Kris DeMali, PhD, has been selected to serve as chair and department executive officer of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Congratulations to Brenna Powers (Wallrath Lab) for being awarded the Joseph E. and Ursil I. Callen Prize! This award is given to an outstanding graduating senior in the College of Arts and Sciences who has excelled academically, shown civic leadership, and will attend graduate school in the Fall. Brenna's dedication to coursework, research and service to the University of Iowa is highly commendable.

Emeritus professor Dr. Art Spector provides insight and good practices for Retiring a Research Lab in an interview with ASBMB Today. Read more at https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/careers/050324/retiring-a-research-lab .

The 2024 Lata Undergraduate Honors Symposium took place on Tuesday, April 30th in 1117 MERF. Five presentations were given by undergraduate majors in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The event concluded with an awards ceremony and reception.

PRESENTATIONS

Brenna Powers , Wallrath laboratory, "Identifying Candidate Drugs to Treat Rare Types of Muscular Dystrophy"

Jack E. B. Miller , Geyer laboratory, "The Role of the Centrosome in Loss of Germline Stem Cell Homeostasis in the Emerin Mutant Drosophila Ovary"

Josiah Power , Nuxoll laboratory, "Thermal...

Congratulations to our faculty and staff who were recognized by graduating seniors for making a positive difference in their lives during their time at the University of Iowa!

Sheila Baker, PhD, Associate Professor Adrian Elcock, PhD, Professor David Price, PhD, Professor Emeritus Miles Pufall, PhD, Associate Professor Anneke Sanders, PhD, Instructor Madeline Shea, PhD, Professor Maria Spies, PhD, Professor Lori Wallrath, PhD, Professor Marc Wold, PhD, Professor Emeritus

Congratulations to Nathan Mohar (Wallrath Lab) for his first author publication titled "The influence of a genetic variant in CCDC78 on LMNA -associated skeletal muscle disease" recently published in IJMS!

BMB undergraduate Brenna Powers (Wallrath Lab) received a Best Poster Award at the 2024 Winchell Undergraduate Research Symposium held at St. Mary's University, Winona, MN. The title of her poster was "Identifying candidate drugs to treat rare types of muscular dystrophy". Congratulations Brenna!

Congratulations to Dr. Lori Wallrath for being elected to the Class of 2023 Fellows of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS)! This honor recognizes Dr. Wallrath for her "distinguished contributions to the fields of heterochromatin function and nuclear envelope biology in development and disease."

Congratulations to Dr. Pamela Geyer on being selected to receive the 2024 JP Long Teaching Award in the Basic Sciences!

This award recognizes a basic science faculty member who emulates Dr. Long's devotion to education, teaching, research and service to the University. The award will be presented at the Carver College of Medicine Celebration of Research, Scholarship, Teaching and Service on Monday, April 29th at 3:30pm in the Prem Sahai Auditorium (1110 MERF).

Congratulations to Dr. Maria Spies for her R35 funding from the National Institutes of Health!

"Assembly and Dynamics of Molecular Machines in Genome Maintenance" NIH R35 Competitive Renewal

BMB major Brenna Powers (Wallrath laboratory) was awarded a Research Supply Grant from the Office of Undergraduate Studies. Brenna will use the funds to continue testing drugs that improve muscle function in a Drosophila model of LMNA-associated muscular dystrophy.

Congratulations Brenna!

Congratulations to our faculty and staff with new publications!

Plapp BV (2024) Solvent isotope and mutagenesis studies on the proton relay system in yeast alcohol dehydrogenase 1, Chem.-Biol. Interact. 388, 110853 (11 pp) (on-line, Dec.25, 2023) doi.org/10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110853.

Santana JF , Spector BM , Suarez GA, Luse DS, Price DH. (2024) NELF focuses sites of initiation and maintains promoter architecture. Nucleic Acids Res. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad1253.

Congratulations to Sydney Walker for being selected for an AHA fellowship award! Sydney's project is "Uncoupling the physiological functions of ANGPTL3".

