Meet Dr. Marielle Hegetschweiler
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
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- Education/Training:
- MsC ETH Zurich, Switzerland 2010
- PhD ETH Zurich, Switzerland 2015
- PostDoc NIH Bethesda (MD), USA 2015-2022
- Assistant Professor U Arizona 2022 - Present - Active funding:
- K99/R00: Towards the understanding of how chaperones inhibit neurodegenerative disorders
- R35 - Approved for funding - Research interests:
- Mechanistic studies of neurodegenerative disorders with a focus on Hsp60 and Hsp10 in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease
- PFAS- Induced Structural Changes in Mitochondria and Mitochondrial Proteins
- Role of Hsp60/Hsp10 in cancer
- Structural biology expertise using a wide range of biophysical methods including solution-state NMP, cryo-EM, cryo-ET, EPR and fluorescence measurements. - Research aims:
- Characterize and visualize sparsly populated events of AB peptide binding to Hsp60 or Hsp10 chaperone using relaxation-based NMR methods
- Identify and visualize different oligomeric states of Hsp60 in vitro and ex vivo
- Understand the kinetic cycle of Hsp60/Hsp10 in absence and presence of substrate protein
- Understand how different types of PFAS accumulate in mitochondria, disrupt their morphology, and interact with key mitochondrial proteins
Meet Debra Smith, MD, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
- Education/Trainings:
- BS: UT Austin, Chemical Engineering, 2000
- PhD: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2010
- MD: UT Medical School at Houston, 2012
- Residency: Clinical Pathology, UT Southwestern, 2015
- Fellowship: Transfusion Medicine, Bloodworks Northwest, 2016
- MBA: University of Oklahoma, 2024 - Professional Experience:
- Associate Medical Director, Oklahoma Blood Institute, 2016-2022
- Medical Director of Cell Therapy services, Carter Blood Care, Dallas, TX, 2022-2025
+ Cell therapy lab testing and processing of autologous patient and allogeneic donor samples and cell therapy products for transplant.
+ Apheresis collection of autologus patient and allogeneic donor cell therapy products
+ Therapeutic apheresis service-medical direction and consultation
+ Medical Directorships at multiple outlying sites - Why you should know Dr. Smith:
- FACT inspector (Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy)
- Cord Blood banking
- AABB Circular of Information for Cellular Therapy Task Force
- Blood Bank & Transfusion Medicine director at BUMCT
- Transfusion Safety Committee (reports to Quality and Safety Council)
- Pathology and Laboratory Clinical High Reliability Group (ChaRGe)
- Teaching contact for Anesthesiology and Pathology residents, IM resident "transfusion committee", Hem-Onc Fellows; Medical Students
- Will lead future developments of:
+ Therapeutic apheresis (currently outsourced to Red Cross)
+ Cellular therapy apheresis (Stem cell, CAR-T, Clinical trials)