Marian Drescher, Ph.D.
Position Title
Associate Professor
Research Educator track, full time
Office Address
Wayne State University - Medicine
Otolaryngology
Lande, 261
540 E. Canfield
Detroit, MI 48201
Narrative Bio
Dr. Marian J. Drescher is Associate (tenured) Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery at Wayne State School of Medicine, Wayne State University. She obtained a B.S. in Nutrition at the University of California, Davis, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research in the Laboratory of Bio-otology is focused on elucidation of cAMP- and cGMP signaling in hair cells underlying mechanosensory transduction and receptoneural transmission. Identification of acousticolateralis transmitters and transmitter receptors and the roles of otoferlin and dysferlin in mechanotransduction are second major interests. These are areas of research receiving support from NIH R01s and the Jain Foundation.
Dr. Marian Drescher is author of forty-eight peer-reviewed research publications, nine book authorships and chapters and review articles, 122 published abstracts and forty-three Genbank published submissions. She has mentored the research of fifty medical residents, medical students, and post-doctoral fellows and is the director of the Otolaryngology Research Seminar Series at Wayne State University. Dr. Marian Drescher has served as an ad hoc reviewer on NIH grant-review committees, as a member of the Government Relations committee of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, the Academic Senate of Wayne State University, and as reviewer for multiple scientific journals.
Education
B.S. - Nutrition. University of California, Davis, CA; 1965
M.S. - Biochemistry. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; 1967
Ph.D. - Biochemistry. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; 1974
Postdoctoral - Neurochemistry. Wayne State University Medical School, Detroit, MI; 1979-81
Positions
1981-1984
Research Associate, Laboratory of Bio-otology, Department of Otolaryngology,
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
1984-1988
Instructor, Laboratory of Bio-otology, Department of Otolaryngology, Wayne
State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
1988-1994
Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Bio-otology
Department of Otolaryngology
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
1994-present
Associate Professor, Laboratory of Bio-otology
Department of Otolaryngology,
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
Honors
1960-1964 - NIH Undergraduate Research Traineeship in Biochemistry, Phi Kappa Phi,
Baccalaureate with Honors, Graduate Biochemistry Fellowship to University of California, Davis
1964-1970 - University of Wisconsin Wharton Graduate Fellowship
1984 - Invited Speaker, NIH International Conference on Auditory Biochemistry, St.
Petersburg Beach, FL
1993 - Invited Speaker, Dept of Otolaryngology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, OH
1994 - Invited Speaker, Dept of Ophthalmology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
1990 - Recipient of Wayne State University Research and Sponsored Programs Grant
1993-1995 - Recipient of Deafness Research Foundation grants
1996-1997 - Wayne State University Neuroscience Research Stimulation Award
1998 - Speaker, Workshop on Inner Ear Biology, Innsbruck, Austria
2001 - Speaker, Workshop on Inner Ear Biology, Rome, Italy
2001 - Invited Speaker, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1998-2001 - Elected member of Academic Senate, Wayne State University
2002 - Elected to ARO nominating committee
2004 - Ad hoc member of AUD study section, NIH
2006-2009 - ARO Government Relations Committee
2010 - Cover of Neuroscience 171
Post Graduate Training
1979 Postdoctoral: Department of Otolaryngology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan
1990 Molecular Biology: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics Training Course, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
2000 Symposium on Voltage Gated Ion Channels: Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2001 Intracellular signal transduction pathways linking the cell membrane to the nucleus: Workshop on Inner Ear Biology, Rome, Italy
Publications
Peer Review Publications (last 5 years)
Selvakumar D**, Drescher MJ, Deckard N*, Ramakrishnan NA**, and Drescher DG. Dopamine D1A directly interacts with otoferlin synaptic pathway proteins: Phosphorylation underlies a molecular switch from NSF to AP2mu1 interactions. Biochemical J. Jan 1;474(1):79-104, 2017; 26 pp. plus additional supplemental results
Ramakrishnan NA**, Drescher MJ, Morley BJ, Kelley PM**, Drescher DG. Calcium Regulates Molecular Interactions of Otoferlin with SNARE Proteins Required for Hair Cell Exocytosis. J Biol Chem. 2014 Jan 29. [Epub ahead of print] 289: 8750-66, 2014.
Book Authorships and Chapters
Drescher DG, Selvakumar D**, Drescher MJ. Analysis of protein interactions by surface plasmon resonance. Adv. Protein Chem Struct Biol. 2018; 110: 1-30, doi: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2017.07.003 Epub 2017 Sep 12
Drescher DG, Selvakumar D**, Drescher MJ. Analysis of protein interactions by surface plasmon resonance. In: Protein-Protein Interactions in Human Disease, Part A. Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology 110: 1-30, Elsevier, 2017
Drescher DG, Dakshnamurthy S**, Drescher MJ, Ramakrishnan NA**. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis of binding interactions of inner-ear proteins. Methods Mol Biol 1427: 165-187, 2016.
Research
Ongoing Research Support (last 5 years)
Jain Foundation 6/1/19-5/31/20
"Molecular-Functional Comparison of the Dysferlin Membrane Repair Complex with the Otoferlin Synaptic Complex"
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Jain Foundation 10/1/17-3/31/19
"Molecular-Functional Comparison of the Dysferlin Membrane Repair Complex with the Otoferlin Synaptic Complex"
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
R01
Jain Foundation 2016-2017
“Molecular-Functional Comparison of the Dysferlin Membrane Repair Complex with the Otoferlin Synaptic Complex”
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Jain Foundation 10/1/17-9/30/18
"Molecular-Functional Comparison of the Dysferlin Membrane Repair Complex with the Otoferlin Synaptic Complex"
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
5 R01 DC000156-27 (D. Drescher) 4/1/09‑3/31/14
NIH/NIDCD
Identification of Acoustico‑Lateralis Transmitters
The major goals of this project are to identify chemically the presumptive peripheral neurotransmitters of the cochlea of mammals and labyrinthine organs of fish, and to characterize the biochemical systems associated with the presumptive transmitters.
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
3R01 DC000156-28A1S1 (D. Drescher)
NIH/NIDCD 7/17/09-6/30/11
Identification of Acoustico-Lateralis Transmitters
The major goals in ARRA Accelerating the Science are investigation of dopamine as a cochlear neurotransmitter and protein interactions of hair-cell calcium channels.
Role: Co-Principal Investigator