Sydney is a graduate student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program. She is advised by Dr. Brandon Davies.

Congratulations to Grace Ciampa for being awarded an NIH F31 fellowship! Grace's project is "Examining the Function of a Novel Protein in the Cardiac Junctional Membrane Complex".

Grace is a graduate student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program. She is advised by Dr. Long-Sheng Song.

Dr. Sarah Bergeron, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Nicholls State University, was named the Louisiana Science Teachers Association William Craig Outstanding University Education Award winner for 2023.

The Louisiana Science Teachers Association instituted the William Craig Outstanding University Educator Award in memory of the late Dr. William W. Craig, a distinguished Geology Professor at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Craig’s legacy as a research scientist deeply influenced K-12 educators, making a lasting impact on the field of education. The award serves as a testament...

The Wallrath lab members scored big at the Midwest Drosophila Conference!

Nathan Mohar (Genetics Graduate Program) was awarded a best oral presentation for his research on SMAD signaling in skeletal muscle disease.

Hailey McCoy-Munger (Biomedical Engineering U2G student) was awarded a best poster presentation and first place in the microscopy art competition.

Congratulations to our labs with new publications!

Lavering ED , Gandhamaneni M , Weeks DL . (2023) Intrinsically disordered regions are not sufficient to direct the compartmental localization of nucleolar proteins in the nucleus.(Accepted PLOS Biology 10/12/2023)

Gall-Duncan T, Luo J, Jurkovic CM, Fischer LA, Fujita K, Deshmukh AL, Harding RJ, Tran S, Mehkary M, Li V, Leib DE, Chen R, Tanaka H, Mason AG, Lévesque D, Khan M, Razzaghi M , PrasolavaT, Lanni S, Sato N, Caron MC, Panigrahi GB, Wang P, Lau R, López Castel A, Masson JY, Tippett L, Turner C, Spies M , La Spada AR...

Nathan Mohar (Wallrath Lab) won 2nd place oral presentation at the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics retreat on September 29, 2023. The title of Nathan's presentation was "DNA sequence variation in SMAD7 enhances LMNA-associated skeletal muscle disease severity and implicates TGFβ signaling as a therapeutic target.

Congratulations Nathan!

Graduate student Logan Dawson is named first-author on a new publication by the DeMali lab in Current Opinion in Cell Biology . Congratulations Logan!

"Mechanotransduction: Forcing a change in metabolism"

Dawson LW, Cronin NM, DeMali KA

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2023.102219

Congratulations to M. Ashley Spies' lab, whose work on Caspase-7 was selected for the cover of Chemistry - A European Journal , Vol 29, Issue 40.

The image depicts how mapping allosteric structure–activity relationships reveals the nexus between the active site and the remote allostericpocket. To read the associated article, see https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202300872 .

Lori Wallrath (BMB) was appointed as the new Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics and Bryan Phillips (Biology) was appointed as the new Associate Director. Together, they will build upon the strong program that Daniel Eberl (Biology) has directed since 2008.

Congratulations to you both!

Congratulations to the Pufall lab for their new 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation!

"The effect of transcription factor binding on UV lesion accumulations"

Lori Wallrath, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was awarded a three-year grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association to study genetic modifiers of LMNA-associated muscular dystrophy.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Drs. Maria Spies and Ashley Spies for their new R21 from the National Institutes of Health!

"Natural products inhibitors targeting homology-directed DNA repair for cancer therapy"

Dr. Maria Spies is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Dr. Ashley Spies is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Science and Experimental Therapeutics and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Congratulations to Drs. Sheila Baker, Brandon Davies, Kris DeMali and Ernesto Fuentes for being selected for Iowa MADE Grants! Iowa MADE, Iowa M edical A dvances, D iscoveries, and E xplorations, Grants are possible due to the generosity of the Walder Charitable Foundation.

Congratulations to the recipients of the best poster awards at the 2023 75th Anniversary and Scientific Retreat!

