COLLEGEVILLE >> U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist., visited Ursinus College on July 6 to announce a National Science Foundation grant.

The grant was in the amount of $28,531 for the project, Collaborative Research, which is researching using protein function prediction to promote hypothesis-driven thinking in undergraduate biochemistry education.

Costello, a member of the STEM Caucus, had the opportunity to meet with Rebecca Roberts, an associate professor of biology, and biochemistry and molecular biology at Ursinus College, as well as several students to hear about their research projects.

Im pleased to see students in our community will benefit from a grant that will enable first-hand experiences to encourage them to think like a scientist and, in turn, explore opportunities in STEM education. This grant will also help faculty understand how students learn from these techniques, Costello said in a prepared release.

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I am aiming to provide even greater opportunities for Ursinus students to experience authentic research by bringing research into their courses. As part of a collaboration with faculty from across the country, I have helped develop a project that challenges students to discover functions for proteins of known structure but with currently unknown function. This grant from the National Science Foundation will allow us to continue to engage our students in this project and to evaluate the impact of the experience on their growth as scientists, said Roberts.

Costello recently signed a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Committee requesting robust, continued funding for the NSF in the upcoming 2018 Fiscal Year, and has introduced and supported several pieces of legislation to support students who choose STEM fields.

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Ursinus College gets biochemistry grant from National Science foundation - The Times Herald

Vermont Business Magazine The Northern New England population will be the beneficiary of a new partnership between academic medical centers and primary care practices in rural communities, which will focus on health problems endemic to the region, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, substance abuse, as well as the unique challenges of effective rural health care delivery. A five-year, $20 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) Network grant will fund a joint program between the University of Vermont (UVM) and Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine to develop and sustain a clinical and translational research infrastructure improving rural and community health for residents of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The grant, awarded through the federally-funded IDeA program, enhances research efforts in states where NIH funding levels have traditionally been lower and rural and medically-underserved communities are a priority.

The program will be collaboratively led by principal investigators Gary Stein, Ph.D., UVM Cancer Center director and Department of Biochemistry chair, and Clifford Rosen, M.D., senior scientist at Maine Medical Center Research Institute. UVM Larner College of Medicine Senior Associate Dean for Research Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., and Thomas Gridley, Ph.D., interim director of the Center for Molecular Medicine at Maine Medical Center Research Institute, will serve as the grants program coordinators.

According to Jensen, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have a similar geographic distribution of patients. This will allow participating primary care physicians to work in partnership with academic medical centers to carry out the programs research initiatives and to meet the needs and challenges throughout the northern New England region.

As a cancer center director, Stein emphasizes the capabilities of the networks six program components to address the underlying causes of the regions greatest health threats from multiple perspectives using a rich variety of expertise and collaborative resources and to make related diseases preventable and treatable.

This grant will allow us to investigate the most effective ways to address shared health care issues, said Stein. The program will derive great benefit from maximally engaging the breadth of expertise we have at the University in concert with our primary care partners.

UVM faculty will co-lead five of the six program areas with faculty from Maine Medical Center. Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for public health, will co-lead Rural Health Research and Delivery; Frances Carr, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, will co-lead Translational Research Technologies; Bernard Cole, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and statistics, will co-lead Clinical Research Design, Epidemiology; Jane Lian, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, will co-lead the Pilot Projects Program; and Kim Luebbers, M.S.H.S., R.N., assistant dean for clinical research, will co-lead Professional Development, Clinical Research Design, Epidemiology. The Tracking and Evaluation program will be led by faculty from the University of Southern Maine.

This $20 million grant reinforces confidence in the tremendous resource that is provided by the Universitynot just in education, but in promoting and protecting the overall health and well-being of our citizens, said Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD.Collaborations with the Department of Health will leverage these capabilities to make a difference for Vermonters wherever they live.

Source: UVM 7.12.2017

VBM vermontbiz.com

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NIH awards $20 million to UVM and Maine Medical to address rural health challenges - Vermont Biz

(From left are) Drs. B.R. Achyut; Thaiz F. Borin, postdoctoral fellow and a corresponding author; and Ali S. Arbab. Credit: Phil Jones

It's a metabolite found in essentially all our cells that, like so many things, cancer overexpresses. Now scientists have shown that when they inhibit 20-HETE, it reduces both the size of a breast cancer tumor and its ability to spread to the lungs.

