Colleagues mourn loss of Roberts
Jackson Roberts II, professor of pharmacology and medicine, emeritus, passed away on May 31. Roberts II is remembered for his co-discovery of isoprostanes and his dedication to research and its impact on patient care.
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Keck award for Sanders, Zent
The W. M. Keck Foundation Board of Directors awarded a 3-year, $1.2 million grant to Chuck Sanders (Biochemistry) and Roy Zent (Medicine) for a project titled “Genetic Intolerance Patterns as a Treasure Map to Genes that Define Us as Human.”
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Byndloss receives PATH award
Mariana Byndloss (Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology) has been selected as a Burroughs Wellcome Fund 2023 Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease.
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Lea, Zhu named Pew Scholars
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Five selected as NSF GRFP recipients
- Brennen Keuchel (undergraduate, Kris Burkewitz lab)
- Ximena Leon (Biological Sciences, Nicole Creanza lab)
- Alan Hurtado (Chemical and Physical Biology, Ed Levine lab)
- Emily Harriott (Neuroscience, Laurie Cutting lab
- Samantha Haun Schaffner (Biological Sciences, Maulik Patel lab)
The NSF also recognized the following students with honorable mentions:
- Olivia Nunn (Biological Sciences, Marie Suver lab)
- Caroline Bodnya (Cell and Developmental Biology, Vivian Gama lab)
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Rathmell honored with ASCO distinction
Kimryn Rathmell (Medicine) has been named a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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Chancellor Faculty Fellows
Manuel Ascano Jr. (Biochemistry), Justin Balko (Medicine), Vivian Gama (Cell and Developmental Biology), Lauren Jackson (Biological Sciences), and Ethan Lippmann (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) have been named 2023 Chancellor Faculty Fellows.
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Haddard receives Vanderbilt Early Impact Award
Ashley Haddard (Pharmacology) was awarded the Vanderbilt Early Impact Award, which honors a staff member who has shown excellent performance that highlights a capacity to grow.
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Venkatesh inducted into the AEE
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Vanderbilt groups selected as Lacy-Fischer Grant recipients
Ten teams of Vanderbilt researchers were selected as recipients of the 2023 Lacy-Fischer Grant. Three of those teams included researchers affiliated with Basic Sciences:
- Ansley Kunnath (Neuroscience, Mark Wallace and René Gifford labs) and Katelyn Berg (Hearing and Speech Sciences, Gifford lab)
- Alexander Sorets (Biomedical Engineering, Ethan Lippmann and Craig Duvall labs) and Cody Marshall (Chemical and Physical Biology, Jeff Spraggins lab)
- Xuan Wen (Neuroscience), Alexander Maier (Psychology), Catherine Chang (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
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Columbia WiSE chapter honors Monteggia
The Columbia University chapter of the Women in Sciences Empowerment Initiative—a grassroots movement to empower women and nonbinary faculty—celebrated its inaugural, annual WiSE Grand Rounds in psychiatry. The event honors an outstanding researcher for contributions to the field and recognized Lisa Monteggia (Pharmacology) as its first honoree this past May.
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USAC names awardees
The University Staff Advisory Council has named its 2023 award winners, which included the following Basic Sciences members:
- Karen Dolan Spirit Award: Jennifer Bennett (Research Administration Pod 2)
- Committee of the Year: Communications, co-chaired by Faith Bishop (BRET) and Andrea Zink (Development and Alumni Relations)
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Hinton joins Frontiers in Physiology editorial board
Antentor Hinton Jr. (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics) has joined the editorial board of Frontiers in Physiology as a review editor in metabolic physiology.
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First VU-Fisk postdoc fellowship
The the first cohort of the Vanderbilt-Fisk Postdoctoral Fellowship has been named. The fellows include Velia Garcia, a current graduate student in Walter Chazin’s lab (Biochemistry) who will complete a postdoc under Jennifer Gaddy’s lab (Medicine) and Steven Damo (Fisk University), and Anne Taylor, a current graduate student in Danny Winder’s lab (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics) who will complete a postdoc under Winder and Brian Nelms (Fisk University). Both Garcia and Taylor will complete their doctorates this summer.