Undergraduate: Katie Piaszynski (Geyer lab) Research Intern: Isa Perales (Geyer lab) Graduate Student: Rebecca Splitt (DeMali lab) and Nathan Mohar (Wallrath lab) Postdoc: Kelli Davie, PhD (Davies lab)

Congratulations to Andrew Kalenkiewicz and Lucy Langmack for being selected to receive the 2023 Lois Gehring Graduate Student Scholarships! These awards honor the most meritorious Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate students based on academic and research achievements in the past year. The awards were presented at the 2023 75th Anniversary and Scientific Retreat.

Congratulations to Nathan Mohar, a Genetics Graduate Program student in the Wallrath lab, for being selected for two awards at the 2023 Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Retreat!

Best Oral Presentation Best Poster Presentation

Congratulations to our labs with new publications!

Michael Schnieders lab with first-author BME graduate Rae Corrigan: "A generalized Kirkwood implicent solvent for the polarizable AMOEBA protein model." Corrigan RA, Thiel AC, Lynn JR, Casavant TL, Ren P, Ponder JW, Schnieders MJ. J Chem Phys. 2023 August. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0158914 .

Maria Spies lab with first-author postdoc Dr. Paras Gaur: "Single-Molecule Analysis of the Improved Variants of the G-Quadruplex Recognition Protein G4P." Gaur P, Bain FE, Honda M, Granger SL, Spies M. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 June. https...

The Pufall lab has announced a new publication in Haematologica. The publication "IL6Myc mouse is an immunocompetent model for the development of aggressive multiple myeloma" can be viewed online at https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2022.282538 . Congratulations!

The Ashley Spies laboratory and first-author BMB alumni, Dr. Kathryn Hobbs, announced a new publication in Chemistry . The publication "Allosteric Tuning of Caspase-7: Establishing the Nexus of Structure and Catalytic Power" can be viewed online at https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202301621 . Congratulations!

Dr. Bryce Plapp, Professor Emeritus, announces a new publication in J. Chem-Biol Interact titled "Specific base catalysis by yeast alcohol dehydrogenase I with substitutions of histidine-48 by glutamate or serine residues in the proton relay system". The publication can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110558 .

Congratulations to Dr. Gillian DeWane and the DeMali laboratory for their publication in the Journal of Cell Science! The publiation "Vinculin Y822 is an important determinant in ligand binding" can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.260104 .

Congratulations to BMB Alumni, Dr. Bryan Allen, for being selected as the next Chair and Department Executive Officer of the Department of Radiation Oncology! Dr. Allen studied with Dr. Daniel Weeks and graduated with his MD, PhD in 2008.

Congratulations to Dr. Pamela Geyer's lab on a new publication in Cell Mol Life! The publication "Analysis of a rare progeria variant of Barrier-to-autointegration factor in Drosophila connects centromere function to tissue homeostasis" can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-023-04721-y .

Congratulations to Dr. Maria Spies' lab on their publication in NAR Cancer in May! The publication "Therapeutic disruption of RAD52-ssDNA complexation via novel drug-like inhibitors" can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1093/narcan/zcad018 .

Congratulations to the Geyer lab for their publication "A De Novo Sequence Variant in Barrier-to-Autointegration Factor Is Associated with Dominant Motor Neuropathy" in the March 3, 2023 issue of Cells! The article can be read at https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12060847 .

Congratulations to Dr. Mallory Tollefson for her paper with the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics this year! The article "Assessing variants of uncertain significance implicated in hearing loss using a comprehensive deafness proteome" can be read at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-023-02559-9 .

Dr. Tollefson is a recent PhD graduate in Biomedical Engineering under Dr. Mike Schnieders and will be joining the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as a Clinical Lecturer this fall. Welcome Dr. Tollefson!

Congratulations to former Head and DEO of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Dr. John Donelson for receiving an inaugural University of Iowa High Prestigious Faculty Award! This award honors faculty who have been recognized with a highly prestigious award as determined by the National Research Council.

