Sack & Yarov-Yarovoy Lab News


2024

May

April

  • Simoun Raga was selected to participate in the UC Davis Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program, starting in summer, 2024. Congratulations Simoun!
  • Geir Hareland was selected for membership in the University of California-Davis chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest, most selective and most prestigious all-discipline academic honor society. Congratulations Geir!
  • Adriana Hernández González presented a talk at the UC Davis Biophysics Colloquium entitled "Structural Insights into hCaᵥ1.2 Interactions with Calmodulin Using AlphaFold"
  • Diego Lopez Mateos received the Best Poster Award presented by a graduate student at the UC Davis Biophysics Colloquium. Congratulations Diego!
  • Kush Narang received the Best Poster Award presented by an undergraduate student at the UC Davis Biophysics Colloquium. Congratulations Kush!
  • Kush Narang presented a talk at the UC Davis Undergraduate Conference entitled "Computational Design of NaV1.8 Sodium Channel Inhibitors as Novel Non-Addictive Analgesics"

February

January


2023

December

November

October

September

August

  • Adam Michael Murray won a Best Poster Award at the 2023 Summer Rosetta Conference in Leavenworth, WA. Congratulations, Adam!
  • Adam Michael Murray and Diego Lopez Mateos presented a poster entitled "De novo design of peptides targeting the pore domain of Kv1.3 potassium channel" at the 2023 Summer Rosetta Conference in Leavenworth, WA.
  • Adriana Hernandez Gonzalez presented a poster entitled "Modeling different states of the hCav1.2 Chanel with AlphaFold 2" at the 2023 Summer Rosetta Conference in Leavenworth, WA.
  • Brandon John Harris presented a poster entitled "De Novo Peptide Design for Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel 1.7 Inhibition Related to Chronic Pain Treatment" at the 2023 Summer Rosetta Conference in Leavenworth, WA.
  • Diego Lopez Mateos presented a poster entitled "Computational Design of Peptides Stabilizing NaV1.7 Channel in an Inactivated state" at the 2023 Summer Rosetta Conference in Leavenworth, WA.
  • Phuong Tran Nguyen started as a Senior Scientist at Sanofi in Cambridge, MA.

June

May

April

  • Adriana Hernandez Gonzalez and Geir Hareland (1st-year Biophysics Graduate Group students) joined our lab!

March

February

2022

December

November

October

  • Aiyana Emigh graduated from UC Davis with a Ph.D. and started a California Council on Science and Technology fellowship. Congratulations, Aiyana!
  • Robin Stewart graduated from UC Davis with a Ph.D. and continued as a postdoctoral scholar in the Sack lab. Congratulations, Robin!

September

  • Jan Maly, Aiyana Emigh, Jon Sack, and Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy published a collaborative paper with Drs. Igor Vorobyov, Kevin DeMarco, Kazuharu Furutani, Colleen Clancy in the Frontiers in Pharmacology journal entitled "Structural modeling of the hERG potassium channel and associated drug interactions".
  • Diego Lopez Mateos, Brandon Harris, and Phuong Tran Nguyen presented a talk entitled "Rational Design of Novel Ion Channel Modulators" at the 2022 Physiology and Membrane Biology Symposium in Tahoe City, CA.

August

  • Brandon Harris and Phuong Tran Nguyen presented a poster entitled "High-resolution modeling of small molecule-ion channel interactions with Rosetta's GALigandDock" at the 2022 Summer Rosetta Conference.
  • Diego Lopez Mateos presented a poster entitled "Modeling of peptide toxin - ion channel interactions using RosettaDock" at the 2022 Summer Rosetta Conference.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy presented a talk entitled "Rational Design of Novel Ion Channel Modulators" at the FASEB Ion Channel Regulation Conference in Nova Scotia, Canada.

June

May

April

March

February

January


2021

December

November

September

August

  • Jan Maly graduated from UC Davis with a Ph.D. and started a project manager position at Atomwise in San Francisco.

July

UC Davis Health | University of California News | CBS News | Inside Edition | Sacramento Bee | Sacramento Business Journal | The California Aggie | Seattle Times | AmbioPharm

June

May

  • Our NIH HEAL Initiative grant entitled “Optimization of non-addictive biologics to target sodium channels involved in pain signaling” has been highlighted by NIH HEAL Initiative Research Spotlight.

April

March

  • Aiyana Emigh presented a poster entitled “Predicting Arrhythmogenicity: Structural Modeling of Safe and Unsafe hERG Blockers” - at the 2021 University of California Chemical Symposium.
  • Aiyana Emigh served as a Scientific Review Officer for the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine’s RFP entitled Addressing Health Impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences through a Collaborative Precision Medicine Approach.
  • Ian Kimball graduated from UC Davis with Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology. Congratulations, Dr. Ian!
  • Jan Maly presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of the hERG Channel in an Inactivated State and Associated Drug Interactions” at the 2021 Virtual Winter Rosetta Conference.

