BMB Weekly #12: March 24, 2023

 

Save the Date: The Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Annual Awards Ceremony and Banquet! Please save the date for the BMB Annual Awards Ceremony and Banquet on Thursday, April 20 at the MSUFCU Club at Spartan Stadium. More information coming soon.

 

 

Melanie Balbach from Weill Cornell Medicine will be presenting "Metabolic changes during sperm activation."

Susanne Gebhard from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) will be presenting "Who guards the guards? Network structure in the activation of antibiotic resistance."

To join us on Zoom, click this link. Password: bmbseminar

The Spring BMB Seminar Series will run through the end of April. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Spring Seminar Series website. If you are interested in meeting with any of these speakers please email Leslie Williams, glady@msu.edu. Many speakers are planning to visit in-person. A zoom option will continue to be offered for all seminars.

 

How does history intersect with today’s most pressing debates? How does history contribute to online debates about misinformation, disinformation, journalism, tribalism, activism, democracy, politics and identity? Attend this event to learn about these topics from bestselling author, public historian, and founder of the History Communication Institute Jason Steinhauer. Learn more here.

Womxn of Color Initiatives announces their 2023 Artist-in-Residence: Colah B. Tawkin. Colah is the juggernaut creator, producer, and voice behind the renowned Black in the Garden podcast. She is leading numerous events from March 27 through 31. Learn more here. 

The Exchange is the weekly Tuesday morning event for graduate students. Please join us for the following:
Journal Club: Brooke Jeffrey
Introducing the Graduate Student Accessibility and Support Network (GSASN)

Do you have questions regarding formatting your thesis or dissertation? Stop in during one of our help sessions to talk to Graduate School staff about any specific formatting questions you may have. These are walk-in sessions. No registration is required. Learn more here.

Come get your questions answered about Master’s and PhD programs in STEM, how to apply, graduate student life, working before graduate school, and other topics of interest! We will have representatives from Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physics, Education, Astrophysics, Biochemistry, Computational Mathematics, and more! Food will be served! Please fill out this sign up form if you plan on attending! Reach out to Emily Bolger (bolgerem@msu.edu) for more information.

BIPOC in Biotech will bring together BIPOC PhDs and Postdocs across the Midwest with a variety of local life sciences organizations to build connections and community, give students an insider view into a breadth of career opportunities, and provide expert tips on how to market themselves and pitch their work for these potential career pathways. Learn more here. 

The Weill Institute Emerging Scholars Symposium in Ithaca, NY, is a one-day event in October where exceptional senior Ph.D. students from institutions external to Cornell are invited to share their research with the Weill Institute community, celebrate their academic achievements, interact with students and faculty, and explore post-doctoral collaboration and research opportunities. Learn more here. 

 

The Fulbright-Hays Act was designed to contribute to the development and improvement of the study of modern foreign languages and area studies in the US. This competitive grant program enables PhD candidates to do dissertation research abroad for 6 to 12 months. Awards typically provide airfare, maintenance allowance, research-related expenses, and more. Learn more here.

The Colleges Online Learning Academy (COLA) program is now accepting applications for its 2023 cohort. This program is a summer fellowship that allows you to deeply engage with digital teaching and learning. The fellowship provides opportunities for professional development, networking, mentorship, deep dives into aspects of your teaching, and reflections on your teaching practice. Learn more here.

The Dr. Lillian M. Lowery Scholarship was established to support a student pursuing a master’s degree in education who embodies a spirit of commitment to furthering opportunities for all students. Learn more about eligibility and the application process here.

This annually awarded national scholarship is designed to support the educational goals of a graduate student from an underrepresented group who is pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in mathematics education or a STEM discipline. The individual should also have a commitment to civic engagement. Learn more here. 

Ph.D. students selected for this 12-month program will work with an LBC faculty member on a new or existing disciplinary‐based education research (DBER), scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), or action research project. SUTL research topics may include developing and assessing various curricular interventions such as inquiry-based labs, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, science ethics, teaching with case studies, and efforts to increase the retention and success of a diverse STEM population. Learn more here.

 

The MSU Graduate Women In Science need help recruiting presenters and volunteers for Girls Math and Science Day 2023! GMSD 2023 will be held on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 from 1-5pm. The event is an opportunity for middle school girls to participate in science demonstrations while working with enthusiastic graduate students and researchers. The day is composed of four 30 minute sessions where girls participate in hands-on workshops on a range of topics in science. Submit applications for workshops here and volunteering applications here. Contact the Graduate Women in Science (gmsd.gwis.msu@gmail.com) for more information.

It's tax time and there are free resources available to help!

• MSU VITA: https://www.vita.msu.edu/appointments
• MSU College of Law Taxpayer Clinics: International Students and Scholars | Michigan State University (msu.edu)
• OISS: International Students and Scholars | Michigan State University (msu.edu)

Wharton Center for Performing Arts is pleased to offer free tickets to MSU undergraduate, graduate, and professional students for several performances this spring semester, including “The Boy Who Grew Flowers,” Imani Winds, The Okee Dokee Brothers, Cyrille Aimée, New York Philharmonic String Quartet, “Cross That River,” and “National Geographic Live: View from Above with NASA Astronaut Terry Virts.”   There is a 2-ticket limit per event. Graduate and professional students will need to visit the Wharton Center ticket office in person with their MSU ID to receive free tickets via this promotion. Learn more about this program here. 

