BMI Weekly Newsletter  

April 17, 2023 

Note from the Chair: 

A week of reviews. 

This week, our department will take part in two important external reviews.  From Monday through Wednesday, the School of Medicine will undergo an accreditation review by the Liason Committee for Medical Education (LCME).  The review will examine a broad range of issues that connect to the School of Medicine: the courses our faculty take part in, the diverse forms of clinical training we provide, and many other things that connect to our ability to provide state-of-the-art medical education.   

Thursday and Friday, it will get more personal for most of us, with in-person reviews of our four graduate programs: our MS and PhD programs in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and in Immunology & Microbiology.  We will be reviewed by two panels, one consisting of two chairs of similar departments at other institutions (external examiners) and a second panel consisting of three members of the Wayne State faculty.  Many of you are already aware of sessions on Thursday that have been arranged for student and faculty input.  This is an opportunity to let the reviewers know about things we do well, and things we might do better. 

News: 

Dr. Withey, Fulbright Scholar.  Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Withey, who was recently selected as a Fulbright Scholar for India, which will enable him to continue his long-standing productive studies of Vibrio cholerae (causative agent of cholera) with investigators at the CMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases in Kolkata India. Sponsored by the US Department of State, Fulbright scholars play critical roles in U.S. public diplomacy, establishing long-term relationships between people and nations. Alumni include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts in academia and many other fields across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Dr. Withe is already on this distinguished list, having been the recipient of a previous Fulbright Fellowship. 

Dr. Sebzda’s new grant. A big congratulations also to Dr. Eric Sebzda, who was recently awarded a grant from the American Cancer Society to identify and target a KLF2-dependent T cell event for treatment of prostate cancer. 

Events This Week:  

Journal Club: Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 11:30am, 3125 Scott Hall  

• Presented by: IM PhD student, Ravipaul Singh 
• Title: “Restructured Membrane Contacts Rewire Organelles for Human Cytomegalovirus Infection” 
• Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Withey 

Upcoming Events: 

The Vera Faye Righthand Lecture for Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 11:30am-12:30pm has been POSTPONED.  It will be rescheduled at a later date. 

M.S. Dissertation Notice: Thursday, April 27, 2023, in room 2268:

• 10:45am – BMB M.S. Student, Joseph Engel, “In silico lead optimization and screening against the SARS-CoV main protease.” 
• 12:30pm – BMB M.S. Student, Olivia Haskin, “In silico drug discovery methods for SARS-CoV Papain-like protease.”  
  • Mentor: Dr. Ladislau Kovari 

Next Immunology Focus Group: Tuesday, May 2, 2023, 12:00-1:00pm via Zoom 

• Speaker: Grace Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School. 
• Dr. Chen’s laboratory studies the host-microbiome interactions in mouse models of colon cancer. Her work with murine models has demonstrated that perturbations in the gut microbiome can directly contribute to the development of colon cancer and that dysbiosis can alter the tumor microenvironment. A specific interest of the Chen Lab is to identify tumor-suppressive or tumor-promoting bacteria, dietary factors that influence colorectal cancer risk, and bacteria that contribute to rectal cancer treatment responses.  
• Title: “The potential for gut bacteria as adjunctive therapies for colorectal cancer prevention and treatment” 
• Hosted by: Jennifer Jacob, PhD, Department of Oncology, Wayne State University 
• Zoom link: 
  • Meeting ID: 970 6745 4598 
  • Password: 225029 

The Michigan Physiological Society (MPS) will be hosting their 10^th annual research symposium at Alma College on June 26 & 27, 2023.  See attachment for details. 

Return to Campus:     

Recent Updates for Campus Conditions and Requirements as of April 17, 2023

Campus Daily Screener link

From Office of President Wilson:

Resources with contact numbers to support, guide and assist you while on campus.  

Additional resources.