The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Christer Betsholtz, Ph.D., professor of vascular biology, The Karolinska Institute

Speaker bio(s)

Dr. Betsholtz studies vascular biology, with a focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms for angiogenesis and vascular permeability. All blood vessels seem to be composed of endothelial cells and mural cells, and in the case of microvessels, the mural cells, called pericytes, are specialized mesenchymal cells with features of both smooth muscle cells and stem cells. Endothelial cells and pericytes interact in vascular development, in angiogenic sprouting, and in endothelial cell differentiation. Work from several laboratories, including Dr. Betsholtz's, has revealed molecular details about endothelial-pericyte signaling, as well as insights into the role of pericytes in vascular morphogenesis and barrier formation. In this lecture, Dr. Betsholtz will review published and unpublished work on mechanisms of angiogenic sprouting, pericyte recruitment, vascular lumen formation and blood-brain barrier formation.

Dr. Betsholtz received his Ph.D. in 1986 from Uppsala University in Sweden. Prior to his position at The Karolinska Institute, he was a professor of experimental pathology at Uppsala and the Swedish Cancer Foundation from 1987 to 1993, and a professor of medical biochemistry at Gothenburg University in Sweden until 2004. He was awarded the Lundberg Medal from the Lundberg Foundation in Sweden in 2004 and both the Distinguished Professor Award and the Axel Hirsch’s Prize from the Karolinska Institute in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Dr. Betsholtz is a member of the Nobel Assembly and the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, the Royal Academy of Sciences in Sweden and the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Open to

Public

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Gloria Phipps

Phone

(212) 327-8967

Sponsor

Gloria Phipps
(212) 327-8967
phippsg@rockefeller.edu