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CONTENTS
Faculty News
Student Awards
Thesis Examinations
Welcome to New BMB Arrivals
Research Awards
Seminar Schedule
Latest Publications
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Faculty Spotlight - Dr. Janice Robertson
“Life began with little bags of garbage,” proposed the physicist Freeman Dyson. “Membranes made of oily scum […] enclosing volumes of dirty water containing miscellaneous garbage.” Billions of years of evolution have shaped cell membranes from simple “bags” into complex and finely-tunable structures. The cell membrane is not just a barrier separating the chaotic extracellular environment from the controlled intracellular space; they allow for the storage of electrical and chemical potential energy, facilitate transport of substances into and out of the cell, and change the cell’s shape according to its biological needs.
Key to these functions are the proteins embedded within the cell membrane. While much is known about how proteins self-assemble in water—changing from a string of polypeptides into a folded, functional shape—relatively little is known about how this is done in the cell membrane. Dr. Janice Robertson, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and her lab use single-molecule techniques and computational modeling to find answers to the questions surrounding membrane protein assembly.
To read the full article, please click here.
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Dr. Greg Bowman Appointed Director of
Folding@home Project
Dr. Greg Bowman was appointed as the new Director for the supercomputing project called Folding@home. The project seeks to unravel the mysteries of protein dynamics, including the folding process, and their roles in health and disease.
Please click here to read more about it.
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Dr. Elliot Elson to Receive the 2020 Ignacio Tinoco Award
Dr. Elliot Elson will be awarded the 2020 Ignacio Tinoco Award from the Biophysics Society. The award will be presented to Dr. Elson at the Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society in San Diego, California on February 15-19, 2020.
Congratulations to Dr. Elson for being selected to receive this honor!
About the Ignacio Tinoco Award of the Biophysical Society (as described by the Biophysical Society on their web page): Professor Tinoco, who was a biophysical chemist, educator, and mentor at Berkeley, contributed to the spectroscopic, thermodynamic, structural, and single-molecule study of biopolymers which consistently deepened our understanding of fundamental biophysical principles, constantly moving the field toward new frontiers.
Through his unconditional devotion to science, he established a highly cooperative, generous, inclusive, and friendly environment for scientific discovery and advancement that should be honored and perpetuated. Accordingly, this award is intended to recognize meritorious investigators who make fundamental and/or seminal contributions to the physical chemistry of biopolymers and/or who actively promote and sustain a collaborative, inclusive, and engaging research environment in the field.
Dr. Elson’s achievements in mentorship and training of researchers are recognized by an annual award to a researcher trainee in our department. The award is funded by an endowment created by colleagues and friends of Dr. Elson in 2015.
For information on joining us to support that effort, please CLICK HERE.
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Dr. Michael Kinch released his new book - The End of the Beginning
Left Bank Books welcomed Washington University Vice Chancellor Michael Kinch, on April 4, 2019 for his official launch party and book signing for his new book, The End of the Beginning: Cancer, Immunity, and the Future of a Cure.
The End of the Beginning is a remarkable history of cancer treatment and its dynamic interplay with the immune system. Through Michael Kinch’s experience as a cancer researcher and the head of the oncology program at a leading biotech company, we witness the incredible accumulation of breakthrough science and its rapid translation into life-saving technologies that have begun to dramatically increase the quality and quantity of life for cancer patients. Kinch details the remarkable history of people, science, technology and disease and presents thrilling next-generation technologies that hold the promise to eliminate cancer for some, and perhaps ultimately, for all.
“A richly detailed, expert description of the history of cancer, its treatment, and research that is now producing quantum-leap breakthrough therapy."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
To order a copy, please CLICK HERE.
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The Board of Trustees voted at their March 1st, 2019 meeting to award tenure in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics to Dr. Weikai Li. Dr. Li was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
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The Board of Trustees voted at their May 3rd, 2019 meeting to award tenure in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics to Dr. Greg Bowman. Dr. Bowman was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
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2019 Elliot Elson Fellowship Recognition Seminar
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On February 22nd, 2019, the department held a special seminar to recognize the recipients of the 2017 Elliot Elson Fellowship. Ms. Min Kyung Shinn shared her research on “Assembly and Binding of E. coli RecOR Proteins to SSB C-terminal tails”. Mr. Drake Jensen shared his research on “Mechanisms of transcription represivation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis”.
For more information on these two Elson fellows, please click here.
You can click here to view more photos from the event.
