Dr. Afshin Beheshti 
 

Bio:
Afshin Beheshti, PhD is a Professor of Surgery and of Computational & Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School. He serves as Director of the newly launched Space Center for Space Biomedicine and as Associate Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Pitt​. In addition, Dr. Beheshti holds a visiting scientist appointment at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard​.

Abstract:
Human spaceflight presents significant health challenges driven by microgravity, space radiation, isolation, and other environmental stressors. Recent multi-omics research has revealed that mitochondrial dysfunction is a central biological consequence of space travel, contributing to systemic impacts such as accelerated aging, cardiovascular disease, and impaired metabolic function. Data from astronaut missions and ground-based space analogs demonstrate persistent mitochondrial suppression even after returning to Earth. This talk highlights how space serves as a unique accelerated model for studying human diseases and aging, offering insights applicable both to space exploration and terrestrial medicine. Using advanced 3D organoid models and multi-omics analysis, we have identified promising countermeasures, including the natural flavonoid Kaempferol, which restores mitochondrial bioenergetics and reverses radiation-induced gene expression changes in multiple tissues. These findings underscore the critical role of mitochondria as both biomarkers and therapeutic targets for sustaining human health in deep space missions, while also advancing precision medicine strategies on Earth.

Dr. Afshin Beheshti 
 

Bio:
Afshin Beheshti, PhD is a Professor of Surgery and of Computational & Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School. He serves as Director of the newly launched Space Center for Space Biomedicine and as Associate Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Pitt​. In addition, Dr. Beheshti holds a visiting scientist appointment at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard​.

Abstract:
Human spaceflight presents significant health challenges driven by microgravity, space radiation, isolation, and other environmental stressors. Recent multi-omics research has revealed that mitochondrial dysfunction is a central biological consequence of space travel, contributing to systemic impacts such as accelerated aging, cardiovascular disease, and impaired metabolic function. Data from astronaut missions and ground-based space analogs demonstrate persistent mitochondrial suppression even after returning to Earth. This talk highlights how space serves as a unique accelerated model for studying human diseases and aging, offering insights applicable both to space exploration and terrestrial medicine. Using advanced 3D organoid models and multi-omics analysis, we have identified promising countermeasures, including the natural flavonoid Kaempferol, which restores mitochondrial bioenergetics and reverses radiation-induced gene expression changes in multiple tissues. These findings underscore the critical role of mitochondria as both biomarkers and therapeutic targets for sustaining human health in deep space missions, while also advancing precision medicine strategies on Earth.

Dr. Yvon Woappi | Woappi Lab

Bio:
Dr. Yvon Woappi is the Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His research leverages gene editing and multiomic technologies to uncover how autonomous multicellular orchestration facilitates deep wound repair – a process critical to many conditions including diabetic ulcers and carcinomas. Dr. Woappi earned his Ph.D. as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard Dermatology Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woappi’s pioneering early-career research is laying the foundation for synthetic wound regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that leverages cellular heterogeneity to enhance tissue regeneration.

Abstract:
As the organ most frequently exposed to predatory pressures, the integument has acquired broad functions, including camouflage, thermoregulation, sensory perception, and tissue repair. These roles are executed through a complex interplay of tissue substructures, including several mini-organ appendages (hair follicles, sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscle, and assorted pilosebaceous units) and five central adnexal structures (blood vessels, sensory neurons, collagenous tissues, immune components, and deep fascia), all embedded within three superimposed tissue strata (the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis). Given this intricate architecture, the healing of deep skin wounds requires a coordinated organ-level response involving varied cell populations originating from virtually all three embryonic germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. However, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular logic orchestrating this crosstissue response in mammals remains incomplete. Here, we present the Organ-Scale Wound Healing Atlases (OWHA), a comprehensive multiomic single-cell and spatial transcriptomic dataset that captures the dynamic microanatomical tissue niches of the mammalian integument during the entire wound healing sequence, including early and late healing phases. By incorporating multi-omics data across all major phases of healing, OWHA uncovered novel emergent healing cell states and their coordinated cell fate decisions uniquely (multilineage crosstalk) executed after injury, and delineated critical tissue trajectories required for eKective healing of deep wounds. Importantly, comparative analysis between human and mouse revealed conserved network between the epithelial and neuro-endothelial vasculature....(Add missing groups in human only found in our multi modal approach) By providing deeper mechanistic insights of mammalian tissue adaptations for injury response, OWHA serves as a valuable resource for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing in the mammalian integument.

