The Promise of Autophagy
In this workshop, Ravi Manjithaya spoke about the basics of cell biology, and autophagy—the natural degradation of cells—in particular. What is autophagy? Why is it important? How does it occur? Participants understood how this process of autophagy is defective in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. In this hands-on session, participants learnt how to study autophagy, and the promise it holds to cure neurodegenerative diseases using cutting edge research tools.
About the Biologist
Ravi Manjithaya is an Associate Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. He is a cell biologist studying the phenomenon of self eating of tissues called autophagy. Autophagy is dysfunctional in many diseases including neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. He attempts to understand the basic mechanisms underlying this process while identifying small molecule drugs that can serve as potential cures for these diseases.
