Sobre Mi:
Walter I. Silva, Ph.D., obtained his magna cum laude bachelor’s degree in Biology (B.S.) from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, in 1979. He later on completed his Master in Sciences (M.S.) in Biology degree from the same campus. In 1986 he obtained a doctor in philosophy (Ph.D.) degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Graduate Biomedical Sciences Program of the City University of New York with a specialty in Pharmacology. He joined the Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC) School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology in 1986, and was appointed Professor and Chair of Pharmacology in 1994. During his stay at UCC he was also the Program Director of the NIGMS-supported MBRS Program, and a member of the national NCRR-RCMI Review Committee. In 1995 he was appointed Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, at the Ponce School of Medicine (PSM), and also Chaired the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology from 1997-1998. In PSM he was also the Program Director of the NIH-NCRR-supported RCMI program. In 1999 he joined the Physiology Department of the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine, and has been Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences and Director of Graduate Studies since December 2000. Since 2002 he has also served as the institution’s MBRS-SCORE Program Director. Dr. Silva has also been Secretary and President of the PR Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience, recipient of an NINDS FIRST Award (R29) from 1988-1994, has had research actively supported by NIH-MBRS and NIH-NCRR-RCMI programs since 1985, and is currently the President-elect of the national MBRS Program Director’s Association. He has published 27 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of neuroscience and pharmacology, and has an active research lab studying subcellular mechanisms of receptor trafficking and signaling via clathrin coated vesicles and caveolae in glioma, Jurkat lymphoma cells, and various glial primary cell cultures. During his tenure at the UPR School of Medicine Dr. Silva’s educational accolades include being the recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award by the medical students’ class of 2005, selected by the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society as Faculty Member in 2004, and recipient of the Ramón Emeterio Betances Faculty Award in 2003.
Información de proyecto:
Our lab is interested in the mechanisms of trafficking of membrane receptors (nucleotide, nicotinic and NPY) via caveolae lipid rafts. Model systems under study include glioma cell lines and primary astrocyte cultures, Xenopus oocytes, and Jurkat lymphoma cells. The relevance of these plasma membrane microdomains to cell signaling in glia and white blood cells is sought to further understand the multiplicity of functions of these cells.