Biography
Dr Blair is a molecular biologist/ biochemist with 15 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, recently as a Director of Applied Diagnostics and Surrogates at GlaxoSmithKline, and is a visiting scholar at Cambridge University.
Research Interest
He has been involved in all aspects of early phase drug development from target identification & routine compound screening through to pre-clinical development & Phase II clinical trials. He has developed programmes that support the strategic integration of surrogate biomarkers & diagnostics into the drug development pipe-line from candidate selection to approval & launch. His broad therapeutic area experience includes viral, respiratory, liver and neurodegenerative disease, frequently in collaboration with esteemed academic groups and he was an initial recruit to the GSK Predictive Medicine Group, where he lead pioneering work on integration of testing with influenza, herpes and hepatitis C virus drug development. He is an expert in the field of virology having published more than 30 papers, edited two books and invented 6 patents in the field.
Biography
Paul L Wood has completed his Ph.D. from Queen’s University and postdoctoral studies from the NIMH. He is the director of the Metabolomics Unit at Lincoln Memorial University and is professor of pharmacology and physiology. He has published more than 280 peer-reviewed papers, serves as Editor-in-Chief of Metabolomics, and is a member of the editorial board of the JAOA.
Research Interest
Utilization of metabolomics to study mechanisms of pathogenesis in neurogegeneration and oncology

Shane Rea
Assistant Professor
UTHSC Physiology and Barshop Institute
USA
Biography
Dr. Shane Rea did his Post Doctoral from McGill University of Colorado.
Research Interest
The goal of the research in the Rea laboratory is to understand the causes of human aging at a molecular genetic level and to use this information to slow the aging process. Dr. Rea’s research group utilizes the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and focuses specifically on the Mit mutants, which (paradoxically) have disruptions in their mitochondrial electron transport chain yet are long-lived. This model is short-lived (~20 days), self-fertilizing, genetically powerful, easily and cheaply cultivated, and provides excellent molecular and bioinformatic resources. Twenty-five percent of worm genes have human orthologues. Pathways already known to influence aging in C. elegans act similarly in humans (e.g., insulin/IGF-1 like receptor). Mitochondria function similarly in almost all eucaryotes. Life extension in the Mit mutants is restricted to a specific window of mitochondrial dysfunction. The Mit mutants provide a new model for several human mitochondrial-associated diseases. Nuclear DNA damage, cell-cycle checkpoint functions, alternate metabolic pathways, and ROS signalling appear to be central players in lifespan regulation of the Mit mutants. The Rea laboratory also explores the connection between functionally impaired mitochondria, nuclear checkpoint proteins and life extension in the Mit mutants. This research team performs metabolic fingerprinting of the Mit mutants as well as the biochemical and biophysical characterization of the mitochondria from long-lived and short-lived mitochondrial mutants. This group also investigates compensatory biochemical mechanisms that act to offset partial mitochondrial inhibition. They strive to translate their work into higher eucaryotes and to ameliorate human mitochondrial-associated diseases.