BMB Weekly #40: October 28, 2022

 

BMB Graduate, Toufic Jildeh, Returns to MSU as a Team Physician for MSU Athletics and the U.S. Olympic Ski & Snowboard Team! "Returning to MSU with the goal of providing an education to future health care professionals, Jildeh brings his knowledge from Wayne State University School of Medicine, he subsequently completed his orthopedic surgical residency at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit." Read more here.

 

Todd Andrew Schoborg from the University of Wyoming will be presenting "Understanding the molecular mechanisms of microcephaly: What the fruit fly can tell us about human disease."

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

The Fall BMB Seminar Series will run through December 8, 2022. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Fall 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.

 

Meet up for some coffee, treats and conversation 9-10am at Fosters Coffee in East Lansing! 

Save the Dates for:  
Thursday, November 17th: 9am to 10am at MSU STEM Bldg Lobby, 624 Red Cedar Rd.
Friday, December 9th: 9-10am at Constellation Cat Cafe  

Writing – Feedback & Revisions:  These are the parts of writing (and especially academic writing) that scientists don't always feel as well prepared for. Here we will cover material that has proven helpful in the past on giving helpful feedback and using feedback to revise. This will be framed as how these skills are tied to leadership in careers as well.

The Exchange is the weekly Tuesday morning event for graduate students. Please join us for our next meeting titled: "Scientific writing: Can artificial intelligence do it for us? AI-generated scientific content."

Please join us!

Please join us! If you would like to join through Zoom, click here. Passcode: 968752

The ASBMB Career Expo aims to highlight the diversity of career choices available to modern biomedical researchers. No matter your career stage, this virtual event will provide a plethora of career options for you to explore while simultaneously connecting you with knowledgeable professionals in these careers.
Each 60-minute session will focus on a different career path and will feature breakout rooms with a range of professionals in those paths. Attendees can choose to meet in a small group with a single professional for the entire session or move freely between breakout rooms to sample advice from multiple professionals.
Sessions will feature the following five sectors: industry, government, science communication, science policy, and other. Learn more and register here. 

Join University Outreach & Engagement on the first Friday of each month (November 4, December 2) for 3 hours of dedicated time and space for writing about your community engagement work. We offer in-person (at Brody Cafeteria) and virtual options, for free. Register here. 

COGS is excited to sponsor the Women*s Initiative for Leadership Development (WILD) Conference, which will be held at the MSU Union on Sunday, November 6th, 2022. The conference is for the MSU community to celebrate and learn about feminist leadership, and is free for MSU students. WILD 2022's theme is Amplify: Community, Culture, and Collaboration. Dolores Huerta is the 2022 WILD Keynote Speaker! Learn more about the conference & registration links here.
Or register here with a special COGS link.

The SCGSR program supports awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory or host site in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist — with the goal of preparing graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission. Learn more here. 

The International Employee Resource Group (International ERG) is a place for Spartans to connect on issues related to our international community. The goal of the ERG is to connect, build community and share best practices. It is an opportunity to discuss everyday issues, relationships with friends and family, campus and community connections, and social activities that will help to build community. The International Employee Resource Group will meet every 3rd Thursday of the month, unless otherwise noted on our calendar due to holidays or other conflicts. Learn more and register here. 

Emily Sorroche (she/her), Associate Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will be presenting, "Beyond Land Acknowledgements." Please join us for this exciting Zoom webinar! Please register at this link. 

The applications for the next class of Pauling Fellows are open. This is a prestigious fellowship that offers the candidate a great deal of freedom while working with national lab tools and expertise. For application help, please reach out to wendy.shaw@pnnl.gov. 

This fellowship is given to students who have clearly demonstrated leadership in their respective disciplines and/or professional societies at the local, state, regional, national, or international levels while a student at MSU. Learn more and apply here. 

MSU Council of Graduate Students (COGS) established this endowment in 2021 to recognize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts by graduate and professional students in or through their program, unit, or department at MSU. The recipients are selected during Spring Semester 2023 to be awarded the following Fall Semester 2023. Recipients need to be enrolled for the Fall semester. Learn more and apply here. 

This fellowship supports a graduate student who graduated from a US public high school and demonstrated academic excellence in their undergraduate studies. Applicants may be pursuing a degree in education, healthcare, or engineering. Learn more and apply here. 

