Fall 2015
contents
Welcome new graduate
students .............................................2
Spring 2015 PhD
Graduates ..........................................2
Welcome Assistant Professor
Joanna Slusky ...................................3
New Faculty Hire .............................3
Inaugural KU Beckman
Scholars ..............................................4
Phage Hunters Advancing
Genomics and Evolutionary
Sciences (SEA-PHAGES) ................5
Research offers promise for
Alzheimer’s Disease .......................6
Chancellor’s Club Award
Winners ..............................................6
Promotion Congratulations ........7
MB Faculty Funding
Successes ......................................8, 9
MB is Leading the Genomics
Revolution at KU .......................9,10
MB Graduate Student
Biotechnology Internship .........10
Greetings and welcome to the newsletter of the KU Department of
Molecular Biosciences! We’ve had a lot of exciting things going on over
the past year, many of which you can read about below. You can join us
in welcoming new faculty and graduate students, learn about two new
prestigious undergraduate programs (the SEA-PHAGES and Beckman
Scholars programs), read about the research and accolades of some of our
faculty members and students, and finally, catch up on some news from
emeritus faculty members and friends of the department. We hope you
enjoy hearing about what we’ve been up to, and would love to hear from
you!
Dr. Susan Egan,
Professor,
Chair of Molecular Biosciences
University of Kansas
Molecular Biosciences
Student Profiles .............................11
Novel Autoimmune Treatment
Strategies .........................................12
Emeritus Faculty New ...........13-15
Friends of MB .................................15
Thank you for
your support ...................................16
Giving and Contact
Information .....................................16
Molecular Biosciences was formed in the late 1990s from the merger of the
Physiology and Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Microbiology departments,
and in 2004, was joined by members with joint appointments in the Center for
Computational Biology (formerly Bioinformatics). We offer undergraduate and
graduate degrees in the areas of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology;
Biochemistry; and Microbiology.
Department of Molecular Biosciences
molecularbiosciences.ku.edu
Welcome new graduate students by John Connolly
Fall 2015 saw seventeen new graduate students begin
graduate studies in the Department of Molecular Biosciences.
This is our largest class since 2008. The new class consists of
students with varied backgrounds, coming from as far away
as Puerto Rico and India. Stateside, new graduate students
represent California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Of course, Kansas and Missouri are
well represented too.
One of our new graduate students, Elizabeth Grotemeyer is
a recipient of the Jane Harris Graduate Scholarship, given by
the KU Office of Graduate Studies. The scholarship is given
to a woman with an outstanding academic record in a field
where women are underrepresented. Another new graduate
student, Amritangshu Chakravarty is the recipient of the
Robert Weaver Graduate Fellowship for fall 2015, given to
an outstanding international student.
A majority of students are doing lab rotations which began
on September 1st. They will do three rotations, each for a
period of 9 weeks. Time is at a premium during the first year
of study as, along with lab rotations, most new students are
taking a full course load and teaching undergraduates. Faculty
are looking forward to working with the new crop of students
in a research setting. The last day of lab rotations is March 25,
2016, at which
time we will
match students
with faculty
mentors, thus
beginning their
research tenure
in earnest.
Spring 2015 PhD Graduates by Dr. Brian Ackley
We're highlighting a trio of recent graduates in the field of
Developmental Biology. Drs. Lakshmi Sundararajan, Sonia
Hall and Samantha Hartin are recent Ph.D. recipients from
the Department of Molecular Biosciences.
Lakshmi Sundararajan came to KU in 2008
and conducted her research in the laboratory
of Dr. Erik Lundquist, using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to study nervous
system development. Lakshmi studied a pair
of neuroblasts that are born on opposite sides of the animal
and conduct their development in mirror image. That is, one
cell migrates towards the head, while the other migrates
toward the tail. Everything else they do, divide to form more
neuroblasts, have daughter cells that undergo apoptotic death
and form neurons, is identical. During her dissertation research
Lakshmi discovered several cell adhesion molecules that instructed these cells to migrate in opposite directions, without
affecting the other developmental events. The proteins she
identified are present on the outside of the cell, and thus, it is
possible to target these kinds of molecules in clinical settings
without needing to get anything inside the cell. Being able to
influence cell migration in a directed fashion could have many
applications, for example, to direct cells to the right place to
affect neural regeneration. Lakshmi twice was awarded the
Twomey Graduate Award to support her travel to international
conferences to present her science. Since completing her
dissertation work Lakshmi has moved to the laboratory of
Dr. David Miller at Vanderbilt Medical School, where she is
continuing to work on C. elegans.
Samantha Hartin came to KU from Kansas
State University in 2008 and started her
research in the laboratory of Dr. Brian Ackley.
Samantha studied a phenomenon called
synthetic lethality. That is a genetic interaction
whereby organisms can tolerate mutations in two genes, separately, but if both mutations occur simultaneously, they cannot
survive. Understanding what pairs of genes can interact in this
manner can provide possible insights into the management
and/or treatment of diseases caused by genetic mutations.
