Dean Marnett to step down
Dean of Basic Sciences Larry Marnett will be stepping down from his post in June 2022. He will be taking a sabbatical and will return the following year to focus on his research lab. In the meantime, the university has appointed a committee to search for the next dean.
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Vestigo Issue 3 is out!
The third issue of the Basic Sciences magazine, Vestigo, is out now! In it, we highlight:
- recent papers spearheaded by students and postdocs in our departments
- the newly established Vanderbilt Neurovisualization Lab
- large collaborations of researchers working to create molecular atlases of the human body
- unsung heroes of grants management
- short profiles of immigrant scientists,
- and more!
It is available in three formats—share with your friends and family!
- PDF: nice and simple and accessible to screen readers
- ISSUU: for a virtual experience with a real-life magazine fee
- Web: for easy sharing of your favorite stories
P.S. Don't miss the AR component we crafted for you! See how it works here.
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Brown, Wan earn NIH Director's Awards
Breann Brown (Biochemistry) and Will Wan (Biochemistry) have received 2021 National Institutes of Health Director’s Awards for their unconventional, bold approaches to research that advances knowledge and enhances health. Peabody College postdoc Katherine Aboud earned a similar award.
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V Foundation grant for Hiebert
The V Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded a $600,000 grant to Scott Hiebert (Biochemistry) to pursue a possible precision therapy for a type of sarcoma
that predominantly affects children.
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Conn named 2021 ASPET fellow, honored for mentoring
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Cohen fund award for Merrikh, Nakagawa
The Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund, which is designed to support research that is groundbreaking and potentially paradigm shifting, has granted two awards for 2021, one to Houra Merrikh (Biochemistry) and one to Teru Nakagawa (MPB).
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Burkewitz receives grant for longevity research
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DelGiorno earns Sky Foundation grant
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Robinson named NOBCChE president
Renã Robinson (Chemistry) has been named president of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers.
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Zost receives major international prize
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Brady, Ameka honored by ISFS
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Bradley receives Karpay Award
Graduate student Noah Bradley (Biological Sciences, Brandt Eichman lab) has been named as the 2022 recipient of the Karpay Award in Structural Biology. He will be presented with the award and will present a seminar titled "DNA Damage: If You Break It, You Fix It" on January 18, 2022, at 12:20 p.m. in 1220 MRBIII.
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Adolph awarded by VICC
Madison Adolph, a postdoc in the lab of David Cortez, was named the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Postdoc of the Year for her studies on replication stress responses.
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Hinton named "Unsung Hero," chosen as Rolfe Scholars Memorial Heritage lecturer
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McNew wins award for diversity efforts
M.D./Ph.D. student Kelsey McNew (MPI, Daniel Moore lab) recently received the Levi Watkins Jr. Student Award for her commitments to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion at the School of Medicine. Medical student Nicole Kloosterman was also recognized with the award.
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Yoo earns Colowick Award
Postdoc Woongjae Yoo (Mariana Byndloss lab) received the 2020–21 Sidney P. Colowick Oustanding Postdoc Award from the Molecular Pathogenesis Division.
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Student fellowships
These students earned fellowships from the following funding agencies:
- National Institute of Mental Health: Maxwell Roeske (Neuroscience, Stephan Heckers lab)
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: Kacie Dunham (Neuroscience, Tiffany Woynaroski and Carissa Cascio labs)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Laura Geben (Pharmacology, Rebecca Ihrie lab)
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: Chase Mackey (Neuroscience, Ramnarayan Ramachandran lab)
- Other/unknown NIH: Anna Kasdan (Neuroscience, Reyna Gordon lab)
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Vanderbilt recognizes staff excellence
Vanderbilt University leadership has recognized administrative staff members Alma Diane Denson (Biochemistry), Soyoung Kim (POD2), and Jennifer Bennett (POD2) for record-high requisition processing with record-low errors.
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Fresh-from-the-oven grads
The following students successfully defended their dissertation between September and November:
- Biochemistry: Sarah M. Glass, Ph.D.; Lindsay Redman Rivera, Ph.D.
- Cell & Developmental Biology: Colbie Chinowsky, Ph.D.; Meredith Giblin, Ph.D.
- Microbe-Host Interactions: Ly Pham, Ph.D.
- Neuroscience: Sierra Palumbos, Ph.D.
- Pharmacology: Brynna Paulukaitis Eisele, Ph.D.
Want to keep up with upcoming defenses? Bookmark this calendar. And let us know if we missed anyone from this list!
