CMB Welcomes Dr. Vern Carruthers as a New Associate Director This fall, Dr. Vernon Carruthers, Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, joined Dr. Ursula Jakob as an Associate Director of CMB. They both work with CMB Director Jessica Schwartz in leading the Program. Research in the Carruthers lab focuses on the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii as a model organism to study the invasion and survival strategies of microbial pathogens during infecIon. Dr. Carruthers has served as an editor or on the editorial board for numerous peer-‐reviewed journals. Dr. Carruthers became a CMB faculty member in 2007 shortly aNer arriving at UM. He is mentoring CMB student Marijo Roiko, has served on the CMB Admissions CommiPee and was a CMB Admissions RepresentaIve to PIBS. AddiIonally, Dr. Carruthers served on the Medical School’s Biomedical Research Council, and has served on various commiPees for the Dept of Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Carruthers looks forward to geRng to know the CMB students and faculty bePer, and encourages open discussion of their thoughts for innovaIons in the Program.
Fall 2011 Short Course: From Messenger to Master Regulator: The Many Hats of RNA Tues, Oct 4, Introductory Lecture, Aaron Goldstrohm, Univ Michigan Wed, Oct 12, Alexei Aravin, California Inst of Technology Tues, Oct 18, Nahum Sonenberg, McGill University Tues, Nov 22, Ramin Shiekhattar, Wistar Institute Fri, Dec 2, Gisela Storz, NIH Tues, Nov 8, CMB Happy Hour at Bar Louie, 5:30-‐7:30p.m. Fri, Nov 18, Thesis Defense: Gautam Rajpal (mentor: P. Arvan), Cure Room, 5050 Brehm Tower, 9:15am. Fri, Dec 9, CMB Holiday Party, locaIon TBD Wed, Dec 14, CMB Thesis Defense: Stephanie Linn (mentor: K. Barald), Room 5915 Buhl, 1:00pm. Jan 26-‐28 and Feb 2-‐4, 2012. PIBS RecruiMng Weekends May 18-‐20, 2012 CMB Retreat Kellogg Biol StaIon, BaPle Creek MI
CMB Newsletter Fall 2011
www.med.umich.edu/cmb
CMB Events Calendar 2011-‐2012
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Inside: Meet the New CMB Students Fall Short Course on RNA
New Guidelines for CMB Candidate Training
Preliminary ExaminaMon Timeline 2011-‐2012 Nov 2, 2011 12-‐2pm Grant WriMng Workshop – open to all CMB students. Nov 14 2011 Grant WriMng workshop: study secMon-‐ Part 1 Nov 15 2011 Grant WriMng workshop: study secMon-‐ Part 2 Nov 2011 Students meet with assigned Prelim Coordinators. Dec 1, 2011 Deadline for submission of prelim topic. Dec 15, 2011 Provisional Specific Aims and names of two Prelim CommiPee Members submiPed to Prelim Coordinator. Jan 6, 2012 All Prelim CommiPees finalized. Student submits Specific Aims to Prelim CommiPee and sets date. Jan 30, 2012 Student submits completed Proposal to Prelim CommiPee. Feb 6-‐17, 2012 Prelim Exam Period. All exams during this interval.
LeZer From the Directors
The CMB Program CommiPee recently developed new guidelines to add structure to student training during the candidacy years. New features include (1) preparaIon of a formal dissertaIon research proposal for evaluaIon at the first thesis commiPee meeIng, (2) distribuIon of a wriPen progress report prior to each thesis commiPee meeIng, and (3) preparaIon of a detailed Imeline to degree with career goals by the end of the fourth year, for discussion with the thesis commiPee at all subsequent meeIngs. CMB has also formalized the requirement for each student to publish at least one first-‐author research paper by the thesis defense. The updated guidelines are accompanied by a Imeline template that includes benchmarks and target Imes during training for students to achieve them. The form for dissertaIon commiPee meeIng reports has also been revised, and now specifies items to be addressed by the thesis commiPee and included in the meeIng report. The new guidelines and accompanying materials are being distributed to all students and faculty members; they will also be posted on the CMB website and in the updated CMB Handbook.
