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04/01/2023

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

08/30/2023

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.

08/30/2023

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)

08/30/2023

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.

08/30/2023

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

08/10/2023

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...

08/01/2023

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!

08/01/2023

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!

08/01/2023

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 .

07/30/2023

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 .

07/30/2023

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.

07/30/2023

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 .

07/17/2023

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 .

07/17/2023

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 .

07/17/2023

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!

07/07/2023

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.

05/15/2023

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...

06/15/2023

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/

06/05/2023

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 .

05/26/2023

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...

05/26/2023

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.

05/25/2023

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.

04/14/2023

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!

04/12/2023

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...

05/03/2023

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.

04/05/2023

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 .

04/05/2023

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.

04/05/2023

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

03/30/2023

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!

03/30/2023

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.

03/23/2023

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

03/23/2023

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

03/08/2023

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

03/02/2023

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!!

02/23/2023

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

02/23/2023

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

02/14/2023

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!

02/14/2023

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!

02/14/2023

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!

09/13/2022

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 "...

09/13/2022

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".

09/13/2022

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

05/24/2022

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.

02/10/2023

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!

02/03/2023

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.

05/13/2022

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!

05/06/2022

18th Annual Lata Symposium Presentations

05/05/2022

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,...

05/05/2022

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...

04/29/2022

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....

04/29/2022

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...

04/29/2022

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!

04/01/2022

Date Visitor Title of Seminar Host 03/03/2022 Dr. Jessica Maiers , Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine "The Unfolded Protein Response as a Crucial Regulator of Hepatic Fibrogenesis" Dr. Kris DeMali 03/24/2022 Dr. Heather Hundley , Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine "Rewiring the genome: Molecular Mechanisms that Regulate RNA Editing" Dr. Miles Pufall 03/31/2022 Dr. Francisco Schopfer , Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh "Furan fatty acids:...

03/31/2022

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!

02/16/2022

Date Speaker, Title, Department Workshop Title 01/25/2022 Dr. Pam Geyer, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology "Disease variants of barrier-to-autointegration Factor alter nuclear structure and genome stability" 02/02/2022 Juan Santana, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research Associate, Lab: Dr. David Price "Differential dependencies of human RNA polymerase II promoters on TBP, TAF1, TAF4, TFIIB, and XPB" 02/08/2022 Cade Rahlf, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Undergraduate, Lab: Dr. Madeline Shea "Calmodulin Binding to Intrinsically Disordered Domains of...

01/11/2022

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.

12/17/2021

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!

11/29/2021

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...

10/29/2021

BMB undergraduate students invited to Phi Beta Kappa

10/25/2021

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

10/25/2021

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!

09/08/2021

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...

07/07/2021

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

05/26/2021

Dr. William Hacker receives 2021 Subramanian Thesis Award/

05/14/2021

Dr. Sarah R. Hengel, former Maria spies PhD graduate student, was interviewed for the American Cancer Society Theorylab Podcast. Dr. Hengel is investigating why unrepaired DNA leads to cancer. Take a listen here:

https://soundcloud.com/user-378624011/bunimovich-hengel-and-shair

05/14/2021

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. Dariya (Dasha) Kozlova is the winner of the 2021 Professor H.G. Khorana Scholar Award. Dasha did research in the Davies lab examining how different mutations in the human ANGPRL3 protein affect the activity of cellular lipases. She will be attending medical school in the fall.

Daniel Conway is the the winner of the 2021 Professor H.G. Wittmann Scholar Award is. Daniel did research in the...

05/06/2021

Geoff Collins and Guowei Qi awarded Montgomery Scholar’s Prizes for 2021

Geoff Collins, who did undergraduate research in the Dr. David Price laboratory, and Guowei Qi, who did undergraduate research in the Dr. Michael Schnieders laboratory, have been awarded 2021 Montgomery Biochemistry Scholar’s Prizes for their outstanding research accomplishments and excellent presentations 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. Dr. Montgomery began his career at...

05/05/2021

17th Annual Lata Symposium Presenters

04/29/2021

Ben Hinz awarded Rhodes Dunlap Scholarship from the U of Iowa Honors College.

