Robertson is being honored for her work advancing the experimental and computational study of membrane protein oligomerization in membranes, including identifying critical driving forces and regulation of stability by ions and lipids.

For more information, click here.

Congratulations to Jeramia Ory’s selection as a new member of the Washington University School of Medicine Academy of Educators! This achievement acknowledges significant contributions to education and recognizes their valuable place as a central contributor to the education mission of the School of Medicine.

The Academy of Educators received many applications for membership in the Academy. Each application was reviewed by one external and two internal peer reviewers. Ory’s application, letter(s) of support, CV and supporting documentation were scored by these three peers using our specific standards and criteria for membership, as delineated in the application review matrix. (more…)

Featured are six individuals chosen for the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics’ Summer Undergraduate Group Experience (SURGE) program. Gavin Ghafoori (Dr. Hema Adhikari’s Lab), Alec Garasimowicz (Dr. Andrea Soranno’s Lab), Maxine Akunnakwe and Baika Erdenepurev (Dr. Natalie Niemi’s Lab), and Kylie Villadolid (Dr. Eric Galburt’s Lab) showcase their remarkable lab research during the annual SURGE poster session. These photos encapsulate the culmination of their dedicated 8-week journey of lab experience and study.

You can click here to view photos from the event.

Dr. Jin Ye is a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Dr. Weikai Li in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Ye received a B.A. in Biotechnology from Northeast Agricultural University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Science and Technology of China, where his work focused on the mechanistic and functional studies of Ankyrin-G mediated protein complex in neuronal polarity maintenance and signal transmission.

During his postdoctoral training at the Li lab, his work mainly focuses on structural and mechanistic studies of vesicular neurotransmitter transporters. (more…)

Discovery of Human PIM Kinase Inhibitors as a Class of Anthelmintic Drugs to Treat Intestinal Nematode Infections.

Banas V, Elfawal MA, Rosa BA, Mahoney M, Kauffman J, Goetz E, Chen P, Aroian RV, Mitreva M, Janetka JW.

ACS Infect Dis. 2025 Jan 19. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.4c00864. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 39828994

Das M, Hile SE, Brewster J, Boer JL, Bezalel-Buch R, Guo Q, Yang W, Burgers PM, Eckert KA, Freudenreich CH. “DNA polymerase zeta can efficiently replicate structures formed by AT/TA repeat sequences and prevent their deletion. ” Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Dec 27:gkae1254. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae1254. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39727171(Abstract)

Henze E, Ehrlich JJ, Robertson JL, Gelsleichter E, Kawate T. “The C-terminal activating domain promotes pannexin 1 channel opening.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Dec 17;121(51):e2411898121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2411898121. Epub 2024 Dec 13. PMID: 39671183. (Abstract)

Walker EC, Javati S, Todd EM, Matlam JP, Lin X, Bryant M, Krone E, Ramani R, Chandra P, Green TP, Anaya EP, Zhou JY, Alexander KA, Tong RS, Yuasi L, Boluarte S, Yang F, Greenberg L, Nerbonne JM, Greenberg MJ, Clemens RA, Philips JA, Wilson LD, Halabi CM, DeBosch BJ, Blyth CC, Druley TE, Kazura JW, Pomat WS, Morley SC. “Novel coenzyme Q6 genetic variant increases susceptibility to pneumococcal disease.” Nat Immunol. 2024 Dec;25(12):2247-2258. doi: 10.1038/s41590-024-01998-4. Epub 2024 Nov 4. PMID: 39496954 (Abstract)

Ernst M, Mahoney-Kruszka R, Zelt NB, Robertson JL. “A roadmap to cysteine specific labeling of membrane proteins for single-molecule photobleaching studies.” Methods. 2024 Nov 23;234:21-35. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2024.10.013. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39586432.(Abstract)

Gao M, Chen L, Yang J, Dong S, Cao Q, Cui Z, Dong Y, Liu H, Shen Y, Yang H, Hao Z, Zhang L, Li W, Tie JK, Shen G. “Multimodal mechanisms of pathogenic variants in the signal peptide of FIX leading to hemophilia B”. Blood Adv. 2024 Aug 13;8(15):3893-3905. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023012432. PMID: 38820490

Matthew W Mahoney, Jonathan Helander, Anoopjit S Kooner, Mariah Norman, Vishnu C Damalanka, Paolo De Bona, Paulina Kasperkiewicz, Wioletta Rut, Marcin Poreba, Maithri M Kashipathy, Kevin P Battaile, Scott Lovell, Anthony J O’Donoghue, Charles S Craik, Marcin Drag & James W Janetka (2024). “Use of protease substrate specificity screening in the rational design of selective protease inhibitors with unnatural amino acids: Application to HGFA, matriptase, and hepsin” Protein Sci. 2024 Aug;33(8):e5110. doi: 10.1002/pro.5110. (Abstract)

Michael J Greenberg (2024). “Super Relaxed or Super Stressed: Modeling Length-Dependent Activation in Cardiac Muscle” Biophys J.2024 Jul 26:S0006-3495(24)00492-2. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2024.07.033. (Abstract)

Featured are six individuals chosen for the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics’ Summer Undergraduate Group Experience (SURGE) program. Gavin Ghafoori (Dr. Hema Adhikari’s Lab), Alec Garasimowicz (Dr. Andrea Soranno’s Lab), Maxine Akunnakwe and Baika Erdenepurev (Dr. Natalie Niemi’s Lab), and Kylie Villadolid (Dr. Eric Galburt’s Lab) showcase their remarkable lab research during the annual SURGE poster session. These photos encapsulate the culmination of their dedicated 8-week journey of lab experience and study.

You can click here to view photos from the event.

On May 20th, 2024, the BMB Department held its retreat at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Several members of the department gave presentations on what they are working on in their lab.

You can click here to view photos from the event.

August 31st, 2022 – The departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and Cell Biology & Physiology had lunch and played a softball game together.

The final score was BMB 17, CB&P 14!

You can click here to view photos from the event.

On April 28th, 2021, the Department hosted a special session entitled “Evidence-based Practices that Support Mental and Emotional Well-being”. Mrs. Krista Jarvis, Clinical Case Manager and Program Manager in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University, walks the group through five different evidence-based practices for our mental and emotional well-being. These practices are designed to help each individual feel empowered to utilize a variety of simple techniques for stress-reduction in these challenging times.

If you would like to view this, just click here.

January 28th, 2024 – Alex Holehouse, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, received an NSF CAREER award. This five-year award from the National Science Foundation, is entitled “Evolutionary Principles of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins.”

January 1st, 2024 – Alex Holehouse, PhD Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, along with Joe Corbo, MD, PhD, in the Department of Pathology and Immunology, received a new two-year grant award from the Hope Center entitled “Targeting a transcriptional co-repressor to prevent photoreceptor degeneration.”

September 1st, 2023 – Alex Holehouse, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, received a 2023 NIH New Innovator Award. This five-year award from the National Institute of Health, administered through the National Cancer Institute, is entitled “Uncovering the regulatory logic of gene expression encoded by disordered regions.”.

September 11th, 2023 – James Janetka, PhD, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics along with Makedonka Mitreva, PhD, Medicine of Medicine and Genetics, received a new four-year grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, for their research entitled “Innovative therapeutic strategies to support elimination of river blindness”.

August 11th, 2023 – Natalie M. Niemi, PhD, Assistant Professor in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, received a new four-year grant award from Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Core Programs of the National Science Federation for her research entitled “The role of protein phosphorylation in the mitochondrial matrix in determining mitophagic selectivity”.