As we start this academic year with Vern Carruthers and Ursula Jakob as Associate Directors, we thank Kathy Collins and Anj Dlugosz for their dedicated service as outgoing Associate Directors. They helped guide the program during excepIonal growth, improved our technological image and contributed enormously to the recent training grant applicaIon. We are also pleased to recognize the contribuIons of faculty member Bob Fuller and student Mindy Waite with CMB Service Awards. ConInuing the CMB tradiIon, the Program CommiPee recently reviewed Candidate Training, and has developed new guidelines to add structure during these years of student maturaIon (see arIcle). We welcome your comments and feedback. Have a great year. Jessica, Vern and Ursula
CMB newslePer Fall 2010 www.med.uimch.edu/cmb
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Steven Allen (Mentor: Sofia Merajver) I am from Troy, MI and earned degrees in Biomedical and PharmaceuIcal Engineering at Univ Michigan. In the Merajver lab I will study the interplay of macrophages and inflammaIon with early breast malignancy and chronic masIIs. Berhane Assefa (Mentor: Nils Walter) I am from Ethiopia and got my BS degree from San Francisco State Univ in Biochemistry. I am currently researching the mechanism of hairpin ribozyme self-‐cleavage. Alyssa Cates (Mentor: Mark Day) I am from the rural town of Missouri Valley, IA and graduated from Univ Northern Iowa with a BS in Biochemistry. My project involves elucidaIng the therapeuIc potenIal of ADAM15, a protein implicated in the metastaIc progression of several cancer types. Albert Chen (Mentor: Patrick Hu) I grew up in Lexington, MA, and graduated from Harvard with a degree in Biochemical Sciences. I am invesIgaIng the role of DAF-‐16/FOXO in lifespan regulaIon of C. elegans. Jooho Chung (Mentor: Ivan Maillard) I'm interested in the transcripIonal dynamics of notch signaling in peripheral T-‐cells. I'm from Ann Arbor, MI and aPended Harvard University. Ishita Das (Mentor: JoAnn Sekiguchi) I am from Augusta, GA and graduated from the Univ North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I am currently researching the role of a specific DNA nuclease in resoluIon of replicaIon stress and maintenance of genome stability. Nicole Gabreski (Mentor: Brian Pierchala) I graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Biological Sciences and Animal Science. I am currently exploring the funcIons of several splice variants of RET, a receptor tyrosine kinase, during development in the mouse. Alexander Holtz (Mentor: Ben Allen) I am from Fairfield, CT and graduated from Cornell Univ. I spent a year as a fellow at the NIH. My research involves cell surface regulaIon of Sonic Hedgehog signaling, focusing on the interacIon of pathway antagonists in mouse neural tube development. Brooke Horton (Mentor: Hisashi Umemori) I completed my BS in Molecular Biology at the Univ Alabama in Birmingham. My research focuses on the mechanisms underlying synapse formaIon and neurogenesis in the hippocampus.
Meet the New CMB Students Ray Joe (Mentor: ChrisIn Carter-‐Su) I am from the Northern Navajo ReservaIon of New Mexico and received a BS in Biology from the Univ New Mexico. Currently I am determining the cellular basis for the Phenotype observed in paIents with mutaIon in the adapter protein SH2B1 which includes severe early onset obesity. Brian Larsen (Mentor: Deneen Wellik) I graduated from the Univ Michigan. I am invesIgaIng the role of Hox6 genes in mouse pancreas development. David Lorberbaum (Mentor: ScoP Barolo) I am from St. Louis, MO and got my BA in Biology from Washington Univ. I am interested in transcripIonal control of gene regulaIon and focus on characterizing enhancer funcIon using Drosophila melanogaster. Gabriel MarMnez-‐SanMbanez (Mentor: Carey Lumeng) I am from Southern California and received my undergraduate degree at the Univ California Santa Barbara. My research is focused on the inflammatory response during adipose Issue remodeling. Esha Mathew (Mentor: Marina Pasca di Magliano) I am from outside Boston, MA and completed my undergraduate degree at Cornell Univ. Currently, my research focuses on Hedgehog signaling in pancreaIc cancer. Yevgeniya Mironova (Mentor: Roman Giger) I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. I started my undergraduate degree at Moscow State Univ and completed it at the Univ California Los Angeles. My research assesses the involvement of Nogo receptors in the healthy central nervous system by studying synaptogenesis, synapIc plasIcity, and regulaIon of signaling pathways such as mTOR. Nadia SebasMan (Mentor: Kathleen Collins) I am from Oklahoma City, OK, and received my BS in Chemistry at Creighton Univ in Omaha, NE. My research interests include studying viral pathogenesis at a cellular and molecular level. Jennifer Ro (Mentor: ScoP Pletcher) I received my Master's degree in EvoluIon and Ecology from Ohio State Univ. My research interest lies in a role of the central nervous system in nutrient homeostasis and dietary restricIon response. Corinne Weisheit (Mentor: William Dauer) I am from Newburgh, IN and received my BS degree from Purdue, where I majored in Neurobiology and Physiology. My research involves characterizing the behavioral and histochemical phenotype of novel mouse models of primary dystonia to understand the aberrant motor circuitry underlying the disease.