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New appointments and promotions
Basic Sciences has been busy hiring and making new appointments in the last few months, so we'd like to welcome the following faculty members to their new roles:
- Biochemistry:
- Hak-Jun Kim, visiting scholar
- Madhvi Venkatech, assistant professor
- Cell & Developmental Biology:
- Bahnisikha Barman, research instructor
- Guoqiang Gu, professor with tenure
- Kung-Hsien Ho, research instructor
- Anel Jaramillo, research instructor
- Caitlin McAtee, research instructor
- Lindsey Seldin, research instructor
- Jeff Spraggins, assistant professor
- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics:
- Antentor "AJ" Othrell Hinton Jr., assistant professor
- Monica Bhanot, research instructor
- Pharmacology:
- Natali Chanaday, research instructor
- James Melchior, research instructor
- Colleen Niswender, associate professor
- Sergey Vishnivetskiy, research assistant professor
- Chi Yan, research assistant professor
- Chen Zhang, research instructor
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Vanderbilt-discovered molecule made freely available
The lab of Stephen Fesik (Biochemistry), which discovered VUBI1, one of the most potent SOS1 agonists reported to date, has made it available on opnMe to help foster new discovery opportunities. Researchers can order 5 mg of VUBI1 free of charge through the opnMe website.
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CSBC features Vanderbilt project
The Cancer Systems Biology Consortium has featured Vanderbilt, its "U54" research center, on its website. The center's project, led by Vito Quaranta (Pharmacology) and driven primarily by a collaboration of VU and VUMC faculty, is called "Phenotype Transitions in Small Cell Lung Cancer." Read more about it here.
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"Songs and Sobriety" with Jason Isbell
If you missed the discussion with four-time Grammy Award-winning musician Jason Isbell, moderated by Danny Winder, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, and Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology, you can view it on YouTube!
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Vanderbilt-discovered drug candidate enters clinical trials
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Celebrating Oswald Avery
October marked Oswald Avery's 144th birthday, and members of the Basic Sciences community gathered at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville to memorialize him and place a distinctive marker by his grave. Chuck Sanders (Biochemistry) and Dean Larry Marnett had some prepared remarks. Read more here.
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UMR highlights Vanderbilt research
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Nominations open for spring 2022 faculty awards
Nominations are now open for Vanderbilt’s top faculty awards for research and service. All faculty are eligible to submit nominations, which are due December 13. More info on the university webpage.
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Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science
open for nominations
Vanderbilt Prize winners are women who have made significant contributions to the science of medicine. Deadline is December 1, 2021. Learn more about the prize and how to apply on the VUMC website.
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Science Communication Animation Awards
Apply for the opportunity to have your research made into a 2-minute video through Edge for Scholars and Kindea Labs. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. More information on the Edge for Scholars website.
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Access Nature Masterclasses
The Research Education Program at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has arranged for all students, faculty, and staff at VU and VUMC to be able to take part in Nature Masterclasses, which are developed by Nature Research and provide professional development training for researchers by drawing on the expertise of Nature journal editors and experts. Sign up here with your @vumc.org or @vanderbilt.edu email address.
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2021 Vanderbilt Winter Showcase cancelled
You can take solace in the fact that the 2020 VWS lives on YouTube in perpetuity.
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New: VIRAL student/postdoc group
A group of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members have formed a university-recognized group called the Vanderbilt International Researcher Alliance, meant to provide support to the international community. Visit their page on Anchorlink for more information and to sign up for updates.
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Sign up for the Inclusive Connector
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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!
Please fill out this form and tell us a little about your paper and its impact.
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Keep up with Basic Sciences!
Basic Sciences has a number of new communication avenues that you or your friends and family can use to keep up with what's going on. If you're not already getting the Reading List, Vital, and Lab-to-Table Conversations announcements, you can sign up through our subscription center!
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Conversations on Diversity and Inclusion
The Cell and Developmental Biology CoDI subcommittee is hosting a series of conversations that are open to the entire Vanderbilt and medical center communities. Attend one or both - whatever works for you. The next session will take place on December 14 at 4:00 p.m. Make sure you register for the meeting in advance. Questions? Email the CoDI leadership.
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Lab-to-Table: Living Longer: the Science of Longevity
Join a virtual panel of aging research experts—Rafael Arrojo e Drigo (MPB), Kris Burkewitz (CDB), and Laura Dugan (Medicine)—and moderator Laura Niedernhofer (University of Minnesota) on November 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for a discussion about the science of longevity. Registration is required.
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Cancer Biology retreat
The Cancer Biology Student Association will hold its annual retreat on December 2. Save the date!
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"Retrospective on Dr. Stanley Cohen and the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine"
As part of the Department of Biochemistry’s 2021 “Frontiers in Biochemistry” seminar series, Jan Jordan, widow to the late Professor of Biochemistry Stanley Cohen, will speak about the experience of Cohen receiving the Nobel Prize in 1986. The talk will be virtual and there will be no Q&A.
December 10 at 12:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Meeting ID: 990 5762 4918
Password: 211210_SC
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"how to..." is a collaborative learning series that presents tutorials, walkthroughs, and explorations of the tools and skills that staff use every day at Vanderbilt. Webinars are hosted and organized by the Dean’s Office every other week. The next session will take place on December 3 at 10:00 a.m.
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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
An artistic interpretation of a two-dimensional brain representation generated by José Maldonado through whole-brain imaging carried out at the Vanderbilt Neurovisualization Lab. The illustration was made by Kendra H. Oliver (Pharmacology) and is the cover art for Issue 3 of Vestigo.
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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 & 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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