Dr. Zachary Wehrspan, who completed his PhD in 2022 with Dr. Adrian Elcock, was awarded the 2023 Subramanian Award for the best PhD thesis in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the past year. Dr. Wehrpsan's thesis was entitled, "Whole cell models of Escherichia coli peptidoglycan." Zach is currently a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Dr. Elcock's lab.

Congratulations Dr. Wehrspan!

The Subramanian Award is made possible by a gift from Dr. Alap Subramanian ('64 PhD), a student from the department, who parlayed his training with the late George...

Congratulations to Chris Langland and Sydney Walker (former lab member) for their publication in Cells ! Using fruit fly avatars, their studies revealed different pathological mechanisms in 2 women with mutations in the LMNA gene, one possessing skeletal muscle disease & the other an Olympic medalist.

"Drosophila Models Reveal Properties of Mutant Lamins That Give Rise to Distinct Diseases"

Walker SG*, Langland CJ*, Viles J, Hecker LA, Wallrath LL (*co-first authors) Cells . 12 Apr 2023. doi: 10.3390/cells120811142

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37190051/

Catch up on the activities of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in our latest newsletter !

Have updates to share? Please send those to us via our webform or by email to biochem@uiowa.edu .

Dr. Marc Wold, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was honored as an Impact Scholar at the third annual Celebration of Excellence in Research, Scholarship, Teaching, and Service on Monday, April 24th. Carver College of Medicine Impact Scholars are selected "based on on the Hirsch index, also known as the H-index, which represents the number of research papers a faculty member has published, and the papers' impact as determined by how many times they have been cited by other scientists and scholars in subsequent research articles."

Dr. Wold was recognized for having an...

Congratulations to graduate student Logan Dawson for successfully passing the comprehensive exam! Logan will continue his PhD studies under the mentorship of Dr. Kris DeMali.

Congratulations to graduate student Lucy Langmack for successfully passing the comprehensive exam! Lucy will continue her PhD studies under the mentorship of Dr. Ted Abel.

Congratulations to Hailey McCoy-Munger, a Biomedical Engineering major in the laboratory of Dr. Lori Wallrath, for being awarded a Research Supply Grant from the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates (ICRU). Hailey will be testing natural product anti-oxidants for effects on a fruit fly model of a rare eye disease. Great job Hailey!

The front cover of the April 15, 2023 issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology features the work of the Dr. Todd Washington. Drawn by Dr. Maria Spies, the cover refers to the article in Volume 435, Issue 4, 28 February 2023, 167946 by Ling et al. titled "Fork-remodeling helicase Rad5 preferentially reverses replication forms with gaps in the leading strand." The illustration highlights the work carried out by Justin Ling on the mechanism by which a DNA motor Rad5 recognizes, and processes stalled DNA replication forks.

Congratulations to the Washington laboratory and Maria Spies...

Congratulations to Dr. Emily Lavering for passing her thesis defense entitled, "Examining Membraneless Compartmentalization in the Nucleolus!" Emily's mentor is Dr. Daniel Weeks. Following graduation, Emily will be starting a faculty position at the University of Michigan-Flint.

Congratulations to the laboratory of Dr. Sheila Baker for their new publication in the Frontiers of Molecular Neuroscience entitled, "Mouse all-cone retina models of Cav1.4 synaptopathy!" Read the full article at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1155955/full .

Congratulations to BMB undergraduate student Brenna Powers for being selected as a recipient of an Ishan and Adil Jain Travel Award! Brenna will use the award to attend a scientific conference of her choice.

Mentor: Dr. Lori Wallrath

The Ishan and Adil Jain Travel Award is sponsored by the UI Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.

Congratulations to Dr. Kathryn Hobbs on passing her thesis defense!!

"Caspase-7 Allostery and Drug Targeting" Tuesday, April 4, 2:00pm, Urmila Sahai Seminar Room

Mentor: M. Ashley Spies, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics Program: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Adrian Elcock, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been awarded a Carver Trust COVID-19 Pilot Grant Award to study "Molecular modeling and simulation of the SARS-CoV-2 genome". Congratulations Dr. Elcock!

