After completion of my medical training in Lima, Peru, Patricia Jumbo-Lucioni pursued her PhD in nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2004. As a graduate student at UAB, Jumbo-Lucioni gained research experience in the genetics of complex traits and mitochondria physiology using Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, as experimental organism. Upon graduation in 2009, she continued her postdoctoral training at the department of human genetics at Emory University and later joined the department of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University.

As post-doctoral fellow, Jumbo-Lucioni gained further expertise in fly genetics and genetics of carbohydrate metabolism, and the role of glycosylation defects in the development and function of neuromuscular synapses. She joined Samford University as an assistant professor in January 2016 and decided to pursue her interest on neurological disorders. Her laboratory focuses on elucidating the role of the renin angiotensin system on the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease using a well-established Drosophila model. Her lab is working on characterizing behavioral traits and molecular markers of disease after pharmacological blockade of the renin angiotensin system in this model.

Additionally, through collaboration with researchers at UAB, Jumbo-Lucioni's laboratory is exploring the role of the gut microbiome as a therapeutical target to ameliorate cognitive deficits in our fly model of Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently a co-investigator in a NIH-funded project in this area. Jumbo-Lucioni is the proud mom to an eleven-year-old son and together they enjoy watching movies, trying new food and exploring new places. The beach is our favorite vacation spot.

Degrees and Certifications

• MD, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
• PhD, nutrition sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Certificate of College Teaching, Vanderbilt University

Expertise

Nutritional sciences, genetic basis of complex diseases, neurosciences, mitochondrial bioenergetics, Drosophila husbandry and genetics

Research Areas 

Jumbo-Lucioni's laboratory focuses on elucidating the role of the renin angiotensin system on the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease using a well-established Drosophila (fruit fly) model. They are working on characterizing behavioral traits and molecular markers of disease after pharmacological blockade of the renin angiotensin system in this Alzheimer’s disease model. Their preliminary work provides novel insights into the potential benefits of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors on age-related decline in physiological function.

Awards and Honors

• Outstanding Poster Presentation. Nutrition Symposium. “Decline in physical function is sensitive to pharmacological intervention in a Drosophila model of Alzheimer’s disease”. Samford University, Birmingham, AL, 2018
• Third Place Work in Progress. UAB Summer Expo. “Genotype- and age-specific effects of pharmacological angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on energy metabolism and longevity-associated traits in Drosophila melanogaster”. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 2018
• Recipient of Genetics Society of America and the Mentoring and Professional Development Committee Childcare Grant Award. Travel award to attend the 2016 Allied Genetics Conference, Genetics Society of America, Orlando, FL, 2016
• Recipient of Genetic Society of America DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics, 2015
• Recipient of Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Travel Award to attend 2014 Drosophila Annual Conference, 2014
• Recipient of Society for Glycobiology (SFG) Travel Award. SFG Annual Conference in San Petersburg, FL. November 17-20, 2013
• Recipient of Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Travel Scholarship. SACNAS National Conference in San Antonio, TX. October 3-6, 2012-2013     

Publications

• Sun Y, Baptista LC, Roberts LM, Jumbo-Lucioni P, McMahon L, Buford T, Carter C. The Gut Microbiome as a Therapeutic Target for Cognitive Impairment [published online ahead of print, 2019 Dec 7]. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2019; glz281. doi:10.1093/gerona/glz281
• Karis A. Ederer, Kelly Jin, Sarah Bouslog, Lu Wang, Gregory S. Gorman, Glenn C. Rowe, Peter Abadir, Daniel Raftery, Douglas Moellering, Daniel Promislow, Patricia Jumbo-Lucioni, Maria De Luca. Age- and genotype-specific effects of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor Lisinopril on mitochondrial and metabolic parameters in Drosophila melanogaster. Int J Mol Sci, Int J Mol Sci, 2018; 19(11): pii.E3351.
• Warren JL, Hoxha E, Jumbo-Lucioni PP, De Luca M. Reduction of Syndecan Transcript Levels in the Insulin-Producing cells affects Glucose homeostasis in adult Drosophila melanogaster. DNA and Cell Biology 2017; 36(11):959-965.
• Daenzer JM, Jumbo-Lucioni PP, Hopson ML, Garza KR, Ryan EL, Fridovich-Keil JL. Acute and long-term outcomes in a Drosophila melanogaster model of classic galactosemia occur independently of galactose-1-phosphate accumulation. Dis Model Mech. 2016; 9(11): 1375-82.
• PP Jumbo-Lucioni, W Parkinson, D Kopke and K Broadie. Coordinated Movement, Neuromuscular Synaptogenesis, and Trans-synaptic Signaling Defects in Drosophila Galactosemia Models. Hum Mol Gen 2016; 25(17):3699-3714.
• PP Jumbo-Lucioni, W Parkinson and K Broadie. Overelaborated synaptic architecture and reduced synaptomatrix glycosylation in a Drosophila classic galactosemia disease model. Dis Model Mech 2014; 7(12):1365-78.
• PP Jumbo-Lucioni, EL Ryan, ML Hopson, H Bishop, T Weitner, A, Tovmasyan, I Spasojevic, I Batinic-Haberle, Y Liang, DP Jones, and JL Fridovich-Keil. Manganese-based superoxide dismutase mimics modify both acute and long term outcome severity in a Drosophila melanogaster model of classic galactosemia. Antioxid Redox Signal 2014; 20(15):2361-71.

Presentations

• Guest speaker. “Pharmacological inhibition of the angiotensin-converting enzyme decelerates muscle senescence in a Drosophila model of Alzheimer’s disease” Jefferson County Pharmacist Association, Birmingham, AL. April 11, 2019 
• Oral presentation. “Evaluations of Students’ Perception of Multiple Assignments and their Impact on Course failures in a didactic pathophysiology course”. Teaching and Learning Mini-conference. Samford University. August 20, 2018.
• Guest speaker. “Chronic Neprilysin inhibition: Good for the Heart but Bad for the Brain?” Centro Médico Bautista, Asunción, Paraguay. June 28, 2017.
• Guest speaker. “Drosophila melanogaster: a model system to study the relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy, mitochondria bioenergetics and aging”. First Annual Nathan Shock Symposium on the Basic Biology of Aging. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. March 15, 2017.
• Guest speaker. “Chronic Neprilysin inhibition: Good for the Heart but Bad for the Brain?” Jefferson County Pharmacist Association, Birmingham, AL. February 9, 2017.
• Guest speaker. Transdisciplinary Applications of Glycoscience Research in Evolution, Medicine and Biotechnology. SACNAS National Conference in Washington, DC. October 29-31.
• Guest speaker. Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation World Conference in Lyon, France. August 28-30.
• Guest speaker. THE PROMISING FUTURE OF GLYCOSCIENCE: Chemical, Medical and Biotechnological Perspectives. SACNAS National Conference in Los Angeles, CA. October 16-18.
• Guest speaker. “Insights into obesity and diabetes through models of inborn errors of metabolism.” Diabetes Research Center Plenary Lecture Series. University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL.

Involvement

• Alabama Alzheimer’s Association, member of medical science committee
• American Pharmacists Association (APhA), member
• American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, member of the biological sciences section
• Genetics Society of America, member