Physiology in Nontraditional Model Systems: Exploring Species Diversity to Reveal Adaptations with Translational Potential

Gary Lewin, PhD, is a University Professor at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and senior principal investigator at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany. He received his BSc in pharmacology and physiology from the University of Sheffield and his PhD in neurophysiology from the University of London, both in the U.K. Lewin’s research interests focus on the molecular basis of somatic sensation and unraveling the extraordinary biology of the naked mole-rat.

Joanna Kelley, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology and mathematics from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and her PhD in genome sciences from the University of Washington. Kelley held postdoctoral positions at the University of Chicago and Stanford University in California. Her evolutionary genomics laboratory explores biodiversity through high-throughput genome sequencing and computational approaches to analyze big data in genomics. Kelley's research focuses on the genomic basis of adaptation, with a special emphasis on extreme environments.

Karin Allenspach, DVM, PhD, is a professor of comparative medicine in the Department of Pathology at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens. She is a clinician-scientist with a background in small animal internal medicine and an emphasis in gastroenterology and oncology, and extensive post-graduate training in basic and applied immunology. Allenspach is currently funding and supervising the SMART Comparative Medicine Laboratory at UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Her lab is working on the phenotypic and functional characterization of canine adult stem-cell-deprived epithelial organoids in comparison to human and mouse organoids.