For example, cancers are caused by mutations in genes,
if we can identify synthetic lethal interactions we could
transform those cancer-causing mutations into vulnerabilities
whereby only the cancerous cells would be susceptible to
drugs that target the second gene. Conversely, we might
identify genetic backgrounds where use of drugs known to
target specific genes could be potentially adverse. Samantha
demonstrated her exceptional teaching skills during her time
here as a graduate student, and was awarded both the Sally K.
Frost and Kenneth A. Mason Award for Excellence in Teaching
and the Richard H. Himes Graduate Teaching Award. Since
completing her dissertation work Samantha has moved on to
Ideaventions as a STEM coordinator and educator. Ideaventions
is an educational organization for gifted children in Northern
Virginia that offers primarily a STEM curriculum, and caters
science themed birthday parties.
Sonia Hall was a KU undergraduate who
got involved in research during her college
years. She loved it so much she stayed on to
do her graduate work. Sonia studied the
development of Drosophila melanogaster,
also known as fruit flies, in the lab of Dr. Robert Ward. Sonia’s
work was directed at understanding how cells in the very early
embryos of these animals organized themselves. The cells
need to have connections between themselves that maintain
barriers. Interestingly, these barriers need to be both sturdy,
but malleable to enable the cell movements that occur during
development. Disruption of these genes in humans can cause
developmental disorders that can include premature lethality.
Thus, Sonia chose to study them in a simple, but powerful,
genetic model organism. While Sonia was at KU she was the
recipient of many awards including Doctoral Research Award
from the University of Kansas and the Ida Hyde Scholarship
for Women in Science. Sonia also became very involved in
STEM outreach and advocacy. She partnered with the
Genetics Society of America to interact with everyone from
K-12 students to policy makers in Washington D.C. Sonia
has moved to the laboratory of Dr. Eric Baehrecke at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School.
2
Welcome Assistant Professor Joanna Slusky:
Experimental and Computational Protein Design, by Dr. Christian Ray
The way we design new drugs, manipulate
cellular function, and understand how life
communicates on the molecular level
has undergone a revolution enabled by
modern computers. No longer a proverbial
black box, more highly detailed structures
of proteins and other biological molecules
are being determined all the time, permitting us to understand and predict how to alter protein function with unprecedented precision.
Enabled by the structural biology revolution, our newest
faculty member in the Department of Molecular Biosciences
is Assistant Professor Joanna S. G. Slusky. She is working
at the forefront of the emerging field of protein design.
Dr. Slusky joined us in 2014 after studying at Princeton
University and the University of Pennsylvania, with
postdoctoral positions at Stockholm University in
Sweden and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Pennsylvania.
Co-appointed in the Center for Computational Biology,
Dr. Slusky uses both computational and experimental
methods for protein design. In spite of her sophisticated
approach, the focus with her methods emphasizes practical
outcomes in basic and clinical science.
The basis of her work, and much of its novelty, arises from
developing an understanding of a poorly characterized class
of membrane proteins known as β-barrels. When we think of
proteins that have evolved to be inserted in cell membranes,
the mental image in the head of a typical biologist is of a set
of strands of protein α-helices, or coils, of amino acids crossing
a phospholipid bilayer. However, gram-negative bacteria
(and their evolutionary daughters, such as eukaryotic mitochondria) have a distinctly different outer membrane that is
populated with many transmembrane proteins that follow
a distinctly different model. These β-barrel proteins have
amino acid β-sheets, not α-helices, arranged forming cylinders
that are inserted in and perpendicular to the membrane.
Their role in cell physiology is often that of a gate-keeper
that determines the flux of molecules past the outer
membrane, determining osmotic balance, and selecting
which molecules are permitted to cross the membrane.
Using algorithms that allow us to understand how β-barrel
proteins form complexes with bacterial outer membrane
lipids, Dr. Slusky is working to develop a rapid point-of-care
diagnostics tool for bacterial infections. She is also creating
an infrastructure to allow design of bacterial outer membrane
"biosensors", which allow detection of interaction between
bacteria and their environment.
Advances in designing artificial β-barrel proteins have been
slow in coming. Most previous work has been to tweak natural
ones to alter the selectivity they have to molecules. Yet,
de novo β-barrel protein design has the potential to be a
therapeutic game-changer. To see why, we come to what is
perhaps Dr. Slusky's most ambitious project: design of cancer
therapeutics that directly target mitochondria.
Cancer is ultimately a disease of imbalanced growth and
death. Our cells naturally die as a part of tissue homeostasis,
often in a process known as apoptosis. As part of the
apoptotic process, energy (ATP) production is shut down
in mitochondria and the mitochondrial enzyme cytochrome
c is released into the cytoplasm. Cancer cells typically have
dysregulated apoptosis, and fail to release cytochrome c from
their mitochondria. Mitochondrial outer membrane pores,
such as the ion transporter VDAC1, are β-barrel proteins that
regulate how porous the mitochondrion is to various molecules, including proteins like cytochrome c. Dr. Slusky's goal is
to learn how to design exogenous protein β-strands into
VDAC1 to increase its pore radius and facilitate the release of
cytochrome c – thus enabling apoptosis in cancerous cells.
Mounting evidence shows that mitochondria lie at the heart
of cancer pathologies. Striking at that heart promises to be a
major part of the next generation of cancer therapeutics.
Cross-disciplinary approaches like hers that focus on the goal
of science itself rather than the method, feel like the future
of biology. We look forward to seeing the progress Dr. Slusky's
lab can make as she moves our basic understanding of
β-barrel proteins, and therapeutic implications of the basic
science, into the future.
New Faculty Hire by Dr. Stuart Macdonald
Dr. Rob Unckless,
Molecular Biosciences
We are excited to announce that Dr. Rob Unckless will be joining the faculty of the Department of Molecular
Biosciences in the Fall of 2016. Dr. Unckless' research is focused on understanding the genetic basis of
immunity and host-pathogen interactions using the fruit fly Drosophila as a model system. He led research
to identify novel genes regulating defense against bacterial pathogens, and additionally identified the first
DNA virus associated with Drosophila. In his lab at KU, Dr. Unckless will continue to investigate the function
and evolution of antimicrobial genes in flies, making use of powerful genetic sequencing technologies, and
collaborating broadly with our current group of geneticists and microbiologists. Dr. Unckless was recently
awarded a prestigious NIH Pathway to Independence Award that will help accelerate his research during his
first years at KU.
3
Inaugural KU Beckman Scholars by Dr. Lynn Hancock
In January of this year, the department of Molecular
Biosciences in conjunction with the department of Chemistry
was awarded a prestigious undergraduate research award
from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation totaling
$156,000 to support 6 deserving undergraduate scholars
over the next 3 years. The grant application was spearheaded
by the Chair of Molecular Biosciences, Dr Susan Egan and
Dr. David Benson from the department of Chemistry. The
application was one of 39 reviewed by the Beckman Advisory
panel and was one of only 6 strongly recommended for
funding.
and travel and supply funds over the course of the fifteenmonth program. Additionally, the scholars’ faculty mentors
each receive $5,000 to support the scholars research in the
designated mentors laboratory.
At KU, the Beckman Scholars Program is led by co-directors
David Benson, associate professor, Chemistry, and Lynn
Hancock, associate professor, Molecular Biosciences, along
with grant principal investigator Susan Egan, professor and
chair, Molecular Biosciences, and co-principal investigator
Brian Laird, professor and chair, Chemistry.
This past spring the first round of undergraduate scholars
were evaluated based on their present academic success of
a cumulative GPA of 3.7 or above, with a major in one of four
academic disciplines (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology
or Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology) and a
strong commitment to academic research. From a strong
pool of candidates, two inaugural scholars were chosen.
The 2015 scholars, Michael Cory and Aidan Dmitriev, will
take part in a fifteen-month program designed to enrich their
development as students and scientists through innovative
research, mentoring, collaboration and practice in effective
communication. The program offers students a unique
opportunity to become immersed in the scientific community.
The purpose of the Beckman Scholars Program is to provide
exceptionally talented, full-time undergraduate students
with a meaningful undergraduate research opportunity, while
funding the scholars during their award term in order to
preclude the need to seek additional employment. Therefore,
each Beckman Scholar receives a total of $21,000 via stipend
The 2015-16 scholars began working with their designated
mentors, John Karanicolas and Scott Hefty, this past June
and will continue working in their mentors’ labs through the
remainder of their undergraduate career. Dr. Karanicolas and
Dr. Hefty are Associate Professors in the department of
Molecular Biosciences.
2015 Beckman Scholars
Michael Cory, mentored
by John Karanicolas, Molecular Biosciences and Center for Computational Biology
Michael is from Wichita, Kansas, where he attended Andover High School before attending the Kansas
Academy of Mathematics and Science at Fort Hays State University for his junior and senior year of high
school. While at Fort Hays, he got a taste of what it was like to do laboratory research, and is excited to be
taking on his own project under Dr. Karanicolas here at the University of Kansas. His current project involves
finding small molecules that rescue the activity of the Lac repressor in E. coli in the context of special loss-offunction mutations using computational and experimental approaches. He hopes to graduate with a B.S.
in biochemistry and move on to pursue a PhD in graduate school.
Dr. John Karanicolas stated, “I’m excited to mentor Michael in my lab as a Beckman Scholar! He has a
tremendous aptitude for science, and a great knack for designing and carrying out new experiments.
His work will play a huge role in helping us build protein-based switches and sensors.”
Aidan Dmitriev, mentored
by Scott Hefty, Molecular Biosciences
Originally from Lakewood, New York, Aidan has lived in Lawrence, Kansas for three years and is a graduate
of Lawrence Free State High School. He is currently a rising junior with plans to graduate with a Bachelor of
Science in Microbiology and pursue further education through an MD/PhD program. As a Beckman Scholar,
Aidan is working with his mentor, Dr. Scott Hefty, to discover the structure and function of several proteins
with unknown function in the Chlamydia trachomatis proteome. C. trachomatis is the leading cause of
sexually-transmitted disease in the USA and the primary etiological agent of preventable blindness worldwide. Structural and functional studies of these ‘hypothetical proteins’ will contribute to the overall initiative
to better understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis in Chlamydia and develop improved treatment
strategies for infection.