February


2020

December

November

  • Miriam Camacena was awarded an e-poster presentation award in the Neuroscience category at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) 2020.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoypublished a paper with Drs. Jie Zheng’s and Heike Wulff’s group in eLife entitled “New capsaicin analogs as molecular rulers to define the permissive conformation of the mouse TRPV1 ligand-binding pocket”.

September

August

  • Aiyana Emigh became a Policy Fellow at the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, housed in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
  • Aiyana Emigh presented a poster entitled “Predicting Arrhythmogenicity: Structural Modeling of Safe and Unsafe hERG Blockers” at the 2020 Virtual Summer Rosetta Conference.
  • Brandon Harris and Phuong Tran Nguyen presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of NaV-Ligand Interactions with Rosetta’s Galiganddock” at the 2020 Virtual Summer Rosetta Conference.
  • Diego Lopez Mateos presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of Peptide Toxin - Ion Channel Interactions” at the 2020 Virtual Summer Rosetta Conference.
  • Jan Maly presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of the hERG Channel in an Inactivated State and Associated Drug Interactions” at the 2020 Virtual Summer Rosetta Conference.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy published a paper with Dr. Nipavan Chiamvimonvat’s group in Frontiers Pharmacology entitled “Gating Properties of Mutant Sodium Channels and Responses to Sodium Current Inhibitors Predict Mexiletine-Sensitive Mutations of Long QT Syndrome 3”.

June

May

April

March

February

January

2019

November

  • Jon Sack presented the research of Robert Stewart, Parashar Thapa, Sebastian Fletcher-Taylor, Matthew Marquis, and Rebecka Sepela in a presentation entitled "Imaging conformational changes of endogenous ion channels" in the "Other Stuff" session of the particularly wonderful Austin Conference on Ion Channel Dynamics and Mechanisms in Austin, Texas.
  • October
  • Aiyana Emigh passed her qualifying exam. Go Aiyana!
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy, Colleen Clancy, and Jon Sack received Physiology and Membrane Biology Team-Based Research program grant entitled “A Predictive Multiscale Pipeline for Pain Therapy”.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy, Heike Wulff, Jon Sack, Bruce Hammock, Karen Wagner, and Daniel Tancredi received NIH HEAL Initiative grant entitled “Optimization of non-addictive biologics to target sodium channels involved in pain signaling”. Learn more at: UC Davis Health news release and NIH news release.

September

  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy contributed to a paper with Dr. Heike Wulff group entitled “The Trials and Tribulations of Structure Assisted Design of K Ca Channel Activators”. Front Pharmacol. 2019 Sep 20;10:972. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2019.00972. eCollection 2019.
  • Jon Sack presented the research of Robert Stewart, Parashar Thapa, Sebastian Fletcher-Taylor, Matthew Marquis, and Rebecka Sepela in a presentation entitled "Visualizing endogenous ion channel activation" at the Society of General Physiologists 73rd Annual Symposium and the SOBLA, the Latin American Biophysical Society, Annual Meeting "Structural Basis of Electrical Signaling in the Nervous System and Heart" in Valparaiso, Chile.
  • Jon Sack presented the research of Robert Stewart, Parashar Thapa, Sebastian Fletcher-Taylor, Matthew Marquis, and Rebecka Sepela in a presentation entitled "Visualizing endogenous ion channel activation" as an International Collaborator of the Millennium Nucleus of Ion Channels-Associated Diseases (MiNICAD) - www.minicad.cl at the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy and Paul DeCaen (Northwestern University) published spotlight review entitled “The Sodium Channel Voltage Sensor Slides to Rest”. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2019 Sep 5. pii: S0165-6147(19)30195-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tips.2019.08.009.

August

  • Aiyana Emigh presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of hERG Channel Interactions with Drugs Using Rosetta” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Brandon Harris and Phuong Tran Nguyen “Exploring Small Molecule Interactions with Ion Channels using GALigandDock” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Phuong Tran Nguyen presented a poster entitled Molecular Determinants of μ-Conotoxin KIIIA Interaction with the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Nav1.7” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Jan Maly presented a poster entitled “Rosetta modeling and drug interactions of the hERG channel in an inactivated state” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy, Jie Zheng, and collaborators published paper entitled “A distinct structural mechanism underlies TRPV1 activation by piperine”. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2019 Aug 20;516(2):365-372. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.06.039.

July

June

  • Robert Stewart and Jon Sack taught in the Electrophysiology section of the Neurobiology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

May

  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy and Sergey Noskov (University of Calgary) published editorial. Neurosci Lett. 2019 May 1;700:1-2. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.02.040.

