BMI Weekly Newsletter  

April 1, 2024  

News:  

 

• Death of Dr. Subhendu Das.  Dr. Das trained as an immunologist and joined Dr. Pellett’s lab at the Cleveland Clinic as a postdoctoral fellow.  He became a Research Scientist at Wayne State University when Dr. Pellett joined WSU in 2007. Dr. Das was a major contributor to ongoing studies of how human cytomegalovirus manipulates the intracellular environment to enable efficient production of new virions.  In addition to being an excellent scientist, Dr. Das was an outstanding teacher, who helped new graduate students develop robust skills related to mammalian cell culture, working safely with infectious agents, and use of 3-dimensional confocal microscopy to reveal important aspects of virus biology.  Dr. Das worked carefully, efficiently, and with impact, including two well-cited Spotlight Articles in the Journal of Virology, and two journal cover images.  He directly trained a generation of scientists who passed through the Pellett lab, and indirectly trained, and continues to train, many others who learned from those who learned from him.  More recently, Dr. Das worked with a biotech company to develop heat-stable vaccine formulations that will not require expensive cold-chains to enable their use in economically challenged parts of the world.  Dr. Das died March 26.  He is survived by his wife and two sons.  
• The April BMI Faculty meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 2024, 11:30a.m., 7364 Scott Hall. Agenda and zoom link will be sent out closer to the date.   

This Week’s Events:  

• IFG Seminar: Tuesday, April 2, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m., Hudson-Weber Auditorium, 2^nd Floor. A light lunch will be provided for attendees.
  Speaker: Dohun Pyeon, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology, Michigan State University
  Title: “Human Papillomavirus-Driven Immune Evasion in Head and Neck Cancer”
  Dr. Pyeon’s research focuses on investigating virus-host interactions in HPV-driven cancer progression, particularly in the context of host immunity.       In particular, Dr. Pyeon investigates the mechanism used by HPV to dysregulate chemokines and membrane-associated ubiquitin ligases, enabling it       to evade host immune responses and promote HPV-positive head and neck cancers
   Hosted by: Jennifer Jacob, PhD, Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute
  
  Zoom Link: https://wayne-edu.zoom.us/j/99980284185?pwd=QTlXZncxaU1GK3RucStGMnh3eGQzQT09  
  Meeting ID: 999 8028 4185
  Password: 502387  
  
  For all in-person seminars, students need to attend in-person, and for zoom seminars, students need to attend via zoom, in order for attendance to      be counted. Student/speaker meeting after seminar held in the 6^th floor conference room 6HWCRC. 

• In-Person Journal Club: Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., room 3125 Scott Hall.
  Presenter: Dr. Grace Swanson
  Title: “TBA”  

Upcoming Events:  

• BMI Seminar: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 12:00 – 1:15 p.m., room 2268 Scott Hall
  Speaker: Jason Perry, Ph.D., Senior Director, Structural Biology & Chemistry, Gilead Sciences, San Francisco, CA
  Title: “An Atomistic View of Coronavirus Replication and Transcription” 
  Hosted by: Michael Muczynski michael.muczynski2@med.wayne.edu and the BMI Students  
  
  For all in-person seminars, students need to attend in-person, and for zoom seminars, students need to attend via zoom, in order for attendance to      be counted. Student/speaker lunch in room 7370 following this seminar. 

• Zoom Journal Club: Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., room 3125 Scott Hall.
  Presenter: Dr. Chandni Patel  
  Title: “TBA"
  Zoom Link: TBA

• BMI Faculty meeting, Thursday, April 11, 2024, 11:30 a.m., room 7364 Scott Hall. 

• BMI Seminar: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, speaker, Dr. Richard Pilsner, has been postponed. 

Campus News:  

• Campus Health Center: CHC 

• Office of President: Campus Resources Link for Student, Faculty and Staff Campus Resource Link