“Molecular organization of the photoreceptor synapse”

The 6th Annual David C. Beebe Lectureship is hosted by the John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.

Kirill Martemyanov received his BSc and MSc (both summa cum laude) from Samara and Pushchino State University, respectively, in Russia, and his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Institute of Protein Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2000. He performed postdoctoral research with Vadim Arshavsky at Harvard Medical School and was appointed Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota in 2005. In 2011, he moved to the University of Florida Scripps Institute of Biomedical Innovation & Technology (then the Scripps Research Institute), where he is now Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience.

Dr. Martemyanov’s research has focused on the fundamental principles governing signaling through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). His group has made seminal contributions to our understanding of the function of GPCRs at the first synapse of the visual system and has elucidated the molecular mechanisms controlling the formation of this synapse between photoreceptors and bipolar cells. Dr. Martemyanov’s work has deorphanized several GPCRs (including identifying the first known metabotropic glycine receptor) and provided insight into their structure and function. He has received numerous awards, including the Cogan Award and Stein Innovation Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the John J. Abel Award from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

For inquiries contact ophthalmology@wustl.edu.