This event is cancelled due to inclement weather. A new date will be announced in Fall 2026.

The Department of Biological Sciences welcomes 

Dr. Andrés G. Vidal-Gadea

Professor, 

School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University

Tracing the Origins of Dysfunction in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Multiscale Approach to Early Pathophysiology

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by loss of dystrophin and is usually recognized after overt weakness and tissue damage appear. A central challenge is that many candidate mechanisms emerge downstream of degeneration, making it difficult to identify which early defects are causal and which are secondary consequences. In this seminar I will describe a multiscale approach to detect early functional disruption and connect it to underlying cellular physiology. We combine quantitative behavior in vivo with fluorescence-based assays of muscle activity to map changes in neuromuscular performance before gross pathology is evident. Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetically tractable system with conserved muscle biology, we test mechanistic hypotheses and then evaluate conserved signatures in human muscle cells. This cross-species pipeline is designed to link molecular perturbations to cellular calcium handling and whole-organism function, and to prioritize targets that may be actionable early in disease progression.

Hosted by Dr. Eleni Gourgou

This seminar will be streamed live. For a zoom link, please contact Dr. Eleni Gourgou at elenigourgou@wayne.edu.