Dr. Yvon Woappi | Woappi Lab

Bio:
Dr. Yvon Woappi is the Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His research leverages gene editing and multiomic technologies to uncover how autonomous multicellular orchestration facilitates deep wound repair – a process critical to many conditions including diabetic ulcers and carcinomas. Dr. Woappi earned his Ph.D. as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard Dermatology Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woappi’s pioneering early-career research is laying the foundation for synthetic wound regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that leverages cellular heterogeneity to enhance tissue regeneration.

Abstract:
As the organ most frequently exposed to predatory pressures, the integument has acquired broad functions, including camouflage, thermoregulation, sensory perception, and tissue repair. These roles are executed through a complex interplay of tissue substructures, including several mini-organ appendages (hair follicles, sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscle, and assorted pilosebaceous units) and five central adnexal structures (blood vessels, sensory neurons, collagenous tissues, immune components, and deep fascia), all embedded within three superimposed tissue strata (the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis). Given this intricate architecture, the healing of deep skin wounds requires a coordinated organ-level response involving varied cell populations originating from virtually all three embryonic germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. However, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular logic orchestrating this crosstissue response in mammals remains incomplete. Here, we present the Organ-Scale Wound Healing Atlases (OWHA), a comprehensive multiomic single-cell and spatial transcriptomic dataset that captures the dynamic microanatomical tissue niches of the mammalian integument during the entire wound healing sequence, including early and late healing phases. By incorporating multi-omics data across all major phases of healing, OWHA uncovered novel emergent healing cell states and their coordinated cell fate decisions uniquely (multilineage crosstalk) executed after injury, and delineated critical tissue trajectories required for eKective healing of deep wounds. Importantly, comparative analysis between human and mouse revealed conserved network between the epithelial and neuro-endothelial vasculature....(Add missing groups in human only found in our multi modal approach) By providing deeper mechanistic insights of mammalian tissue adaptations for injury response, OWHA serves as a valuable resource for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing in the mammalian integument.

Dr. Yvon Woappi | Woappi Lab

Bio:
Dr. Yvon Woappi is the Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His research leverages gene editing and multiomic technologies to uncover how autonomous multicellular orchestration facilitates deep wound repair – a process critical to many conditions including diabetic ulcers and carcinomas. Dr. Woappi earned his Ph.D. as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard Dermatology Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woappi’s pioneering early-career research is laying the foundation for synthetic wound regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that leverages cellular heterogeneity to enhance tissue regeneration.

Abstract:
As the organ most frequently exposed to predatory pressures, the integument has acquired broad functions, including camouflage, thermoregulation, sensory perception, and tissue repair. These roles are executed through a complex interplay of tissue substructures, including several mini-organ appendages (hair follicles, sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscle, and assorted pilosebaceous units) and five central adnexal structures (blood vessels, sensory neurons, collagenous tissues, immune components, and deep fascia), all embedded within three superimposed tissue strata (the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis). Given this intricate architecture, the healing of deep skin wounds requires a coordinated organ-level response involving varied cell populations originating from virtually all three embryonic germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. However, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular logic orchestrating this crosstissue response in mammals remains incomplete. Here, we present the Organ-Scale Wound Healing Atlases (OWHA), a comprehensive multiomic single-cell and spatial transcriptomic dataset that captures the dynamic microanatomical tissue niches of the mammalian integument during the entire wound healing sequence, including early and late healing phases. By incorporating multi-omics data across all major phases of healing, OWHA uncovered novel emergent healing cell states and their coordinated cell fate decisions uniquely (multilineage crosstalk) executed after injury, and delineated critical tissue trajectories required for eKective healing of deep wounds. Importantly, comparative analysis between human and mouse revealed conserved network between the epithelial and neuro-endothelial vasculature....(Add missing groups in human only found in our multi modal approach) By providing deeper mechanistic insights of mammalian tissue adaptations for injury response, OWHA serves as a valuable resource for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing in the mammalian integument.

Dr. Yvon Woappi | Woappi Lab

Bio:
Dr. Yvon Woappi is the Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His research leverages gene editing and multiomic technologies to uncover how autonomous multicellular orchestration facilitates deep wound repair – a process critical to many conditions including diabetic ulcers and carcinomas. Dr. Woappi earned his Ph.D. as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard Dermatology Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woappi’s pioneering early-career research is laying the foundation for synthetic wound regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that leverages cellular heterogeneity to enhance tissue regeneration.

