Congratulations to Allyson Mayer, a junior biochemistry major working in Dr. Charles Brenner’s lab, who has been named a 2012 Goldwater Scholar. The University’s press release can be read here.
Congratulations to the five Biochemistry undergraduates who were inducted in the Alpha of Iowa Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa: Alex Crider, Clayton Oakley, Garrett Shackleton (Brenner lab), Ashley Angell (DeMali lab), and Kathleen White. Phi Beta Kappa is a prestigious undergraduate honors organization that recognizes the academic achievement of its members. Members from Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 were inducted on April 29, 2012.
Miles Pufall has been awarded a Carver Young Investigator Award from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust for his project, “Understanding glucocorticoid resistance in B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.”
This is a three year, $345,000 award to investigate the molecular basis for steroid resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Dr. Pufall was selected as the sole applicant from the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. He joins Drs. Lori Wallrath, Adrian Elcock, Todd Washington and Ernesto Fuentes as an early-career recipient of a Carver Trust award.
Dr. Madeline Shea was recently awarded another four years on her R01, “Molecular Dissection of Calmodulin Domain Functions,” which has been continuously funded since 1998. This grant, which has produced 17 publications thus far, awards Dr. Shea ~$320,000/year for four years to determine how CaM remodels the intracellular C-terminal tail of Nav to provide calcium-mediated switching, laying the ground work for developing future therapies and providing information regarding side-effects of medications taken for epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
Seven Biochemistry Honors students presented their research yesterday afternoon at the 8th Annual Gene F. Lata Undergraduate Research Symposium. Please join Undergraduate and Honors Advisor, Professor Marc Wold, in congratulating these 2011 graduates and their research mentors for a job well done.
The Department of Biochemistry is pleased to announce the results of a successful graduate recruiting season. 10 new graduate students will join the Department, all with great potential. This autumn we will welcome:
Quinn Li (BS, University of California-San Diego, expected 2012)
Emily Malcolm (MS, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010)
Mark Miller (MS, Stockholm University, expected 2012)
Kyle Powers (BS, University of Illinois-Urbana, expected 2012)
Lalita Oonthonpon (BS, University of Central Arkansas, 2010)
Tingting Duan (Bmed, Shandong University, expected 2012)
Xun (Allison) Chi (BS, Zhejiang University, expected 2012)
Shuxiang Li (MS, Central China Normal University, expected 2012)
Yu-Tsan Liu (MS, National Central University, 2007)
Arpit Sharma (Mtech, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, expected 2012)
Biochemists gathered on April 14 at Blackstone in Iowa City to celebrate the numerous contributions that Nancy and Earle Stellwagen have made to the Department of Biochemistry, the University of Iowa, and the scientific community during their careers. Charles Brenner read a letter written by Dr. Bob Kelley, a 1984 PhD student of Earl’s, who is nowa Senior Scientist in the Antibody Engineering Department ant Genentech. Dr. Kelly detailed his time in the lab with Ealre, as well as with Nancy, both of whom he praised for their mentorship and scientific rigor. Bryce Plapp read a letter by Dr. Larry Barnes, a former postdoctoral fellow in Earle’s lab, who is currently a Professor at UT Health Science Center. Dr. Barnes stated that his strengths in protein purification/analysis and management skills that he used throughout his career are a direct result of the excellent training provided by the Stellwagens.
The Stellwagens were delighted that their three children, Anne, John and David, returned to IOwa City for the celebration.
Stellwagen Family
Congratulations to Allyson Mayer, a junior in the Brenner lab, who has been named a 2012 Goldwater Scholar. Allyson is one of only two University of Iowa Goldwaters and only 282 mathematics, science and engineering students nationwide awarded this prestigious honor. Allyson conducts research on new steps in NAD metabolism and plans to go to graduate school to pursue a PhD in biochemistry or an allied discipline.
Congratulations to Rose Lee, a third year medical student working in the Bartlett lab, who received the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program Award at the 13th annual Student Interdisciplinary Health Research Poster Session today for her presentation “Utilizing 3Ds Max Design Programs to Model Mutation-Mediated Actin Dysfunction.” Rose won one of 10 $100 awards.
Congratulations to Xu Liu, a graduate student in the Fuentes lab, whose poster was selected as a “most outstanding entry” by the Carver College of Medicine during Research Week 2012. This year’s Research Week (April 2-4, 2012), a joint venture between CCOM, the College of Pharmacy, the College of Public Health, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, and the VA Health System, focused on neuroscience. Xu’s poster, entitled “Specificity, Structure, Dynamics and Inhibition of Tiam1 PDZ Domain/Syndecan1 Complex,” was one of three per session selected by CCOM for a $350 prize.