Monthly Archives: October 2022

Cell Biology

HHMI Investigator Carolyn Bertozzi Awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | HHMI – Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Summary

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today that HHMI Investigator Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University, Morten Meldal of University of Copenhagen, and K. Barry Sharpless of Scripps Research Institute are the recipients of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.

The development of ingenious tools for building new molecules has earned three scientists the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Carolyn Bertozzi, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator at Stanford University, Morten Meldal of University of Copenhagen, and K. Barry Sharpless of Scripps Research Institute have received the award for their work on the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.

Sharpless and Meldal laid the foundation for a functional form of chemistry click chemistry in which molecular building blocks snap together quickly and efficiently. Bertozzi has taken click chemistry to a new dimension and started utilizing it in living organisms.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the news at a press conference earlier today. This years Prize in Chemistry deals with not overcomplicating matters, instead working with what is easy and simple. Functional molecules can be built even by taking a straightforward route, says Johan qvist, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Bertozzi has been an HHMI Investigator since 2000.

Bertozzi explores ways to reengineer cell surfaces with the goal of controlling the cells interactions. Ultimately, her work may allow investigators to target cancer cells for diagnosis and treatment, for example, or to detect pathogenic bacteria in biological fluid samples.

Carolyn is a role model, mentor, and inspiration to budding chemists everywhere, said Leslie Vosshall, vice president and chief scientific officer at HHMI. What is terrific about Carolyn is that she effortlessly bridges curiosity-driven basic research and therapeutic translation. Her creative application of chemistry to biology has led to rapid development of these ideas to future clinical interventions.

BREAKING NEWS:The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2022 #NobelPrize in Chemistry to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. pic.twitter.com/5tu6aOedy4

She grew up immersed in science her father was a nuclear physicist at MIT, where she attended summer day camps and later had summer jobs. Still, she seriously considered a career in music (having won awards for compositions and accompanying musicals during her high-school years) before her leanings toward math and science won out.

As a Harvard undergrad biology major, Bertozzi discovered the thrill of organic chemistry during her sophomore year. I wouldnt go out on weekends because I just wanted to read the book and see if I could work the problems, she said. Realizing her calling, she switched her major to chemistry and graduated summa cum laude. (She did find an outlet for her music at Harvard, she played keyboard with guitarist Tom Morello, founder of the rock band Rage Against the Machine.)

After Bertozzi finished her PhD in organic chemistry in 1993 at the University of California, Berkeley, she did something risky. She accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in a cell biology lab, not a chemistry lab. In the decades since, chemists have embraced the value of studying biology by total immersion.

One of Bertozzis research interests is glycosylation, the normal cellular process by which sugars are added to proteins or other molecules. Scientists have known for decades that changes in glycosylation are associated with cancer, inflammation, bacterial infection, and other illnesses. Bertozzi reasoned that if she could develop a way to monitor glycosylation and measure it quickly, simply, and noninvasively, the results would deepen researchers understanding of how cell surface sugars contribute to both health and illness and could open avenues for diagnosing and treating disease.

Toward this goal, she and her colleagues developed a chemical reaction that adds a marker molecule to cell surface sugars, a technique they refined for use in living animals. Their innovative approach, which Bertozzi dubbed bioorthogonal chemistry, uses reagents that react with one another but not with naturally occurring cell surface molecules. Thus, the reagents do not interfere with the sugars ability to carry out their normal signaling functions. Bertozzis team has used the reaction to attach tracers to sugar molecules on cell surfaces in mice. The sugars they targeted are produced in elevated amounts by cancer cells and by inflamed cells.

The teams work suggests that this technique could potentially be used to attach tracers to diseased cells in patients, allowing doctors to pinpoint location of the cells in the body and perhaps even target therapy. The techniques developed by Bertozzi also are being used in the biopharmaceutical industry to generate engineered protein drugs including antibody-drug conjugates.

Luke Lavis, a chemist at HHMIs Janelia Research Campus first heard about Bertozzis work while he was working in industry. It was clear that this idea of bioorthogonal chemistry was going to be a major part of the then-nascent field of chemical biology, he says. At the time, Lavis synthesized the first commercial lot of some of Bertozzis molecules. Now, he says, the many reactions her lab developed permeate every corner of modern chemistry.