CMB newslePer Fall 2010 www.med.uimch.edu/cmb
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Recent CMB Graduates
2011 CMB Summer Journal Club. This summer, CMB students Shauna BenneP and Krista Geister organized an informal journal club that met every other week for students to present interesIng findings in the recent literature. Presenters included Krista Geister, Lauren Van Wassenhove, Richard Yau, Sarah Kampert, Jose Rodriguez, and Heiko Yang. The meeIngs were well aPended, and served as a means to develop presentaIon skills and mediate discussions about exciIng new findings. The Journal Club will resume next summer.
A Sampler of Recent CMB events
Fall 2011 Symposium. Dr. Richard Losick of Harvard Univ discussed bacterial mulIcellularity as the Myron Levine Lecturer at the 2011 CMB Symposium. His talk, enItled “Life and death of a microbial community,” highlighted the importance of regulatory mechanisms that control biofilm formaIon of the spore forming bacterium Bacillus subIIlis. Many bacteria form biofilms—mulIcellular communiIes in which individual cells are embedded in an extracellular matrix. Bacteria incorporated in biofilms are resistant to anIbioIc treatment and pose a significant medical challenge. Biofilms also cause problems such as corrosion in industrial seRngs. Dr. Losick’s lab idenIfied specific D-‐amino acids that prevent biofilm formaIon and disrupt preexisIng biofilms without affecIng bacterial growth. Two infecIous species of biofilm forming bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were also found to respond to D-‐amino acids. Dr. Losick’s lab is exploring the molecular mechanisms through which these processes occur and potenIal medical and industrial applicaIons.
recently presented a seminar to the GI PepIde Center here on her research on ‘Bile Acid Signaling During Development and Beyond.’ Dr. Rao holds the special disIncIon of being the very first CMB Program graduate in 1977. She took Ime to meet with current CMB students. Her discussion was a fascinaIng blend of science and history; she discussed the input she had in shaping the nascent CMB Program and also touched upon gender dispariIes in faculty compensaIon that were apparent in her Ime. She was keen on comparing CMB requirements now to those that took shape during her Ime as a graduate student.
Notes from the CMB Social CommiZee. Elizabeth Adams and KaIe Dumas have joined Krista Geister and Richard Yau on the Social CommiPee. They plan to build on last year’s model, in which they organized a Holiday Party at Arbor Brewing Company, hosted Happy Hours at Dominick’s and other venues, and coordinated a summer BBQ where incoming PIBS students met CMB students and faculty. They launched this year with a Happy Hour following the CMB Poster Session, and are planning a holiday party Dec 9 and an Ice SkaIng Party. Check the CMB Calendar for these and other events.
Alumna Visit: Dr. Meena Rao, first CMB Ph.D. Dr. Meena Rao, the current Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Univ Illinois-‐Chicago,
Recent CMB Student PublicaMons Winer I, Wang S, Lee YE, Fan W, Gong Y, Burgos-‐Ojeda D, Spahlinger G, Kopelman R, Buckanovich RJ. F3-‐targeted cisplaIn-‐hydrogel nanoparIcles as an effecIve therapeuIc that targets both murine and human ovarian tumor endothelial cells in vivo. Cancer Res. 2010; 70:8674-‐83.
