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Carrasco elected into AAA&S
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected Nancy Carrasco (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics) as a member. The AAA&S is one of the country’s oldest and most distinguished honorary societies.
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Crowe honored for COVID antibody research
The Harrington Discovery Institute has awarded James Crowe (Pediatrics) the 2022 Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine for “groundbreaking work” that enabled the use of human antibodies to treat COVID-19.
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Lehmann to receive Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science
Renowned developmental geneticist and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Director Ruth Lehmann has been named the recipient of the 2022 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science.
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Vega named 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar
Paige Vega (Cell and Developmental Biology) is the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar. She will be mentored by founding co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas initiative and 2021 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science recipient Aviv Regev.
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Iverson is endowed chair honoree
Tina Iverson (Pharmacology) was recently honored with the Louise B. McGavock Chair at an endowed chair investiture ceremony.
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Osheroff selected AMEE fellow
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Marnett receives Armstrong Mentoring Award
Larry Marnett, dean of Basic Sciences, was named the 2022 Richard Armstrong Mentoring award recipient at the recent Department of Biochemistry retreat in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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Biomedical Ph.D. students awarded NSF GRFP
The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is a highly competitive program that awards grants yearly. In 2022, the following students were named awardees:
- Minna Apostolova (undergraduate, Mary Philip lab)
- Blake Baleami* (Chemical and Physical Biology, Vito Quaranta lab)
- Andreanna Burman (Cell and Developmental Biology, Jim Goldenring lab)
- Drew Dixson (CDB, Alissa Weaver lab)
- Kevin McCarty (Quantitative and Chemical Biology)
- Teresa Piedad Torres (Microbe-Host Interactions, Mariana Byndloss lab)
- Jose Zepeda (Pharmacology, Brad Grueter lab)
*not photographed
The following students received honorable mentions:
- Kaeli Bryant (MHI, Tim Cover lab)
- Julissa Burgos (CDB, Matt Tyska lab)
- Heather Hartmann (QCB)
- Reese Martin (QCB, Ann Tate lab)
- Zach Sanchez (CDB, Dylan Burnette lab)
A big thanks to graduate students Kathleen McClanahan, Lee Cantrell, Noah Bradley, and Tiffany Richardson for helping with a BRET Office-led workshop to help potential NSF GRFP applicants.
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Caslin nabs AAI-Thermo Fisher award
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Grub earns NDSEG fellowship
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Srinivasan joins 2022 class of Soros Fellows
Incoming Ph.D. student Hari Srinivasan (Neuroscience) was selected to join the 2022 Class of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows. Vanderbilt interdisciplinary material science Ph.D. student Tao Hong was also selected.
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Vega wins immunology grant
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Contreras Panta selected for talk, earns award
Ela Contreras Panta (CDB, Jim Goldenring lab) was selected to present a talk at the upcoming Digestive Disease Week set to take place in San Diego, California, in May. Contreras Panta also received a Basic Science Travel Award to attend.
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Marshall and Vue join FRED
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Biochemistry retreat poster winners
Tyler Hansen (Emily Hodges lab) was recognized for the best poster presentation and Tamar Kavlashvili (James Dewar lab) was given an honorable mention at the recent Department of Biochemistry retreat.
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Basic Sciences departments are top funded
The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research annually publishes rankings based on NIH funding, and this year Vanderbilt brought in nearly half a billion dollars in NIH research funding. The biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, medicine, molecular physiology and biophysics, ophthalmology and visual sciences, otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, and pharmacology departments all ranked in the top five in their respective disciplines.
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WCNDD and Prothena collaborate on Alzheimer's disease therapeutics
The Warren Center for Neuroscience and Drug Discovery has partnered with Prothena, a late-stage clinical company, to develop new small molecule therapeutics to treat Alzheimer's disease in people with Down syndrome.
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Program serves underrepresented students
Provost C. Cybele Raver joins new SEC Emerging Scholars program that serves as a pathway for historically underrepresented graduate students to prepare for tenured faculty positions in higher education.
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Robinson named faculty head of Murray House
Renã Robinson (Chemistry) has been appointed the faculty head of Murray House, serving as a leader in shaping student learning experiences beyond the classroom.
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Remembering Marie Maynard Daly
The Protein Society has announced a new annual society award: the Marie Maynard Daly Award, which will recognize groundbreaking research at the interface between protein science and human health. Society President Chuck Sanders (Biochemistry) wrote a short biography to introduce Daly, who was the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States.
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Kramlinger joins Vanderbilt
Valerie Kramlinger has joined the lab of Craig Lindsley (Pharmacology) as a research assistant professor of pharmacology.
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Fresh-from-the-oven grads!
The following students successfully defended their dissertations:
- Cancer Biology: Margaret Axelrod, Ph.D.; Brad Reinfeld, Ph.D.
- Cell and Developmental Biology: Andrea Wojciechowski, Ph.D.
- Chemical and Physical Biology: Sean Devan, Ph.D.; Spencer Waddle, Ph.D.
- Chemistry: Josiah McMillen, Ph.D.
- Pharmacology: Matthew Wleklinski, Ph.D.
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Science madness!
Late last month Basic Sciences hosted a School of Medicine March Madness NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament bracket competition. Eighty-five people participated. As any of you who followed the tournament this year know, it really was madness, with a number of stunning upsets and Cinderella teams.