Recipients should demonstrate their commitment to fighting society’s “isms” – including sexism, racism, and ageism – and their motivation to seek opportunities to further their own intellectual progress and the cause of social justice. Student must be enrolled for Spring Semester 2023. Learn more and apply here. 

When it’s crunch time, we can push ourselves to the point of burnout, and once we’re truly burned out it may take a long time to recover. If we catch it early, we can stop ourselves from getting so overwhelmed that we shut down. We’ll talk about how to know when you’re getting close to burnout, and ways you can prevent it. Register here. 

JB Ashtin, a medical communications company, is seeking applicants for a fellowship program that will provide real-world experience to recent advanced-degree graduates from life sciences or healthcare profession programs who are exploring a career in medical communication. Learn more here. 

The annual Thanksgiving Day Unity Dinner organized by the Office of Cultural & Academic Transitions (OCAT) is being held on Thursday, Nov. 24 from noon-2 p.m. Location: Brody Hall Classrooms (1st Floor). This event provides a free Thanksgiving meal to all MSU students who remain on campus during the holiday. Student registration and volunteer sign-up can be found here. 

Facilitated by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, the goals of this two-session workshop are to explore and share inclusive teaching strategies that support student success and to revise/develop a teaching philosophy statement that integrates these ideas through a DEI lens. Please register at this link. 

In each workshop, we will practice unique scenarios to help participants develop skills to handle bias incidents, microaggressions, and discrimination that occur in STEM classrooms and workspaces. Participants are welcome to attend one or both sessions; each includes unique scenarios. Please register at this link. 

 

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Michigan State University Information Technology wants to ensure that you stay safe and secure online – which means more than just creating a strong password. You might not think your data is worth protecting, but your MSU credentials can be used as a gateway to important institutional data. The more aware you are, the more secure you will be. Visit go.msu.edu/cam221 to learn about the best ways to #SecureState.

The Graduate School has a new, streamlined process for requesting approval for recent MSU employees to remain on their graduate students' existing guidance committees. This process may be used if the employee has left or will be leaving MSU within 3 months of the day the form is submitted. Please direct questions to approvals@grd.msu.edu. Learn more here. 

Beginning on October 10^th  and through Election Day (November 8), MSU will host four rotating City of East Lansing Satellite City Clerk Offices for one-stop help on all things voter engagement.  Students, faculty and staff can take advantages of services normally provided at the City Clerk office, including:

• register to vote
• ask questions
• sign up for an absentee ballot
• pick up an absentee ballot
• vote in advance of Election Day

 Want to check out handy voting resources? Visit the MSUVote website.

The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) announced a new partnership with Michigan State University. MSU students, staff and faculty may join AWIS now free under the MSU institutional agreement. AWIS offers webinars, career resources and more. Learn more here. 

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has opened its 2023 competition for several fellowships that support either dissertation completion or junior faculty progress toward tenure. Learn more here. 

The Sci-Files is always looking for MSU graduate & professional students to speak about their research on the MSU student radio station, Impact 89FM - https://impact89fm.org/. The Sci-Files is an award-winning show with over 150 episodes highlighting the research of MSU students. Students from any discipline are welcome to email scifiles89fm@gmail.com if you are interested in being interviewed.  Check out the Sci-Files Podcasts here: https://impact89fm.org/the-sci-files/.

There is a new webpage that has been created on the grad.msu.edu website (https://grad.msu.edu/etd) that provides information related to Electronic Theses and Dissertation submissions. You can access deadline dates, formatting guides, and more at this link.

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.

 

Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, Michigan is recruiting a Director for the Mass Spectrometry and Metabolomics Core. We seek applicants for this tenure-stream Associate Professor position in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology who possess expertise in the isolation, analysis, and annotation of small molecules within complex biological matrices and/or extracts using mass spectrometry and/or complementary approaches such as NMR, x-ray crystallography, cryo-electron diffraction and/or other structural techniques including synthesis. The position will involve managerial leadership and consulting with facility users regarding best analysis practices. The ideal candidate will have core leadership experience and an established record of achievements in the novel use and/or development of mass spectrometry, with a strong publication record supported by external, competitively obtained funds. Evidence of collaboration in the annotation of novel metabolites extracted from diverse biological matrices is highly desirable. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, Michigan seeks applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the area of Mass Spectrometry and/or Metabolomics. Academic interests of candidates can be broad but are expected to possess expertise in the isolation, analysis, and annotation of small molecules within complex biological matrices and/or extracts using mass spectrometry and/or complementary approaches such as NMR, x-ray crystallography, cryo-electron diffraction and/or other structural techniques including chemical synthesis. Competitive applicants will have a record of achievement in the novel use and/or development of mass spectrometry. Commitments to collaboration, teaching, and the promotion of diversity and inclusion are expected. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