Bertozzi prides herself on choosing projects that many other chemists would consider too risky. We like to do things that some people might say are really out there,she said. In 2021, her team reported the surprise finding that sugar-coated RNA molecules decorate the surface of cells. In what Bertozzi describes as probably the biggest scientific shock of my life, she and her now-former postdoc Ryan Flynn showed that the so-called glycoRNAs poke out from mammalian cells outer membrane, where they can interact with other molecules.

The researchers work upended the current understanding of how the cell handles RNAs and glycans. Flynn is now running his own lab at Boston Childrens Hospital and Harvard University and plans to study how and if glycoRNAs are involved in immune signaling.

Bertozzi says the freedom to pursue an unlikely observation made the glycoRNA discovery possible. Thats what HHMI provided, she said. If I were a junior scientist who stumbled into this and put out an NIH grant, wed get laughed out of the study section.

Her enthusiasm for research and her talent for communicating science in the classroom has been recognized with multiple teaching awards. Bertozzi likens teaching to telling a story, and her goal for each lecture is to tell a memorable anecdote. For example, in a class she has taught frequently an introductory chemistry course for non-chemistry majors she has explained that her philosophy is to recapture in each lecture the thrill I felt when it was revealed to me that molecules are as diverse as human beings.

Bertozzi, Meldal, and Sharpless will split the 10 million Swedish kronor (roughly $900,000) for this years prize.

Bertozzi is the eighth woman to be honored with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The first was Marie Curie in 1911, for her discovery and work on the radioactive elements radium and polonium.

Bertozzi is now one of 34 current or former HHMI scientists who have won the Nobel Prize. In 2021, HHMI Investigator Ardem Patapoutian shared the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with David Julius for their discoveries of receptors for touch and temperature. In 2020, HHMI Investigator Jennifer Doudna shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier for developing a method of genome editing known as CRISPR-Cas9.

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HHMI is the largest private biomedical research institution in the nation. Our scientists make discoveries that advance human health and our fundamental understanding of biology. We also invest in transforming science education into a creative, inclusive endeavor that reflects the excitement of research. HHMIs headquarters are located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC.

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HHMI Investigator Carolyn Bertozzi Awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | HHMI - Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Cell Biology

Paris-based startup Gourmey uses the Big Idea Ventures accelerator program as a launch pad and goes on to raise the world’s largest cultivated meat…

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NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- French cultivated meat startup Gourmey, who was part of the Big Idea Ventures programs first cohort, has just raised an oversubscribed 48M Series A. This is the worlds largest Series A round for a cultivated meat startup.

Gourmey joined the Big Idea Ventures accelerator program in 2019. The global program facilitated the Paris-based startups move to Singapore, where it worked closely with a dedicated Big Idea Ventures team to lay the foundation for its success.

Andrew D. Ive, Founder and Managing General Partner at Big Idea Ventures, said: Gourmey has gone from strength to strength ever since joining our first cohort. Their agile team, bio-engineering achievements and focus on scalable solutions have allowed them to move faster than others and build the foundation for growth and commercialization. As one of their first investors, we will keep supporting Nicolas and the whole Gourmey team in this next step of their exciting journey.

Gourmey creates sustainable restaurant-grade meats directly from real animal cells, with an initial focus on premium meats and cultivated foie gras as their flagship product. Cultivated meat production consumes significantly less land and water and could cut the climate impact of meat production by up to 92%.

With this financing, the French startups will be opening a 46,000-square-foot commercial production facility and R&D center in Paris, France the largest cultivated meat hub in Europe to fast-track commercialization globally.

About Big Idea Venture (BIV)Big Idea Ventures is a venture firm focused on solving the world's greatest challenges by backing the world's best entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. To date, BIV has invested in 100+ companies across 22 countries with a focus on protein alternatives and food tech. The investments were made through their New Protein Fund I (NPF I), which is backed by leading food corporations including AAK, Avril, Bel, Bhler, Givaudan, Meiji, Temasek Holdings, and Tyson Foods. New Protein Fund II will be available in Q4 2022 and will build on the successes of NPF I. For more information, visit https://bigideaventures.com

About GourmeyGourmeys mission is to accelerate the worlds transition toward more ethical, sustainable and healthy meat. The company creates sustainable restaurant-grade meats directly from real animal cells, thereby significantly reducing the impact on the environment. Founded in 2019 by CEO Nicolas Morin-Forest (ex-LOral), CTO Dr. Victor Sayous, PhD in molecular biology, and CSO Antoine Davydoff, cell biologist, the company is now a team of 40+ world-class scientists and engineers in the fields of gastronomic and food sciences, bioprocess engineering, and stem cell biology.

