Category: All News

Jasmine is a recent graduate in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. She defended on April 21st, 2023. She did her PhD thesis work in the lab of Dr. Andrea Soranno, where she studied how sequence composition of intrinsically disordered regions within a protein can affect interactions with both proteins and nucleic acids using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy.

Jasmine joined the BBSB program after receiving her B.S. from Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey with a major in biochemistry & molecular biology and a minor in holistic health. Prior to starting her Ph.D. work, Jasmine studied polymer synthesis and how polymer interactions contribute to optimized hydrogel formation. (more…)

Ankita did her MS in Medical Biochemistry at Sardar Patel Medical College in India. She joined DRSCB program through the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University in Saint Louis in 2018 and is pursuing PhD in the lab of Dr. Eric Galburt in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics.

Ankita’s graduate research is focused on characterizing the activation mechanisms of a helicase and DNA repair protein called UvrD1 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She is using quantitative assays like analytical ultracentrifugation to determine the oligomeric status and stopped flow kinetics to measure DNA unwinding by UvrD1 in presence and absence of accessory factors.

Yixuan (Axe) Xie, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Dr. Benjamin Garcia, where he focused on developing MS-based methods to characterize protein and RNA modifications for understanding their biological roles. He is also interested in investigating the interactions network involved in glycoproteins. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis, under the mentorship of Dr. Carlito Lebrilla. During his Ph.D., he established bioorthogonal tools to investigate the glycan-mediated interactions on the cell surface, as well as glycoproteomic and glycomic methods to monitor the cell glycosylation state during significant biological events.

Anna Damato is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Neuroscience in the Department of Biology. Anna was nominated for this award by her thesis mentor, Dr. Erik Herzog, in whose lab she is connecting the bench to the bedside by investigating mechanisms of glioblastoma brain tumor circadian rhythms and how they impact the efficacy of chemotherapy. Anna uses real-time bioluminescence reporters of circadian gene expression to analyze the effects of timed treatment, with the goal of maximizing anti-tumor effects and minimizing side effects of chemotherapy in treating an otherwise dismal disease. In addition to cellular and molecular studies, Anna collaborates with physicians at the Siteman Cancer Center to assess benefits of timed chemotherapy in patients with brain cancer. (more…)

Congratulations to Dr. Jim Janetka who was named a Senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Janetka was named among six researchers from Washington University in St. Louis.

Richard Axelbaum, PhD; David T. Curiel, MD, PhD; James W. Janetka, PhD; Gregory M. Lanza, MD, PhD; Robi D. Mitra, PhD; and Jennifer N. Silva, MD — are being recognized for their success in patents, licensing and commercialization, and for producing technologies that have the potential to have a significant impact on the welfare of society. (more…)

Jennette received her bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. In 2016 she joined the Plant and Microbial Biosciences Program in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University. She is completing her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Haswell, where she works to elucidate mechanical signal transduction pathways in plants. Using a combination of proteomic and genetic screens in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, Jennette uncovered a novel connection between a plasma membrane mechanosensitive ion channel, MSL10, and proteins that tether the ER and the plasma membrane together. She has shown that MSL10 influences the morphology of ER-plasma membrane contact sites. (more…)

Ryan went to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities for undergrad where he completed a double major in Plant Biology and Genetics, Cell Biology, & Development. Ryan joined the Plant and Microbial Biosciences program in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis in 2017. Ryan joined the lab of Dr. Lucia Strader for his thesis work. Upon the Strader Lab moving to Duke in 2020, Ryan became co-advised by Dr. Alex Holehouse. Ryan’s thesis work covered a wide-range of areas including plant hormone crosstalk, biomolecular condensates in plants, and the role of protein disorder in condensate formation. Ryan finished his Ph.D. in December 2021. (more…)

Drs. Jim Janetka and Makedonka Mitreva received two grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling more than $5.5 million to develop new treatments for two types of devastating parasitic infections common in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America: river blindness and intestinal worm infections.

You can read the press release by clicking here (medicine.wustl.edu).

Melanie Ernst is a fourth-year graduate student in the Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. She is completing her Ph.D. thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Janice Robertson, Associate Professor in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics department, where she uses single-molecule techniques to study the folding of ion channels in membranes.

Melanie joined the BBSB program after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biological Chemistry from Mannheim University of Applied Sciences in Mannheim, Germany. During her undergraduate studies, Melanie studied red blood cell physiology and the biocompatibility of artificial red blood cells. (more…)

Mr. Matthew A. Cruz joined the lab of Dr. Gregory Bowman, Associate Professor, in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, where he studies the relationship between an ebolavirus protein’s structural dynamics and its function. Through computational and experimental techniques he is measuring how changes in protein dynamics affect RNA binding. Matthew is applying this research to find drugs that disrupt protein dynamics to combat ebolavirus infections. (more…)