The DNA Unit at the Michigan State Police Department is currently looking for a full-time Forensic Scientist. At the trainee level, the incumbent, under the direction of a journeyman or unit supervisor, receives, examines, and analyzes evidence for the presence of biological material and subsequent DNA tests in connection with criminal cases in the Biology discipline.  The incumbent progresses through the series, gaining knowledge and skills, to work independently and become an expert able to testify in court. Learn more about the job posting and apply at this link. 

A Postdoctoral Fellow position is available in the Moon lab within the resource-rich Center for RNA Biomedicine and Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan. We are seeking an enthusiastic, team-oriented, and conscientious individual with a growth mindset who will lead a project on the molecular mechanisms of aging and genetic neurodegenerative diseases. The postdoctoral fellow will learn how to create human cell culture systems to detect and analyze RNA behavior using state-of-the-art fluorescence microscopy and RNA biology approaches. The postdoctoral fellow will be immersed within an international group of scientists in the CZI Neurodegeneration Challenge Network where they will have access to specialized career development and scientific training opportunities. This appointment is fully funded and is for an initial one year with potential to renew. The Moon Lab has been built to remove resource bottlenecks and facilitate scientific discovery for all team members. View the full job posting here. 

To apply: Please submit a cover letter including the word ‘translation’, CV, 1-2 page statement of research interests, and contact information for three references to smslmoon@umich.edu.

The College of Natural Science (NatSci) is currently recruiting 6-10 people to join our DEI Facilitation team to lead Cultural Competency for Personal, Organizational, and Community Change workshops. We are recruiting new facilitators who have done their own work on issues related to power, privilege, and oppression, are continuing to develop an equity lens, and have thought carefully about why they want to be facilitators.

Expectations of facilitator trainees:

• Be an MSU faculty, staff, specialist, postdoc/research associate, graduate student or administrator planning to stay at MSU for at least 3 years
• Attend all the Facilitator Training sessions in spring 2023
• Attend the 1-hour monthly Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) facilitator team meetings
• Assist current facilitators with one of the 4-session, 2.5 hr. Cultural Competency workshop series in May 2023 or fall 2023
• After completing training, facilitators are expected to co-facilitate one workshop series and one to two 90-min workshops per academic year on an ongoing basis 
• Workshops will be open to employees and graduate students in NatSci, as well as to members of co-facilitators’ units.

If you are interested in applying, please complete this application by 10/28/22. The form includes short-answer questions about your previous DEI experiences, as well as demographic questions. If you have any questions, please contact Kendra Pyle at kpyle@msu.edu.

The lab of Charles G. Hoogstraten, BMB, is seeking to hire a postdoc available to study to study the biophysics of RNA recognition and tertiary interface formation.

Depending on interest and experience, projects will involve some combination of: 

• NMR spin relaxation and CEST analyses of functional minor conformations (“invisible states”) in RNA recognition and catalysis; 
• Biophysical (including ITC and/or SPR) and biochemical analyses of RNA structure-dynamics-function relationships; and
• Advanced molecular dynamics techniques as applied to low-probability sampling and tertiary interface formation. 

In addition to performing research, the postdoc will be expected to mentor junior lab members, help maintain laboratory equipment and protocols, participate in collaborative projects, write up results for publication, and present results at regional and national meetings. See MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas (UNT) invites applications for a tenure-track position as an (1) Assistant Professor in Cell Biology and a tenure-track position as an (2) Assistant Professor in Microbiology and Microbial Genomics. UNT is a Hispanic-serving and Minority-serving public research university with a Research 1 (R1) Carnegie classification enrolling over 47,000 students across our system and awarding nearly 12,000 degrees each year. The official job postings can be found at https://jobs.untsystem.edu/postings/64484 and https://jobs.untsystem.edu/postings/64441. Initial review of applications will begin on October 28, 2022.

