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May 4, 2004
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Elvehjem Award
John W. Suttie, professor emeritus, biochemistry, has received the Conrad A.
Elvehjem Award from the American Society for Nutritional Sciences in
recognition of his outstanding service to nutrition as a scientist,
editor, adviser and communicator on behalf of the profession.
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May 3, 2004
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Osborn Mendel Award
James Ntambi, professor, nutritional sciences and biochemistry, has received
the Osborne Mendel Award from the American Society for Nutritional
Sciences for outstanding contributions toward the understanding of
adipocyte differentiation and the regulation of gene expression
involved in lipid metabolism.
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May 2, 2004
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Elizabeth Craig wins Hilldale Award
Craig has been a member of the faculty since 1979, and also served as chair
of the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry from 1996-2002.
Her work on protein folding and proteins involved in that process led
to her election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. She was also selected to
the American Academy of Microbiology.
During her career, Craig has been a leader in efforts to understand a
class of proteins known as molecular chaperones. These proteins aid in
the important processes of folding and translocation of newly
synthesized proteins in all organisms. A number of genetic diseases,
including Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt Jacob diseases are
caused by defects in protein folding.
She held the WARF (Elizabeth Cavert Miller) professorship from 1992-97
and the H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship from 1985-90.
Craig earned a bachelor's degree in bacteriology at the University of
Rhode Island and a doctorate in microbiology at the Washington
University School of Medicine.
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May 1, 2004
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Wisconsin chemists find a new chink in TB's armor
The family of bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy are
notoriously sturdy. And although the diseases they cause have been held
in check for the past 50 years by antibiotics, some strains are
becoming increasingly resistant to existing therapy.
Now, however, a new chink has been found in the cellular armor that makes
these infectious diseases difficult to treat. The discovery, reported
today (May 9) in the online editions of the journal Nature Structural
& Molecular Biology by a team of chemists and biochemists from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, opens the door to the development of a
new family of antibiotics to treat diseases that still claim as many as
3 million lives annually worldwide.
"Most of the treatments we have for these diseases date from the 1950s," says
Laura L. Kiessling, a UW-Madison professor of chemistry and the leader
of the team reporting the new discovery. "Many traditional antibiotics
don't work against tuberculosis."
Click here for more details...
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April 6, 2004
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Everson Lecture in Biochemistry
April 6, 2004 3:30 pm
Room B1118 Biochemistry, 420 Henry Mall
Claire Walczak
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Indiana University
Molecular Mechanisms of Mitosis: A Cellular Tug-of-War
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February 2, 2004
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DHEA boosts growth rate of human neural stem cells
Human neural stem cells, exposed in a lab dish to the steroid DHEA,
exhibit a remarkable uptick in growth rates, suggesting that the
hormone may play a role in helping the brain produce new cells,
according to a new study published this week in the online editions of
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The new work, conducted by a team of scientists at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, provides some of the first direct evidence of the
biological effects of DHEA on the human nervous system, according to
Clive Svendsen, the study's senior author and an authority on brain
stem cells at UW-Madison's Waisman Center.
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February 1, 2004
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Department Poster Session and Awards
The Annual Biochemistry Awards Reception included two new awards this year,
made possible by the generosity of Arnold E. and Catherine M. Denton.
Graduate Teaching Excellence Award: Michael D. Hobbs
This award is intended to recognize a Biochemistry graduate student who has
consistently shown evidence of quality, commitment, and innovation in
teaching. Graduate students who have completed their Biochemistry major
teaching requirements are eligible. Nominations are requested from all
instructors of Biochemistry classes with graduate teaching assistants.
Nominations for students who have assisted in more than one class
during their two semesters of required teaching should be presented as
joint nominations between all involved instructors. These nominations
should indicated student responsibilities, class and/or discussion/lab
size, and characteristics that distinguish the nominee from other
graduate assistants. In addition to the items listed above, student
evaluations will be used as part of the selection criteria for
qualified candidates.
Graduate Mentoring Award: Kimberly Dickson
This award is designated to honor Biochemistry graduate students who
consistently provide quality guidance and scientific training in
mentoring undergraduate students in their research efforts. Qualified
nominees should be nearing completion of their degree and have
established a consistent record of mentoring undergraduates throughout
their career. The nomination will consist of a cover letter from the
laboratory PI highlighting the candidate?s contributions tot eh
intellectual and technical training of undergraduate lab members,
including evidence of a successful scientific learning experience such
as abstracts, poster presentations, or co-authored publications.
Letters of support from undergraduate students should also be included
with the nomination. These letters of support are of particular
importance to this nomination and should provide strong testimonial to
the candidate?s mentoring achievements.
Sigrid Leirmo Memorial Award in Biochemistry: David S. Bernstein
This award is provided by funds given in memory of Dr. Sigrid Leirmo by her
husband. Dr. Leirmo received her Ph.D. degree in the Department of
Biochemistry (1989) and was a postdoctoral research associate in the
Department of Bacteriology when she died tragically in an accident in
October, 1990. This award is designated for a graduate or postdoctoral
student who best exemplifies her spirit. Sigrid was widely acknowledged
among her fellow students and colleagues both as a promising researcher
and as an enthusiastic friend and mentor. The award is to be given to a
postdoctoral or graduate student who is acknowledged by his/her peers
and advisors as one who displays clear promise as a research scientist.
Most importantly, the award is to be designated in appreciation of the
student?s consistent willingness to contribute to the intellectual and
technical potential of his or her fellow students and colleagues
through the selfless help of others.
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January 2, 2004
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Brendan Orner is the recipient of the 2004 Paul D. Boyer Postdoctoral Excellence Award
Brendan will speak on the topic of The Design and Fabrication of Arrays for the
Combinatorial Exploration of Cell Adherence on Monday January 26th at
3:30 in room B1118 Biochemistry.
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January 1, 2004
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Winter weather turns on flowering gene
In four months, when flower buds spring up from the ground, you may
wonder how plants know it's time to bloom. This question has baffled
plant biologists for years. Now, scientists at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison have an answer: a gene that functions as an alarm
clock to rouse certain plants from a vegetative state in the winter to
a flowering state in the spring.
According to the researchers, the findings, published in the Jan. 8
issue of the journal Nature, could lead to new methods for manipulating
the productivity of crop plants, as well as a better understanding of
how organisms control the fate of their cells.
Most people may not know that some of our favorite salad ingredients -
carrots, cabbage, radishes, beets and parsley - take two seasons to
flower and produce seeds because we harvest them before they have the
chance to flower. These plants, called biennials, require a season of
cold to flower.
"We've known that winter does something to the plant's growing tip, or
meristem, and makes it competent to flower," says Richard Amasino,
a UW-Madison biochemistry professor and senior author of the paper. "If
biennials don't go through winter, they won't flower." But why, he
adds, has remained a mystery.
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