Abstract:
The talk will begin by exploring the core science that makes this handshake possible, science unlocked by combining biochemical and cell biology approaches with advanced single-molecule imaging techniques. I will then describe how we engineer these interactions to guide therapeutic cells to the bone marrow, decipher signature patterns for cancer classification, and design inhibitors and activators to manipulate cell migration – precursors for future drug development. Finally, we will look to the future, examining how cells send exosomal envoys as advance messengers and the nascent frontier of GlycoRNA, the hidden script that may also influence the conversation. 

From the first moment a cell navigates its environment, it speaks a language of sugar. This seminar is about that initial, decisive contact when cells in vascular flow bond with the endothelium: The Glycan Handshake. My lab has been dedicated to decoding the exquisite language of this molecular greeting, and rewiring it for therapeutic ends. I will share how this fundamental understanding is allowing us to intervene in cellular communication: to improve hematopoietic stem cell engraftment for treating blood disorders, to decode cancers by their unique glycan signatures, to design inhibitors that block cancer adhesion, and more. 

This talk will spotlight a crucial yet underappreciated frontier of biomedicine – glycobiology – revealing how glycans, the complex sugars on cell surfaces, govern the critical first moments of cellular contact, opening new pathways for diagnosis and therapy. 

This is the science of connection, and it begins with the first, sweet hello.


Bio:

Professor Jasmeen Merzaban is a pioneering glycobiologist and a founding faculty member at KAUST, where she established the university’s first research program in cell biology. Her work is dedicated to decoding and rewiring the "glycan handshake"— the essential language of cellular adhesion and communication. Following her PhD in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia, where she studied the emigration of immune cells from the bloodstream into tissues, Jasmeen completed postdoctoral training at the Harvard Institutes of Medicine.
Jasmeen is deeply committed to advancing translational science, forging vital links between fundamental discovery and clinical need through cross-disciplinary collaborations, reflected in more than 60 authorships. She has been a dedicated mentor of over 30 PhD and Master’s students; her trainees, including recent PhD graduates who received the Forbes 30 Under 30 and L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science awards, embody her commitment to nurturing the next generation of scientists and championing a collaborative, inclusive vision for scientific impact.