Trip to England-baby Sophie

The newest family member is baby Sophie. She is absolutely adorable.  No one can get enough of her, especially the new granny!!!!

She loves her bouncy chair, I can remember when Ben used to be this small (of course he was 6 months old by then!!!) and we had one of these chairs.  He loved it too

We took some random family pictures with Sophie, she slept through most of it all!!!!

Mummy is looking pretty good...

We went to visit Rich and Jude both weekends I was in England.  It's amazing how much babies change in a week.  I remember going away for a couple of days and thinking how much Ben had changed when I got back!!!  Another major change was the weather (we went from winter to summer clothes in a week!!)

We took Mum & Dad with us the second weekend, we only stayed for a short time to give the new parents a rest.  They have had a stream of visitors since Sophie arrived

Jude sent me this a week later-Sophie has really changed now, yes almost smiling.  

John's graduation

John graduated on Thursday.  The ceremony was very small, but pretty nice.  I would have preferred more pomp and circumstance, but I am in the minority with wanting our graduate students to go to the medical school pre-commencement.  I did get to go the bigger ceremony on Friday in my new role of MD/PhD director.

John is moving to Colorado to do a post-doc, we are definitely going to miss him in the lab, he's been with us for 9 years.

I love my PhD robes, so glad I bought them after all these years

Balboa Park

Shannon and I walked to Balboa Park on Friday after we landed in San Diego.  We walked a lot that day, 34,000 steps according to my Fitbit!!!!I have never been there before, it is a beautiful park.  I found this huge bed of gazanias at the side of the road (why, oh why, do I not live somewhere that they grow like this???!!!)

Balboa Park is beautiful and I'm not sure why I have never been there before, maybe I just needed Shannon with me to make me branch out!!!!   I'll definitely go back if I'm ever back in San Diego

We found this really cool plant house, just a wooden frame with no glass-that's San Diego weather for you!!!!

They had loads of these beautiful orchids

I really want to put something like this trellis in our house

Shannon by the Museum of Man

Massive fig tree

Our hotel at EB

We stayed at a great hotel in San Diego, attached to the convention center and central to everything

This was the view from our hotel room

Close-up of the ships across the bay

 Our hotel pool

 The gardens around the pool

 We ate a lot of chips and guacamole at the tequila bar!!!!

Experimental Biology 2016

Shannon and I went to Experimental Biology in San Diego (got to choose meetings based on location!!).  we had a great time in San Diego, but we also managed to get some work done too.  We had a total of 9 posters at the meeting.  This is one of John's that we presented on Sunday

Shannon standing at one of her posters on Sunday (I think this is her favourite)

I think this is my favourite one of Shannon's

Shannon presented 3 of her posters twice, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening!!!!

John's graduation

I am losing another graduate student. John has been in the lab for almost 9 years and has been extremely productive during that time.  He's now moving to Colorado to do a post doc and it truly is the end of an era.  Here he is right before his defense, is he excited about science or graduating???!!!!

At John's reception afterwards

John (Dr Marentette) and Lindsay

SLU Newslink article

SLU Scientists Ask if Smoking Takes Toll on Ticker

Researchers examine human heart tissue to gauge smoking’s damage

Jane McHowat, Ph.D., professor of pathology at SLU

ST. LOUIS — With the help of a new award from the Lottie Caroline Hardy Charitable Trust, SLU scientist Jane McHowat, Ph.D., will study how smoking impacts cardiac health beyond injury to the body’s arteries by damaging the heart muscle itself.

McHowat, professor of pathology at Saint Louis University, will use the $21,643 grant to study human tissue samples from the myocardium, the muscular wall of the heart.

Doctors know that smoking is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death and stroke. However, the mechanisms behind the smoking-heart health connection remain murky.

While many researchers have examined smoking’s impact on the arteries that supply blood to the heart, very few have studied smoking’s effects on the heart muscle itself.

In order to learn whether smoking hurts the heart, McHowat is partnering with Dawn Hui, M.D., and Richard Lee, M.D., from the Center for Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.

Hui and Lee, who are also SLUCare cardiac surgeons, will save samples from patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Outside of procedures like bypass surgery, it is impossible to gather fresh samples of human heart tissue without an invasive procedure.

Once the samples are collected, the research team will determine if there are differences between the heart samples from smokers and non-smokers.

In past research, McHowat has shown that that an enzyme responsible for PAF (platelet activating factor) is reduced by smoking, leading to PAF build-up. This, in turn, leads to lower levels of PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), a protein that limits cell damage through its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties.

McHowat’s theory is that increased PAF accumulation and decreased PEDF activity in the myocardium may predispose smokers to increased damage to the heart, resulting in impaired cardiac function.

“Some initial studies suggest that this is what may be happening,” McHowat said. “In this study we’re going to examine the patient samples, look for changes in the structure and chemistry of the heart, and then see what differences appear between samples from smoking and non-smoking patients.”

If the study shows that the heart muscle is indeed damaged by smoking, it will add to the mountains of evidence that smoking is deeply damaging to our health. It also might provide targets for future drug development designed to treat heart issues.

“It may be that those who smoke and then suffer a heart attack can’t recover as well and may lose more function.

“This area of study has a lot of unanswered questions,” McHowat said. “We’re hoping to answer some of them.”

Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River. The school educates physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health care on a local, national and international level. Research at the school seeks new cures and treatments in five key areas: cancer, liver disease, heart/lung disease, aging and brain disease, and infectious diseases.

Established by Lottie Caroline Hardy at the time of her death from brain cancer in 1979, the Lottie Caroline Hardy Charitable Trust provides funding for the benefit and research into the cause and cure of cancer, heart disease, arthritis and emphysema.