Congratulations to Rebecca Splitt and Dr. Kris DeMali for their new manuscript on "Metabolic Reprogramming in Response to Cell Mechanics"!

Splitt RL, DeMali KA

Biol Cell . 2023 Feb 18. doi: 10.1111/boc.202200108. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36807920 Review.

Congratulations to Sara Mayer on receiving a 2023 UI Graduate College Summer Research Fellowship! Sara will use the award to support her research on the role of oxidative stress in Retinitis Pigmentosa , a vision disorder.

Mentors: Lori Wallrath, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Arlene Drack, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Program: Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics

Congratulations to Dr. Justin Ling on passing his thesis defense!!

"Structures and non-canonical functions of E3 ubiquitin ligases in DNA damage bypass" Thursday, March 23, 10:30am, Prem Sahai Auditorium

Mentor: Todd Washington, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Congratulations to Dr. Mallory Tollefson on passing her thesis defense!!

"Computational Modeling of Proteins Implicated in Hearing Loss" Friday, March 3, 12:00pm

Mentor: Michael Schnieders, PhD, Associate Prof of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and of Biomedical Engineering Program: Biomedical Engineering

Cheryl Bailey, PhD, dean of the school of natural and health sciences and education at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, was recently featured in the Milwaukee BizTimes as a Notable Leader in Higher Education. Dr. Bailey is an alumni of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, receiving her B.A. in 1990 and Ph.D. in 1999. She was mentored by Daniel Weeks, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Read more at https://biztimes.com/notable-leaders-in-higher-education-cheryl-bailey/ .

Congratulations Dr. Bailey!!

Congratulations to Dr. Pamela Geyer for her new manuscript on "Immunohistochemical Analysis of Nuclear Lamina Structures in the Drosophila Ovary Using CRISPR-Tagged Genes"!

Duan T, Rodriguez-Tirado F, Geyer PK. Immunohistochemical Analysis of Nuclear Lamina Structures in the Drosophila Ovary Using CRISPR-Tagged Genes . Methods Mol Biol . 2023;2626:109-134. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2970-3_6. PMID: 36715902

Congratulations to Justin Ling and mentor, Dr. Todd Washington, for their new manuscript "Fork-Remodeling Helicase Rad5 Preferentially Reverses Replication Forks with Gaps in the Leading Strand"!

Ling JA, Gildenberg MS, Honda M, Kondratick CM, Spies M, Washington MT. Fork-Remodeling Helicase Rad5 Preferentially Reverses Replication Forks with Gaps in the Leading Strand. J Mol Biol . 2023 Feb 28;435(4):167946. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.167946 . Epub 2023 Jan 6. PMID: 36623584

Ernesto Fuentes, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and collaborator, Dr. Alex Horswill of the University of Colorado, Denver, has been awarded a new R01 from the NIH NIAID to study "Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Bacterial Two-component Signaling Systems". Congratulations Dr. Fuentes!

M. Todd Washington, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been awarded a new R35 MIRA award from the NIH to study "Structural and Mechanistic Studies of DNA Damage Bypass Pathways in Eukaryotes". Congratulations Dr. Washington!

Dr. Brandon Davies and collaborators Drs. Anil Chauhan (Univ of Iowa), Michael Ploug (Univ of Copenhagen), and Sean Davies (Vanderbilt Univ) have been awarded a new NIH R01 to study "Regulation of Endothelial Lipase and HDL Metabolism by ANGTL3".

Dr. Davies is an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. Congratulations!

On September 8th, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology held it's 13th Annual Scientific Retreat at the Terry Trueblood Recreational Area. The day opened with remarks from Interim Chair and Professor, Dr. Kris DeMali, followed by presentations from keynote lecturers, graduate students, and faculty. Throughout the day attendees visited scientific posters presented by undergraduate research assistants, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, scientific staff, and faculty.

Keynote lectures were given by Dr. Jeffrey Hardin, PhD (University of Wisonsin-Madison) on "...

