Dr. Stuart Maudsley, Investigator

Dr. Maudsley received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Leeds where he studied the molecular mechanisms of tachykinin receptor activation and desensitization as the University’s Ackroyd Brotherton and Brown Scholar. With a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship, he moved to Duke University to work with Professor Robert J. Lefkowitz on the connectivity of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling to tyrosine kinase pathways. During this period Dr. Maudsley developed new theories of GPCR signaling based upon the creation of higher order superstructures.  Dr. Maudsley then accepted a Principal Investigator position at the Medical Research Council at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.  There he furthered the development of his concepts of the organization of GPCRs into discrete signaling structures for specific physiological functions.  This work now forms the basis of his research at the NIA into the alteration of the GPCR signaling structures during healthy and pathological aging.

Dr. Wayne Chadwick, Post-doctoral IRTA fellow

Dr Chadwick received his PhD in biochemistry from the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where he investigated the etiology of type II diabetes. He is currently working as a post doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Aging in the Receptor Pharmacology Unit under Dr Stuart Maudsley where he is investigating the effects of oxidative stress on GPCR scaffolding proteins with respect to signaling in aging and neurological disorders.

Dr. Liyun Wang, Post-doctoral IRTA fellow

Dr. Liyun Wang, Ph.D. transferred to the NIH from the Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology where she held the title of Associate Professor.  At the Institute her work primarily focused on drug discovery with specific respect to small molecule agents that possess functional allosteric activity on GPCRs.  Dr. Wang joined the NIA Receptor Pharmacology Unit in 2008 where she is now studying allosteric modulation of GPCR function for eventual use in the treatment of complex physiological disorders linked to the aging process.

Dr. Sung Park, Post-doctoral IRTA fellow

Dr. Park received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University in South Korea where he studied the regulatory mechanisms of antibiotics production in Streptomyces through proteomics approaches.  Dr. Park joined to Dr. Maudsley’s group in 2008, and has been investigating quantitative phosphoproteomics in response to GPCR signaling.  Dr. Park’s research is primarily concerned with studying how signal transduction and protein-protein interactions alter in several diseases age-related neurological diseases.  Dr. Park is also trying to establish his own theories about the nature of protein-protein connectivity through the formation of higher order protein complexes in vivo.

Dr. Yu Zhou, Post-doctoral IRTA fellow

Dr. Yu Zhou received her Ph.D. from Peking University in 2008. During this period she developed an all-in-one, start-to-finish sample preparation device for mass spectrometry-based proteomics in Prof. Huwei Liu's laboratory.  She started her postdoctoral research with Dr. Stuart Maudsley in the Laboratory of Neurosciences-Receptor Pharmacology Unit at NIH/NIA in November 2008.  Her research interest are first in developing new designs and techniques for streamlining and speeding up the overall protein-processing workflow for mass spectrometry.  This includes improving initial sample clarification through to a smoother transition to mass spectrometry.  and second in exploiting the techniques in neurobiology, more specifically to study GPCR signaling structures during healthy and pathological aging.

Megan Chapter, B.A., Post-baccalaureate IRTA fellow

Megan Chapter received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College in 2008 with a major in Neuroscience.  During her senior year, she worked independently under Dr. Robert Jinks investigating the link between actin depolymerization and transient rhabdom shedding in Limulus.  In 2008 Megan received an Independent Training Research Award from the NIH allowing her to work as a post-baccalaureate researcher in the Receptor Pharmacology Unit at the NIA.  Megan’s work focusses on the role that receptor-associated structural proteins have with the aging process with specific respect to neuronal energy regulation.