Hello! My name is Max Ehrlich, and I am a rising junior. I am obtaining double degrees in History and Molecular biology, a minor in Chemistry, and certificates in Conceptual Foundations of Medicine and Geographic Information Systems. I am from Bethesda, MD-right outside of DC, and when I am not in the lab I like to read and bike around DC or Pittsburgh (depending on where I am).
This summer, I will be working in the Hammond lab under Dr. Gerry Hammond at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The Hammond lab focuses on studying lipids, more specifically how lipids function in the membrane of cells-how they provide structure, how they signal other molecules in cellular processes, and how all of these malfunction in disease. For the HSRF, I will be focusing on diacylglycerol kinase, or DGK. DGK adds a phosphate to diacylglycerol (DAG), forming phosphatidic acid (PA), and is extremely important due to its ability to activate and deactivate lipid signaling pathways. There are five different types of DGKs, which differ in additional functional groups and domains. From these five types, over 10 isoforms have been identified in humans. The Hammond lab uses a cell line called HEK293 that contains six isoforms that cover all five types. My research this summer will attempt to answer the question of which of these isoforms are important for intracellular lipid signaling.
Knowing which isoforms are active in lipid signaling is incredibly important for developing drugs to treat heart diseases, especially hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM, as well as other heart diseases, are known to have a statistically significant buildup of PA in the cardiac muscles, so knowing how this buildup occurs can lead to the creation of specialized treatments for these conditions. Additionally, understanding how DGKs work in humans can allow us to gain a better understanding of how lipid signaling works in our bodies and allows us to effectively carry out functions to keep us alive.
My current career goals are in flux, however I am interested in the intersection between medicine and research. As of right now, I am pursuing an MD-PhD and hope to be a physician scientist. As our understanding of lipid signaling advances, I hope to be able to translate that increase in knowledge to create drugs for the clinical environment. No matter what I end up doing, I want to continue to be active in conducting cutting edge and important research to further expand on our current knowledge of the world and ourselves.
