian and NZ scientists to form collaborations with someone who will lead physiology and biophysics research for the next few decades. The control of stimulus-secretion coupling in pancreatic cells – Peter Thorn, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology,, Australia Cystic fibrosis: Today and tomorrow — Organizer: Kirk Hamilton Inhaled hypertonic saline as a therapy for cystic fibrosis – Peter Bye, University of Sydney, Australia A CFTR-linked anion channel modifies CF disease severity – Raymond Frizzell, Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Centre, USA Prof. Raymond A. Frizzell is Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Center Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Dept. Cell Biology and Physiology University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Prof. Frizzell’s group is interested in the mechanisms of chloride and sodium transport across absorptive and secretory epithelial cells of the lung and kidney, in the biogenesis and quality control pathways that influence ion channel expression, and in the membrane trafficking mechanisms that govern channel density at the cell surface. This work focuses primarily on the anion channel, CFTR, whose mutation produces the genetic disease, cystic fibrosis, and on the epithelial sodium channel, ENaC, a determinant of airway surface liquid volume and blood pressure regulation. He has published over 230 research papers, reviews and book chapters. Prof. Frizzell was the Richard Beatty Mellon Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology and Head of Department from 1995-2010. Recently, Prof. Frizzell was awarded the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Breath of Life Award in 2007. Developing a Gene Therapy for CF Airway Disease – David Parsons, University of Adelaide, Australia Early lung disease in CF – Claire Wainwright, Royal Children's Hospital, Australia Developments in auditory and vestibular physiology — Organizer: Ramesh Rajan The other part of the ear–A ‘balanced’ view – Alan Brichta, University of Newcastle, Australia Associate Professor Alan Brichta is a neurobiologist with research interests in the anatomy and physiology of peripheral and central vestibular system. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Ohio with Jay Goldberg, a pioneer in vestibular physiology. His research interests are in the structure and function of the peripheral and central vestibular system. Recent studies have focused on vestibular hair cells and their complex relationships with associated primary afferent and efferent terminals. To study these relationships he and his colleagues have developed a semi-intact preparation of the isolated mouse inner ear. This preparation allows stable, high-resolution, intracellular recordings whilst preserving much of the cellular microarchitechture that we now believe is critical for normal function. Results from these studies are helping us understand some of the unique mechanisms underlying normal and abnormal activity in these exquisitely sensitive peripheral motion detectors. Dr. Brichta was recently awarded a prestigious five year Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation Senior/Principal Research Fellowship. The sensitive response of utricular irregular primary afferents to bone conducted vibration allows new safe, simple and fast clinical vestibular testing of utri – Ian Curthoys, University of Sydney, Australia Nanomechanical mechanisms of cochlear amplification – Anthony Gummer, Tübingen University, Germany Professor Anthony Gummer is head of the Section for Physiological Acoustics and Communication, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Tübingen, Germany. He graduated B. Eng. (1974), Ph.D. (1982) from the University of Western Australia, and undertook a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, followed by a Research Fellowship at the Australian National University, Canberra. In 1992, he took up a position of tenured Full-Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany, where he founded and leads the Section Physiological Acoustics and Communication. In 2006, he was elected Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America for his contributions to cochlea biophysics. Since 2005, he is Section Editor of Hearing Research. The research of Gummer and his team lie in fundamental principles of sound processing by the auditory periphery, focusing on the biophysics and nanomechanics of the cochlea, as well as forward and reverse transmission of the middle ear. They apply their results to developing new clinical techniques for the differential diagnosis of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Lab Homepage: http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/cochlea Neural vs humoral mechanisms for regulating sound transduction – Gary Housley, University of New South Wales, Australia Professor Gary Housley graduated MSc, Ph.D. (1986) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and undertook postdoctoral fellowships at Tulane University (New Orleans, USA) and the University of Bristol (UK), in the area of inner ear neurophysiology, returning to the Department of Physiology in Auckland in 1990 as an MRC Repatriation Fellow. He was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand James Cook Fellowship in Health Sciences in 2005, associated with an adjunct appointment at the University of California San Diego, and took up the Chair in Physiology and established the Translational Neuroscience Facility at the University of New South Wales in 2007. His research interests lie in sensori-motor control and the autonomic nervous system, including neural development, injury and repair mechanisms associated with membrane signalling complexes. Housley has published over 100 articles, and is highly cited. Ion flow in stria vascularis and the production and regulation of cochlear endolymph