BMI Weekly News - March 17, 2025

News:

• Congratulations to Michael Muczynski for successfully defending his dissertation, “Biochemical, Structural, and Drug Design Studies of Sars-Cov-2 3CL Protease”.  Advisor: Dr. Ladislau Kovari
• Congratulations to BMI Associate Professor, Dr. Kevin Theis, Ph.D., on his important contributions to the holobiont biology movement, which has arrived at a ‘watershed’ moment for science, as described in a recent issue of Science, the journal of the American Association for Advancement of Science.  Dr. Theis co-authored the article:  “The disciplinary matrix of holobiont biology: Uniting life’s seen and unseen realms guides a conceptual advance in research,”
• Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR). The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually by eliminating duplicative efforts across the agency, making the review process more efficient.  NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Immunology, Inflammation, Infectious Disease and Oncology mini-symposium: Wednesday, March 26, Noon to 3:00pm in the Blue Lecture Hall. Complimentary pizza lunch will be provided.  Please register in advance at https://rsvp.wayne.edu/immunology-inflammation-and-infectious-disease-and-oncology-symposiums.

This Week’s Events:

• BMI Seminar: Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 11:30a.m., 2268 Scott Hall

Speaker: Liman Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Van Andel Institute

Title: “Navigating Sensitivity and Stability: Exploring the Structural Basis of Inflammasome Pathways”

Hosted by: Dr. Yuan He yhe@med.wayne.edu

• Journal Club: Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 11:30a.m., 3125 Scott Hall

Presenter: IM PhD Student, Abiola Abolade

Title: “Mixtures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alter sperm methylation and long-term reprogramming of offspring liver and fat transcriptome”

Upcoming Events:

• Next BMI Seminar: Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 11:30a.m., 2268 Scott Hall

Speaker: Anne-Marie Krachler, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular genetics, McGovern Medical School, UTHealth, Houston

Title: “TBA”

Hosted by: Dr. Jeffrey Withey jwithey@med.wayne.edu 

• Next Journal Club: Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 11:30a.m., 3125 Scott Hall

Two Presentations:

• First Presenter: BMB MS Student, Peter Haworth
  Title: TBA
  Advisor: Dr. Ladislau Kovari kovari@med.wayne.edu
• Second Presenter: BMB MS Student, Stephanie Taylor
  Title: TBA
  Advisor: Dr. Maik Hüttemann
• Next Immunology Focus Group Seminar: Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 12:00-1:00p.m., Hudson-Webber 2^nd Floor, Wertz Auditorium

Speaker: Alan J. Tackett, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Deputy Director, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Executive Associate Dean for Basic Research, College of Medicine, Scharlau Family Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, Director, NIH-IDeA National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics, Director, NIH Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Title: “Uncovering Molecular Targets to Overcome Therapy Resistance in Metastatic Melanoma”

Hosted by: Wei-Zen Wei, Ph.D., Herrick Endowed Chair of Cancer Research, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Wayne State University

Sponsored by: Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Henry Ford Health System

Campus News:

• Campus Health Center: https://health.wayne.edu/
• Office of President: Campus Resources link for Students, Faculty and Staff, Campus Resource Link