Media contact: [emailprotected] High-resolution images and logo of Gourmey: presskit.gourmey.com Find out more: gourmey.com

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Paris-based startup Gourmey uses the Big Idea Ventures accelerator program as a launch pad and goes on to raise the world's largest cultivated meat...

Cell Biology

Researchers take new approach to studying the development of the human brain – News-Medical.Net

Researchers at ETH Zurich are growing human brain-like tissue from stem cells and are then mapping the cell types that occur in different brain regions and the genes that regulate their development.

The human brain is probably the most complex organ in the entire living world and has long been an object of fascination for researchers. However, studying the brain, and especially the genes and molecular switches that regulate and direct its development, is no easy task.

To date, scientists have proceeded using animal models, primarily mice, but their findings cannot be transferred directly to humans. A mouse's brain is structured differently and lacks the furrowed surface typical of the human brain. Cell cultures have thus far been of limited value in this field, as cells tend to spread over a large area when grown on a culture dish; this does not correspond to the natural three-dimensional structure of the brain.

A group of researchers led by Barbara Treutlein, ETH Professor at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel, has now taken a new approach to studying the development of the human brain: they are growing and using organoids millimeter-sized three-dimensional tissues that can be grown from what are known as pluripotent stem cells.

Provided these stem cells receive the right stimulus, researchers can program them to become any kind of cell present in the body, including neurons. When the stem cells are aggregated into a small ball of tissue and then exposed to the appropriate stimulus, they can even self-organize and form a three-dimensional brain organoid with a complex tissue architecture.

In a new study just published in Nature, Treutlein and her colleagues have now studied thousands of individual cells within a brain organoid at various points in time and in great detail. Their goal was to characterize the cells in molecular-genetic terms: in other words, the totality of all gene transcripts (transcriptome) as a measure of gene expression, but also the accessibility of the genome as a measure of regulatory activity. They have managed to represent this data as a kind of map showing the molecular fingerprint of each cell within the organoid.

However, this procedure generates immense data sets: each cell in the organoid has 20,000 genes, and each organoid in turn consists of many thousands of cells. "This results in a gigantic matrix, and the only way we can solve it is with the help of suitable programs and machine learning," explains Jonas Fleck, a doctoral student in Treutlein's group and one of the study's co-lead authors. To analyze all this data and predict gene regulation mechanisms, the researchers developed their own program.

We can use it to generate an entire interaction network for each individual gene and predict what will happen in real cells when that gene fails."

Jonas Fleck, doctoral student

The aim of this study was to systematically identify those genetic switches that have a significant impact on the development of neurons in the different regions of brain organoids.

With the help of a CRISPR-Cas9 system, the ETH researchers selectively switched off one gene in each cell, altogether about two dozen genes simultaneously in the entire organoid. This enabled them to find out what role the respective genes played in the development of the brain organoid.

"This technique can be used to screen genes involved in disease. In addition, we can look at the effect these genes have on how different cells within the organoid develop," explains Sophie Jansen, also a doctoral student in Treutlein's group and the second co-lead author of the study.

To test their theory, the researchers chose the GLI3 gene as an example. This gene is the blueprint for the transcription factor of the same name, a protein that docks onto certain sites on DNA in order to regulate another gene. When GLI3 is switched off, the cellular machinery is prevented from reading this gene and transcribing it into an RNA molecule.

In mice, mutations in the GLI3 gene can lead to malformations in the central nervous system. Its role in human neuronal development was previously unexplored, but it is known that mutations in the gene lead to diseases such as Greig cephalopolysyndactyly and Pallister Hall Syndromes.

Silencing this GLI3 gene enabled the researchers both to verify their theoretical predictions and to determine directly in the cell culture how the loss of this gene affected the brain organoid's further development. "We have shown for the first time that the GLI3 gene is involved in the formation of forebrain patterns in humans. This had previously been shown only in mice," Treutlein says.

"The exciting thing about this research is that it lets you use genome-wide data from so many individual cells to postulate what roles individual genes play," she explains. "What's equally exciting in my opinion is that these model systems made in a Petri dish really do reflect developmental biology as we know it from mice."

Treutlein also finds it fascinating how the culture medium can give rise to self-organised tissue with structures comparable to those of the human brain not only at the morphological level but also (as the researchers have shown in their latest study) at the level of gene regulation and pattern formation. "Organoids like this are truly an excellent way to study human developmental biology," she points out.

