Café Scientifique - Join us with Isha Jain for another insightful Virtual Cafe Scientifique on Thursday, March 18 at 5:00pm (PDT)

Oxygen is both vital and toxic for life. A mismatch of oxygen supply and demand underlies countless clinical conditions ranging from inborn errors of metabolism (e.g. mitochondrial disease) to the leading causes of death (e.g. stroke, heart attacks and respiratory disease). We strive to unlock the mysteries of how the human body senses and responds to variations in oxygen levels. Using systems-level approaches, we plan to identify metabolic conditions which benefit from turning the “oxygen dial” to low or high oxygen. This will lay the groundwork to understanding the role of oxygen in aging and age-associated conditions. By viewing metabolism through the lens of oxygen, we hope to understand disease pathologies and pave the path for new therapies.

Isha Jain, PhD

Isha Jain received her undergraduate degree in Chemical and Physical Biology from Harvard University. There, she worked in the lab of Erin O’Shea on bacterial chromosome segregation. Subsequently, she joined the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. During her PhD, she worked in the labs of Vamsi Mootha and Warren Zapol, where she made the discovery that hypoxia could serve as a therapy for mitochondrial disorders. This work has led to a Phase 1 clinical trial. Dr. Jain began as a UCSF Sandler Faculty Fellow in the summer of 2018 and is now also an Assistant Professor at the Gladstone Institutes and UCSF.

Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. The Café provides a forum for debating science issues outside a traditional academic context. We are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable - all spoken in plain English. There is no admission charge to attend our events.

Building on its great success outside the United States, Café Scientifique Silicon Valley is the first such Café on the West Coast. We meet monthly to discuss a variety of science topics.