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…)

Dr. Brent Scott is a second-year postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Greenberg and is currently funded by the Pediatric Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Training Program. Dr. Scott received his B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in Sports Medicine from Belmont University (Nashville, TN) and was a research assistant for Dr. Ted Towse in the Neuromuscular Physiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He then received both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst working in the Muscle Biophysics Laboratory of Dr. Ned Debold where he studied the basis of energy transduction by myosin and the molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle fatigue. (more…)

Richard M Searfoss, Rashmi Karki, Zongtao Lin, Faith Robison & Benjamin A Garcia (2023). “An Optimized and High-Throughput Method for Histone Propionylation and Data-Independent Acquisition Analysis for the Identification and Quantification of Histone Post-translational Modifications” J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2023 Nov 1;34(11):2508-2517. doi: 10.1021/jasms.3c00223. Epub 2023 Oct 18. (Abstract)

Yixuan Xie, Francisca N. De Luna Vitorino, Ye Chen, Joanna K. Lempiäinen, Chenfeng Zhao, Robert T. Steinbock, Zongtao Lin, Xingyu Liu, Emily Zahn, Arabella L. Garcia, Matthew D. Weitzmancd & Benjamin A Garcia (2023). “SWAMNA: a comprehensive platform for analysis of nucleic acid modifications” Chem Commun. 2023, 59(83):12499-12502. (Abstract)

Peder J Lund, Leah A Gates, Marylene Leboeuf, Sarah A Smith, Lillian Chau, Mariana Lopes, Elliot S Friedman, Yedidya Saiman, Min Soo Kim, Clarissa A Shoffler, Christopher Petucci, C David Allis, Gary D Wu & Benjamin A Garcia (2022). “Stable isotope tracing in vivo reveals a metabolic bridge linking the microbiota to host histone acetylation” Cell Rep. 2022 Dec 13;41(11):111809. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111809. (Abstract)

Yixuan Xie, Kevin A Janssen, Alessandro Scacchetti, Elizabeth G Porter, Zongtao Lin, Roberto Bonasio & Benjamin A Garcia (2022). “Permethylation of Ribonucleosides Provides Enhanced Mass Spectrometry Quantification of Post-Transcriptional RNA Modifications” Anal Chem. 2022 May 24;94(20):7246-7254. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c00471. Epub 2022 May 12. (Abstract)

John B Wojcik, Dylan M Marchione, Simone Sidoli, Anissa Djedid, Amanda Lisby, Jacek Majewski & Benjamin A Garcia (2019). “Epigenomic Reordering Induced by Polycomb Loss Drives Oncogenesis but Leads to Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors” Cancer Res. 2019 Jul 1;79(13):3205-3219. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-3704. Epub 2019 Mar 21. (Abstract)

Simone Sidoli, Yekaterina Kori, Mariana Lopes, Zuo-Fei Yuan, Hee Jong Kim, Katarzyna Kulej, Kevin A Janssen, Laura M Agosto, Julia Pinheiro Chagas da Cunha, Andrew J Andrews & Benjamin A Garcia (2019). “One minute analysis of 200 histone posttranslational modifications by direct injection mass spectrometry” Genome Res. 2019 Jun;29(6):978-987. doi: 10.1101/gr.247353.118. Epub 2019 May 23. (Abstract)

Anumita Saha-Shah, Melody Esmaeili, Simone Sidoli, Hyojeong Hwang, Jing Yang, Peter S Klein & Benjamin A Garcia (2019). “Single Cell Proteomics by Data-Independent Acquisition To Study Embryonic Asymmetry in Xenopus laevis” Anal Chem. 2019 Jul 16;91(14):8891-8899. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b00327. Epub 2019 Jun 27. (Abstract)

Natarajan V Bhanu, Simone Sidoli, Zuo-Fei Yuan, Rosalynn C Molden & Benjamin A Garcia (2019). “Regulation of proline-directed kinases and the trans-histone code H3K9me3/H4K20me3 during human myogenesis” J Biol Chem. 2019 May 17;294(20):8296-8308. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.004977. Epub 2019 Mar 14. (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”.