"The drug is reducing the ability of cancer cells to create a distant microenvironment where they can thrive," said Dr. Ali S. Arbab, leader of the Tumor Angiogenesis Initiative at the Georgia Cancer Center and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Arbab notes that cancer cells are constantly doing test runs, sending cells out into the bloodstream to see if they will take hold. About 30 percent of patients with breast cancer experience spread, or metastasis, of the disease. The most common sites are the lymph nodes, liver, bones and brain, as well as the lungs.

For the preclinical studies by postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Thaiz F. Borin, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the scientists used the drug HET0016, a 20-HETE inhibitor developed to learn more about the metabolite's many functions.

While not ready to say that the drug has potential use in humans, Arbab says the work points toward a new and logical target for reducing tumor spread. He notes that there are already drugs out there, including some over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, which may also inhibit this overexpressed and now destructive pathway.

20-HETE - 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid - is a metabolite of arachidonic acid, a fatty acid we make and constantly use for a wide variety of functions like helping make lipids for our cell membranes. 20-HETE also has a wide range of normal functions, including helping regulate blood pressure and blood flow. It's also a known mediator of inflammation, which under healthy conditions can help us fight infection and protect us from cancer and other invaders.

"There is normal function and there is tumor-associated function," says Dr. B.R. Achyut, cancer biologist, assistant professor in the MCG Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a study coauthor. "Tumors highjack our system and use that molecule against us."

In fact, Arbab's research team has shown that the high production of 20-HETE that occurs in cancer becomes an unwitting provider of almost everything cancer needs to prepare a place to comfortably spread.

Scientists call it the "seed and soil" hypothesis. To spread, cancer cells must detach from the primary site, in this case breast tissue, get aggressive enough to survive travel, gather supporting tissue and blood vessels where they land, take seed and eventually colonize the distant site, in this case, the lungs.

Arbab and his team have shown 20-HETE appears to help prepare this distant site by activating things like protein kinases that can change the function of proteins, their location and what cells they associate with, as well as growth factors that can make cells grow in size, proliferate and differentiate. It can even help make blood vessels, which a tumor will need once it reaches a certain size. 20-HETE also activates signaling kinases that enable cell division. It encourages inflammation-promoting factors like tumor necrosis factor alpha and several of the interleukins, another class of proteins that help regulate the immune response. In this scenario, they are turning up inflammation, which is a hallmark of cancer and other diseases.

"We are going after that tumor microenvironment," says Arbab.

For their studies, they put human breast cancer cells and mouse mammary tumor cells in the mammary fat pad of mice, waited for the cancer to take hold and begin to spread, then intravenously gave mice HET0016 five days per week for three weeks.

They found HET0016 reduced the migration and invasion of tumor cells: 48 hours after the drug was given, cancer cells were less able to move about in small test tubes. The drug also reduced levels of metalloproteinases in the lungs, enzymes that can destroy existing protein structures, so that, in this case, cancer cells can penetrate the area and new blood vessels can grow. It also reduced levels of other key inhabitants of a tumor microenvironment like growth factors as well as myeloid-derived suppressor cells that can help shield cancer from the immune system. "It gets rid of one of the natural protections tumors use, and tumor growth in the lung goes down," Arbab notes.

He, Achyut and their colleague Dr. Meenu Jain, assistant research scientist, reported earlier this year in the journal Scientific Reports that the drug also reduced tumor growth and prolonged survival in an animal model of the highly lethal, rapidly growing and vascular brain tumor, glioblastoma. That finding and related work got the scientists wondering if the research drug - or something similar - could one day help control the typically deadly spread of cancer.

Now they are looking at exosomes, traveling packages all cells send out as a way to communicate and swap substances. In the case of cancer cells, exosomes appear to be packed with items needed to build the supportive environment for their new distant location in the lungs or elsewhere. Once exosomes establish a niche, they send back a signal to the primary site for cancer cells to join them. The scientists want to further pursue the ability of HET0016 to block these cancer-derived packages.

20-HETE's co-opting by cancer has it emerging as a focal point for cancer treatment, says Arbab who has published more than half of the 20-HETE-related studies on the rapidly emerging topic.

Explore further: Cells that make blood vessels can also make tumors and enable their spread

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Spread of breast cancer reduced by targeting acid metabolite - Medical Xpress

Columbia Johnson County students are named to the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources deans list at the University of Missouri.