Abstract:
As the organ most frequently exposed to predatory pressures, the integument has acquired broad functions, including camouflage, thermoregulation, sensory perception, and tissue repair. These roles are executed through a complex interplay of tissue substructures, including several mini-organ appendages (hair follicles, sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscle, and assorted pilosebaceous units) and five central adnexal structures (blood vessels, sensory neurons, collagenous tissues, immune components, and deep fascia), all embedded within three superimposed tissue strata (the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis). Given this intricate architecture, the healing of deep skin wounds requires a coordinated organ-level response involving varied cell populations originating from virtually all three embryonic germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. However, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular logic orchestrating this crosstissue response in mammals remains incomplete. Here, we present the Organ-Scale Wound Healing Atlases (OWHA), a comprehensive multiomic single-cell and spatial transcriptomic dataset that captures the dynamic microanatomical tissue niches of the mammalian integument during the entire wound healing sequence, including early and late healing phases. By incorporating multi-omics data across all major phases of healing, OWHA uncovered novel emergent healing cell states and their coordinated cell fate decisions uniquely (multilineage crosstalk) executed after injury, and delineated critical tissue trajectories required for eKective healing of deep wounds. Importantly, comparative analysis between human and mouse revealed conserved network between the epithelial and neuro-endothelial vasculature....(Add missing groups in human only found in our multi modal approach) By providing deeper mechanistic insights of mammalian tissue adaptations for injury response, OWHA serves as a valuable resource for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing in the mammalian integument.

Dr. Yvon Woappi | Woappi Lab

Bio:
Dr. Yvon Woappi is the Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His research leverages gene editing and multiomic technologies to uncover how autonomous multicellular orchestration facilitates deep wound repair – a process critical to many conditions including diabetic ulcers and carcinomas. Dr. Woappi earned his Ph.D. as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard Dermatology Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woappi’s pioneering early-career research is laying the foundation for synthetic wound regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that leverages cellular heterogeneity to enhance tissue regeneration.

Abstract:
As the organ most frequently exposed to predatory pressures, the integument has acquired broad functions, including camouflage, thermoregulation, sensory perception, and tissue repair. These roles are executed through a complex interplay of tissue substructures, including several mini-organ appendages (hair follicles, sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscle, and assorted pilosebaceous units) and five central adnexal structures (blood vessels, sensory neurons, collagenous tissues, immune components, and deep fascia), all embedded within three superimposed tissue strata (the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis). Given this intricate architecture, the healing of deep skin wounds requires a coordinated organ-level response involving varied cell populations originating from virtually all three embryonic germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. However, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular logic orchestrating this crosstissue response in mammals remains incomplete. Here, we present the Organ-Scale Wound Healing Atlases (OWHA), a comprehensive multiomic single-cell and spatial transcriptomic dataset that captures the dynamic microanatomical tissue niches of the mammalian integument during the entire wound healing sequence, including early and late healing phases. By incorporating multi-omics data across all major phases of healing, OWHA uncovered novel emergent healing cell states and their coordinated cell fate decisions uniquely (multilineage crosstalk) executed after injury, and delineated critical tissue trajectories required for eKective healing of deep wounds. Importantly, comparative analysis between human and mouse revealed conserved network between the epithelial and neuro-endothelial vasculature....(Add missing groups in human only found in our multi modal approach) By providing deeper mechanistic insights of mammalian tissue adaptations for injury response, OWHA serves as a valuable resource for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing in the mammalian integument.

Dr. Yvon Woappi | Woappi Lab

Bio:
Dr. Yvon Woappi is the Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Dermatology, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. His research leverages gene editing and multiomic technologies to uncover how autonomous multicellular orchestration facilitates deep wound repair – a process critical to many conditions including diabetic ulcers and carcinomas. Dr. Woappi earned his Ph.D. as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina and completed his postdoctoral training in the Harvard Dermatology Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Woappi’s pioneering early-career research is laying the foundation for synthetic wound regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that leverages cellular heterogeneity to enhance tissue regeneration.