Research on organoids made up of human cell material has the advantage that the findings are transferable to humans. They can be used to study not only basic developmental biology but also the role of genes in diseases or developmental brain disorders. For example, Treutlein and her colleagues are working with organoids of this type to investigate the genetic cause of autism and of heterotopia; in the latter, neurons appear outside their usual anatomical location in the cerebral cortex.

Organoids may also be used for testing drugs, and possibly for culturing transplantable organs or organ parts. Treutlein confirms that the pharmaceutical industry is very interested in these cell cultures.

However, growing organoids takes both time and effort. Moreover, each clump of cells develops individually rather than in a standardized way. That is why Treutlein and her team are working to improve the organoids and automate their manufacturing process.

Source:

Journal reference:

Fleck, J.S., et al. (2022) Inferring and perturbing cell fate regulomes in human brain organoids. Nature. doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05279-8.

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Researchers take new approach to studying the development of the human brain - News-Medical.Net

Cell Biology

FDA Approves Furosemide Injection for At-Home Treatment of Congestion in Chronic Heart Failure – MD Magazine

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved furosemide injection 80 mg/ 10 mL (FUROSCIX) for the at-home treatment of congestion in patients with chronic heart failure.

Announced on October 10 in a statement from scPharmaceuticals, the approval adds to the armamentarium available for prescribers managing worsening heart failure, a disease that impacts more than 6 million Americans and costs more than $30 billion in care annually.

The first and only self-administered subcutaneous loop diuretic for at-home treatment of congestion in chronic heart failure, the proprietary furosemide solution is administered in subcutaneous doses via a wearable, pre-programmed delivery system, called the On-Body Infusor, placed on the patients body.

This marks a tremendous opportunity to improve the at-home managementofworsening congestion in patients with heart failurewho display reduced responsiveness to oral diureticsand require administration of intravenous diuretics, which typically requires admission tothe hospital, said William T. Abraham, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Cell Biology at The Ohio State University and scPharmaceuticals Board member, in the aforementioned statement. The FDAs approval of FUROSCIX is significant and will allow patients to be treated outside of the hospital setting, and I look forward to incorporating it into my own practice as quickly as possible.

The furosemide solution targets heart failure-related congestion by reducing fluid overload in adult patients with NYHA Class II and III chronic heart failure who do not require hospitalization but also have not had full response to oral diuretics. As such, it will be available for outpatient use.

Data from the phase 2 AT HOME-HF Pilot studya multicenter, randomized trial assessing subcutaneous furosemide 80 mg/10 mL versus standard care in 51 patients with chronic heart failure with congestion uncontrolled by diuresisshowed a 37% reduced risk of heart failure hospitalization among treated patients compared to standard-care patients at 30 days.

In key secondary endpoints, furosemide was associated with greater reductions in mean patient body weight from baseline to day 3 (2.8 vs 0.8; P = .035), as well as improvements in pulmonary-related metrics including mean 5-item dyspnea score improvement from baseline to day 3 (-0.5 vs 0.1; P = .019).

The data, presented at the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) 2022 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC last week, signaled a new opportunity to manage heart failure in pre-hospitalized patients.

This small study points to a possible new way to treat patients with heart failure exacerbation without hospitalization, said Marvin Konstam, MD, professor of medicine at Tufts University School Medicine, said in his AT HOME-HF presentation at HFSA 2022. The AT-HOME HF study, with limited statistical power, generated a directional favorable primary end point which was not statistically significant.

Konstam added the findings support a cohesive message with statistical significance across body weight, dyspnea scores, and functional capacity, with an analogous trend in health-related quality of life.

In their release, scPharmaceuticals noted furosemide injection is not indicated for use in emergency situations or in patients with acute pulmonary edema. Additionally, furosemide injection is contraindicated in patients with anuria, patients with a history of hypersensitivity to furosemide or medical adhesives, and in patients with hepatic cirrhosis or ascites.

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FDA Approves Furosemide Injection for At-Home Treatment of Congestion in Chronic Heart Failure - MD Magazine

Cell Biology

Researchers find tumor microbiome interactions may identify new approaches for pancreatic cancer treatment – EurekAlert

Investigators from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the states leading cancer center and only National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, together with RWJBarnabas Health, examined the microbiome of pancreatic tumors and identified particular microorganisms at single cell resolution that are associated with inflammation and with poor survival. According to the researchers, these microorganisms may be new targets for earlier diagnosis or treatment of pancreatic cancer, which is the fourth leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States. The findings are published in the online version of Cancer Cell (10.1016/j.ccell.2022.09.009).

