Yunbo Li, M.D., Ph.D.

Yunbo Li
Professor of Pharmacology          
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia Campus
1861 Pratt Drive
Blacksburg, VA  24060
Phone:  540-231-1465
Email:  yli@vcom.vt.edu

Professional Summary: 

Yunbo Li is currently a faculty member of pharmacology at VCOM.  He received his MD and MS/MPH from China and PhD from Johns Hopkins. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Hopkins.  His previous working institutes include University of Sydney, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, St. John’s, and Ohio State University.  He joined VCOM in 2006.

Yunbo Li is an author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications.  The research in his laboratories has been supported by grants from NCI, NHLBI, NIDDK, and AICR.  He serves as a reviewer for Hopkins NIEHS center grants, NIH grants, and over 30 scholastic journals.  He is currently serving as editor/board member for 7 respected journals.

Yunbo Li has over 15 years of teaching experience in the areas of free radical biology, toxicology, and pharmacology.  He also developed two graduate courses in a previous institute.

Abstract: 

The coordinated induction of multiple antioxidants by chemical inducers in experimental animals as demonstrated in early studies by Paul Talalay and coworkers suggested the existence of a central molecular regulator for the above cellular defenses.  Subsequently, Yamamoto and associates in 1997 discovered an indispensable role for the transcription factor, Nrf2 in the coordinated regulation of a number of antioxidant genes.  Since then, studies from multiple research groups have demonstrated that Nrf2 plays a central role in the regulation of an increasing number of antioxidant genes in various tissues and animal models of human diseases.  This presentation summaries some key findings from our own laboratories as well as other research groups on Nrf2 as both a central regulator of antioxidant gene expression and a crucial molecular target for intervention of disease conditions that involve an oxidative stress mechanism.

Beverly Rzigalinski, Ph.D.

Professional Summary:

Dr. Rzigalinski is a professor of Pharmacology at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, VA. She holds joint appointments in the Virginia Tech/Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College. of Veterinary Medicine. She received her BS in Biology from Rutgers University, an MS in Biochemistry & Toxicology from New York University., and a PhD. in Biochemistry and Pharmacology from Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University. With over 30 years in the field, she has worked in research, teaching, and as the CEO of her own successful environmental testing and analysis firm. She is recognized both internationally and nationally for her work in nanotechnology and nanomedicine, and her seminars in the field have been translated into over 6 languages. Dr. Rzigalinski is a member of several international and national consortiums for nanotechnology development, and she holds two patents in the field with several others in progress. She has served on numerous national and international committees, study sections, review panels, and editorial boards.  Her work has been highlighted in Discover magazine, the New York Times, New Scientist, and Der Spiegel. Her current research focuses on the use of a new generation of nanopharmaceuticals for neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders, and has been supported by grants from the NINDS, NIBIB, United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, National Science Foundation, Commonwealth Health Research Board, and the Harvey Peters Foundation.

Abstract:

Nanotechnology encompasses the process of manipulating materials on an atomic scale, at dimensions in the nanometer range. Nanoscience has its roots in a lecture given in 1959, by the physicist Richard Feynman. To quote Feynman, “At the atomic level, we have new kinds of forces and new kinds of possibilities, new kinds of effects…” which are evolving as a new scientific frontier. Although the same basic principles of physics apply to the biological realm, application of nanotechnology to medicine is just beginning. Engineered nanoparticles have novel properties, quite different from their micro and macro sized counterparts with which medical science is most familiar. Nanoparticles represent catalytic entities that differ substantially from what we traditionally think of as drugs or treatments. Their catalytic activities result from actions at the atomic scale, in the realm of the very small – which poses new challenges in studying their absorption, metabolism, excretion, mechanisms of action, and toxicity. 

Michael R. Ruggieri, Sr., Ph.D.

Michael R. Ruggieri, Sr., Ph.D.
Director of Urologic Research, Research Associate Professor
Temple University School of Medicine
3400 North Broad Street, 715 OMS
Philadelphia, Pa  19140
(215) 707-4567
Email: Rugg101@verizon.net

Professional Summary: 

Dr. Ruggieri received the Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984.   Upon completion of his Ph.D degree he was awarded a New Investigator award (R23) from the NIH and accepted Research Associate then Research Assistant Professor faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania.  He moved to Temple University in 1990 as Research Associate Professor and Director of Urologic Research.   Dr. Ruggieri received 21 consecutive years of NIH funding and has recently been awarded two new, 5 year RO1 grants.  The fist grant is titled “Bladder, Urethral and Anal Sphincter Reinnervation” and the aims are to determine whether transfer of the genitofemoral (GF) nerve to the anterior vesicle branch of the pelvic nerve by end to end anastomosis reinnervates the internal sphincter smooth muscle as well as the detrusor muscle and determine whether both autonomic ganglia, smooth muscle or both become functionally reinnervated.  An additional aim is to determine whether unilateral GF to anterior vesicle nerve transfer provides as much functional reinnervation for bladder emptying as bilateral nerve transfer does.   The other grant is titled “Lower Esophageal Antireflux Mechanisms”.  One of the aims will test the hypothesis that there is a difference in contractility of the gastric sling/clasp muscle fiber complex between subjects with and without reflux.   Funding is also derived from the AstraZeneca corporation to determine the cellular location of the nicotinic receptor subunits present in the human gastric sling/clasp muscle fiber complex by immunohistochemistry and to determine the pharmacologic specificity of the nicotinic receptor mediated relaxation.  All studies are in human tissue from whole gastroesophageal specimens obtained from organ transplant donors.

Abstract:

Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) affects at least 40% of the population. Current treatments for GERD do not prevent reflux of gastric contents.  Problems associated with GERD include the minor inconveniences of heartburn to the lethal complications of aspirational pneumonia in infancy and esophageal adenocarcinoma in adulthood.  Our central hypothesis is that a defect in the gastric clasp/sling muscle fiber complex is the underlying etiology of GERD. Our objectives are to identify receptors on the muscles and the nerves innervating these muscles that are implicated as causing GERD. Our focus is to use this information to develop new pharmacologic treatments targeting these receptors and impacting positively on the public health and health care expenditures.  The first aim is to test the hypothesis that GERD patients have different responses of the gastric sling/clasp muscle fiber complex than normal volunteers without GERD and that these responses result in reflux. The second aim is to test the hypothesis that both complete (Nissen) and 270º (Toupet) fundoplication procedures reduce reflux by strengthening the defective sling/clasp muscle fiber complex through tonic muscarinic receptor mediated tension of the gastric smooth muscle in the wrap of the fundoplication.  The third aim is to test the hypothesis that there is a difference in contractility of the gastric sling/clasp muscle fiber complex between subjects with and without GERD. We compare the neurotransmitters and receptors responsible for in-vitro contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle strips from whole gastro esophageal specimens obtained from organ transplant donors with and without GERD. We compare responses between the following muscle strips: gastric sling muscle fibers, gastric clasp muscle fibers, lower esophageal circular muscle fibers, mid esophageal circular muscle fibers, and longitudinal esophageal muscle fibers.

Recent publications on this subject you may wish to review: 

• American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
• Quantitation of the Contractile Response Mediated by Two Receptors: M2 and M3 Muscarinic Receptor-Mediated Contractions of Human Gastroesophageal Smooth Muscle

ACADEMIC:

Grant review Committees:  

Honors and Awards:

Selected peer-reviewed publications (from 114 publications, 156 abstracts)

Peer Reviewed Publications:

Selected Abstracts:

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