PaIno G, Brackenbury WJ, Bao Y, Lopez-‐SanIago LF, O'Malley H, Chen C, Calhoun JD, Lafreniere R, CossePe P, Rouleau G, Isom LL. Voltage-‐Gated Na+channel Beta1B: a secreted cell adhesion molecule involved in human epilepsy. J Neurosci. 2011. In press.
Heather M. Ames (T Ross, mentor) “HunIngIn InteracIng Protein 1: InteracIons with Receptor Tyrosine Kinases.” Medical Student in Univ Michigan Medical School.
Phillip C. Delekta (P Lucas, mentor) “GPCR-‐Dependent NF-‐KB Signaling in Endothelial DysfuncIon: A CriIcal Role for the CARMA3-‐BCL10-‐MALT1 Signaling Complex.” Working in Dr. Lucas’s lab while pursuing other post-‐doctoral posiIons.
Joseph S. Dosch (C Burant, D Simeone, co-‐mentors) “Examining the role of hedgehog signaling in the pancreaIc tumor microenvironment.” Post-‐Doctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr A. Rehemtulla in RadiaIon Oncology, University of Michigan.
William D. Feliciano (J Swanson, mentor) “RegulaIon of Rab5 AcIvaIon Cycle during Macropinocytosis and Phagocytosis.” Working in Dr. Swanson’s lab while pursuing a post-‐doctoral posiIon in Puerto Rico.
Magdalena M. Grabowska (M Day, mentor) “Characterizing the roles of ADAM10 and 15 disintegrins in the prostate biology and disease.” Post-‐Doctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt Univ.
Ann M. Staubach Grosse (D Gumucio, mentor) “Evidence for a New Model of IntesInal Morphogenesis.” Working in Dr. Gumucio’s lab while pursuing Post-‐Doctoral posiIons in Boston.
Jolie A. Leonard (Kathleen Collins, mentor) “Mechanisms by which HIV-‐I NEF Disrupts the Intracellular Trafficking of Host Proteins.” Post-‐Doctoral Fellow at Univ Washington.
Dara E. Leto (A SalIel, mentor) “RegulaIon of G Proteins in Insulin AcIon: The Role of the RalGAP Complex in RalA AcIvaIon.” Research Fellow in Dr. SalIel’s lab while pursuing other post-‐doctoral posiIons.
MaZhew M. Molusky (J Lin, mentor) “RegulaIon of hepaIc glucose homeostasis through ubiquiIn-‐specific protease 2.” Working in Dr. Lin’s lab while pursuing other post-‐doctoral posiIons.
Devin T. Rosenthal (S Merajver, mentor) “InterrogaIng the Molecular Mechanisms of Breast Cancer Metastasis.” Post-‐Doctoral Fellow in Dr. CharloPe Kuperwasser’s lab at TuNs Univ in Boston.
Conrad D. Valdez (M Day, mentor) “The E2F1/DNMT1 axis represents AR in both normal and malignant prostate epithelium.” Post-‐Doctoral Fellow in Dr. Williams Ricke’s lab at Univ Wisconsin-‐Madison.
Gisselle Vélez Ruiz (R Sunahara, mentor) “Allosteric regulaIon of Gs on agonist, antagonist and inverse agonist binding to the β2AR .” Post-‐Doctoral Fellow in Dr. Asim Beg’s lab in the Pharmacology Department.
CMB newslePer Fall 2010 www.med.uimch.edu/cmb
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Congratulate CMB Student Awardees Chad Brenner was recipient of the Graduate
Student Award for Excellence in Research from the Medical School.
