Please join us for an exciting day of science including a Keynote Session with investigators from the Study of Muscle, Mobility, and Aging (SOMMA), a Featured Research Talk by Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert PhD, Vice Dean, UW School of Medicine, talks from CTMR Investigators and Pilot Awardees, and a poster session. We will close the day with a reception to celebrate renewal of our Center for another 5 years!

Featured Symposium Speakers:

Investigators from the Study of Muscle, Mobility, and Aging (SOMMA)

  • Steve Cummings, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
  • Nancy Glynn, PhD, FACSM, FGSA, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh
  • Paul Coen, PhD, Associate Investigator at the Translational Research Institute, Advent Health Research Institute
Jenny Robinson, PhD

Jenny Robinson, PhD, Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine and Mechanical Engineering, UW

Talk Title: Tools to Interrogate Sex Differences in Estrogen Signaling for Musculoskeletal Applications

Hichem Tasfaout, PharmD, PhD

Hichem Tasfaout, PharmD, PhD, Acting Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, UW

Talk Title: SIMPLI-GT: A Novel Gene Replacement Method to Express Large Proteins in Musculoskeletal Disease

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, PhD

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, PhD, Professor Department of Bioengineering and Vice Dean of Research and Graduate Education, UW School of Medicine

Talk Title: TBA

Bert Tanner, PhD

Bert Tanner, PhD, Associate Professor, Washington State University

Talk Title: Emulating muscle-tendon dynamics via real-time feedback at the onset of contractile activation in single skeletal muscle fibers

Loretta Little

Loretta Little, Managing Director, Washington Research Foundation

Talk Title: Pathways to Commercialization

Abstract Submission:

Abstract submission is now open for the 5th Annual CTMR symposium that will be held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. It is a great opportunity to learn about exciting new research and to make connections with potential collaborators.

To be considered for a poster presentation, abstracts must be submitted by October 22, 2024. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-docs, staff, and faculty involved in muscle research, or any related fields are encouraged to submit an abstract.

To submit an abstract please email the following information to Katie Mitzelfelt (kmitz@uw.edu)

Past Symposia

Online bi-weekly seminar series, Thursdays 8-9 am Pacific Time, covering current state-of-the-art research related to sarcomere structure and function.

To Subscribe to the Sarcomere Society email list and receive Zoom links to attend please click here.

Contact the Sarcomere Society Speaker Selection Committee – Drs Matt ChildersJoe Powers – to let us know about exciting new research you would like to present at an upcoming seminar (mcc7fb@uw.edu or powersjd@uw.edu).

Oct 17, 2024

Speaker: Kalen Robeson, PhD Student HAMM Lab & Davis Lab, University of Washington

Talk Title: The role of Loop 2 conformation in actomyosin complex formation and cardiomyopathy caused by the mutations E525K and V606M

Oct 31, 2024

Speaker: Weikang Ma, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology, Beamline Scientist at  Biophysics Collaborative Team (BioCAT)

Talk Title: TBA

Nov 14, 2024

Speaker: Vitold Galkin, Associate Professor, Old Dominion

Talk Title: TBA

Breakfast Club Seminar Series

Weekly Thursdays from 9-10 am at the UW SLU campus & Zoom

Breakfast Club is a SLU seminar event hosted weekly by UW faculty members from various fields and departments including cardiology, pathology, metabolism, molecular and cellar biology, and other biomedical and genome science related disciplines. Each week an esteemed speaker, either local or invited Distinguished Lecturers from out of town, will come to give a 50-minute presentation plus 10-minutes for questions on topics in cardiovascular biology ranging from research to general health issues to scientific methodology.

Upcoming CTMR-Hosted Speakers in 2024-2025 Academic Year

This year, the CTMR is thrilled to be hosting the following distinguished lecturers at Breakfast Club:

  • November 21, 2024: Steven Schwartz, PhD, Regents Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arizona
  • March 13, 2025: Leslie Leinwand, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Chief Scientific Officer, BioFrontiers Institute, Professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder
  • April 24, 2025: Jonathan Kirk, PhD, Associate Professor, Cell & Molecular Physiology, Loyola University
  • June 5, 2025: Alan Russell, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Edgewise Therapeutics

Check back for further information!

Past CTMR-Hosted Speakers (2023-2024 Academic Year)

Relevant Links:


The UW Center for Translational Muscle Research was proud to be a co-sponsor of the 2024 Myofilament Meeting [link] in Madison, WI. CTMR members Mike Regnier, Matt Childers, and Travis Tune presented research updates and led topical workshops on modeling myofilament diseases using iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and computational methods. 

Workshops | May 21, 2024:

  • iPSC workshop, organized by Mike Regner, Carter Ralphe, and Kareen Coulombe

  • Computational approaches in myofilament research, organized by Mike Regnier

This workshop will introduce new models and analytical tools at two scales – the actomyosin complex and the sarcomere. The goal is to demonstrate the usefulness of these models and tools, then have a discussion of what additional development of modeling approaches would be most useful to experimentalists.

Matt Childers presenting at the 2024 Myofilament Meeting
Travis Tune presenting at the 2024 Myofilament Meeting
CTMR Members and Affiliates at the 2024 Myofilament Meeting.
Left to right: Anthony Asencio, Matt Childers, Travis Tune, Farid Moussavi-Harami, Mike Regnier, Kareen Coulombe, Kristi Kooiker, Sonette Steczina, Saffie Mohran, Kerry Kao

Check back for upcoming special events!

Past Special Events: