Kristen Johansen, Department Chair of BBMB, is among seven ISU researchers who are being honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for their work in agriculture, biological sciences, chemistry and engineering.  The seven are among 416 researchers from around the world who make up this year’s class of AAAS Fellows.

The BBMB scholarship committee is proud to announce the 2019-2020 Stupka Scholars:  Spydel Nardy (nominated by Dipa Sashital), Kayla Uthe (nominated by Olga Zabotina) and Sarah Zelle (nominated by Eric Underbakke).

The Rob Stupka Scholarship is the most prestigious award available to BBMB undergraduate students.  Stupka scholars are selected based on their research involvement, academic achievement, dedicated contributions and sustained leadership within the BBMB undergraduate program activities.  A faculty nomination is required for consideration. 

Stories of thanks for unforgettable faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The weather forecast for Ames on August 30th was sunny with a high of 80, a perfect day for a picnic at Emma McCarthy Lee Park for the 2018 BBMB Department Annual Picnic.  Bocce ball was added to this year's game agenda.  Fortunately, it didn't look like anyone was keeping score.  

Food from the grill and more games.  It looks like everyone had a good time.

Ken Dill (Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology - Stony Brook University), Ivet Bahar (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) and Robert Jernigan (Iowa State University) are the authors of a new book "Protein Actions - Principles and Modeling" just released this February by Garland Science. "Protein Actions" describes the basic principles of protein molecules as well as the methods of modeling them, including bioinformatics, physics-based computer simulations, and the tools of drug discovery.

Lauren Kueffer, a Ph.D. student in Biochemistry in Professor Andreotti’s research group, was the first graduate student in several years to invite and host a BBMB department seminar speaker.  Lauren invited Professor Thomas Smithgall to speak for the BBMB Fall 2018 Seminar Series on September 20, 2018.  Lauren, seen in the above photo introducing Professor Thomas Smithgall of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics of the University of Pittsburgh, was one of several students asked to invite a seminar speaker of their choice because of their outstanding attendance at last year’s BBMB department seminar series.  Professor Smithgall presented his seminar on "HIV-1 Nef: Biological Probe of Host Cell Kinase Regulation and Drug Target for HIV/AIDS".

Over 60 Iowa State faculty and staff will be honored during the university's annual awards ceremony on Friday, September 14, that will be held in the Memorial Union Great Hall.  Included in the awards are two BBMB members, Amy Andreotti, professor and Roy J. Carver Endowed Chair of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, and Raji Joseph, associate scientist, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology.

Five graduating seniors from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences were recognized at the college's convocation on December 16, 2017.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Spring Awards Program, honoring faculty and staff achievements, was held on March 8, 2018, in the Memorial Union Sun Room.  The list of award recipients can be viewed on the CALS On-line website.

Basil Nikolau, professor in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology and director of the Center for Metobolic Biology, and Matt Helmers, an Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering professor who holds the Dean’s Professorship in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, received the Dean Lee R. Kolmer Award for Excellence in Applied Research at the college’s fall convocation. The Dean Lee R. Kolmer Award is named for a former college dean and honors faculty or staff who have made significant contributions to improving the welfare of Iowans by the application of their research.

Faculty chosen for 2018 Dean's Emerging Faculty Leaders Awards are Adam Barb, Nell Gabiam, and Grant Arndt in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  These members were chosen based on their excellent research.  The awards are funded by donations from members of the LAS Dean's Advisory Council and LAS alumni.

Natalie Whitis, an Iowa State alumna, was recently awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides three years of full financial support during a five-year fellowship period.  The goal of the program is to recognize high-potential, early-career scientists and engineers and support their graduate research training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

For 20176, 64 employees reached 25 consecutive years of service at Iowa State University. For more than 100 years, the 25 Year Club has recognized faculty and staff who have worked at Iowa State a quarter century or more.  A honoree, Donald Beitz, started working at Iowa State in 1967 and is the sole 50-year honoree.

Every year the Division of Student Affairs celebrates the accomplishments of students who serve the community with their gifts of leadership.  For 2018, Bailey Mooney, a Biochemistry and Genetics student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from Middle, Iowa, was presented the Kappa Alpha Theta High Flyer Award, a donor established award first given in 2011.  The award is given to invest in a woman student who is an outstanding undergraduate leader at Iowa State University.  The award recognizes a senior with a minimum GPA of 3.50 who has demonstrated exemplary leadership skills.

Daniel Kramer, a second year Ph.D. student in Professor Stone Chen’s research group, has been awarded the Print and Grace Powers Hudson Scholarship in Agriculture by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for the 2018-19 academic year.  This scholarship of $1,000 is designated for students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences pursuing a Ph.D. or M.S. degree.

The Bailey award is given to faculty whose research is innovative and not only increases fundamental knowledge, but also has practical applications. This year, Thomas Bobik, professor of microbiology, received a three-year, $137,697 award to explore the use of methanobactin as a way to remove copper in human tissue as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.  

The Iowa State Daily takes a look at the wearing of the hijab by women of the Muslim faith.

Iowa State University researchers gain new insight into the human immune system by studying the material left over after blood donations.  The results published in a peer-reviewed journal, Journal of Biological Chemistry, illuminates the process of how the human body fights off harmful bacteria.

Please join us for a special event celebrating the dedication of the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology on Friday, March 30th at 3 p.m. to be held in the Molecular Biology Building Atrium.