Harrison Bron, food science and nutrition, and Jared Yates, biochemistry, both of Knob Noster; and Emma Downing, agricultural economics, and Matthew Lichte, biochemistry, both of Warrensburg, made the list.

Being named to the deans list is an exceptional academic accomplishment,"Bryan Garton, associate dean and director of academic programs, said in a statement. "We are very proud of each student, not only for their academic excellence, but also for the hard work and dedication to their academics and career preparation this past semester.

Students must maintain a term GPA of 3.3, a cumulative GPA of 3.0 and be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours to be named on the CAFNR deans list.

Originally posted here:
Johnson County students make dean's list - The Daily Star-Journal

COLLEGEVILLE >> U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist., visited Ursinus College on July 6 to announce a National Science Foundation grant.

The grant was in the amount of $28,531 for the project, Collaborative Research, which is researching using protein function prediction to promote hypothesis-driven thinking in undergraduate biochemistry education.

Costello, a member of the STEM Caucus, had the opportunity to meet with Rebecca Roberts, an associate professor of biology, and biochemistry and molecular biology at Ursinus College, as well as several students to hear about their research projects.

Im pleased to see students in our community will benefit from a grant that will enable first-hand experiences to encourage them to think like a scientist and, in turn, explore opportunities in STEM education. This grant will also help faculty understand how students learn from these techniques, Costello said in a prepared release.

Advertisement

I am aiming to provide even greater opportunities for Ursinus students to experience authentic research by bringing research into their courses. As part of a collaboration with faculty from across the country, I have helped develop a project that challenges students to discover functions for proteins of known structure but with currently unknown function. This grant from the National Science Foundation will allow us to continue to engage our students in this project and to evaluate the impact of the experience on their growth as scientists, said Roberts.

Costello recently signed a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Committee requesting robust, continued funding for the NSF in the upcoming 2018 Fiscal Year, and has introduced and supported several pieces of legislation to support students who choose STEM fields.

View original post here:
Ursinus gets biochemistry grant from National Science foundation - The Phoenix

July 7, 2017 by Megan Bard Gang Han, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology at University of Massachusetts Medical School. Credit: UMass Medical School

A team led by Gang Han, PhD, has designed a human protein-based, tumor-targeting Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast that can be easily cleared by the body. The discovery holds promise for clinical application, including early stage tumor detection because of the enhanced MRI contrast, according to Dr. Han, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology at University of Massachusetts Medical School.

MRI is one of the most widely used, noninvasive and versatile imaging tools for clinical detection, staging and monitoring of malignancy, without the need for ionizing radiation or harmful radionuclides.

The most frequently employed contrast agents used in MRI are gadolinium (Gd)-based, since they do not provoke an immune response in cells. However, such compounds require high doses of intravenous administration and are retained in the body's organs.

In the search for alternative, Han and colleagues focused on proteins, which are naturally occurring nanomaterials. For example, the protein-bound nanoparticle Abraxane can be used to treat metastatic breast cancer. In the same way, protein scaffolds that encapsulate metal-based nanoparticulate contrast agents also appear to enhance the effectiveness of contrast agents.

In a paper published June 26 in Nano Letters, ACS Publications, Han and colleagues outlined how human transferrin (Tf) proteins can be used to create an MRI contrast nanoprobe by mimicking the natural process to form special nanoparticles called gadolinium biomineralized human transferrin protein-based nanoparticles or Gd@TfNP.

"The Gd@TfNPs preserve the functions of Tf very well, possess superior chemical and physical properties, and are brighter compared to the Gd-based agents currently in use," Han said, adding that the nanoparticles could also be used as tumor-targeting and systematically clearable contrast agents for MR detection of early-stage tumors.

"Such probes can immediately leave the tumor sites after delivery and we could track the overall process by MRI. Such a technique might be useful not only for visualizing tumor therapies, but for optimizing drug dose and evaluating clinical results," said Yang Zhao, MD, PhD, of the Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University and the paper's first author.

Explore further: Better contrast agents based on nanoparticles

More information: Yang Zhao et al, Tumor-Targeted and Clearable Human Protein-Based MRI Nanoprobes, Nano Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00828

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Researchers develop tumor-targeting MRI contrast based on human ... - Phys.Org

TULSA, Oklahoma -

When you think of beer, you don't usually associate it with labs, books and lots of studying,but the University of Tulsa is looking to change just that.