Microbes are living things that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. We have more microbes living in our body than the total number of human cells, and can be found in organs like the pancreas, which at one time was considered microbe-free. Subhajyoti De, PhD, principal investigator at Rutgers Cancer Institute and senior author of the study along with graduate student Bassel Ghaddar, a student in the MD/PhD program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, began exploring if there are microbes residing in pancreatic tumors, and if they have consequences for cancer progression or treatment. However, studying microbes in tumors is difficult, in part since every patient is different, and because microbial footprints are too subtle to detect reliably.

To explore further, the researchers teamed up with Martin Blaser, MD, Henry Rutgers Chair of the Human Microbiome at Rutgers University and world-renowned microbiome expert. The investigators developed a genomic approach called SAHMI (Single-cell analysis of Host-Microbiome Interactions) to identify microorganisms associated with individual human cells. Sifting through millions of RNA sequences using sophisticated software, they identified which ones likely represent human genes, and which ones are microbial in origin. This new technique allowed us to identify tumor-associated microbes and measure the activity of the host cells at the same time, which is a significant technical advance, and the results were stunning, notes Dr. De, who is also an associate professor of cancer systems biology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Studying two independent groups of pancreatic tumors, the team found that some had bacteria that associated with specific cell-types within the tumor, which were essentially absent in normal pancreatic tissues. These bacteria were predominantly located within tumor cells, and their abundance correlated with cancer-related cell activities. The specific signatures of the microbes that were found predicted particularly aggressive cancer progression and poor prognosis.

The microbial footprints within the pancreatic tumors raised the question of whether the immune cells that were present were responding to the cancer or to the microbes. The study findings suggested that the immune responses were mostly responding to the microbes in the tumor and not to the cancer cells. Our observations provide a new view about why pancreatic cancers are so difficult to treat, notes Dr. Blaser, who is also a research member at Rutgers Cancer Institute and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Rutgers School of Public Health. But better understanding these interactions may identify new approaches for therapies.

Along with Drs. De, Ghaddar, and Blaser, other investigators include: Antara Biswas, PhD, Center for Systems and Computational Biology, Rutgers Cancer Institute; Chris Harris, PhD, Department of Surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center; M. Bishr Omary, PhD, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University and Darren R. Carpizo, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center.

About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

As New Jerseys only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, together with RWJBarnabas Health, offers the most advanced cancer treatment options including bone marrow transplantation, proton therapy, CAR T-cell therapy and complex surgical procedures. Along with clinical trials and novel therapeutics such as precision medicine and immunotherapy many of which are not widely available patients have access to these cutting-edge therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark, as well as through RWJBarnabas Health facilities. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visitwww.cinj.org/giving.

Observational study

Cells

Tumor microbiome links cellular programs and immunity in pancreatic cancer

10-Oct-2022

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Researchers find tumor microbiome interactions may identify new approaches for pancreatic cancer treatment - EurekAlert

Biochemistry

Leaning in to the scientific community – ASBMB Today

Kelly Ward has understood the value of community in the pursuit of science since she was a child. She grew up in Reading, Massachusetts, home to a school system she praises for having great opportunities for young students to be involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics pursuits.

Ward joined Science Olympiad, a nationwide team-based science competition, in middle school, kept up her involvement all through high school and even went to the national competition.

Courtesy of Kelly Ward

Kelly Ward is a senior at Northeastern University with a biochemistry majorand a data science minor.

I really liked participating in the competitions, and you can see that today given that I went into biochemistry, she said. I love the process of asking a question, designing the experiment, and seeing if youve answered the question. I find it really rewarding.

Ward went on to choose Northeastern University for her undergraduate degree because it has a strong biochemistry program, research opportunities and a co-op program.

An American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Chapter member since the fall of her first year, Ward said she knew she wanted to be involved with the chapter as soon as she saw its thriving booth at the Northeastern student activities fair. Everyone seemed really nice, welcoming, and passionate about their research areas, she said.

After her first year as a member, she became the chapters secretary; she was the president last year and is serving as president again this year.

Embedded in the rich biotechnology ecosystem of Boston, Ward and her chapter have a lot of opportunities for external engagement. Under her leadership and in collaboration with the biochemistry program director, Kirsten Fertuck, the chapter hosts frequent panels with local professionals, focused on career progression and life as an industry scientist.

