+44-77-2385-9429Editor-in-Chief
Galina Bogatkevich
Editor-in-Chief
Associate Professor, College of Medicine
The Medical University of South Carolina, USA
Biography
Dr. Galina Bogatkevich is an Associate Professor in the Division of Rheumatology at Medical University of South Carolina, USA. She had great knowledge in the fields of Rheumatology & Pharmacology. From 1996 to 1997 she worked as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology in the Minsk Medical Institute, Belarus.
Research Interest
Dr. Bogatkevich’s research interests focus on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis in scleroderma patients. The ongoing research in the laboratory can be subdivided in three major projects:
Studying thrombin and thrombin-induced signaling molecules in scleroderma lung disease. The goals of the current research in this area are to define mechanisms by which thrombin regulates C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) in lung fibroblasts and alveolar epithelial cells and to determine the role of CHOP in pulmonary fibrosis.
Examining the role of IQ motif containing GTPase activating protein (IQGAP1) in scleroderma pulmonary fibrosis. We recently identified IQGAP1 as a protein that is consistently elevated in lung fibroblasts isolated from SSc patients. We also found that IQGAP1 expression is induced in normal lung fibroblasts exposed to connective tissue growth factor (CTGF); moreover, suppression of IQGAP1 by RNA interference decreases smooth muscle α-actin (SMA) expression and attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. We believe that the elucidation of downstream signaling pathways of CTGF and IQGAP1 will result in the development of novel and focused therapy aimed specifically at attenuating SSc-ILD.
Understanding the role of genome in SSc-ILD. The morbidity and mortality rates in African American scleroderma patients are higher when compared with SSc patients of other races. The goal of this project is to fill gaps in knowledge of pathophysiologic links between African American race and SSc-ILD that may account for the racial differences in SSc-ILD outcomes, and potentially other rheumatic lung disease outcomes as well.