The school is partnering with Marshall brewing company.

TU and Marshall Brewing Company are teaming up to offer a beer brewing certificate program all in the name of science.

Jeremy Sabo is an intern at Marshall Brewing.

He received his bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from TU.

He is also helping set up a unique program at TU, a beer brewing certificate program in a partnership with Marshall Brewing.

"We'll have, basically six classes, so three of those are already offered in the chemistry and biochemistry department," Sabo said.

Sabo says his curiosity is what drives his love of science and beer.

He says the changing laws surrounding alcohol in the state got the ball rolling.

The idea was proposed by a TU professor.

"So you'll get the history, you'll get, how beer's brewed and why it's important, and all of the lab techniques that go along with quality control and quality assurance," Sabo said.

Sabo even took us over to a lab at TU, showing us some of the science behind the beer.

"There's calories, proteins, carbohydrates, and all those need to be determined and those are done through scientific instrumentation and someone needs to know how to operate those," Sabo said.

He says the great part about this program is that anyone age 21 and older can take it, giving them hands-on experience, while also creating many opportunities.

"For the breweries that are going to be expanding, to both have students and then for students that want a job, and may don't wanna go work for a big company and go work in beer," Sabo said.

That certificate program is set to begin in the spring of 2018.

Excerpt from:
University Of Tulsa Partners With Marshall Brewing Company - News On 6

Students and faculty of the chemistry and biochemistry department at Kent State are grieving the death of researcher and professor Anatoly Khitrin.

Khitrin, 62, passed away due to cancer and heart related problems earlier this week.

Calling hours for Khitrin begin Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., followed by a service until 5 p.m. at Bissler Funeral Home in Kent.

Khitrins coworkers said it was a pleasure to work with him.

I worked with him for 15 years, and he was such a wonderful man, said Erin Michael-McLaughlin, the chemistry department program coordinator. He had a very dry sense of humor and was one of the most intelligent men I have ever met.

Songping Huang, a chemistry and biochemistry professor, said he worked very closely with Khitrin and cherished the relationship they had.

I remember he once told me this story as to why he shouldnt quit smoking, and it was very funny, Huang said. It was a spanish man decided when he was 113 to stop smoking because he was getting old, and he died two years later. This is why Anatoly wouldnt quit; He was very optimistic and funny.

Huang and Khitrin also hold two patents that Kent State is recognized for.

He was a very smart scientist, and one day I told him of this realization I had with Prussian blue pigment, Huang said. He and I tested this pigment to be used in MRIs instead of toxic metal Gadolinium, and we proved that it worked. Now we share a patent over this discovery.

Robert Twieg, a chemistry and biochemistry professor, knew Khitrin the entire time he worked for Kent State and said he was a friendly and intelligent man.

Khitrin was an expert on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Twieg said. People may argue that he was the smartest man in the chemistry department. He understood the quantum universe better than anyone employed in our department. His intelligence and kindness will be missed.

Holli Phillips is the health and wellness reporter. Contact her at hphill10@kent.edu.

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Kent State chemistry department and patent-holding professor dies - Kent Wired

Thursday, July 6th, 2017

By Mikaela Wieland

Most days, Austin Dixon can be found in the dimly lit basement of the Biochemistry Building, surrounded by expensive, high-tech equipment studying proteins for his undergraduate research project.

On other days, he can be found in a bright classroom, demonstrating how to make a rudimentary lava lamp out of Alka-Seltzer tablets to a group of loud elementary school students. In both environments, Dixon thrives because he shares his love of science with the world.

Science gives me the tools and understanding to answer questions about the world we live in, said Dixon, a senior in biochemistry from Greenwood, Indiana. It provides a platform of discovery to move the world forward.

Photo by Mikaela Wieland Austin Dixon works in the laboratory on an uncharacterized class of proteins. His love for science influences everything from his undergraduate research to his volunteer work with middle schoolers.

It isnt enough that he pursues his research goals on his own. Dixon said the next generation must be inspired to discover great things as well. He teaches in classrooms and judges science fairs. Both volunteer efforts are aimed to engage kids and spark their interest in science.

Often, science is something most kids see as dull or uninteresting, Dixon said. Doing this has allowed me to positively influence younger kids and change their perspective on science.

One of the experiments aimed to pique the middle schoolers interest is the Alka-Seltzer lava lamp.