Weve had speakers from a variety of biotech companies in and around Boston, Ward said. Its been incredibly beneficial to hear about their experiences and gather great advice.

Her chapter also hosts panels with Northeastern faculty about undergraduate research and graduate school. Northeasterns co-op program, where students work full time for six months instead of attending classes, ties nicely into the atmosphere of being embedded in the local scientific community and experiential learning.

Ward thinks its important to keep the social elements of science and community engagement alive too. Her chapter hosts games nights and offers volunteer opportunities. The members partner with other Northeastern clubs as well as clubs at other Boston area colleges to grow their community and network. Her chapter has hosted Active Site, a regional conference for undergraduates sponsored by the ASBMB.

Now a senior with a biochemistry major and a data science minor, Ward wants to go on to graduate school to continue her scientific studies. Shes open to a variety of programs including biochemistry or immunology but ultimately would like to continue to work in oncology.

I have been fascinated by the variety of approaches to cancer treatment that Ive seen during my co-ops and on campus research, she said, and Id love to continue to work in this complex field.

Whatever becomes her ultimate career goal, Ward knows shed like to be in a position where she can mentor younger scientists. Mentoring, she said, has been an important part of her own journey.

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Leaning in to the scientific community - ASBMB Today

Biochemistry

Houghton Hall dedication to highlight homecoming at Fredonia – Evening Observer

Submitted PhotoA re-imagined and renovated collaborative student space in Houghton Hall.

The welcome mat will be rolled out during homecoming, including on Friday for the dedication of the renovated and redesigned Houghton Hall that completes the transformation of STEM education at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

Houghton Hall brings Geology and Environmental Sciences; Physics, Computer and Information Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences together under one roof and connects with the Science Center home to biology, biochemistry, chemistry and science education to form the Fredonia Science Complex.

Houghton is equipped with high-tech laboratories with cutting-edge equipment for teaching and research, well-designed conference rooms and comfortable student lounges that encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

One only has to stroll through Houghton to appreciate its impact on our students and their professors, said Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Andy Karafa. The energy is palpable.

Houghton Project Shepherd and Associate Professor of Physics Erica Simoson will lead a tour of the building that starts in the front first floor lobby at 1 p.m. The dedication ceremony, at 2 p.m., will feature remarks by Fredonia President Stephen H. Kolison Jr. and Dean Karafa.

The formal ribbon-cutting ceremony is at 2:30 p.m., followed by individual ribbon-cutting ceremonies of 13 named spaces beginning at 3 p.m.

Faculty and students will be stationed in their respective academic departments and areas of interest, such as the Department of Mathematical Sciences unique fishbowl study room and the Department of Computer and Information Sciences robotics lab, throughout the afternoon. Light refreshments will be served at 4:30 p.m.

One guiding principle behind the design of the building was collaborative learning. Indeed, one of our spaces is called the Bradley Collaboratory. Just about everywhere you walk, you see students engaging with each other and with their professors, Karafa said.

Renovation of the 74,000-square-foot structure that opened in the 1970s can easily be described as massive, encompassing interior demolition, hazardous materials abatement and exterior rehabilitation that began in 2017, followed by interior redesign, construction and fit-out, or finish work in individual spaces. Houghton began to resemble a parking ramp when exterior brick and concrete block outer walls were removed early in the demolition phase.

The finished building incorporates many new features, such as brightly painted interiors, an additional interior corridor on the first and second floors that leads to department office suites, as well as open study areas lit by natural light and interior research labs that can be viewed from corridors. Yet, some of Houghtons character dark brick walls in stairwells, skylights and precast concrete t-shaped beams in ceilings remains.

When you walk through the building, theres still a sense of what Houghton used to be, but at the same time theres a newness about it, observed Director of Facilities Planning Markus Kessler. Its a much more pleasant space to be in for faculty and students.

As the Houghton project spanned eight years, from initial planning to completion, there were two project shepherds. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Associate Professor Emeritus Holly Lawson served as the original project shepherd until she retired, and was succeeded by Dr. Simoson. Both worked diligently to ensure that the needs of faculty and students were communicated and met.

The research and teaching labs were carefully designed with a great deal of faculty input to facilitate the teacher-scholar model, where members of the faculty closely mentor students in a wide array of research activities, Karafa said. Fredonia professors have always engaged students in such high-impact experiences, he added.