and the endolymphatic potential – Robert Patuzzi, University of Western Australia, Australia Dr Robert Patuzzi completed a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering (Honours) at UWA before research auditory biophysics for his PhD. He has investigated the causes of deafness, and established the Masters of Clinical Audiology at UWA in 2000, with its graduates now accounting for the majority of clinical audiologists in Western Australia, and these graduates and students of the auditory research laboratory now running four out of the seven audiology programs in Australia and New Zealand. Dr Patuzzi’s key research area is the fundamental hearing mechanisms in various species (from crickets to humans), and he is also interested in the neuroscience of how the brain controls breathing and rhinitis (hay fever), sleep apnea and asthma. Current hearing projects include the regulation of cellular mechanisms in the inner ear, including mathematical modeling in both human and animal models. Over 100 research projects in the Masters of Clinical Audiology program range from fundamentals of cochlear function and efficient diagnostic methods for infant deafness, to the sociology of deafness, educational audiology, and noise induced hearing loss. He is presently chairman of the scientific advisory panel for the Australia's Hearing CRC. The effects of inner ear trauma on central auditory processing – Donald Robertson, University of Western Australia, Australia Professor Donald Robertson is a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. He graduated BSc (Honours) from the University of Western Australia, and then undertook a PhD at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. After a post-doctoral period in Belgium with Prof. John Desmedt, he returned to the Dept of Physiology at the University of Western Australia where he has remained. He formally retired at the end of 2011 but remains research active with NHMRC and RNID (UK) grants and chairing the Research Advisory Committee of the Ear Sciences Institute of Australia. He has engaged in neurophysiological research into mammalian hearing for over 30 years. He has a career h-index of ~37 with a total of over 4,000 citations and has 15 papers that have been cited over 100 times and 16 papers cited more than 50 times. Integrative physiology of the heart — Organizers: Bruce Smaill and Jamie Vandenberg Cardiac ischemia impacts – different contexts and different consequences – Lea Delbridge, University of Melbourne, Australia Professor Lea Delbridge leads the Cardiac Phenomics Laboratory at the University of Melbourne. After her undergraduate studies at Monash University she pursued postgraduate training at Dalhousie University, Canada completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne. She was awarded postdoctoral Fellowships from the American Heart Association and the National Heart Foundation (Aust). In 1998 she took up an academic position in the Department of Physiology. Her group's research has focused on using unique genetic models of cardiac disease to understand the alterations in heart structure and function which occur in different forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with hormonal disturbances and the developmental etiology of these conditions. Prof Delbridge has published extensively in high ranking cardiovascular journals, and serves on the Editorial Boards of 6 international journals (including Journal of Molecular & Cellular Cardiology and American Journal of Physiology - Heart). GPU computing: the new frontier – Adam Hill, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Australia Dr Adam Hill is a National Heart Foundation Career Development Fellow at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. His principal research interests are in structure–function studies on cardiac ion channels, computer modelling of ion channel activity and development of graphic processor unit computer models of the heart to study structural-electrical interactions in the generation of cardiac arrhythmias. Myocardial energetics – the micro-perspective on macro-performance – Denis Loiselle, University of Auckland, New Zealand Associate Professor Denis Loiselle completed his undergraduate and graduate training in Canada in Edmonton (University of Alberta) and Halifax (Dalhousie University). He was awarded a Fellowship by the National Heart Foundation (Aust) at Monash University where he also held a teaching position before taking up an appointment in the Department of Physiology at Auckland University in New Zealand. Assoc Professor Loiselle has pioneered the development and application of polarographic and micro-myothermic techniques in the study of myocardial energetics. Most recently his work has focussed on the experimental and theoretical analysis of cardiac muscle thermodynamics and oxygenation in disease models. He has published widely in highly-ranked specialist biophysical journals, and has been recognized for his teaching excellence Anatomically accurate in silico models of the heart – Nic Smith, University of London, UK Prof Nic Smith - Kings College London Multi-physics modelling at the heart of the clinic. The significance of heart disease has motivated the integration of information extracted from multiple sources with the goal of ultimately aiding diagnosis and clinical planning. However to exploit the full value of such measurement technologies, and the combined information content they produce, requires the ability to integrate multiple types of functional data into a consistent framework. An exciting and highly promising strategy for underpinning this integration is the assimilation of data sets into personalised and biophysically consistent mathematical models. The development of such models provides the ability to capture the multi-factorial cause and effect relationships, which link the underlying patho-physiological