Saeid Maghsoudi’s research aims to develop a drug to treat babies that are short of oxygen at birth.
Maghsoudi, a third-year PhD student in physiology and pathophysiology at the Max Rady College of Medicine, is studying a disease called persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), a serious breathing problem in newborn babies.
“The heart muscle and lung blood vessel muscles have opposite jobs at birth – the heart must contract harder and lung blood vessels need to relax to let blood flow,” Maghsoudi said. “These opposite events happen through a single system of signals inside the cell, called the adenylyl cyclase enzyme pathway. Adenylyl cyclase has ten types expressed in different parts of the body and lung blood vessels express mainly AC type 6 (AC6).”
His lab found that when a baby’s oxygen level is low, AC6 stops working and prevents lung blood vessel relaxation. Even if oxygen levels are increased, they couldn’t turn AC6 back on, he said.
Using cell and animal models of PPHN, Maghsoudi is trying to restart AC6 activity by designing a new drug that specifically targets the structure of AC6. His goal is to rescue the function of this enzyme in babies to treat PPHN.
UM Today sat down with Maghsoudi to learn about what motivates him and his experience as a PhD student at UM.
You received $17,850 in funding from Research Manitoba for a project titled Inhibition ofAdenylyl Cyclase Isoform 6 by Cysteine Nitrosylation in Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension and Rescue with Novel Forkolin Derivatives. What are your thoughts on receiving this funding?
I received my first Research Manitoba funding during my first year of my graduate studies which was so helpful, and I am grateful for this generous funding. It’s very important that you receive funding from a prestigious organization that believes your research is important. This new funding is a real motivation for me as well, and it’s helped me work hard towards my ultimate goal, which is to bring a new drug to babies. I now have a strong motivation in addition to a fresh feeling of purpose and commitment as a result of receiving this studentship.
What motivates you to do the work you do?
Losing a baby because you could not treat them is so devastating, that’s why I’m keen on pursuing my project. My supervisor, Dr. Shyamala Dakshinamurti, has always offered me guidance and mentorship with valuable insights, support and encouragement. She knows how to mentor graduate students. I also have very supportive lab members.
Why did you choose UM for your PhD?
The University of Manitoba has a strong academic reputation, known for its excellence in teaching and research in the fields of physiology and pathophysiology. In addition, I am working on a really fascinating project that combines biomedical sciences and medicinal chemistry.
What has been most rewarding during your time at UM?
I’m very humbled to be awarded several international, national and provincial scholarships at this university. Recently, my abstract was selected the best at the most prestigious conference of pediatric research worldwide, held in Washington, D.C., and I got the Society of Pediatric Research award. This is a huge recognition for me.
What do you love about science?
Science plays a crucial role in expanding our understanding of the natural world, from the fundamental laws of physics to the complexities of biological systems, leading to new discoveries. It allows people to make a positive impact on society. Our experience during COVID-19 shows how vaccines saved the lives of people around the world through science. You can bring something novel – something important to people – and that’s why I’m very interested in science. I want to always be involved in science, discoveries, finding something new like drugs – anything that can help save the lives of many people. That’s invaluable.
What are your future plans?
When you’re at the PhD level, the concern you have is deciding to go into either industry or academia. I’m very enthusiastic about research. I’m passionate about discovery. I want to bring something new to people or patients. If I go into industry, I won’t have this much opportunity I believe. I won’t have an opportunity to mentor students, which I am really fond of. I want to be a principal investigator after I complete my PhD.
This Q&A is part of a series on UM Today featuring Rady Faculty of Health Sciences graduate students. You can find more grad student profiles here: #Radygradstudents.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