Members of the Houghton Dedication Committee include Simoson, Director of Facilities Services Kevin Cloos, Director of Marketing and Communications Jeff Woodard, Capital Projects Manager Ken Schmitz, Director of Development June Miller-Spann of the Fredonia College Foundation, Karafa and Mr. Kessler.

Campus representatives serving on the Houghton Planning Committee included Mr. Schmitz, former Capital Projects Manager Paul Agle, Simoson, Kessler and Dr. Lawson, along with representatives of the SUNY Construction Fund and Mitchell Giurgola, project architect.

Assisting the planning committee were Gretchen Fronczak from Facilities Planning, Interim Vice President for University Advancement Betty Gossett, Assistant Director of Facilities-Custodial Services Mark Delcamp, Vice President for Finance and Administration Michael Metzger, Director of Purchasing Shari Miller and Karafa.

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Houghton Hall dedication to highlight homecoming at Fredonia - Evening Observer

Biochemistry

Cook recognized for scientific leadership in biohealth research – University of WisconsinMilwaukee

James Cook, distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has been awarded the Hector F. DeLuca Scientific Achievement Award from BioForward Wisconsin. The award recognizes Cooks scientific leadership and contributions to the states biohealth industry.

Cook is a leading expert in GABA-A brain receptor drug targeting and has published more than 550 papers in the fields of natural products, medicinal chemistry and organic synthesis. He is a recipient of the UW System Innovator Award and the UW-Milwaukee Innovator Award, and he has filed over 90 patents.

Cooks UWM research group created a series of compounds for drug-resistant epilepsy and chronic pain that were licensed to RespireRx Pharmaceuticals. The compounds carry no risk of addiction, tolerance, sedation or impaired coordination in preclinical tests of their use to circumvent the opioid crisis.

His research collaboration at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto has led to licensing compounds that target depression, schizophrenia and Alzheimers disease to Damona Pharmaceuticals.

He cofounded four pharmaceutical startups, including Promentis Pharmaceuticals with David Baker at Marquette University. Promentis has a drug in clinical trials for the chronic mental illness trichotillomania (chronic hair-pulling). The compound also is effective for treating anxiety disorder without the side effects of sedation or dependence.

With neurologist Soma Sengupta at the University of Cincinnati, Cook cofounded Amlal Pharmaceuticals, which is testing compounds for glioblastoma (brain tumors), melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.

At UWM, Cook was a founding member of the Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery, which has faculty and student members from the departments of chemistry and biochemistry, psychology, biological sciences and engineering.

Interacting with various departments, students and over 30 collaborators worldwide have made it much easier to do drug discovery and development at UWM, Cook said. The support from the UWM administration and the faculty and staff of the MIDD has been unwavering, even when resources were scarce. This has led to a bright future for MIDD and UWM.

Cook joined the UWM faculty in 1973 and was promoted to university distinguished professor in 2002.

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Cook recognized for scientific leadership in biohealth research - University of WisconsinMilwaukee

Biochemistry

ASBMB weighs in on Title IX updates – ASBMB Today

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology last month made five recommendations to the U.S. Department of Education in response to the agencys proposed rulemaking regarding sexual harassment and Title IX protections.

The recommendations included (1) defining sexual harassment better, (2) eliminating the requirement for live cross-examinations in harassment and assault cases, (3) making explicit protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and other non-straight, non-cisgender identifying people, (4) confirming protections against multiple forms of retaliation, and (5) making explicit protections of all postdocs.

Title IX is a 1972 civil rights law that protects people from discrimination based on sex in educational institutions, programs or activities that receive federal funding. Over the decades, the law has opened doors for many women and girls to have equal access to education and extracurricular activities, such as sports. But in recent years, Title IX protections have come and gone, depending upon who has been in the White House.

In 2011, the Obama administration provided a guidance urging colleges and universities to deal with sexual harassment and assaults on campus. However, the Trump administration removed many protections. Then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, for example, narrowed the definition of sexual harassment and stripped away protections in favor the accused, resulting in damaging experiences for survivors, such as mandatory live cross-examinations.

In the first month President Joe Biden was in office, he issued an executive order aimed at preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation in the federal service. Two months later, he issued an executive order on discrimination specifically in educational settings.

That summer, the ASBMB urged the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to clearly define sexual harassment, eliminate mandatory live cross-examinations and change the standard of evidence in Title IX cases to align with other civil cases by using a preponderance of the evidence.

