BMB News and Events

Drs. Natalie Niemi and Andrea Soranno were awarded the DBBS Outstanding Mentor Award on April 5th.  This award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional mentorship qualities, providing invaluable guidance, support, and inspiration to graduate students in their academic and professional endeavors.

The mission of the BMB Research Seed Grant Program is to promote BMB researchers at all levels to develop new avenues of research and/or collaborations that extend beyond their lab’s current research. The BMB Research Seed grant program goal is to stimulate new interactions with external scientists outside of the department.
A broad spectrum of proposal topics will be considered including fundamental studies in biochemistry/biophysics as well as more applied or disease-oriented studies that utilize quantitative or mechanistic approaches as a central component of the research.

Please click the link for more eligibility and application requirements. Application deadline is May 1st

•2024 ASMS DEIA Mentorship Award
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Mentorship Award recognizes Dr. Garcia who has demonstrated exemplary service in the STEM mentoring and/or recruitment of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the field of mass spectrometry.

•2024 EAS Mass Spectrometry Award
Each year the Eastern Analytical Symposium honors Analytical Chemists who have distinguished career achievements. Dr. Garcia has been recognized for this award by advancing these fields by superior work in developing theory, techniques or instrumentation.

•President-Elect of the U.S. Human Proteome Organization
US HUPO is an organization that engages in scientific and educational activities to encourage the use of proteomics technologies and to disseminate knowledge pertaining to the human proteome and that of model organisms.

Dan is a fifth-year graduate student in the Computational & Systems Biology (CSB) program. He is completing his Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Alex Holehouse, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, where he develops computational and experimental tools for investigating intrinsically disordered proteins and biomolecular condensates. (more…)

Tessa is a third-year graduate student in the Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) program. She joined DBBS in 2021 and chose to pursue her PhD thesis work in the lab of Dr. Natalie Niemi, where she studies how dysregulated mitochondrial protein phosphorylation influences the form and function of striated muscle. Specifically, Tessa addresses how hyperphosphorylation of mitochondrial proteins contributes to pathophysiology and tissue dysfunction in cardiac and skeletal muscles using cellular and murine models. (more…)

Madison is a second-year graduate student in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. She joined the BBSB program after receiving her B.A. in Biochemistry and Biophysics and M.Sc. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. Her previous work focused on developing protein biosensors to be utilized for 129Xe Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging in the lab of Dr. Ivan Dmochowski. (more…)

Lianjie “Jerry” Wei is a third-year graduate student in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. He is currently working in the Laboratory of Dr. Natalie Niemi in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics to complete his Ph.D. studies. His research is focused on understanding how protein post-translational modifications regulate mitochondrial organellar homeostasis. (more…)

Garrett Ginell is a fourth-year graduate student in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. He is completing his Ph.D. thesis work in the lab of Dr. Alex Holehouse (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics), where he is applying and developing theoretical and computational methods to understand how chemical features encoded in intrinsically disordered proteins determine their propensity to interact with one another. (more…)

Jasmine is a recent graduate in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. She defended on April 21st, 2023. She did her PhD thesis work in the lab of Dr. Andrea Soranno, where she studied how sequence composition of intrinsically disordered regions within a protein can affect interactions with both proteins and nucleic acids using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy.

Jasmine joined the BBSB program after receiving her B.S. from Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey with a major in biochemistry & molecular biology and a minor in holistic health. Prior to starting her Ph.D. work, Jasmine studied polymer synthesis and how polymer interactions contribute to optimized hydrogel formation. (more…)

Ankita did her MS in Medical Biochemistry at Sardar Patel Medical College in India. She joined DRSCB program through the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University in Saint Louis in 2018 and is pursuing PhD in the lab of Dr. Eric Galburt in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics.

Ankita’s graduate research is focused on characterizing the activation mechanisms of a helicase and DNA repair protein called UvrD1 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She is using quantitative assays like analytical ultracentrifugation to determine the oligomeric status and stopped flow kinetics to measure DNA unwinding by UvrD1 in presence and absence of accessory factors.

August 31st, 2022 – The departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and Cell Biology & Physiology had lunch and played a softball game together.

The final score was BMB 17, CB&P 14!

You can click here to view photos from the event.

On April 28th, 2021, the Department hosted a special session entitled “Evidence-based Practices that Support Mental and Emotional Well-being”. Mrs. Krista Jarvis, Clinical Case Manager and Program Manager in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University, walks the group through five different evidence-based practices for our mental and emotional well-being. These practices are designed to help each individual feel empowered to utilize a variety of simple techniques for stress-reduction in these challenging times.

If you would like to view this, just click here.

On March 5th, 2021, Dr. Thi Nguyen presented on “Working Smarter – Strategic Planning & Time Management Basics”. To watch this presentation, please click here.

On January 22nd, 2021, the department hosted a Career Panel Discussion on how to apply for jobs in academia and industry. Panelist included: Dr. Erin Heckler, Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs; Dr. Alex Holehouse, Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics; Dr. Ron Dolle, Chemistry Director, Center for Drug Discovery; Dr. Michael Kinch, Director, Center for Drug Discovery.

If you would like to view this panel discussion, please click here.

Tom Rapoport, PhD, from Harvard Medical School, presented the 2020 Carl and Gerty Cori Lecture on November 12, 2020, via Zoom.
Dr. Rapoport’s seminar was entitled “Mechanism of ER-Associated Protein Degradation (“ERAD”)”.

For more information on Dr. Tom Rapoport, please click here.

To see a recording of Dr. Rapoport’s lecture, please click here.