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2019 Ceil M. DeGutis Prize in Chemical Biology/Medicinal Chemistry
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On June 7, 2019, Dr. Josh Rackers was awarded the 2019 Ceil M. DeGutis Prize in Chemical Biology/Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Rackers presented his research entitled “HIPPO: A physics-based model for biomolecular interactions”. Dr. Rackers was a graduate student in the Computational and Molecular Biophysics Program. Dr. Rackers was nominated by his thesis mentor Dr. Jay Ponder. In Dr. Ponder’s lab, Josh’s work focused on using the tools of applied quantum mechanics to predict the behavior and interactions of biological molecules. This work is motivated by a deeply held belief that physics holds the answers to many of biology’s most important problems. (more…)
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2019 MilliporeSigma Fellowship Seminar
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On July 19th, 2019, the department held a special seminar to recognize the recipient of the 2019 MilliporeSigma Fellowship. Mr. Sukrit Singh shared his research on “Allostery in cellular signaling: Capturing biological switches in action”.
For more information on Sukrit Singh, please click here.
You can click here to view photos from the event.
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2019 Elliot Elson Fellowship Recognition Seminar
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On September 20th, 2019, the department held a special seminar to recognize the recipient of the 2018 Elliot Elson Fellowship. Ms. Sarah Clippinger shared her research on “Assembly and Binding of E. coli RecOR Proteins to SSB C-terminal tails”.
For more information on Sarah, please click here.
You can click here to view photos from the event.
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Congratulations to Melanie Ernst
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Ms. Melanie Ernst has been elected chair of the 2021 Mechanisms of Membrane Transport GRS.
The GRS is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas.
Congratulations Melanie!
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Maxwell Zimmerman Awarded Pharmacology Prize
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Congratulations to Mr. Maxwell Zimmerman for being awarded the Dr. Philip Needleman Pharmacology Prize.
The award is presented annually from the Department of Developmental Biology to a graduating student demonstrating outstanding achievements it the field of Pharmacology. Maxwell was a PhD student in the Computational and Molecular Biophysics Program – he completed his thesis research in the lab of Dr. Gregory Bowman. (more…)
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Sarem Seifu Hailemariam in the program of Molecular Cell Biology in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Burgers. Her thesis was entitled "Regulation of the yeast checkpoint kinase Tel1".
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Maxwell Zimmerman in the program of Computational and Molecular Biophysics in the laboratory of Dr. Greg Bowman. His thesis was entitled "FAST Forward Protein Folding and Design".
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BMB Department Welcomes...
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Jhullian Alston-DBBS Graduate Student in Dr. Andrea Soranno and Dr. Alex Holehouse's labs.
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Tommy Blackwell-Research Assistant I in Dr. Michael Greenberg's lab.
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Ankita Chadda-DBBS Graduate Student in Dr. Eric Galburt's lab.
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Melanie Ernst-DBBS Graduate Student in Dr. Janice Robertson's lab.
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Jacquelin Garcia-DBBS Graduate Student in Dr. Michael Greenberg's lab.
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Peng He-Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Weikai Li's lab.
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Robyn Mahoney-Kruska-Research Technician II in Dr. Janice Robertson's lab.
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Upasana Mallimadugula-DBBS Graduate Student in Dr. Greg Bowman's lab.
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Smiruthi Ramasubramanian-Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Janice Robertson's lab.
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Michael Ward-DBBS Graduate Student in Dr. Greg Bowman's lab.
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Mingzhou Zhou-Scientific Program Manager in the Center for Drug Discovery.
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Research Awards
September 16th, 2019 – Jim Janetka, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Co-Founder of ProteXase Therapeutics, Inc., along with Lidija Klampfer, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of ProteXase Therapeutics, Inc., received a one-year SBIR grant award from the National Cancer Institute for their research entitled “Inhibitors of pro-HGF activation overcome resistance to anti-EGFR therapy”.
July 23rd, 2019 – Eric Galburt, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, received a new four year grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for his research entitled “Kinetic regulation of mycobacterial transcription”.
June 14th, 2019 – Jim Janetka, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, received a two-year Siteman Investment Program (SIP) award from the Siteman Cancer Center and Foundation for Barnes Jewish-Hospital for his research entitled “The role of pericellular serine proteases in tumor progression and resistance to anticancer therapy”.
April 29th, 2019 – Andrea Soranno, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics received a new five year grant award from the National Institute on Aging for his research entitled “Conformational and functional analysis of Apolipoprotein E”.
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