Chemical Society Seminar: Brent Stockwell- Ferroptosis and Metabolism: A Blueprint for Precision Diets
Abstract:
Ferroptosis is form of cell death driven by peroxidation of specific lipids. I will briefly discuss the history, key regulators, recent emerging mechanisms, and therapeutic applications of controlling ferroptosis. I will describe how my lab recently identified an unusual species of lipid that is a key driver of ferroptosis, and how our studies linking ferroptosis to metabolism have enabled to design precision, therapeutic diets that promote ferroptosis in some cancer models.
Bio:
Brent R. Stockwell, PhD, is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences, Columbia University, and Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
His research involves the discovery of small molecules that can be used to understand and treat cancer and neurodegeneration, with a focus on biochemical mechanisms governing cell death. In a series of papers from 2003-2012, Dr. Stockwell discovered a new form of cell death known as ferroptosis. Since then, his lab has defined the major mechanisms governing ferroptosis, its therapeutic implications, and key reagents for studying this new form of cell death.
Dr. Stockwell has received numerous awards, including being elected to the National Academy of Medicine, receiving a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist Award, the BioAccelerate NYC Prize, the Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award, the Great Teacher of Columbia College Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates, the Dean Peter Awn Commitment to the LGBTQ community Faculty Award, and an NCI R35 Outstanding Investigator Award. He has been in the top one percent of highly cited researchers the last four years and was named as one of the 50 most influential life science individuals in New York.
Professor Stockwell has developed a blended learning approach to teaching biochemistry, performed randomized controlled trials to examine the effectiveness of teaching methods, and introduced the use of virtual reality and augmented and mixed reality into his biochemistry course. He has given more than 150 seminars around the world, trained more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students, technicians, and postdoctoral scientists, published >180 scientific articles, been awarded 23 US patents, and received >50 research grants for >$40 million. He founded the biopharmaceutical companies CombinatoRx Incorporated, Inzen Therapeutics, and ProJenX, Inc., and is the author of The Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines and is a top-ranked writer on Medium.