Abstract:
As the organ most frequently exposed to predatory pressures, the integument has acquired broad functions, including camouflage, thermoregulation, sensory perception, and tissue repair. These roles are executed through a complex interplay of tissue substructures, including several mini-organ appendages (hair follicles, sebaceous glands, arrector pili muscle, and assorted pilosebaceous units) and five central adnexal structures (blood vessels, sensory neurons, collagenous tissues, immune components, and deep fascia), all embedded within three superimposed tissue strata (the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis). Given this intricate architecture, the healing of deep skin wounds requires a coordinated organ-level response involving varied cell populations originating from virtually all three embryonic germ layers—ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. However, a comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular logic orchestrating this crosstissue response in mammals remains incomplete. Here, we present the Organ-Scale Wound Healing Atlases (OWHA), a comprehensive multiomic single-cell and spatial transcriptomic dataset that captures the dynamic microanatomical tissue niches of the mammalian integument during the entire wound healing sequence, including early and late healing phases. By incorporating multi-omics data across all major phases of healing, OWHA uncovered novel emergent healing cell states and their coordinated cell fate decisions uniquely (multilineage crosstalk) executed after injury, and delineated critical tissue trajectories required for eKective healing of deep wounds. Importantly, comparative analysis between human and mouse revealed conserved network between the epithelial and neuro-endothelial vasculature....(Add missing groups in human only found in our multi modal approach) By providing deeper mechanistic insights of mammalian tissue adaptations for injury response, OWHA serves as a valuable resource for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying wound healing in the mammalian integument.

Dr. Georgia Hodes 

Bio:
Dr. Hodes received a B.A. in Drama/Dance from Bard College and after college worked as an actor and designer in New York City. During this time, she decided a life in the arts was unsustainable and did post-baccalaureate training at Hunter College in experimental psychology. She obtained her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in the Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience division of the Psychology program where she trained in the laboratory of Dr. Tracey Shors. She went on to have 2 postdoctoral training positions, the first in Pharmacology with Dr. Irwin Lucki at the University of Pennsylvania and the second in Neuroscience with the Dr. Scott Russo at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. She has received 2 NARSAD young investigator awards and is an author on over 70 publications. In 2016 she joined the faculty of the newly formed School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech. Her research program examines sex differences in the peripheral and central immune system and how immune mechanisms interact with brain plasticity to drive behavioral differences in emotional processing of stress and mental health disorders.

Abstract:
The brain does not exist in a vacuum. The brain controls the body; however, the body also impacts the brain. This occurs through a variety of immune mechanisms, including cytokines and microbes produced in the periphery. When we get sick, our cells produce or suppress signals depending on the type of invasion. They tailor the environment to kill off an invading pathogen or our own injured cells. Cells then produce other signals to shut down this response and promote recovery and healing.  Like physical illness, mental illness, or even stress exposure, alters immune signaling in both the body and the brain. The fundamental question driving my research is how immune pathways contribute to the pathology associated with the development of mental illness, and why are some individuals more vulnerable than others to this type of immune dysfunction? 

Watch the seminar here!

Dr. Georgia Hodes 

Bio:
Dr. Hodes received a B.A. in Drama/Dance from Bard College and after college worked as an actor and designer in New York City. During this time, she decided a life in the arts was unsustainable and did post-baccalaureate training at Hunter College in experimental psychology. She obtained her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in the Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience division of the Psychology program where she trained in the laboratory of Dr. Tracey Shors. She went on to have 2 postdoctoral training positions, the first in Pharmacology with Dr. Irwin Lucki at the University of Pennsylvania and the second in Neuroscience with the Dr. Scott Russo at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. She has received 2 NARSAD young investigator awards and is an author on over 70 publications. In 2016 she joined the faculty of the newly formed School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech. Her research program examines sex differences in the peripheral and central immune system and how immune mechanisms interact with brain plasticity to drive behavioral differences in emotional processing of stress and mental health disorders.

Abstract:
The brain does not exist in a vacuum. The brain controls the body; however, the body also impacts the brain. This occurs through a variety of immune mechanisms, including cytokines and microbes produced in the periphery. When we get sick, our cells produce or suppress signals depending on the type of invasion. They tailor the environment to kill off an invading pathogen or our own injured cells. Cells then produce other signals to shut down this response and promote recovery and healing.  Like physical illness, mental illness, or even stress exposure, alters immune signaling in both the body and the brain. The fundamental question driving my research is how immune pathways contribute to the pathology associated with the development of mental illness, and why are some individuals more vulnerable than others to this type of immune dysfunction? 

Watch the seminar here!