Dr. Leo Tsiokas is a Professor and chair, Department of Cell Biology, George Lynn Cross Research Professor, John S. Gammil Endowed chair in Polycystic Kidney Disease, Warren Medical Research Institute at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

He will be presenting on his work with Primary cilia: Primary cilia are sensory, antenna-like organelles, present in virtually every cell type of the human body. Polycystic kidney disease, retinal degeneration, hydrocephalus, exencephaly, situs inversus, polydactyly, defects in skeletal and neural tube patterning, and cancer form only a partial list of pathological conditions associated with the primary cilium. A unique feature of the primary cilium is its ability to oscillate out of phase with the cell cycle, as primary cilia are formed when cells exit the cell cycle, whereas they are disassembled upon entry into the cell cycle. This feature enables cilia to coordinate multiple signaling pathways with the cell cycle. Cilia reach a defined length in G1/G0 and structural defects that cause abnormally short or long cilia have dire consequences in cells and organisms. My laboratory is interested in the mechanisms coordinating cilium biogenesis and length control with the cell cycle.