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Walker L. Cisler MemorialLecture Series

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Lecture at 7 p.m.

Reception at 6 p.m.

Location: Mary E. Marburger Science and Engineering Auditorium (S100)

Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences


An Organic Chemist’s Role in the Elucidation of the Endogenous Exposome

Organic chemistry plays a critical role in the understanding of dis-ease etiology and of course the treatment of disease. I have had the opportunity to gain knowledge, experience and perspectives from excellent researchers in three countries. This training has brought me to tackle the many questions still existing surrounding the connection between human genetic makeup and health. One area of interest that has evolved to answer these questions is the study of the “exposome.” The exposome has been defined as the measure of all the exposures of an individual in a lifetime and how these exposures relate to health. When we think of this concept, it is easy to begin to catalogue the many chemical entities encountered by an individual through the body’s exogenous environment, but what about the endogenous environment? The biological mechanisms that dictate life processes produce a multitude of chemical entities that can be catalogued as the endogenous exposome. These substances come in the form of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, sugar fragments, nucleic acid damage products and lipid oxidation products. Through the use of organic chemistry heavily supported with analytical chemistry, our laboratory has developed a toolbox for the identification of biological molecules that can be attributed to the internal exposome. This work is based on the use of site specifically modified substrates that can be photochemically activated under biologically relevant conditions to decompose to small molecule fragments which are by-products of cellular respiration, metabolism and aging just to name a few. In this presentation the creation and utilization of this toolbox will be described.

Visiting Lecturer

Dr. Amanda Bryant-Friedrich

Dean, Wayne State University Graduate School Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Past Chair, Medicinal Chemistry Division, American Chemical Society 

 

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The Walker L. Cisler lecture series, which is free and open to the public, was founded at Lawrence Technological University with a generous gift from the Holley Foundation .

Well known for his leadership of the Detroit Edison Company from 1954 to 1971, Walker L. Cisler enjoyed a career that spanned a lifetime of personal, professional, civic, and business accomplishments. As an international ambassador for the American electric utility industry, he worked closely with heads of state both here and abroad. As a tireless, dedicated humanitarian, he strived to improve the quality of life for people everywhere.