Grace Wang has been awarded an American Heart AssociaIon Predoctoral Fellowship. Alyssa Cates has received a travel award from the Society for Basic Urological Research. Morgan Jones has received the 2011 American Society of Hematology Outstanding Abstract Award. KaMe Dumas, Nicholas Niemuth and Mike Waterson were appointed to the Biology of Aging Training Grant. Meredith Collins received a Center for Organogenesis Predoctoral Fellowship, and a travel award to the American PancreaIc AssociaIon Conference Rackham Graduate Student Research Grants were awarded to: KaMe Baldwin, Randi Burns, Albert Chen, Amanda Day, Morgan Jones, Marijo Roiko, Hanxiao Wang, and Mike Waterson. Rackham Travel Grant recipients are: Shauna BenneZ, Amanda Day, KaMe Dumas, Krista Geister, Jennifer Lai, Nick Llewelllyn, Andrea Ramos, Marijo Roiko, Ilea Swinehart, and Lauren Van Wassenhove.
CMB Presents Service Awards The CMB Directors are delighted to provide CMB Service Awards to recognize the contribuIons of students and faculty to CMB.
Mindy Waite received the CMB Student Service Award at the Annual Symposium. Her contribuIons to CMB include serving on the Program CommiPee, coordinaIng recruiIng, redesigning the CMB website and represenIng CMB on Graduate Student Council. The CMB Faculty Service Award was presented to Dr. Robert Fuller. Among Bob’s many acIviIes for CMB have been serving as Interim Co-‐Director of CMB, serving on the Program CommiPee, represenIng CMB at recruiIng events, and coordinaIng the review of CMB Candidate Training.
Fall Short Course: From Messenger to Master Regulator: The Many Hats of RNA CMB and the GeneIcs Training Programs are welcoming four experts in the RNA field to parIcipate in the fall Short Course lecture series. Non-‐coding RNAs are emerging as increasingly important regulators of cellular funcIon, and as global transcripIonal regulators. MisregulaIon of these pathways can result in genomic instability, tumor growth, and other diseases. The four speakers will present their work on some of the diverse mechanisms and pathways through which different types of regulatory RNAs funcIon. Nahum Sonenberg will present some of his groundbreaking work on factors involved in the regulaIon of protein translaIon through mRNAs and their implicaIons in oncogenesis. While many small RNAs such as microRNAs regulate genes post translaIonally, Alexei Aravin will discuss a novel regulatory role for a class of small RNAs called piRNAs. These molecules may act as global transcripIonal regulators through DNA methylaIon. In contrast to the repressive role of many small RNAs, Ramin ShiekhaPar will discuss transcripIonal enhancer acIvity of long non-‐coding RNAs. Finally, Gisela Storz is one of the first researchers to idenIfy RNA mechanisms that regulate gene transcripIon in bacteria. She will discuss her work on the characterizaIon of small non-‐coding RNAs that have crucial regulatory funcIons in bacteria. Dr. Aaron Goldstrohm presented the introductory lecture for the short course. The student organizers are Hilary Archbold, Nate BleweP, Winnie Chen and John Moldovan.
Wednesday, October 12, 3PM Dr. Alexei Aravin California Univ of Technology Small RNAs in the mammalian germline and stem cells
Tuesday, October 18, 3PM Dr. Nahum Sonenberg McGill University TranslaMonal control of mRNAs in cancer and the nervous system, molecular funcMon of microRNAs
Tuesday, November 22, 3PM Dr. Ramin ShiekhaZar Wistar InsItute Long non-‐coding RNAs, RNA processing, microRNAs
Friday, December 2, 12:15PM Dr. Gisela Storz NIH Small regulatory non-‐coding RNAs in bacteria
Resources Available from CMB CMB recently acquired new laptops (PC and Mac) and a new projector, which students can sign out to prepare and rehearse presentaIons. CMB can provide a limited amount of funds toward student travel to present research at scienIfic meeIngs. Apply via the CMB Office prior to travel. Travel funds are also available from Rackham. CMB has a file of sample lePers from previous students for applying to postdoctoral or industry posiIons. This can be consulted in the CMB Student Conference Rm, where our library of CMB student theses is also found.
NewsleZer Editors: Meredith Collins, Krista Geister, Andrea Morris Spencer. AddiMonal Contributors: J Schwartz, C Mitchell, M Kelly, K Mitchell. Photographers: Ilea Swinehart, Elizabeth Adams