Congratulations to Emily Lavering for being selected for the Best Oral Presentation at the 13th Annual Biochemitry and Molecular Biology Scientific Retreat! Emily's talk was titled "Establishing Nucleolar Domains".

Isabella Perales, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Geyer Lab Distortion of the germline stem cell nuclear lamina alters nuclear architecture with minimal impacts on oogenesis

Rebecca Splitt, Graduate Research Assistant, Biochemistry Program, DeMali Lab Investigating E-Cadherin Mediated Mechanotransduction

Julianna Hernandez, Research Assistant, Geyer Lab Active interphase centrosomes correlate with stem cell loss

Emily Herum (left) from Dr. Madeline Shea's laboratory, Grace Johnson (right) from Dr. Stefan Strack's laboratory, and Lucy Siwicki (middle) from Dr. James Shepherd's laboratory.

Rex Montgomery Scholarships recognize sophomore or junior undergraduate students for their outstanding academic record and commitment to research. The purpose of this scholarship is to ease the recipient's financial load at the University of Iowa during his/her undergraduate education and research training.

Prof. Yufeng Shen at Columbia University, Prof. Brian O’Roak at Oregon Health & Science University and Profs. Jake Michaelson and Mike Schnieders at the University of Iowa have been awarded a 3-year, $2.25 million grant from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative for their study entitled "Triangulation of missense variant impact through multimodal modeling and functional assays”.

Dr. Schnieders is an associate professor of biomedical engineering and of biochemistry and molecular biology. Congratulations Dr. Schnieders!

This year the Depatment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is celebrating its 75th Anniversary! To honor its history and celebrate a milestone, the department will hold a special annual retreat on Friday, August 25, 2023 at the Levitt Center for Advancement. The program will include scientific talks, posters, lunch and socials. More information will be shared at a later date.

Cade Rahlf has been awarded the 2022 Montgomery Scholar's Prize for his outstanding research accomplishments and excellent presentation at the Lata Symposium. This prize was established by mentees, colleagues, and friends of the late Dr. Rex Montgomery, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Montgomery began his career at the University of Iowa in 1955, and is admired for his impact as a researcher, teacher and mentor. Dr. Montgomery retired in 2005 after more than 50 years on the faculty. Congratulations!

18th Annual Lata Symposium Presentations

The 2022 Rex Montgomery Scholarships were awarded to:

Emily Herum, Dr. Madeline Shea's laboratory Grace Johnson, Dr. Stefan Strack's laboratory Lucy Siwicki, Dr. James Shepherd's laboratory

Rex Montgomery Scholarships recognize sophomore or junior undergraduate students for their outstanding academic record and commitment to research. The purpose of this scholarship is to ease the recipient’s financial load at the University of Iowa during his/her undergraduate education and research training.

This scholarship was established in 2014 by the late Dr. Rex Montgomery,...

The Wittmann and Khorana Scholar awards are given to a male and female Biochemistry major, respectively, recognizing their exceptional understanding of biochemistry and its value to society.

Lanchi Nguyen is the winner of the 2022 Professor H.G. Khorana Scholar Award. Lanchi is doing research in Dr. Dona Hammond's lab, studying the effects of nicotinamide riboside on chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.

Spenser Johnson is the winner of the 2022 Professor H.G. Wittmann Scholar Award. Spenser is doing research in Dr. Douglas Spitz's lab, studying...

Quinn Mattison presented his research on “The localization of the RuvB complex formed by RuvBL1 and RuvBL2 in the Xenopus laevis nucleus” March 30, 2022 at the ICRU Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF). Quinn is and IBA/LSAMP student fellow and a Biochemistry Major working with Dr. Dan Weeks.

Maunika Gandhamaneni presented her research on “Identification of Protein Features That Direct Compartmentalization in the Nucleolus” March 30, 2022, at the ICRU Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF). Maunika is a Chemical Engineering major working with Dr. Dan Weeks....