Tied for third place in our competition were entries “fingerscrossed” by Leah Caplan, a graduate student in Kathy DelGiorno’s lab, and “GoodEnough” by Kari Seedle, senior research specialist in the CISR core. Taking second place was “Henry’s Dad,” who was too modest to identify himself (but we assume Henry is very proud!). And the winner was… *drumroll* entry “Beck2022” by Samantha Beck, a research assistant in Alissa Weaver’s lab! Samantha’s picks put her overall score in the top 0.2 percentile of the millions who submitted brackets in the ESPN online brackets platform.
Although we had seven entries that correctly picked the University of Kansas to go all the way, Samantha was the only contestant who correctly picked four out of eight teams in the Elite 8 (she picked Villanova, Duke, UNC, and Kansas). The sad fate of Gonzaga broke a great many brackets, and it is also interesting to note that not a single of our contestants picked UNC to go all the way.
For her brilliance, Samantha won three fabulous prizes: a key chain from Italy, a set of greeting cards, and a ceramic bowl from one of the Centennial Park craft fairs.
Congratulations, Samantha!
-Chuck Sanders
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Flexner Deans' Lecture Series: Chapman Lecture
Vanderbilt will be hosting David Skorton, the president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, who will present the Chapman Lecture, part of the School of Medicine Flexner Deans' Lecture Series on May 2 at 12:00 p.m. CT in Light Hall 208. Lunch will be provided.
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Imposter Syndrome Workshop
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The Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology will hold its VCSCB Symposium on May 19. The symposium will focus on "Stem Cell States and Transitions" and will feature two keynote speakers plus faculty/student talks and poster sessions. Registration is now open. Make sure to register and submit an abstract by May 4 if you would like to present a poster. Short-talk submissions are now closed.
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"Discovery of New
Therapeutics Drug
Development"
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CISR to get new microscope
The Cell Imaging Shared Resource received an NIH S10 High-End Instrumentation award to purchase a Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (a Zeiss Crossbeam 550) that will allow for volumetric EM data. Special thanks to Evan Krystofiak in CISR-EM for his work toward this award!
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AI Summer course
This summer, the Data Science Institute will host “AI Summer,” a four-week interactive, hands-on learning experience with live coding where anyone with an interest in advanced data science techniques can learn to use, train and share data models using any research or project data.
The course is open to graduate students, postdocs, researchers, faculty, undergraduates, staff, and the Nashville community. The sessions are free, but registration is required.
Dates: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between May 10 and June 3
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. CT
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2022 Fall Faculty Awards
Nominations are now open for Vanderbilt’s faculty awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in research, and are due May 18.
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VI4 Artist In Residence program
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Keep up with biomedical science seminars
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If your paper has been accepted...
We're really excited to promote your papers—by sharing on social media, writing a press release or story, making a video about your research, or other promotion as capacity allows—help us by letting us know if your paper has been accepted (preferably before the embargo is up) or recently published!
Fill out this form and tell us a little about your paper and its impact.
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Help friends and family keep up with Basic Sciences!
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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Autoclave conscientiously
Consolidate loads for the autoclave and run it only when full. Don’t overload it, but don’t run it to sterilize a single box of pipette tips, either.
Thanks for the tip, Center for Structural Biology!
Does your lab try its best to be green? Send us your tips.
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Two new Basic Sciences funding programs
The Office of the Dean of Basic Sciences has announced two new funding programs for primary Basic Sciecnes faculty:
Both programs are effective immediately.
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DoD Innovation Pathways
The Department of Defense recently announced an “Innovation Pathways” website providing a “one-stop shop” for the DoD innovation ecosystem. The site serves as a gateway to the DoD’s efforts to bring in new ideas and technology, with a special focus on students, universities, and businesses.
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Calling all career scientists!
The Center for Scientific Review at the National Institutes of Health invites early career scientists to join their Early Career Reviewer program. Participants will gain first-hand NIH grant review experience, which can be helpful in preparing their own grants.
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NIGMS National and Regional Resources (R24 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
This Funding Opportunity Announcement encourages applications for support of resources that will provide access to state-of-the-art equipment, technologies, research tools, materials, organisms, software, and/or services to a substantial regional (multi-state) or national user base. Applications open May 14, 2022. More information on the NIH website.
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NIH Director's Pioneer Award
The Pioneer Award offers funding opportunities for exceptionally creative scientists proposing pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical, social science, and behavioral research. Applications are due September 9, 2022.
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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.
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About This Issue’s Banner
This issue's banner features a Vanderbilt University-branded mosaic with Giving Day donor-submitted photos. The mosaic will live on campus for years to come!
Thank you to the more than 6,000 members of the VU community who supported scholarships, discovery, and belonging at Vanderbilt this Giving Day. Special shoutout to the 177 people who donated to Basic Sciences, helping to raise over $43,000 for our scientists! The money you donated, coupled with Dean Marnett's and Dr. Mark A. Magnuson and Mrs. Lucile Magnuson's matches, will help fund trainee programming, basic research grants, a new Brighter Ventures Student Award, the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund, and more.
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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.
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Faculty and Facility Profiles
Check out our faculty interviews and our facility highlights here.
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About the Newsletter
This 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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Faculty Profile: Hassane Mchaourab
Hassane Mchaourab, professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, discusses his lab’s focus on protein dynamics and how they define or regulate biological function. View the interview on YouTube.
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Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences
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Phone: (615) 322-0907 | basicsciences@vanderbilt.edu
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