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MIC meeting leads to student, postdoc, faculty awards
This year’s Midwest Islet Club meeting was held on May 24–26 and resulted in a series of awards for Basic Sciences-affiliated individuals:
- Diversity Travel Awards plus accompanying oral presentations: Darian Carroll Thomas (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Maureen Gannon lab), Cristiane Dos Santos (Rafael Arrojo e Drigo lab)
- Poster presentation awards: Jordyn Dobson (MPB, David Jacobson lab), Julie Burkett (MPB, Maureen Gannon lab
- Paul Lacy Medal Award: Maureen Gannon (Medicine)
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Cell and developmental biology retreat awards
The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology held its 20th annual retreat in April and honored trainees with the following awards:
- Steven Hann Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Gabriella Robertson (CDB, Vivian Gama lab)
- Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Award: Loic Fort (Ian Macara lab)
- CDB Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award: Linh Trinh (CDB, Mark Magnuson lab) and Christian de Caestecker (CDB, Ian Macara lab)
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Department of Biological Sciences annual awards
The Department of Biological Sciences recognized graduate students with the following annual awards:
- Graduate Student Research Excellence Award in Biological Sciences:Jonathan Davies (Biological Sciences, Lars Plate lab) ; Commendations: Remington Hoerr (Biological Sciences, Kathy Friedman lab)
- Ann Bernard Martin Award for Excellence in Graduate Research: Lantana Grub (Biological Sciences, Maulik Patel lab)
- Hickory Stick Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant: Audrey Arner (Biological Sciences, Amanda Lea lab), Jordyn Barr (Biological Sciences, Julián Hillyer lab)
- Gisela Mosig Best Presenter Award: Lindsay Martin (Biological Sciences, Julián Hillyer lab), Reese Martin (Biological Sciences, Ann Tate lab)
- Biological Sciences Annual Retreat Best Poster Award: David Gonzalez (Biological Sciences, Kathy Friedman lab)
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Cell Dynamics Symposium Awards
- Caroline Cencer (Cell and Developmental Biology, Matt Tyska lab)
- Bhawik Kumar Jain (Todd Graham lab)
- Indrayani Waghmare (Andrea Page-McCaw lab)
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Annual VICC retreat recognizes trainees
The 24th Annual Scientific Retreat from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center was hosted on May 23 this year. Several trainees were recognized for their efforts at this year’s event
- Graduate student of the year: Wenjun Wang (Biomedical Engineering, Cynthia Reinhart-King lab)
- Postdoctoral fellow of the year: Wenpeng Liu (David Cortez lab)
- Poster award winners (categories: basic, population, and translational science):
- Overall: Brad Davidson (Cancer Biology, Ben Ho Park lab)
- First place: Monica Bomber (Biochemistry, Scott Hiebert lab), Guochong Jia (Epidemiology, Wei Zheng lab), Taylor Sheehy (Biomedical Engineering, John T. Wilson lab)
- Second place: Emily Berestesky (Biomedical Engineering, Cynthia Reinhart-King lab), KayLee Steiner (Cancer Biology, Jeff Rathmell lab), Xiaopeng Sun (Cancer Biology, Justin Balko lab)
- Third place: Emily Green (Molecular Pathology and Immunology, Nicholas Markham lab), Rachael Smith (Molecular Pathology and Immunology, Jeff Rathmell and John T. Wilson labs)
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Zepeda earns award at anesthesiology symposium
The recent VUMC Anesthesiology Symposium saw a number of researchers and clinicians recognized for their work, including José Zepeda (Pharmacology, Brad Grueter lab), who earned an award for best poster presentation.
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Buchanan earns travel award
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CBMS Training Program receives funding
The Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Sciences Training Program at Vanderbilt University has received a grant supplement that will support a new initiative aimed at enhancing laboratory safety practices and cultivating a safety mindset among graduate students and lab leaders.
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Trainee fellowships
A group of trainees were recently awarded fellowships from the following granting organizations:
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Danielle Adank (Neuroscience, Danny Winder lab)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: Jessica Collins (Biochemistry, Neil Osheroff lab)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Michelle Bedenbaugh (Richard Simerly lab)
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Juneteenth work recognized
A series of papers crafted in honor of Juneteenth have received local and national attention through Vanderbilt, CBS News, and Forbes articles. One of the articles was also highlighted on the cover of the publishing journal, Cell. You can learn more through any of the above links or through an interview with one of the primary catalysts of the series, Antentor Hinton Jr. (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics).
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Exton remembered
John Exton (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics), who died in December 2022, was remembered by colleagues Roger Colbran (MPB), Jackie Corbin (MPB), and Alan Cherrington (MPB) in this retrospective in ASBMB Today.
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Fresh-from-the-oven grads
The following graduates successfully defended their dissertations this past month:
- Biological Sciences: Kerri-Ann Anderson, Ph.D.
- Cancer Biology: Jennifer Pilat, Ph.D
- Cell and Developmental Biology: Sara Ramirez, Ph.D
- Human Genetics: Jaclyn Eissman, Ph.D.; Kritika Singh, Ph.D.