04/28/2021

Dr. Madeline Shea awarded university's top teaching award.

04/13/2021

After four years at the University of Iowa, Guowei Qi will attend the University of Cambridge in October to conduct research as one of 17 Churchill Scholars in the nation.

04/12/2021

Ben Hinz, Biomedical Engineering major in the Wallrath lab, was awarded the Ishan Jain Scholar Travel Award.

04/07/2021

Dr. Pam Geyer awarded NIH R21 Grant.

03/08/2021

Sydney Walker, Biochemistry BS senior, working in the laboratory of Dr. Lori Wallrath has been awarded a Student Employee of the Year Certificate of Distinction.

03/03/2021

2021 publications. Published 3.3.2021.

02/11/2021

Ben Hinz, a Biomedical Engineering undergraduate researcher in the laboratory of Lori Wallrath, was awarded a Victoria Finnerty Award to present a poster titled "Modeling muscular dystrophy in Drosophila: A study of lamins and interaction partners" at the 62nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference ( https://genetics-gsa.org/awards/victoria-finnerty-undergraduate-travel-awards /).

02/02/2021

Undergraduate Biochemistry alumnus, Dr. Susan R. Wente, selected as 14th President of Wake Forest University.

12/22/2020

Recent research findings from Lori Wallrath's laboratory were presented at the ASCB/EMBO Cell Bio Virtual 2020 Conference.

12/18/2020

Dr. Pamela Geyer quoted in The New York Times.

12/04/2020

Dr. Debbie Thurmond at the frontline of Unites States first clinical trial for a type 1 diabetes vaccine.

11/25/2020

Congratulations to Drs. Ryan Mahling and William Hacker for successfully defending their theses this fall.

11/13/2020

Please join Dr. Marc Wold, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Honors Advisor, in congratulating the Fall 2020 Biochemistry Honors graduates and their research mentors for a job well done.

JADE MILLER - Inhibition of RAD52 in BRCA2-Deficient Cancer Cells Mentor: Maria Spies

JACOB LAM - Activating Transcription Factor 4 Controls Mitochondrial Morphology and Metabolism in Skeletal Muscle Mentor: E. Dale Abel; Antentor Hinton, Jr.

09/24/2020

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...

09/09/2020

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!

09/08/2020

Dr. Sean Tompkins, who completed his PhD with Dr. Eric Taylor, publishes his first author paper in Cell Reports. The article is entitled, "Disrupting Mirochondrial Pyruvate Uptake Directs Glutamine into the TGA Cycle away from Glutathione Synthesis and Impairs Hepatocellular Tumorigenesis." Dr. Tompkins is currently doing residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago.

The article can be found here .

Congratulations Dr. Tompkins!

09/03/2020

Department of Biochemistry collaborates with Department of Physics at UNI

08/31/2020

Department of Biochemistry holds 11th Annual Retreat

08/31/2020

Dr. Joseph Walder awarded The Distinguished Friend of the University Award.

08/18/2020

Congratulations to our Summer 2020 Biochemistry Graduate

08/12/2020

Marc Wold co-authored an article titled “A slipped-CAG DNA-binding small molecule induces trinucleotide-repeat contractions in vivo” that was published in, and featured on the cover of, the February, 2020 issue of Nature Genetics (volume 52, issue 2, page 146).

07/08/2020

Dr. Charles Brenner steps down as chair of Department of Biochemistry; Dr. Kris DeMali will serve as inteim chair and DEO.

07/21/2020

On July 20, 2020 the Biochemistry Department held a farewell celebration for Dr. Charles Brenner and the Brenner Lab. Join us in wishing our colleagues well on their next opportunities and all their future endeavors.

06/03/2020

Sean Tompkins, Tingting Duan, and Julio Sanchez receive their PhDs.

05/26/2020

Hannah Campbell, who completed her PhD with Dr. Kris DeMali, was awarded the 2020 Subramanian Award for the best PhD thesis in the Department of Biochemistry.

05/14/2020

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.