Dr. Scott Hefty stated, “Aidan is an exceptional student and highly engaged person already showing promise
as a developing scientist. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to mentor Aidan and looking forward
to the discoveries we’ll make together to better understand the biology and disease processes of Chlamydia.
Students interested in applying for the 2016 Beckman Scholars competition should consult the website
http://beckman.ku.edu/ and can direct questions to [email protected].
4
Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Sciences
(SEA-PHAGES) by Dr. Rob Ward
Incoming biology students receive a unique opportunity to
conduct authentic research in the classroom as part of a
new Howard Hughes Medical Institute-sponsored program
opportunities for undergraduate students to experience
research first hand, and thus helps them make better
informed decisions about their future.
During the 2014-15 academic year, Undergraduate Biology
implemented a new authentic research laboratory course
sponsored in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The University of Kansas was selected to join approximately
80 other universities and colleges as part of the HHMI Science
Education Alliance (SEA). The SEA is comprised of research
universities and primarily undergraduate institutions including
Washington University in Saint Louis, Johns Hopkins University
and Bucknell University. Each SEA school offers a laboratory
course in Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Sciences (SEA-PHAGES). SEA-PHAGES is a year-long
research-intensive lab course for introductory biology
students. The course objectives are to teach basic concepts
in experimental biology through a faculty-guided research
experience, and to enhance the student’s communication
skills. During the fall semester, students isolate and purify
bacteriophages from local soil samples. Each student names
their phage, isolates genomic DNA from their phage for DNA
fingerprint analysis, and images their phage by negative stain
electron microscopy. Two phage genomes are sequenced using
next generation whole genome sequencing over the winter
break. During the spring semester, students use bioinformatics
programs to analyze and annotate their phage genomes, and
conduct independent research projects related to their phage.
The students also read primary literature, write research papers
and present posters on their projects. Results from an HHMI
analysis of the first 6 years of the national program indicate that
SEA-PHAGES students matriculated into their second year of
college at significantly higher rates than Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors with the same
number of years of college experience and enrolled at the same
school. SEA-PHAGES students also scored higher in the
introductory biology course, suggesting that the SEA-PHAGES
program is having a positive impact on STEM majors.
KU’s first SEA-PHAGE offering was a tremendous success. Led
by Rob Ward, Associate Professor in Molecular Biosciences,
Brad Williamson, UKan Teach Master Teacher, and Erin
Suderman, graduate student in Molecular Biosciences, all
16 students successfully isolated, purified and characterized
unique mycobacteriophages. For example, Phage Potter was
isolated from the soil around Potter Lake. Electron microscopy
revealed that Potter has an icosahedral head with a long tail.
Sequencing and genome annotation of Potter identified
96 genes encoding structural components of the capsid and
tail fibers, and enzymes involved in viral assembly and lysis,
but no genes that would be necessary for phage integration or
immunity, indicating that Potter is a lytic rather than a temperate phage. The students uploaded detailed information about
Phage Potter onto to the Actinobacteriophage database that
can be accessed online (http://phagesdb.org/phages/Potter/),
and have submitted the genome annotation to GenBank. In
June 2015, Kayla Wilson and Mateo Kirwin presented a poster
on the characterization and genome annotation of Potter at
the 7th Annual SEA-PHAGES symposium at the HHMI Janelia
Research Campus in Ashburn, VA. The symposium was a
three-day gathering of SEA-PHAGES students and faculty to
present results and share technical information. Kayla and
Mateo were chosen as one of ten poster award winners. Kayla
is continuing to pursue independent research in a lab in
Molecular Biosciences, and is a prep UTA for the SEA-PHAGES
class, while Mateo is serving as a PEER tutor for the introductory chemistry course. Dr. Ward is offering the SEA-PHAGES
course again this academic year, and plans to expand the
program to additional sections in future years so that it will
have a long-lasting impact of student success for KU biology
undergraduates.
The SEA-PHAGES course also supports the KU Bold Aspirations
Strategic Plan to prepare undergraduate students for lifelong
learning, leadership and success by providing a unique first
year intellectual experience that enhances experiential
learning. It also fills an important gap in providing authentic
research experiences for undergraduate biology majors.
The majority of biology majors graduate from KU without
experiencing authentic scientific research. There are approximately 1,300 biology majors at KU, but only about 280 are
involved in faculty-led research each year. After graduation,
approximately 26% of our biology majors enter medical or
other professional schools, 21% enter graduate school, and
12% enter the workforce in a scientific field. An independent
research experience is one of the major contributors for postgraduation success, and is a critical component for student’s
discernment of their future careers. SEA-PHAGES, and similar
faculty-led independent research courses, provides additional
Darian Robbins
SEA-PHAGE
TEM of Phage
Potter
Winners
Kayla Wilson
and Mateo Kirwin
present a poster
5
Research offers promise for Alzheimer’s Disease
by Dr. Chris Gamblin
Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating disorder that erases
memories and results in an inability to participate in activities
of daily life. It is estimated that more than 5 million people
suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and it costs our nation roughly
$226 billion annually to provide care for these individuals.
Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the
US, and the only cause of death in the top 10 that cannot be
prevented, cured or slowed. With the numbers of people with
Alzheimer’s disease projected to nearly triple by 2050 at an
overall cost as high as $1.1 trillion, there is a major push to
find treatments that could provide therapeutic benefit to
Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Historically, fungi have been a rich source of biomedically
important compounds, including antibiotics such as penicillin,
the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A and anti-cholesterol
statins. In fact several of the current top-selling prescription
medicines, each of which has annual revenues in excess of
$1 billion, are fungal products. The difficulty with identifying
fungal natural products is that many of them are secondary
metabolites that are normally made only in response to
environmental stressors. However, Dr. Berl Oakley and his
research team have developed advanced molecular genetics
techniques to engineer fungi that overexpress normally
quiescent enzymes that synthesize secondary metabolites.
Using these approaches, they have been able to identify and
purify more than 80 fungal natural products.
One of the potential avenues for the treatment of Alzheimer’s
disease is the prevention of the abnormal aggregation of a
protein located in the brain called tau. During the development of the disease, tau proteins begin to clump together
into pathological structures called tangles that correlate with
the death of neurons and reductions in cognitive abilities. It is
believed that eliminating these tangles could slow, stop or
even reverse disease progression. As a result, researchers have
identified several potential tau aggregation inhibitors and one
of these is currently in Phase III clinical trials.
Dr. Oakley noticed that several of the fungal natural
products they were purifying shared some structural
similarities to previously identified tau aggregation inhibitors.
He approached Dr. Chris Gamblin, a longtime researcher in
the role of tau aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease, to screen
the fungal metabolites for their potential as tau aggregation
inhibitors. Their collaborative project is funded by the H.L.
Snyder Medical Foundation, a philanthropic foundation
based in Winfield, Kansas, dedicated to supporting biomedical
research. Their initial screen of 17 fungal compounds,
published in Planta Medica, found 3 tau aggregation
inhibitors. One of these compounds, asperbenzaldehyde,
had a novel structure and is a biological precursor for the
biosynthesis of a class of molecules called azaphilones. In a
study recently published in the American Chemical Society
journal Chemical Neuroscience, they found that semi-synthetic
derivatives of azaphilones inhibited tau aggregation and a
smaller subset of compounds could dissolve pre-formed
tau aggregates.
The researchers are moving forward by working with
medicinal chemists in an effort to improve the function of the
compounds and also to reduce the possibility of side-effects.
Although their work is currently limited to inhibiting tau
aggregation in a test tube, they are working toward their goal
of inhibiting tau aggregation in a living model organism.
They hope that with time and development this research
could result in a treatment for the millions afflicted by
Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Chris Gamblin
Molecular Biosciences
Genetically modified fungi
Aspergillus nidulans expressing
green-fluorescent protein
Dr. Berl Oakley
Molecular Biosciences
Chancellor’s Club Award Winners
Dr. Jim Orr pictured here with his family members
Dr. Jim Orr (professor) received the Chancellor’s Club Career Teaching
award. Professor Orr was recognized for his innovative teaching and his
service as Director of the Office of Diversity in Science Training. Professor
Orr (second from left) is pictured with members of his family.
Dr. Steve Benedict (professor) received the 2014
Chancellor’s Club Teaching Professor award, a prestigious recognition for a distinguished career
in teaching. Professor Benedict is pictured giving his acceptance speech. Professor Benedict had
a truly exceptional year, as he was also the 2013-2014 recipient of the J. Michael Young Academic
Advisor Award, the Robert Weaver Graduate Mentor Award, and was recognized as the “Favorite
Professor” by the Biology Class of 2014 at the KU Undergraduate Biology Recognition Ceremony
in May.
Dr. Stephen Benedict
Molecular Biosciences
molecularbiosciences.ku.edu
At the 2014 Chancellor’s Club Reception, four major teaching and
research awards were presented. MB was extremely fortunate to have
departmental faculty members receive two of these four awards!
6
Promotion Congratulations!
MB
Four MB faculty members received promotions. Mizuki Azuma was promoted to associate
professor with tenure. Chris Gamblin was promoted to full professor. Audrey Lamb was
promoted to full professor. Wonpil Im was promoted to full professor.
The objective of the research
in Mizuki Azuma’s lab is to 1)
understand how Ewing arcoma
proteins are impaired during
Ewing sarcoma formation, and
2) establish an animal model
of Ewing sarcoma using
zebrafish that can be used for
drug discovery.
Ewing sarcoma is the second most common bone
tumor identified in children. It is a devastating
disease because the survival rate for these young
patients is only ~40%. Currently, there is
no drug specifically designed to
treat this cancer, due to a lack
of knowledge about the
mechanism of Ewing
sarcoma formation.
Wompil Im’s research
program focuses on the
developments and applications of
theoretical/computational methods to
chemical and physical problems in biology.
Currently active research topics are: (1)
Protein/Peptide Interactions in Biological
Membranes, (2) Membrane Protein NMR
Structure Calculation/Refinement, (3) Modeling
and Simulation of Glycoconjugates, (4) Bacterial
Outer Membranes and Interactions with Proteins,
and (5) CHARMM-GUI / ST-analyzer Development.
Dr. Im has published a total of 49 papers in
2010-2014 (41 papers as the corresponding
author, including 7 papers
with undergraduates).
Altogether his work has
garnered a total of 5,271
citations in 2010-2014
(Google Scholar).
In Chris Gamblin’s laboratory,
the focus is on trying to
understand the molecular
mechanisms that lead to the
abnormal accumulation of
the protein tau in Alzheimer’s
disease. The ultimate goal is to understand
the process sufficiently to allow development
of potential therapeutic strategies that could
help the millions of people suffering from
Alzheimer’s disease.
In Audrey Lamb’s lab,
scientists determine the
three dimensional shapes of
proteins by x-ray crystallography, and
use different kinds of activity assays to figure
out what aspects of the protein molecules make
them able to do chemistry faster than it happens
in water. They are especially interested in the
enzymes that bacteria use to generate iron
chelators called siderophores. Pathogenic bacteria
require iron for survival and to cause disease, and
they steal it from their human hosts using
siderophores. The siderophore biosynthetic
proteins are big, multi-modular proteins that
do several different chemical
reactions in an assembly line
to make the siderophore. If
they can find molecules that
prevent the enzymes from
making the iron chelator, this
might provide a start toward
designing new antibiotics to
combat pathogenic bacteria.
7
MB Faculty Funding
Successes
John Karanicolas (associate professor) is the recipient of a Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical
Research Excellence (K-INBRE) Bridging Grant for his project entitled “Identifying stabilizers of p53
using pocket complementarity.” This project is aimed at identifying compounds that “re-activate”
the tumor suppressor p53, and can thus serve as a starting point for developing new broadspectrum cancer therapeutics.
Mizuki Azuma (associate professor) and Chad Slawson (KUMC) are the recipients of a pilot
project grant from the Cancer Biology Program of the KU Cancer Center for their proposal
entitled “Regulation of EWS-Aurora B pathway during mitosis and tumorigenesis.” This project
will elucidate the pathogenesis of a childhood bone cancer, Ewing sarcoma, by analyzing the
EWS-Aurora B dependent regulation of mitosis.
The National Institutes of Health Dynamic Aspects of Chemical Biology Training Grant has been
renewed for five more years, years 22-26. The renewal grant, worth more than $1.8 million, funds
eight graduate student trainees per year from the departments of Molecular Biosciences, Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. This program served as the foundation
for the new Certificate Program in Chemical Biology, and is directed by Tom Prisinzano (professor
and chair, medicinal chemistry), Paul Hanson (professor, chemistry) and Audrey Lamb (professor).
Liang Xu (associate professor), along with collaborator Jeffrey Aube (University of North Carolina
Eshelman School of Pharmacy) is the recipient of a Research Project Grant from the National
Cancer Institute for their project entitled “Molecular cancer therapy targeting HuR-ARE interaction.”
This award totals $2.16 million over the next five years and is aimed at finding more potent and
specific HuR inhibitors which may serve as new therapies for cancer. Dr. Xu also had his technology featured at the TechConnect World Conference and Expo in Washington, DC. June 14-17, 2015.
This invention finds new compounds that inhibit Musashi activity and specifically kill cancer cells
or delay cancer growth, while not affecting normal cells.
Mark Richter (professor) is the leader of a team, including John Karanicolas (associate professor)
and Eric Deeds (Assistant Professor), that is receiving a University of Kansas Level 1 Strategic
Initiative Grant from the Research Investment Council. The title of the project is “Smart bioenabled molecular materials by design.” The team also includes Candan Tamerler (Mechanical
Engineering), Judy Wu (Physics and Astronomy) and Cindy Berrie (Chemistry). The goal of this
project is to use biological principles to develop and design intelligent self-assembling materials.
The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a grant for more than $1.7 million for the
Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) to James Orr (professor) and Estela
Gavosto (associate professor of mathematics). The PREP program provides mentored research
experiences and training to assist recent baccalaureate students with the transition to graduate
school in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
Kristi Neufeld (associate professor) is the recipient of funding from the Division of Integrative
Organismal Systems of the National Science Foundation for her proposal entitled “Collaborative
Research: Beta-catenin Regulation during Asymmetric Stem Cell Divisions”. This research program
will focus on stem cells which use asymmetric cell division (ACD) to generate a differentiated
daughter and a new stem cell. Regulation of ACD is critical for developmental cell fate specification and maintenance of tissue homeostasis. The overall goal of this 3-year project is to collaborate
with Dr. Bryan Phillips from University of Iowa to elucidate the mechanisms of beta-catenin
regulation during ACD by analyzing regulation of the C. elegans beta-catenin, SYS-1, and to test
the resulting mechanisms in mammals.
continued to page 9
8
continued from page 8
Josie Chandler (assistant professor) is the recipient of a Research Project Award from the Center for
Molecular Analysis of Disease Pathways (DMADP) NIH Center for Biomedical Research Excellence
(COBRE) for her proposal entitled “A non-canonical quorum sensing regulator of virulence in
Burkholderia pseudomallei.” The goal of this work is to understand the regulatory pathway that
controls virulence factor expression in the human pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei.
Stuart Macdonald (associate professor) was awarded a Research Project Grant from the National
Institutes of Health for his project entitled "A resource for the genetic analysis of complex traits."
This project is a continuing collaboration with Tony Long from the University of California at Irvine.
The goal of this $2.7 million award is to genetically dissect the factors responsible for biomedicallyrelevant trait variation, and enhance a powerful set of enabling community resources for the
Drosophila (fruit fly) genetics community.
Yoshi Azuma (associate professor) is the recipient of a Research Project Grant (R01) from the
National Institute of General Medical Sciences for his proposal entitled “Regulation of kinetochore
function by topoisomerase II.” The aim of this four year grant is to determine the molecular
mechanism of topoisomerase II, one of the major targets of cancer chemotherapeutics, on the
checkpoint of the cell division cycle.
Josie Chandler (assistant professor) and John Karanicolas (associate professor) are part of a
team of scientists to receive a University of Kansas Level 1 Strategic Initiative Grant from the
Research Investment Council. The project is titled “Validating bacterial iron metabolism as a target
for antibiotic discovery.” The project leader is Mario Rivera (Chemistry) and other members of the
team are Bill Picking (Pharmaceutical Chemistry), Lester Mitcher (Medicinal Chemistry) and Richard
Bunce (Chemistry, OSU). The award was highlighted in “KU Discovery and Innovation” bulletin.
Molecular Biosciences is Leading the Genomics
Revolution at KU By Dr. Erik Lundquist, Professor, Molecular Biosciences
The past decade has witnessed an explosion in Genomics, the science dedicated
to the study of the composition and
function of an organisms entire genome
sequence. For many years geneticists have
taken a “gene-by-gene” approach to understanding biology, but now new tools and
methodologies allow researchers to
study all the genes in the genome at once. For instance,
we can determine when and where every gene in the genome
is turned on, allowing us to characterize the functions of
different cell types, and distinguish healthy from diseased
tissue. Genomics is also revealing important roles for DNA
sequences in the regions between genes. Once considered
“junk” DNA, these sequences have recently been shown to
be home to a wealth of functional elements that can impact
development, physiology, and disease.
Molecular Biosciences is leading the Genomics revolution
at KU. The effort has been anchored by the Genome
Sequencing Core Laboratory that I established and currently
lead (http://gsc.ku.edu/). The GSC is part of the NIH-funded
Center for Molecular Analysis of Disease Pathways project at
the University. Traditional Sanger sequencing can produce
thousands of base pairs of DNA sequence data in a single run.
The Genome Sequencing Core Laboratory houses an Illumina
Hiseq2500 next-generation sequencer, which has the capacity
to produce 500 billion bases of DNA sequence information
in a single 11 day run, the equivalent of sequencing over 150
human genomes in just under 2 weeks. Most of the organisms KU scientists work on, including the model organisms
C. elegans (a nematode worm) and Drosophila (the fruitfly),
along with a range of bacteria and viruses, have much smaller
genomes, allowing KU researchers to generate staggering
amounts of data addressing major questions in genetics,
development, and disease.
The Genome Sequencing Core produces vast amounts
of sequence data. Think of it this way: a single run on the
Hiseq2500 can produce 500 billion bases of sequence, the
equivalent of 500 gigabyte Microsoft word file with over
175 million pages of text full of the letters A, C, G, and T.
Helping MB researchers make sense of all of these data is the
Bioinformatics Core Laboratory, led by Dr. Stuart Macdonald
(associate professor) as part of the NIH-funded Kansas
Infrastructure Network of Biomedical Research Excellence.
The Bioinformatics Core has the enormous computational
resources and expertise to make sense of the bewildering
amounts of genomic data produced by the Genome
Sequencing Core for MB researchers. continued to page 10
9
continued from page 9
To date, the Genome Sequencing Core has produced close to
30 terabytes of DNA sequence data, or thirty-thousand-billion
bases.
The uses of whole genome sequencing are many. By
sequencing messenger RNA transcripts (RNA-seq), the
gene expression profile of every gene in the genome can
be assayed at one time. The effects of drug treatments,
mutations, or pathogenic states (e.g. cancer) on gene
expression can be assayed. The status of non-coding RNAs
such as microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs can also be
assessed. By resequencing the entire genome, genetic
differences between cells, organisms, and populations can
be defined. Furthermore, the methylation state of the
genome can be assayed, which is important in global
gene regulation and pathogenic states.
faculty member in Genomics was conducted last year, and
Dr. Robert Unckless from Cornell University will be joining
the MB faculty as an assistant professor in fall of 2016.
Dr. Unckless uses genomic approaches to understand the
evolution of bacterial pathogenesis and resistance in the
fruit fly Drosophila. Genomics in MB will continue to grow as
researchers in many different disciplines incorporate genomic
questions and approaches into their research programs.
It is an exciting time to be a part of the Genomics revolution, and
researchers in MB are leading the way at KU.
The KU Genome
Sequencing Core,
located in
Haworth Hall
on the
KU-Lawrence
campus, is
equipped with the
Illumina HiSeq
2500 Next-Gen
Sequencer.