- Neuroscience: Nicolette Frazer, Ph.D
- Pharmacology: Laura Teal, Ph.D.
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How to choose a project for your new lab
If you’re a new PI or are working toward independence, you might have wondered how to go about picking a project for your lab. Charles Sanders (Biochemistry) has some pointers for you.
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Cohen Innovation Fund
Nominations for the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund are due July 15. You can find the instructions on how to apply on the Basic Sciences website.
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Protein biochemsitry special topics course
“AlphaFold, Rosetta and Amber: Principles and Applications of Computational Structural Biology” will take place July 31–August 4. You can find more info about the course on this page.
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VUMC building access for VU users
VUMC controls building access restrictions for some buildings that house Basic Sciences researchers. Please read the full announcement on our website that gives context to this situation and explains how to request changes to access if needed.
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Limit power use during heat wave
The weather forecast predicts temperatures near or above 100 degrees for the next few days. Please limit your use of power during that time.
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Funded grants available for viewing
The Funded Grants Library features more than 390 funded grant applications written by Vanderbilt and Meharry researchers. You can reference Rs, Ks, Fs, and many more applications as you prepare your own.
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Vanderbilt University Life Science Showcase
This event, hosted by the Center for Technology Transfer & Commercialization, will highlight innovations coming out of Vanderbilt that have positively impacted life sciences sectors with successful bench-to-market journeys and the current state-of-the-art for small molecules research, vaccine research, antibody research, medical devices in pipelines and much more. It will take place on July 19 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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BRET faculty career workshop
The Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training will host a workshop called “Preparing for a Faculty Career and Job Search” on August 4 at 9:00–3:15 p.m. and August 7 at 11:00–4:00 p.m. The workshop is intended for postdoctoral fellows and late-stage graduate students interested in a faculty career. Advance registration is requested.
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VICB Student Research Symposium
The 2023 Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology Student Research Symposium will take place on August 8 in the Student Life Center. John Yates, Scripps Research will be the keynote speaker.
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Second annual V-CoM retreat
The second annual retreat of the Vanderbilt Center on Mechanobiology will take place on August 15 at the Joe C. Davis YMCA Outdoor Center (3088 Smith Springs Road, Antioch, TN 37013).
It will feature Anita Mahadevan-Jansen (Biomedical Engineering) as the keynote speaker and Marjan Rafat (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) and Neil Dani (Cell and Developmental Biology) as invited speakers
Please register in advance. Abstract submission deadline is July 10.
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Edge for Scholars Retreat
The Edge for Scholars Retreat will be held on August 22 at the Nelson Andrews Leadership Lodge. Join fellow Vanderbilt researchers to foster connections and collaborations. Registration is now open.
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Simple Beginnings
The Simple Beginnings Lab Coat Ceremony is set this year for September 1. The Friends and Family Special Session will take place at 2:00–3:00 p.m. and the main ceremony will take place at 4:00–5:00 p.m. Anyone can donate a coat to the cause! All details are found here.
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Have a job opening you’d like to promote? Send us a link or a description and contact info, and we’ll post it here for three issues. Renew postings anytime!
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About this issue's banner
The image shows a patient-derived melanoma organoid that Kensey Bergdorf-Smith, a postdoctoral fellow in Ann Richmond’s lab (Pharmacology), cultured with matched patient immune cells. To generate the organoids, Bergdorf performs a fine-needle aspiration on small pieces of resected tumors and plates the recovered cell clusters. This experiment was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a new therapeutic in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy. The “smiling” organoid was the result of Bergdorf’s final experiment at Vanderbilt before moving on to a second postdoc at West Virginia University.
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Catch up on Basic Sciences news!We regularly update our website with some of the latest VU Basic Sciences news stories. Check it out.
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Faculty and facility profilesCheck out our faculty interviews and our facility highlights here.
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About the newsletterThis newsletter recognizes the achievements and latest discoveries of students, postdocs, faculty, and staff associated with Basic Sciences departments, centers, and cores or who carry out basic biomedical research at Vanderbilt.
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Basic Sciences has a number of new communication avenues that you or your loved ones can use to keep up with what's going on here. If they're not already getting the Reading List, Vital, and Lab-to-Table Conversations announcements, send them to our subscription center!
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Keep up with biomedical science seminars
To receive weekly email notices about upcoming seminars focused on the biomedical sciences, please email Tracy O'Brien. To submit your event for the weekly email, send it to the "bioseminar" email address.
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Send us your news Got an announcement or an upcoming event? Did we miss out on celebrating you or your lab's successes? Let us know!
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