DOM Monthly Research Meetings launch with focus on cardiovascular disease

The Department of Medicine hosted its inaugural DOM Monthly Research Meeting in the Medical Research Building’s Room 102 from 4-6 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, with about 30 people in attendance.

And, while it was April Fools’ Day, there were no pranks played. It was all business. The evening’s focus centered on cardiovascular disease and ongoing research in the Division of Cardiology and Sarver Heart Center. See a mini-photo gallery below and takeaways from a few attendees.

The event’s convener, DOM Chair James K. Liao, MD, noted, “These gatherings serve as an excellent opportunity for all research professionals in the department to connect, share insights and collaborate on ongoing projects.”

Each meeting will focus on work in two different research labs involving DOM faculty, he said.

Dr. Liao then introduced one of two presenters, Iván Menéndez-Montes, PhD, an assistant research professor working in the lab of Cardiology division chief and Sarver Heart Center director Hesham Sadek, MD, PhD. His and Dr. Sadek’s scientific relationship began at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Sadek also is associated with Madrid’s Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), where Dr. Menéndez-Montes earned his doctoral degree, prior to moving to Dallas in 2018 for his postdoctoral research fellowship in Dr. Sadek’s lab. Their research focuses on aspects of myocardial regeneration to repair damaged heart tissue via cardiomyocyte cell cycle regulation.

Dr. Menéndez-Montes’ talk topic was “Mitochondria directly interact with the nuclear pore complex (NPC) to regulate nuclear energetics,” looking at physical interactions between mitochondria and the cell nucleus. This originally aimed to determine how mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), one of the main causes for lack of tissue regeneration in the heart, reach the nucleus. But that ended up turning into much more fascinating observations, he said.

“We discovered that mitochondria directly interact with a component (RAN-binding protein 2 or RANBP2) of the nuclear pore complex. The NPC is the only place in all the nuclear envelope that allows free diffusion of small molecules inside the nucleus. We’ve shown that mitochondria, through specific interactions between RANBP2 and the mitochondrial protein VDAC1, dock at the NPC to ensure efficient delivery of energy molecules inside the nucleus, rather than producing them at a distant location in the cell. This is important to ensure energy levels in the nucleus stay steady. In fact, when we disrupt these contacts, both in vitro and in vivo, we observed the energy load of the nucleus decreases, and this affects phosphorylation/signaling within the nucleus and chromatin remodeling, with immediate consequences in gene expression, differentiation and development,” Dr. Menéndez-Montes said.

A paper on the subject has been accepted in the journal Nature, but hasn’t yet been published.

Making at least one research follow-up connection with an audience member, Dr. Menéndez-Montes plans to explore other proteins involved in this interaction, how that’s regulated and what other small molecules and metabolites could be delivered to the nucleus via these mechanisms.

The second presenter, Nikola Sladojevic, MD, PhD, a Cardiology division assistant research professor, has worked closely with Dr. Liao’s lab since his days at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine where Dr. Liao was Cardiology division chief. Prior to that his talk was on the “Critical role of RGS5 on postnatal angiogenesis” — angiogenesis being growth of blood vessels from existing vasculature. It’s an important process for wound healing and supplying oxygen-rich blood to organs and tissues but can support tumor growth and spread as well. RGS5, or regulator of G protein signaling 5, also regulates vascular remodeling of pulmonary microvasculature and occurrence of pulmonary arterial hypertension as well as plays a novel neuroprotective role in focal cerebral ischemia. His and Dr. Liao’s work here has focused on molecular mechanisms in neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier permeability in addition to long-term recovery following ischemic stroke.

“I think the meeting was a great initiative from the Department of Medicine. It created a valuable space for investigators from different areas to connect, exchange ideas and discuss ongoing work in a collaborative setting,” Dr. Sladojevic said, adding that he got helpful feedback from attendees with several productive conversations afterward.

“We’ve already begun discussing potential collaborations with different labs, including work on metabolic regulation, the development of novel peptides and the design of nanoparticles aimed at targeting angiogenesis in various diseases.”

One attendee, Paul Langlais, PhD, a Division of Endocrinology associate professor and Proteomics Lab director at the U of A Center for Disparities in Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism, was impressed with both presentations and the meeting in general.

“It offered an excellent introduction to some of the work from Dr. Sladojevic as well as the Sadek Lab on a project that involved an author list of over 35 people from across the globe,” Dr. Langlais said, adding that he looks forward to future gatherings.

“It’ll be great to meet the new scientists here at the U of A, learn about their work and get an update from some familiar faces, too.”

Division of Translational Medicine chief Jennifer Carew, PhD, who’s also the College of Medicine – Tucson’s investigator-initiated clinical trials director and U of A Cancer Center’s translational research director, thought it notable that five divisions were represented.

“It was encouraging to see strong participation across the department. This forum provides an opportunity to highlight ongoing lab-based research in the department and promote increased cross-disciplinary engagement. I look forward to seeing how the series continues to grow,” she said.

“I really enjoyed the new research meeting,” said Division of Endocrinology chief Ronadip Banerjee, MD, PhD. “It’s great to get exposure to cutting-edge and ongoing projects in research across the department. There were projects and potential connections across metabolism research that I wouldn’t have known about through traditional lab- or division-based meetings. I’m looking forward to future meetings as way to build more connections across the DOM research community — both scientifically and socially.”

For the next DOM Monthly Research Meeting, May 13, endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism will be the research theme and researchers from the labs of Dr. Banerjee and Dawn Coletta, PhD, an Endocrinology associate professor, will be presenting. Same time. Same place.

EXTRA: Making the cover

In other news, a recent paper from the lab of Jennifer Stern, PhD, an Endocrinology division assistant professor whose research seeks to improve prevention and treatment of age-related metabolic disorders, made the February cover of the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism, on “Twelve weeks of voluntary wheel running restores glucagon sensitivity in middle-aged mice.”

ALSO SEE:
“Metabolic health focus of latest SOAR in DOM Forum” | Feb. 18, 2026
“Ronadip Banerjee, MD, PhD, named Endocrinology chief” | Posted Dec. 15, 2025
“2025 SPARK grants spur research efforts across departments” | Posted Dec. 4, 2025
“University of Arizona scientist links calorie restriction, glucagon and healthy aging” | Posted Oct. 30, 2025

(Photos courtesy of David Mogollon, Department of Medicine)

For more photos from this event, see this link.

MINI-PHOTO GALLERY
Click images to enlarge and for captions: