2023
Life’s a beach!
Professor Ken O’Halloran and PhD researchers Aoife Slyne, Misha Maxwell and Tony Marullo particpated in the inaugural American Physiology Summit in Long Beach, California (April 20-23). Work from the SFI-funded INSPIRE DMD study was on show via oral and poster presentations at the conference.
Aoife Slyne (pictured, left) who is funded by an Eli Lilly scholarship presented an oral communication at the 55th Control of Breathing Mixer which kick-started the conference on Thursday evening presenting work on respiratory muscle dysfunction in a mouse model of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Aoife was back on stage at 7am the next morning to present her doctoral work at the APS Respiration Section trainee breakfast. Aoife also presented a poster on Saturday evening. Aoife is characterising respiratory system performance in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) with a view to testing the efficacy of gene therapy strategies to preserve respiratory neuromuscular function. Aoife presented data revealing the compensatory role of accessory muscles of breathing in early disease, a phenomenon that is lost in advanced disease contributing to respiratory system compromise.
Misha Maxwell (pictured below, left) presented a poster on Friday evening describing impaired neuromuscular coupling in the major muscles of breathing in the mdx mouse model of DMD. The poster was an update and extension of work presented in an oral communication by Misha at Europhysiology in Copenhagen, Denmark in September 2022.
Tony Marullo (pictured, right) presented a poster on Saturday evening describing gut-muscle axis signalling in the mdx mouse model of DMD. Through a combination of metagenomics, metabolomics and muscle physiology, Tony is seeking to delineate aberrant pathways that are amenable to dietary intervention to ameliorate the devasting consequences of dystrophin deficiency for neuromuscular function in DMD.
The conference provided excellent opportunities for networking and catch-up with colleagues, collaborators and friends in the control of breathing community, culminating in the Respiration Section Gala Dinner at the Museum of Latin American Art. The new format of conference, with greater focus on cross-cutting, trans-disciplinary themes provided exposure to an impressive breadth of physiological and biomedical research.