The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) recently highlighted the BBMB Graduate Certificate (CRT) in Biochemistry program as an option for individuals who wish to broaden their expertise, but do not have the time to dedicate to graduate school. Read more

The Graduate Certificate in Biochemistry program officially began in 2018.  The two CRT programs offered, the Graduate Certificate and the Concurrent B.S./Graduate Certificate, are designed to provide a mechanism for formal recognition of focused graduate study in the specialized area of biochemistry. No matter what the student’s goals, the online graduate certificate provides flexibility for the next step in their education and career.

Warren Rouse, a Biochemistry Ph.D. student in Professor Walter Moss’ research group has been awarded a five-year Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31).  This award is to enable promising predoctoral students with potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist while conducting graduate research.  When congratulating Warren, Dr. Kristen Johansen, Professor and BBMB Department Chair, said to her knowledge, “this is the first F31 awarded in the department, and a very prestigious and competitive accomplishment.”

Earlier this week, 52 individuals and teams at ISU learned they received one of 12 COVID-19 Exceptional Effort Awards, announced in October to recognize the extraordinary and innovative ways Iowa Staters strived to overcome the challenges of the pandemic. Ryan Andrews, a Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry in the lab of Professor Walter Moss, was among four exceptional graduate students to receive a Graduate Student Research Impact Award “for important discoveries in the functional annotation of the SARS-CoV-2 genome”.

Six Iowa State researchers named AAAS Fellows for advancing science

Posted Nov 24, 2020 8:59 am

AMES, Iowa – The American Association for the Advancement of Science is honoring six Iowa State University researchers for work in engineering, math, and biological sciences.

The six Iowa State researchers have been named to this year’s class of 489 AAAS Fellows “because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications,” the association announced today.

The six Iowa State researchers and their award citations are:

A mission against malaria

There are individuals in this world who emphatically boast and bluster about their accomplishments. Then there are others, like Madeline Farringer (’21 biochemistry), who quietly, modestly initiate positive change with little to no fanfare.

BBMB Assistant Professor Walter Moss has received an Eli Lilly Research Award to fund a collaborative research project with Iowa State University scientists researching innovative methods for finding previously overlooked targets for drug therapies in RNA. The $123,000 award supports the work of assistant professor Moss and his team with Lilly scientists.

By: Tayler Reynolds

Katherine Johnson
Hometown: Mendota Heights, Minnesota
Job title and company: Research Technologist at Mayo Clinic

Katherine Johnson (’17 agricultural biochemistry), research technologist at Mayo Clinic, offers an update on her current research, how her position has been affected by the global pandemic and offers advice for undergrads.

Johnson’s passion for biochemistry lead her to form meaningful relationships with her undergraduate adviser Distinguished Professor of Agriculture Donald Beitz and other professors

Dr. Puneet Juneja will start at ISU on July 1, 2020, and will oversee the new Cryo-EM Facility that will be located in the renovated lab space of 0112-0114 Molecular Biology Building.  

The Roy J. Carver Trust grant will help advance the second phase of the Iowa State University (ISU) Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology’s Initiative in Biomolecular Structure and enable the purchase of a state-of-the-art cryo-transmission electron microscope equipped with a direct electron detector.

 

Undergraduate students of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (BBMB), Madeline Farringer and Behnia Rezazedah, were selected as 2020 Goldwater Scholars.

The list of BBMB students selected as Goldwater Scholars now include:  

Ryan Andrews, Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry, is a recipient of the 2020-2021 Brown Graduate Fellowship award from Iowa State’s Office of the Vice President for Research.  He is one of 14 outstanding students from across Iowa State to receive this year’s award that includes $10,000 in institutional funding.

Two BBMB graduating seniors, Olivia Gray (Biochemistry S20) and Jacqueline Ehrlich (Agricultural Biochemistry S20), have been selected to receive the 2020 Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award by the ISU Alumni Association Awards Review and Selection Committee. Only seven seniors are recognized for this award in 2020, and it is a very impressive honor for two of the recipients to be BBMB students. 

The Alumni Association established the Wallace E. Barron Award 52 years ago to recognize outstanding seniors who display high character, outstanding achievement in academics and university/community activities, and promise for continuing these exemplary qualities as alumni. The 188 past awardees are fulfilling the spirit of this award by staying involved with Iowa State University in numerous ways.

AMES, Iowa – The National Academy of Inventors is adding Iowa State University’s Balaji Narasimhan and Guru Rao to its roster of academy fellows.

The academy announced today it is recognizing Narasimhan – an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, the Vlasta Klima Balloun Faculty Chair and the director of Iowa State’s Nanovaccine Institute – and Rao – an associate vice president for research – for demonstrating “a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.”

The academy’s announcement specifically cited Narasimhan’s work in nanomedicines and biomedical engineering; Rao was cited for his work in biochemistry.

Sarah Zelle, "Expermenting with Success," featured in LAS Link

"I knew that my place was in a lab. I want to be on the front lines of making discoveries that could eventually lead to better treatments for patients.”

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) evaluators have completed the review of Iowa State University's Fall 2019 program applications and have awarded full accreditation.

ASBMB accreditation is a national, independent, outcomes-based evaluation mechanism that recognizes excellence in B.S. or B.A. degree programs in biochemistry and molecular biology and related disciplines. Accreditation assists BMB educators in meeting the growing demand from collegiate accrediting bodies, university administrators and other stakeholders for regular outcomes assessment. Independent evaluation provides an objective tool for pinpointing strengths and weaknesses in their curriculum.

The Iowa State community will honor an estimated 2,231 Fall 2019 graduating students during two commencement ceremonies this weekend in Hilton Coliseum and seven BBMB graduate students will be among those graduating.  The Graduate College's ceremony, during which an estimated 107 doctoral and 245 master's candidates will receive their diplomas, begins at 7:00 p.m. Friday, December 20.  Congratulations to all graduates.

Troy Bunch, MS
MCDB with Professor Basil Nikolau

Brenden Hawk, PhD
Biochemistry with Professor Yeon-Kyun Shin

Taylor Herring, MS
Microbiology with Professor Thomas Bobik

Kashyap Patel, PhD
MCDB with Professor Adam Barb

Reuben Peters, professor in Iowa State University’s Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (BBMB), was selected as a Roy J. Carver Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology by Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Daniel J. Robison, Endowed Dean’s Chair of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) celebrated exemplary faculty and staff during LAS Convocation September 9, 2019 at the ISU Memorial Union. Dipa Sashital received the LAS Award for Mid-Career Achievement in Research. Tracie Hennen-Bierwagen received the LAS P&S Research Award.

The new students are,

William Agbemafle, PhD rotation student John Beck, PhD direct admit to Professor Joshua Beck's research group in B M S Daniel Burns, PhD rotation student Jennifer Coats, PhD rotation student Max Keller, Masters direct admit to Professor Scott Nelson's research group Giang Nguyen, PhD rotation student Tania Palhano Zanela, PhD rotation student Jake Peterson, PhD rotation student Warren Rouse, PhD rotation student Dirk Winkelman, PhD rotation student Pengxin Yang, PhD rotation student

 

Denis Tamiev, a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry in Professor Nigel Reuel's (CB&E) research group, advanced to the semifinals held on August 16 of the Iowa State University pitch-offs at the Iowa State Fair. While he did not make it to the finals, he is "very grateful for this opportunity to share information about the projects that I am working on. In addition, I am also very grateful for all of the support that I have received from my mentors and people who helped me along the way".  Denis participated in CYstarters this summer and his team's final presentation was selected as one of the best pitches and recognized with a $1,000 gift.