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Distinguished Lecture Series in Physiology

Each year the Department of Physiology invites distinguished researchers to present their work on topics broadly related to physiology. Topics range from those closely aligned with the research interests of the department to areas of interest to researchers across the UC Davis campus and the UC Davis School of Medicine. Seminars will be on Thursdays at 12 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) in GBSF Auditorium and Zoom.

Contact: Jorge Contreras <jecontrer@ucdavis.edu>, Theanne Griffith <tgriffith@ucdavis.edu>.

2024 - 2025 Seminars

October 17, 2024

Speaker: Mohamed Trebak, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh

Title: “Calcium signaling through Orai channels in health and disease” (PDF)

Host: Luis Fernando Santana, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology


November 13, 2024

(Wednesday, 1 p.m.)

Speaker: Stephan Pless, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen

Title: "Finding Friends: functional impact of protein-protein interactions in cardiac and neuronal ion channels" (PDF)

Host: Jon Sack, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology


November 14, 2024

Speaker: William J. Spain, M.D., Professor and Director, Epilepsy Center of Excellence, VAPSHCS Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, University of Washington

Title: "Function and mechanisms of neuron dynamics: role in slow cortical-circuit oscillations" (PDF)

Host: Luis Fernando Santana, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology


November 21, 2024

(Carlson Lecture)

Speaker: Nancy Carrasco, M.D., Chair and Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Vanderbilt University

Title: "The tale of the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS): From cloning to structure"


December 11, 2024

(Wednesday, 1 p.m.)

Speaker: Katharine Smith, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Colorado, Denver

January 16, 2025

Speaker: Alexander Payumo, Ph.D., Professor, San Jose State University

February 27, 2025

Speaker: Rajesh Khanna, Ph.D., Professor, University of Florida


April 3, 2025

Speaker: Catherine Christian-Hinman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign


May 22, 2025

Speaker: Candice Paulsen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University