Phoenix of Human Cell Biology

Ira Pastor, ideaXme exponential health ambassador and founder of Bioquark, interviews Dr. Denise Montell, The Robert and Patricia Duggan Chair in Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences, at University of California Santa Barbara Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.

Dr. Denise Montell
Dr. Denise Montell, Photo Credit: the University of California Santa Barbara

Ira Pastor comments:

Today is a very exciting show because aside from having a great guest joining us, we are going to be moving into some areas within the biological hierarchy of life, disease, and aging that we have not yet talked much about. 

One of these has to do with the general topic of biologic form that is the unique biochemical and biophysical dynamics that dictate “higher order;” things like size, shape, polarity, and movement across ours cells, tissues, and organs that are involved in both health maintenance as well as disease transitions.

Secondly, we are going to hear about some very interesting discoveries in the areas of biologic robustness and resilience (that is the respective ability of cells/tissues/organs to both resist negative changes, and to bounce back from them when they occur) and once again, how these processes can both support our health, as well as be hijacked in disease transitions.

During this discussion, we are going to learn a new word in the process, as we occasionally do on this show, called “Anastasis,” which represents a novel biological phenomenon, discovered and named by our guest, about the ability of cells at the border of life and death to, in essence, resurrect themselves.

Dr. Denise Montell

Our guest today is Dr. Denise Montell, the Robert and Patricia Duggan Chair in Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences, in University of California Santa Barbara’s (UCSB) Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB).

Dr. Montell earned her B.S. Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the University of California, San Diego and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Stanford University.

As an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution, she developed a new model for studying cell motility in-vivo using combinations of cell biology and molecular genetic approaches. 

She became a Full Professor in 2002 at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she served as Director of the Graduate Program in Biological Chemistry for 10 years. She was the founding director of the Center for Cell Dynamics, an interdisciplinary group of investigators from eight different departments who shared a common interest in observing and manipulating biochemical events and cellular behaviors in real time, in living cells, tissues and organisms. 

Dr. Montell currently serves on the Advisory Councils of both the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences. She has recently joined the faculty of MCDB at UCSB to pursue her interests in research, teaching and program building.

On this show we will hear from Dr. Montell:

About her background, how she became interested in science and health, and ultimately the pathway that brought her to work in this very interesting intersection of disciplines. Her work in the area of the mechanisms behind the development and maintenance of complex biological form. The area of Anastasis; this amazing discovery she recently made about reversibility of the cell suicide process known as apoptosis and the fact that cells that have progressed far beyond steps previously considered to be “points of no return” can in essence reverse the dying process, recover and go on to proliferate. Finally, her work relating to simple animals and their natural ability to enter into long-lived, stress-resistant states, especially as it pertains to aging and stem cell niche maintenance.

Ira Pastor ideaXme longevity and aging Ambassador and Founder of Bioquark
Ira Pastor ideaXme exponential health ambassador and founder of Bioquark

Credits: Ira Pastor interview video, text, and audio.

Follow Ira Pastor on Twitter: @IraSamuelPastor

If you liked this interview, be sure to check out our interview with Aubrey de Gray on Rejuvenation Breakthroughs in Aging!

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