05/14/2020

Brianna Lupo was awarded 2020 Montgomery Biochemistry Scholar’s Prizes for their outstanding research accomplishments and excellent presentations at the Lata Symposium.

05/14/2020

The 2020 Rex Montgomery Scholarships were awarded

05/13/2020

Benjamin Hinz, a Biochemistry undergraduate in the Wallrath laboratory, received a Summer ICRU Fellowship.

05/11/2020

Six students presented at this year’s Undergraduate Honors Program.

05/11/2020

Department of Biochemistry 2020 Publications since April 30, 2020

Tiwari, M. Lopez-Redondo, L. Miguel-Romero, et al., The SrrAB two-component system regulates Staphylococcus aureuspathogenicity through redox sensitive cysteines, PNAS (2020), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1921307117 Zhang, H. T. Rube, C.A. Vakulskas, et al., Systematic in vitro profiling of off-target affinity, cleavagre and efficiency for CRISPR enzymes, Nucleic Acids Research (2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa231 Pufall, A.M. Wilson, An idea to explore: A collaboration and cross training in an extended classroom...

05/07/2020

Francesca Spencer, graduating senior in Biochemistry and Italian at the University of Iowa, is coauthor of a paper appearing in Nature Scientific Reports.

05/07/2020

Brian Krueger, Associate Vice President, Technical Director, R&D, LabCorp and a 2009 PhD graduate of the Department of Biochemistry, has been at the forefront of COVID-19 DNA testing. On January 12, 2020, China published the first DNA sequence of the coronavirus genome from patients with COVID-19. By March 16, 2020, in unprecedented record time, Dr. Krueger and his co-workers developed the first FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval for a clinical DNA diagnostic test. On April 21, 2020, they were the first to receive EUA approval for the first at-home test kit based on nasal...

05/07/2020

Jacintha Thomas, a Research Assistant in Dr. Lori Wallrath’s lab, was featured in the May 7th UIHC publication called “The Loop”.

04/14/2020

Arpit Sharma, a 2018 Biochemistry PhD student in Dr. Eric Taylor’s lab, recently published an article in Science.

04/14/2020

Will Hacker, a Biochemistry Graduate Student in the Elcock lab, has been awarded the Graduate Research Excellence Award.

03/30/2020

Nicholas Luedtke has been awarded an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award by the Council on Teaching for his excellent work in Experimental Biochemistry (BIOC3140).

03/26/2020

Dr. Pam Geyer has been elected to the AAAS Electorate Nominating Committee, starting her three-year membership in February 2020.

02/27/2020

Dr. Kris DeMali received a NIH R35 MIRA grant for her project entitled, “Molecular Mechanisms Underlying E-cadherin Mechanotransduction.”

02/20/2020

Alicia Salvi, a Biochemistry Graduate Student, was awarded a NIH F31 Pre-doctoral Fellowship.

02/19/2020

Dr. Ernesto Fuentes, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, was awarded the 2019/2020 CCOM Innovation Research Grant.

02/17/2020

Lori Wallrath, PhD and Benjamin Darbro, MD/PhD (Pediatrics) received an NIH R21 grant to study genetic modifiers of lamin-associated muscular dystrophies.

02/13/2020

Dr. Marc Wold was inducted into the Wall of Scholarship on February 12, 2020.

02/05/2020

Dr. John Dagle (Pediatrics-Neonatology and secondary faculty in Biochemistry) was selected as recipient of the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine Distinguished Alumnus Award.

01/27/2020

Congratulations to Dr. Brenner for being awarded the Mary Swartz Rose Senior Investigator Award by the American Society for Nutrition.

01/10/2020

Congratulations to Dr. Marc Wold for receiving the Carver College of Medicine Faculty Service Award.

01/10/2020

Congratulations to Dr. Madeline Shea for receiving the Carver College of Medicine Collegiate Teaching Award.

01/09/2020

Tori Cassady, a Biochemistry BA student, and Paula Valino, a Biochemistry BS student, are featured in the Dare to Discover campaign.

Brenner lab’s clinical trial on the effects of NR in humans shows the compound safely increases levels of important cell metabolite