Its a great way to teach them how something they already know about really works, he said.

The kids mix vegetable oil and water with food coloring and an Alka-Seltzer tablet. The experiment demonstrates simple concepts like density and polarity. The tablets produce carbon dioxide bubbles that are less dense than oil and rise to the top of the lamp.

The kids think its really cool to learn from college kids, Dixon said. And, they love hands-on stuff.

The Purdue Biochemistry Club isnt Dixons only outreach. He judges K-12 science projects at the Indiana Regional Science Fair Competition in West Lafayette and volunteers at the annual Celebrate Science Indiana in Indianapolis. At these events, he interacts with and teaches science to more than 1,000 kids.

Im able to interact with hundreds of young, budding scientists and discuss their projects with them, Dixon said.

Dixons outreach mission is to cultivate the next generation of scientists.

These programs are necessary to get children interested in science beyond the textbook, and open their mind to the possibility of pursuing the field in the future, he said.

Dixon knows that the kids arent the only ones benefitting from the experience.

Its rewarding to me personally because Im able to make an impact in my community and within the lives of these children, which they will remember forever, he said.

Positive memories and experiences associated with science are important, Dixon said, because he wants people to understand the benefit of scientific research and the scientific process. He also wants to erase the stigma associated with science. Dixon said that requires a dialogue with the public that needs to be more transparent and more people need to know how long and detailed of a process science is.

Part of that starts with the way he speaks about his own research. He said that he tries to make sure to explain that his work has a practical use.

You have to talk about the why, he said. People care about what the impact of the science is.

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Biochemistry major mixes science with outreach - Purdue Agricultural Communications

Thursday, July 6th, 2017

By Mikaela Wieland

Early every morning, before the sun ever comes up, Andjela Djokovics alarm clock blares.

How did that happen so fast? she often wonders. It seems like I just went to bed.

And while the senior biochemistry major from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, shakes off sleep, she knows that the long workout and even longer school day to come are worth it. Djokovic is a student-athlete who competes for the Purdue womens tennis team on a scholarship.

Photo provided by Charles Jischke Andjela Djokovic is a tennis player and biochemistry major. She says that she plays for a great tennis team while getting amazing academic training.

The only way I have enough time to do everything is to work out at 6 a.m., Djokovic said. Its really difficult, Im always tired, and theres no rhythm in my life.

Djokovic approaches her dedication to tennis in much of the same way that she approaches her homework, classes, and labs.

The challenge is fun, she said. While tennis brought her to Purdue, Djokovic said the academics kept her here.

When choosing a college, I wanted a school where I could play on a good tennis team but also get amazing academic training, Djokovic said.

Purdue checked all the boxes and even gave her a full-ride scholarship to play tennis. Djokovic said she is grateful for all the places the tennis team has taken her and excited that shes been able to combine her love for travel with her love for tennis. Shes traveled all over the United States to play in different tennis tournaments, which is one advantage Djokovic sees in being both an international student and an athlete. But while shes had the opportunity to visit places in the United States, it isnt always as a tourist.

Ive gotten to see a lot of the USA, but mostly tennis courts and hotels. Djokovic joked.

Even so, Djokovic said she enjoyed visiting iconic places like Las Vegas and Florida while getting to play the sport that she loves. But the tennis and traveling is just the beginning of Djokovics crazy, daily schedule and unique Purdue journey.

Djokovics normal day includes tennis practice, gym time, class, biochemistry labs, with days so full that she doesnt usually get home from campus to start homework or study until after 7:30 p.m.

For most people, this would be too much stress and too full of a schedule, but Djokovic said the craziness is worth it.

Theres nothing I would change, she said.

She credits the biochemistry faculty for helping her succeed as a student-athlete.

The faculty in biochemistry are amazing, Djokovic said. Most of the professors know me and ask me how my tennis is going.

Djokovic knows that her time at Purdue and her journey with the tennis team will not last forever and is deciding her next step. Djokovic chose biochemistry because of the variety of careers she can pursue. After Purdue, she plans to head back to Australia or New Zealand to continue her studies.

I really, really like biochemistry, she said. Its like knowing a secret code. When doctors give out pills, they know what is literally going to happen as it breaks down in the body. . . . Its the behind-the-scenes of everything thats going on in real life.

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Biochemistry serves strong options for tennis player - Purdue Agricultural Communications