Description: In this Cincinnati, Ohio-based role you will report to a Category Technical leader, and will be the technical expert for flavor ingredients discovery of biomolecule (Protein/Carbohydrates/lipids/nuclei acids to small molecules) from natural sources such as botanicals, food items, enzymatic and fermentation processed products. You will contribute expert knowledge on macromolecule characterization, purification, structure/function, interaction with small molecules from natural source or enzymatic/fermentation process to discover the essential active ingredients which meet the business needs for taste & well-being. Conduct sensory guided separation and identification of taste active components using cutting edge chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Apply the fundamental principles to develop real-world solutions.
Education: PhD in Organic/Bio-organic Chemistry or a related field. 
Click this link to learn more about the position and apply! 

Description: DCDS anticipates the need for a long-term substitute capable of teaching biology and chemistry. The specifics of the teaching load will include sections of Biology (9th grade) and Introductory Chemistry (10th grade).
Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree. Advanced degree preferred. A genuine passion for mentoring teens and embracing the challenges and joys associated with that work is essential. 
Candidates should apply at this link. Please include 1) a cover letter, 2) a resume, and 3) three references.

Hanover College is currently looking to expand its science programs, particularly the Biology and the Chemistry programs. See current job listings here. 
BMB graduate Dr. Natalia Hubbs (hubbs@hanover.edu) is a faculty member at Hanover College and would be glad to answer any questions about these three tenure-track positions in Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry. 

Description: The ideal candidate would be an MS- or PhD-level molecular biologist who can develop assays for testing novel gene therapeutic agents in a new state-of-the-art facility in Oakland/Berkeley for an NIH funded biopharma startup. Expertise in standard molecular biology techniques (PCR, cloning, characterization, etc.) as well as cell culture techniques (e.g. flow cytometry) is a requirement. Excellent communication skills are highly prioritized.
Education: M.S. or Ph.D in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Bioengineering or closely related field from an accredited institution with 5 years or more of work experience. International applicants will be considered.
Contact: john.reville@vxbiosciences.com

VxBiosciences is a biotech startup located in Oakland, CA that is actively recruiting students from MSU. Their company is a spin out from the world-renowned UCSF Gladstone Institutes. They are currently developing a therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious diseases.

 

Bird, K.A., Jacobs, M. et. al.  “Parental origins of the cultivated tetraploid sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.).”  Plants People Planet. 
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Bibik, J.D., Weraduwage, S.M., Banerjee, A., Robertson, K., Espinoza-Corral, R., Sharkey, T.D., Lundquist, P.K., Hamberger, B.R.
        “Pathway engineering, re-targeting, and synthetic scaffolding improve the production of squalene in plants.”  ACS Synthetic
        Biology Vol. 11, Iss. 6 (2022).

Orlowska, K., Fling, R. R., Nault, R., Sink, W. J., Schilmiller, A. L., & Zacharewski, T. "Dioxin-elicited decrease in cobalamin
        redirects propionyl-CoA metabolism to the β-oxidation-like pathway resulting in acrylyl-CoA conjugate buildup." The Journal of
        biological chemistry 298(9),102301 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102301   

Rossi, M., Altea-Manzano, P., Demicco, M. et. al.  “PHGDH heterogeneity potentiates cancer cell dissemination and metastasis.”
        Nature 605, 747–753 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04758-2

Sadre, R., Anthony, T.M., Grabar, J.M. et al. Metabolomics-guided discovery of cytochrome P450s involved in pseudotropine-dependent
        biosynthesis of modified tropane alkaloids. Nat Commun 13, 3832 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31653-1.  

Tinney, K.R., Dover, J.A., Doore, S.M., and Parent, K.  “Shigella viruses Sf22 and KRT47 require outer membrane protein C for
        infection.”  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Biomembranes  Vol. 1864, Iss. 7 (2022).

See story on Sophia Lunt’s collaborative research on molecular workings of a certain form of metastatic Breast cancer in MSU Today.

Professor A. Daniel Jones recently contributed to a piece published online about treating PFAS-contaminated wastes. Check it out here!   

To provide feedback or submit content, please email bmb.web@msu.edu. Don't forget to follow us on social media!

College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 55, No. 40