mechanisms. Applying this approach we report on the development and application of both species specific and human cardiac frameworks representing the cardiac electrical, mechanical and fluid systems, which are currently being customised for basic science and clinical applications. Correlating electrical and structural abnormalities in infarcted myocardium – Mark Trew, University of Auckland, New Zealand Mark constructs computer models and analysis tools for interpreting and understanding detailed images of cardiac tissue and cardiac electrical activity. Research Interests: Cardiac electrical rhythm Tissue response to electric shock Computational techniques for simulating cardiac electrical behaviour • Mathematical descriptions of cardiac tissue structure Ion Channels: Structure, function and drug targets — Organizers: Trevor Lewis and Joe Lynch Modulation of Cys-loop receptors to address CNS disorders – Mary Chebib, University of Sydney, Australia Correlating functional models of channel activation with subunit specific receptors – Angelo Keramidas, Queensland Brain Institute, Australia Molecular insight via advanced fluorescence microscopy — Organizer: Till Böcking 4D super-resolution microscopy with conventional fluorophores and single wavelength excitation in optically thick cells and tissues – David Baddeley, The University of Auckland, New Zealand Combining single molecule optofluidics and cell free expression: how fast can protein research go? – Yann Gambin , University of Queensland, Australia Evidence for, and function of, sub-resolution ordered membrane domains – Dylan Owen, University of New South Wales, Australia Muscular adaptations to exercise: mechanisms at play — Organizer: David Simar Adaptations to exercise: the role of epigenetic changes – Romain Barres, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Dr Romain Barres is currently Head of the Environmental Epigenetic group in the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Centre for Basic Metabolism Research at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. His research group activity is focused on the mechanisms underlying metabolic disorders with particular attention on human skeletal muscle. In particular, how epigenetic modifications provide a mechanism by which external environmental factors such as exercise and diet can modify genetic predisposition for health and disease. He has identified that changes in the metabolic environment could lead to a dynamic epigenetic modulation of genes that have been implicated in the control of insulin sensitivity and the development of diabetes and related metabolic disorders. Dr Barres has published 13 peer-reviewed scientific papers in prestigious journals including Cell Metabolism, Nature and PLoS Biology. New flow cytometry tricks to view protein conformations in cells and their subcellular localization – Danny Hatters , University of Melbourne, Australia Danny Hatters recently completed his post doc at the Gladstone Institutes/University of California, San Francisco under the mentorship of Dr Karl Weisgraber. There he studied how three variants of apolipoprotein E, apoE2, apoE3 and apoE4 differ in their conformation and biophysical properties as a basis for understanding the mechanisms underlying the elevated risk that the apoE4 isoform confers for Alzheimer's disease. In April 2007, he returned to Melbourne to take up a CR Roper Fellowship position in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is currently developing his own research program focusing on how protein conformations lead to cellular dysfunction and disease Muscle metabolism during exercise – John Hawley, RMIT University, Australia Exercise central haemodynamics: mechanisms and relation to end organ damage – James Sharman, Menzies Research Institute, Australia New insights into cardiac Ca²⁺ handling and excitability — Organizers: Yue-kun Ju and David Allen Perinatal asphyxia: adaptation and consequences — Organizer: Alistair Jan Gunn Maternal glucocorticoids: timing is everything for the fetal brain – Laura Bennet, The University of Auckland, New Zealand – Alistair Gunn, The University of Auckland, New Zealand Physiology education — Organizers: Lesley Ulman and Phil Poronnik Science at the high performance computing frontier — Organizer: Adam Hill OpenCMISS: open source and collaborative tools for modelling multi-scale and multi-physics physiological systems – Chris Bradley, University of Auckland, New Zealand Long timescale molecular simulations for understanding protein function – Ben Corry, University of Western Australia, Australia The Genomics Virtual Lab: Science in the cloud – Michael Pheasant, The University of Queensland, Australia Massive parallelisation of cardiac simulations using GPU technology – Arash Sadrieh, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Australia Skeletal muscle in health and disease — Organizer: Gordon Lynch Cancer cachexia – Kate Murphy, Department of Physiology, Australia Muscular dystrophies – Gianina Ravenscroft, WAIMR Centre for Medical Research, B-Block, QE II Medical Centre,, Australia Spectral imaging in physiology – a highlight of techniques — Organizer: Robyn Murphy Structure and dynamic insights into isoform specific carbohydrate-binding of AMP-activated protein kinase by NMR – Paul Gooley, University of Melbourne, Australia Combining microelectrode recordings from human peripheral nerves with functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain – Vaughan Macefield, University of Western Sydney, Australia Spatial details of glycogen associated proteins – single muscle fibre approach. – Robyn Murphy, Department of Zoology, Australia The how and why of the liver glycogenome – implications in disease – David Stapleton, Department of Physiology, Australia

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2012 Sydney AuPS/ASB/PSNZ Meeting - 2-5 December 2012