April

March

  • Drew Tilley, Jon Sack, and collaborators published paper entitled “The tarantula toxin GxTx detains K+ channel gating charges in their resting conformation” J Gen Physiol. 2019 Mar 4;151(3):292-315. doi: 10.1085/jgp.201812213.
  • Aiyana Emigh presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of Drug Interactions With hERG Channel in Open and Closed States” at the Biophysical Society meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Matthew Marquis and Rebecka Sepela presented a poster entitled “Decoupling Between Voltage Sensor Movement and Pore Opening of Kv2.1 Channel” at the Biophysical Society meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Jan Maly presented a poster entitled “Structural Modeling of the hERG Channel in an Inactivated State and Its Drug Interactions” at the Biophysical Society meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Kazuharu Furutani presented a poster entitled “A Kinetic Mechanism Underlying hERG Facilitation by a Blocker” at the Biophysical Society meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy presented a poster entitled “Structural basis for antiarrhythmic drug interactions with the human cardiac sodium channel” at 2019 Interagency Modeling and Analysis meeting “Moving Forward with the Multiscale Modeling Consortium” in Bethesda, MD.

February


2018

November

September

  • Phuong Tran Nguyen graduated from UC Davis with Ph.D., became Dr. T, and started a postdoc in Sack & Yarov-Yarovoy lab. Congratulations, T!
  • August
  • Phuong Tran Nguyen gave a talk entitled “Structural Basis for Antiarrhythmic and Local Anesthetic Drug Interactions with the Human Cardiac Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Ian Kimball and Phuong Tran Nguyen presented a poster entitled “Assessing the structural basis of Nav1.7 inhibition by the μ-conotoxin KIIIA” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Jan Maly presented a poster entitled “Structure and small molecule binding to the inactivated state of hERG” at the Rosetta Conference (RosettaCon) in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Parashar Thapa and Jon Sack published a paper with the group of Dr. James Trimmer in Mol Biol Cell entitled "Remodeling neuronal ER-PM junctions is a conserved nonconducting function of Kv2 plasma membrane ion channels
  • Aiyana Emigh attended 2018 Summer School in Computational Physiology in San Diego, California.

July

June

  • Drew Tilley graduated from UC Davis with Ph.D. and started a postdoc at Cornell University. Congratulations, Drew!
  • Rebecka Sepela and Jon Sack taught in the Electrophysiology section of the Neurobiology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
  • Aiyana Emigh attended 2018 Summer School in Computational Physiology in Oslo, Norway

April

March

  • Aiyana Emigh, Phuong Tran Nguyen, and Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy attended 2018 Interagency Modeling and Analysis meeting entitled “Moving Forward with the Multiscale Modeling Consortium” in Bethesda, MD.
  • Matthew Marquis from Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (BMCDB) Graduate Group joined our lab!

February


2017

December

  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy, Phuong Tran Nguyen and Toby Allen received Anton2 supercomputer allocation award for a project entitled “State-dependent drug modulation of sodium channels”.

November

  • Aiyana Emigh participated in the Meet a Scientist weekend at the Powerhouse Science Center where scientists interact with families, sharing their research, and offering hands-on activities to connect the public with current science in the community. This event is hosted through the Science Communication Fellowship Training Program as part of the Portal to the Public National Network. This program helps scientists become ambassadors and communicators, engaging with public audiences through fun, interactive, content-rich learning activities developed during months of training focused on learning the importance of informal science education, how people learn, facilitation skills, and activity development.

October

September

August

  • Aiyana Emigh, Phuong Tran Nguyen, Jan Maly, Ian Kimball, and Kevin DeMarco presented their research at 2017 RosettaCon in Leavenworth, Washington.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy gave a talk entitled “Structural Modeling and Sodium Channel Pharmacology” at the Catterall Lab Reunion & Research Symposium at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

July

  • Ian Kimball was awarded a Predoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association!
  • Parashar Thapa was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association!
  • Phuong Tran Nguyen and Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy published a paper with Drs. Paul DeCaen and Zhonghua Liu and others in FASEB Journal entitled “A novel tarantula toxin stabilizes the deactivated voltage sensor of bacterial sodium channel
  • Cierra Joseph received a UC Davis Work-Study Award!

June

May

  • Rebecka Sepela passed her qualifying exam. Go Rebecka!
  • Aiyana Emigh was awarded a Predoctoral fellowship from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Training Program in Basic and Translation Cardiovascular Science!
  • Aiyana Emigh was accepted to attend Hands-on Workshop on Computation Biophysics in Pittsburgh, PA on May 30 - June 2, 2017.
  • Aiyana Emigh was awarded a Scholarship to attend the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) in Orlando, Florida, October 4-6, 2017!

April

March

  • Kazuharu Furutani arrived as a Visiting Assistant Professor from Osaka University in Japan. Welcome, Kazu!
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy gave a talk at the UC Davis Pain Clinic entitled “Design of novel ion channel modulators using Artificial Intelligence”.
  • Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy gave a workshop on the Computational Biology and Artificial Intelligence at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, in Santiago, Chile.

February

Rebecka Sepela gave a talk entitled "A strategy to measure electrophysiological changes with photoacoustic imaging" at the SPIE meeting in San Francisco, California.

Sebastian Fletcher-Taylor, Parashar Thapa, Phuong Tran Nguyen, Ian Kimball, Jan Maly, and Kevin DeMarco presented their research at the Biophysical Society meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy gave a talk at the UC Davis Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology entitled “Design of novel ion channel modulators using Artificial Intelligence”.