Progress in Heritable Soft Connective Tissue Diseases

Jaroslava Halper, M.D., Ph.D.  is a Professor of Pathology at The University of Georgia where she is affiliated with the Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, and with the Department of Basic Sciences in the Medical Partnership.  She is a Board certified Anatomic Pathologist who received M.D. degree from Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. She trained in Pathology at Albert Einstein of Medicine (in the Bronx, New York) and at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She obtained Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from the University of Minnesota at Mayo Clinic where she worked on the identification of transforming growth factor e (known better as granulin) with Harold Moses as her major professor. She continued her work on granulins, growth factors and tissue repair when she first arrived at The University of Georgia.  With time her research interests have evolved into probing basic problems in tendons. More recently she has conducted ground-breakingresearch on equine degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis (DSLD). Her group has established that DSLD, a chronic progressive disorder, is a systemic condition characterized by inappropriate accumulation of proteoglycans in connective tissues, in particular in tendons and ligaments.

• Basic structure, physiology and biochemistry of connective tissues and extracellular matrix collagens.- Tendon Extracellular Matrix Assembly, Maintenance and Dysregulation Throughout Life.- Basic Components of Connective Tissues and Extracellular Matrix: Fibronectin, Fibrinogen, Laminin, Elastin, Fibrillins, Fibulins, Matrilins, Tenascins and Thrombospondins.- Proteoglycans and Diseases of Soft Tissues.- Growth Factor Roles in Soft Tissue Physiology and Pathophysiology.- Connective Tissue Disorders and Cardiovascular Complications: The Indomitable Role of Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling.- The Pathophysiology and Pathogenesis of Marfan Syndrome.- Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, joint hypermobility and hypermobility spectrum disorders.- Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome Associated with Glycosaminoglycan Abnormalities.- Loeys-Dietz Syndrome.- Meester-Loeys syndrome.- Clinical and Molecular Delineation of Cutis Laxa Syndromes: Paradigms for Elastic Fiber Homeostasis.- Collagen VI Muscle Disorders: Mutation Types, Pathogenic Mechanisms and Approaches to Therapy.- Connective Tissue Disorders in Domestic Animals.