Ali Vural, PhD

Ali Vural, PhD, is a molecular and cellular pharmacologist/biologist in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is a graduate of Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. He earned his doctoral degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Pathobiology from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. He completed post-doctoral training in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland. After that, he was appointed as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Vural's research centers on a deeper understanding of physiological functions at the cellular, tissue and organ levels through uncovering the biochemistry and signal integration of the accessory signaling proteins. In particular, his research focuses on Activator of G protein Signaling 3 (AGS3), which is a potential therapeutic target with multiple key functions including the elimination of craving behavior upon reinstatement of substances of abuse (e.g., cocaine, heroine, ethanol, methamphetamine); resistance to high-fat diet-induced obesity, altered blood pressure, resistance to antibiotic-resistant bacteria infection and regulation of cyst progression in polycystic kidney disease.