Dr. Christopher Ball, who completed his PhD with Dr. David Price, was awarded the 2022 Subramanian Award for the best PhD thesis in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The Subramanian Award is made possible by a gift from Dr. Alap Subramanian, a 1964 PhD student from the department, who parlayed his training with the late George Kalnitsky, (and with Irving Klotz at Northwestern and both Bernard Davis and Herman Kalckar at Harvard Medical School), into a highly successful career at the Max-Planck-Institute.

Dr. Ball's thesis was entitled, "Mechanisms of...

Dr. Kris DeMali has been awarded the John P. Long Teaching Award in the Basic Sciences. The intent of this award is to recognize outstanding career-level teaching contributions by the basic science faculty. Congratulations!

Ben Hinz, Biomedical Engineering major, was awarded the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates' (ICRU) 2022-23 Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award (EURA) for his research in the laboratory of Lori Wallrath. The award provides Ben with a travel scholarship to attend a scientific conference and a 2022-23 Academic Year ICRU Fellowship to continue his research in the Wallrath lab. Congratulations!

Ben Hinz, undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Major, in the laboratory of Lori Wallrath received a "Dare to Discover" award from the Office of the Vice President for Research. Ben discovered how mutations in the LMNA gene cause rare types of muscular dystrophy. He recently published a first author paper on these findings in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Caridad Noelle Naanep, an undergraduate student in the DeMali laboratory, has received an award from the John and Slsie Mae Ferentz Research Fund for the Fall 2021 semseter. The John and Elsie Mae Ferentz Research Fellowship was established by Mr. Kirk Ferentz as a memorial to his parents, John and Elsie Mae Ferentz. Mr. Ferentz’s goal is to provide support and encouragement to undergraduate students who conduct research under the guidance of a tenured or tenure track faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Congratulations!

Jose Rios-Monterrosa , a Research Distinction Track Medical Student in the laboratory of Lori Wallrath, was awarded a Society for Redox Biology and Medicine (SfRBM) Young Investigator Award for his presentation "Modeling LMNA-associated muscular dystrophy in Drosophila and iPS cell derived cardiomyocytes revealed loss of redox homeostasis" at the 2021 SfRBM Annual Conference. Jose and co-authors identified biological pathways that contribute to poor health of muscles caused by mutations in the LMNA gene, which encodes nuclear envelope proteins called lamins. Jose will receive...

BMB undergraduate students invited to Phi Beta Kappa

The biochemistry professor discusses how she goes the extra mile to be inclusive and engaging in the classroom and lab.

Jose Rios-Monterrosa, a fourth-year Medical student performing a Research Distinction Track in the laboratory of Lori Wallrath, received a first-place award for his oral presentation titled "Suppression of muscle dysfunction caused by mutant lamins" at the 2021 virtual Midwest Drosophila Conference. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Nicholas Hammons, Rebecca Splitt, and Grace Ciampa for receiving the Dr. Lois Gehring Graduate Student Scholarship! This scholarship is given to the most meritorious second year Biochemistry graduate students based on academic and research achievements.

The prize is named in honor of Lois Bigger Gehring, an extremely talented biochemist and graduate of the University of Iowa. Lois is a native of Mt. Vernon, Iowa. She attended Cornell College and majored in biology and chemistry. Lois earned her M.S. in bacteriology from the University of Iowa in 1949 and a PhD in...

The Department of Biochemistry at the University of Iowa changes name to Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Drs. Lori Wallrath, Professor of Biochemistry, and Arlene Drack, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, received a generous philanthropic donation to establish the Wallrath Research Fund. This gift will support the joint research project between Dr. Wallrath and Drack which is focused on the generation and characterization of fruit flies that possess a mutation of a form of retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic blinding eye disease. The goal of this project is to allow researchers to better understand the disease and open new avenues for therapies...

Dr. Ashley Spies, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Science Experimental Therapeutics, has been awarded an NIH R01 grant for his project entitled, "Dialing down caspase-7 through allosteric control: An integrated approach."

Congratulations Dr. Ashley Spies!