In an effort to support students this semester, revised Credit-No Credit (CR-NC) grade reporting options are being put in place for Spring Semester 2023 only. MSU will return to the CR-NC policy listed in the Academic Programs Catalog effective Summer 2023. Learn more here. 

To help field questions, Global Safety has developed a guide with recommended steps and resources. This is available as a PDF and on the Global Safety website at www.globalsafety.msu.edu/positive-COVID-19. The first step is to call ISOS for guidance.

 

The School of Packaging in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is seeking qualified applicants for a Graduate Program Director at the Assistant, Associate or Professor rank. The Graduate Program Director (GPD) serves as the administrative supervisor and coordinator of graduate studies within the School of Packaging, overseeing all components of graduate education and promoting academic quality and integrity. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

This Communications Manager I position is a dual reporting position that supports two core departments in the MSU College of Natural Science (NatSci): the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (50%) and the Department of Chemistry (50%). The position is a part of the NatSci Communications infrastructure, with a primary reporting relationship within the departments and a secondary reporting relationship to the NatSci Senior Communications and Marketing Director. Key responsibilities for this position include identifying, researching, producing and editing releases and feature materials for on-line communications, media, and publications. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

We are inviting applications for multiple postdoctoral positions in a cancer biology laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University. Candidates competitive for these postdoctoral positions will be highly motivated, creative, and have interest in translational cancer biology. A qualified candidate is expected to have had outstanding graduate training, experience and/or training in mammalian cell culture, mouse tumor studies, molecular biology techniques, cell biology techniques, genome engineering techniques, and biochemical techniques. They will be expected to collect, and analyze data, and supervise students. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

The Biological Sciences (BioSci) Program at MSU is seeking two fixed-term faculty members to join the BioSci Program teaching team. The successful candidate for the first position will serve as curriculum coordinator and instructor for BS172, a large enrollment introductory organismal biology lab course designed for life-science majors. The successful candidate for the second position will serve as an instructor for introductory biology lecture and lab courses designed to actively engage life-science majors in three-dimensional learning and will work with teams of faculty to develop curriculum for these courses. Questions regarding the position may be directed to Dr. Katie Krueger, BioSci Program Assistant Director and Chair of the Search Committee (krueg172@msu.edu). 

 

Cholico, G. N., Orlowska, K., Fling, R. R., Sink, W. J., Zacharewski, N. A., Fader, K. A., Nault, R., & Zacharewski, T. (2023).
         Consequences of reprogramming acetyl-CoA metabolism by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in the mouse liver. 
         Scientific reports, 13(1), 4138. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31087-9

Dutagaci, B., Duan, B., Qiu, C., Kaplan, C. D., & Feig, M. (2023). Characterization of RNA polymerase II trigger loop mutations
         using molecular dynamics simulations and machine learning. PLoS computational biology, 19(3), e1010999. Advance online
         publication. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010999

Feng, H., Elladki, R., Jiang, J., & Wei, G. W. (2023). Machine-learning analysis of opioid use disorder informed by MOR, DOR,
         KOR, NOR and ZOR-based interactome networks. Computers in biology and medicine, 157, 106745. Advance online
         publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.106745

Ferlez, B. H., Kirst, H., Greber, B. J., Nogales, E., Sutter, M., & Kerfeld, C. A. (2023). Heterologous Assembly of Pleomorphic
         Bacterial Microcompartment Shell Architectures Spanning the Nano- to Microscale. Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach,
         Fla.), e2212065. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202212065

Kang, H. J., Chargo, N., Chennupati, S., Neugebauer, K., Cho, J. Y., Quinn, R., McCabe, L. R., & Parameswaran, N. (2023).
         Korean Red Ginseng extract treatment prevents post-antibiotic dysbiosis-induced bone loss in mice. Journal of ginseng
         research, 47(2), 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgr.2022.08.006

Liu, J., Hiser, C., Li, F., Hall, R., Garavito, R. M., & Ferguson-Miller, S. (2023). New TSPO Crystal Structures of Mutant and
         Heme-Bound Forms with Altered Flexibility, Ligand Binding, and Porphyrin Degradation Activity. Biochemistry,
         10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00612. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00612

Smith, M., Li, Z., Landry, L., Merz, K. M., Jr, & Li, P. (2023). Consequences of Overfitting the van der Waals Radii of Ions. 
         Journal of chemical theory and computation, 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01255. Advance online publication.
         https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01255

Strand, D. D., Karcher, D., Ruf, S., Schadach, A., Schöttler, M. A., Sandoval-Ibañez, O., Hall, D., Kramer, D. M., & Bock, R.
         (2023). Characterization of mutants deficient in N-terminal phosphorylation of the chloroplast ATP synthase subunit β. 
         Plant physiology, 191(3), 1818–1835. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiad013

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 56, No. 12