This summer, the agency released a notice of proposed rulemaking, to which the ASBMB responded with the following suggestions, hewing closely to the ones it released in June 2021.

The society expressed support for the agencys new definition of sexual harassment: sex discrimination, including related to a hostile environment under the recipients education program or activity, as well as discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Whereas the Trump administrations definition had three categories sexual assault, quid pro quo and sexual harassment the new definition ensures that all forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence are covered.

The society expressed support for the agencys new language making live cross-examinations of harassment and assault survivors optional. The society also urged officials to allow institutions to proceed with the single-investigator model when needed as it is better for avoiding direct confrontation between the accuser and the accused, and it is common practice in civil rights cases.

The society expressed support for proposed language making LGBTQIA+ individuals explicitly protected under Title IX. By protecting LGBTQIA+ students, the department will be creating safer and less hostile learning environments not only for LGBTQIA+ students but for all students, resulting in more optimal learning outcomes, the society wrote.

The society expressed support for a proposed amendment that would protect survivors of harassment and assault from multiple forms of retaliation, not just retaliation from supervisors. While keeping language broad so that multiple situations can apply is beneficial, the society wrote, explaining different forms of retaliation is key to upholding communication between the department and those protected by Title IX. Moreover, updating Title IX to specifically state the prohibition of peer retaliation is important to ensure more victims feel safe to come forward.

The society urged the agency to explicitly extend protections to people in postdoctoral positions. Currently, students, employees and people participating or attempting to participate in an education program or activity can file Title IX grievances; however, there is no specific wording to protect postdocs, who sometimes are not classified as employees. The society recommended the agency insert direct language to all amendments, including those that prohibit discrimination against pregnant people, to protect individuals in postdoctoral positions.

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ASBMB weighs in on Title IX updates - ASBMB Today

Human Behavior

EVJ Lifts the Lid on the Relationship Between Human Behavior and Equine Welfare – Equi Management

Understanding what drives human behavior is at the heart of horse health, but studies in this area have been lacking in equine veterinary science. The Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) aims to address the shortfall with a special virtual collection of 20 articles on understanding owner behaviors and motivation. The collection is free to viewherefor 12 weeks and marks the collections guest editor David Rendles appointment as president of BEVA.

Research in equine veterinary science has hitherto focused primarily on the information needed to prevent and cure disease, with little attention paid to the attitudes and actions of horse owners, veterinary surgeons, and numerous other professionals to implementing science-based advice. This virtual issue, guest edited by David Rendle and Tamzin Furtado, brings together 20 thought-provoking papers highlighting work performed around equine stakeholder knowledge, attitudes and values.

Behavioral studies are important in understanding health-related behaviors and in identifying potential barriers to change, said David Rendle. Failure to utilise behavioral science not only compromises the potential benefits of interventions but can result in overtly negative impacts on health.

Models suggest that in order to change behavior, we first need to understand that behavior and endeavour to understand the attitudes and values which contribute to the behavior being performed, as well as the social and environmental factors which make the behavior easier or more difficult to carry out.

This special EVJ collection showcasesstudies that seek to understand horse owner behavior around their horses health, supplementing clinical evidence with information about the real-life behaviors of equine owners and professionals and the factors that influence them.

It includes papers on horse owner knowledge and opinions on recognizing colic, treating infectious disease, uptake of some of the most basic preventive health measures such as vaccination and deworming as well as attitudes and behavior around equine obesity and laminitis. Other studies highlight the importance of professionals other than vets such as farriers, equine podiatrists, physiotherapists, dental technicians, chiropractors, and equestrian organizations such as the British Horse Society.

As our understanding of the drivers of behavior develops, pre-existing behavior change models will help us to understand the barriers and enablers to uptake, said Tamzin Furtado. With dissemination of this knowledge, we have a better chance of communicating effectively and implementing change that will have a positive impact on equine welfare at individual, community, and national level.

This collection is both compelling and eye-opening, said Professor Celia Marr, Editor of the EVJ. It is dangerous to assume an understanding of the motivators of horse owner behaviors and actions; these papers confirm the current lack of comprehension, providing an invaluable insight, which will ultimately help us to accelerate improvements in equine veterinary practice and, most importantly, equine welfare.

The virtual issue can be found athttps://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1001/(ISSN)2042-3306.owner-behavioursand will be free to view until 26 December 2022.

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EVJ Lifts the Lid on the Relationship Between Human Behavior and Equine Welfare - Equi Management