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.

Dipali Sashital is passionate about her research uncovering the molecular makeup of bacterial immune systems. She also thrives on instilling a love of biochemistry in undergraduate and graduate students. Her dedication to both recently paid off.

An article written by Julien Roche and Luan Nguyen is featured on the cover of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance. The article entitled, "High-pressure NMR techniques for the Study of Protein Dynamics, Folding and Aggregation" can be viewed and downloaded at Science Direct.

 

Denis Tamiev, a graduate student in biochemistry in Professor Nigel Reuel's (CB&E) research group, was selected to join a cohort of 15 entrepreneurs who will participate in the CYstarters program this summer. The 11–week intensive program, coordinated by the Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, gives young entrepreneurs the time, funding, network of mentors, and skill-set development to start something while in college. Denis's company, AI for Microscopy, creates artificial intelligence solutions within microscopy to improve cellular counting and classification in healthcare.

Reuben Peters, professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, was among 19 faculty members of Iowa State University to be awarded the 2019 Exemplary Faculty Mentors Award on May 2nd in recognition of faculty mentors who go above and beyond the formal expectations of Iowa State’s mentoring program.  Winners are nominated by their “mentees” for the positive impact they have made in their lives and careers.

 

Liza Alexander, a Ph.D. candidate in MCDB, and Naazneen Sofeo, a Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry, both graduate students in Professor Basil Nikolau’s research group, are headed off to internships in industry for the summer.  Liza will be an intern with Dr. Antony Kinney, Research Director of Corteva Agriscience (formerly DuPont Pioneer) in Johnston, Iowa, to work on metabolic engineering to improve soybean composition.  Naazneen will be an intern with REG Life Sciences in San Francisco, California, a subsidiary of Renewable Energy Group, the country’s leading producer and distributor of advanced biofuels.

Dr. Scott Nelson, Associate Professor of the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology, has been elected to represent the Biological and Agricultural Sciences division for the Graduate Council from Fall 2019 to Spring 2022.  

Dr. Dipali Sashital has been named a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar.   The Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program provides an unrestricted research grant of $100,000 to support the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences. The criteria for selection include an independent body of scholarship attained in the early years of their appointment and a demonstrated commitment to education, signaling the promise of continuing outstanding contributions to both research and teaching. 

 

Iowa State University and the University of Iowa new seed grant program has awarded seed grants to help investigators build teams, collect data, grow projects and win grants. 

The new seed grant is one of 15 internal funding programs offered by the Office of Research and Economic Development at Iowa and by the Vice President for Research (VPR) office at Iowa State University. An overview of the programs is available on the VPR office's Grants Hub website. 

For the past 10 years, Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have received a great deal of research attention as a nutritional food supplement because of their many demonstrated and putative benefits for human health. 

Several BBMB undergraduate students are among the 62 students representing 30 different majors from Iowa State University at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, the largest undergraduate research conference in the U.S., taking place this week, April 11-13th, at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine, Iowa, has committed more than $3.5 million to transform biomolecular research at Iowa State University (ISU) to advance the second phase of the ISU Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology’s Initiative in Biomolecular Structure, making ISU a leader in advanced electron microscopy technology.

Daniel Kramer, a Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry, has been awarded the 2019-2020 Brown Graduate Fellowship in the amount of $10,000.  The purpose of the fellowship program, administered by the Office of the Vice President of Research of Iowa State University, is to assist outstanding students to advance ISU research within their graduate program.  Daniel’s outstanding credentials have positioned him as  one of twelve outstanding students from across Iowa State receiving this award.

Ryan Andrews and Daniel Kramer, Ph.D. candidates in Biochemistry, have each been awarded a Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology Graduate Student Award for 2019.  This award is to recognize meritorious performance by a third-year graduate student.  Their nominations made clear how they each embody the qualities necessary to become a top researcher and scientific colleague.

The BBMB Graduate Learning Community monthly lunch meeting included an ugly holiday sweater contest.  A photo of the winner can be found at the Graduate Learning Community website.