Researchers in MB use genomics to address diverse questions
in biology and biomedical research, such as bacterial and viral
pathogenesis (Chandler, Davido, Hancock, Hefty), cancer
(M. Azuma, Y.Azuma, Oakley, Xu), developmental biology
and neuroscience (Ackley, Buechner, Lundquist, Ward),
and evolution (Macdonald). In addition, a search for a new
MB Graduate Student Chemical Biology Internship
This summer one of our graduate students, Kara Hinshaw,
spent three months in Cargill’s Biotechnology Research
and Development Center in Minneapolis, MN. Kara is a
third-year microbiology PhD student under the mentorship
of Dr. Josephine Chandler. As a trainee on the NIH Grant
in Dynamic Aspects of Chemical Biology, Kara was required
to complete an internship, but that was not her only
motivation. “I wanted to do an internship in order to gain
experience and network with other researchers. Before
starting this internship, I only knew Cargill as a buyer of grain.
I really had no idea what kind of work I would be doing as a
microbiologist.” Cargill is one of the largest privately-owned
companies in the world with $1.58 billion in net earnings.
Cargill’s overall purpose is “to be a global leader in nourishing people” by buying, processing, and distributing grain,
livestock, and other commodities to food service companies. Cargill is also involved in industrial uses of salt, starch,
energy, and steel products. With over 150,000 employees in
67 countries, Cargill has a huge breadth of experience and
resources. “It was overwhelming at times, all the acronyms
and conference calls with people in three or four different
countries, but it was an amazing experience. Cargill works
very hard to include interns in everything to ensure we get the
most out of our time. I gained a lot of experience working with
scientists from all different fields: biochemical engineering,
food science, and analytical chemistry. It was great to be
part of a team that was trying to tackle some of the hardest
problems in the industry. We all brought something to the
table.” Kara worked in the molecular biology lab doing
genetic engineering on yeast. “Prior to this internship I
had no experience working with yeast, yeast genetics, or
doing fermentation. The best part of the internship was going
to the plant to see the industrial fermenters. They’re five stories
tall!” After completing the internship, Kara returned to the
University of Kansas with renewed energy and a clear
goal of working for a private research and development
company after completing her PhD work as a molecular
biologist doing genetic engineering.
Kara Hinshaw next
to a cutout of
W.W. Cargill,
founder,
at the
Biotechnology
Research
and
Development
Center in
Minneapolis, MN.
10
Molecular Biosciences - Student Profiles
Amber Smith by Dr. Liang Xu
Amber is a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Liang Xu
in the Department of Molecular Biosciences. Amber’s PhD
dissertation is on the regulation of the oncogenic RNA binding
protein, Musashi-1 (Msi1), while focusing on the therapeutic
potential of targeting Msi1 for novel anti-cancer therapy.
During her career as a graduate student, Amber has won
multiple awards, including the Philip and Marjorie Newmark
Award, presented to a student who has demonstrated excellence in biochemical research, and the Llewellyn Borgendale Jr.
Graduate Seminar Award, presented to a graduate student in
recognition of the ability to present a graduate seminar.
Amber was awarded the Ida H. Hyde Scholarship to study in
Linköping, Sweden for 5 weeks where she characterized the
expression of Msi1 in tumor samples from patients with
rectal cancer. She was invited to give the only oral presentation
by a graduate student at the 2014 KU Cancer Center Multi-Disciplinary Oncology Conference. So far, Amber has authored
one primary research article and co-authored 5 publications,
with 3 more in the pipeline for publication. During her time as
a graduate student, Amber mentored multiple undergraduate
research students and participated
in numerous science outreach projects.
Amber has accepted a post-doc position
at Stanford University Medical School
and was awarded a T32 post-doc fellowship. She successfully defended her
thesis in October 2015. In the future,
Amber hopes to pursue an academic
research career, focusing on translational
cancer biology research while educating future leaders in
biomedical research.
At the 2014 Purple Stride fundraising event sponsored by
the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Amber represented
the Xu lab on stage during the open ceremony event. Lab
members participated in the 5K run and family walk held
on May 3rd in Theis Park in Kansas City, Mo. The Purple Stride
event raises money to support pancreatic cancer research
and to raise awareness regarding this deadly disease.
Jessica van Loben Sels by Dr. David Davido
Jessica van Loben Sels, an undergraduate
in the Microbiology degree program,
received the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater
Scholarship in 2015. The Goldwater scholarship is one the nation’s top awards for undergraduate students who academically excel in
the areas of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM). Jessica interest
in science started at an early age (first grade) when she took
part in her first school science fair, and she later discovered
a fascination for microbial research in her high school
microbiology class. She ultimately developed a curiosity
about infectious diseases and their impact on human health.
Jessica is a member of KU’s Honors Program and is undertaking
her senior honors thesis research in the laboratory of
Dr. David Davido in the Department of Molecular Biosciences.
The Davido lab studies herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) host interactions in order to determine how these interactions
affect the HSV-1 life cycle and pathogenesis. Jessica’s thesis
project is to understand how HSV-1 is able to largely evade
the effects of the host antiviral factors, type 1 interferons (IFNs).
HSV-1 produces one or more proteins that block or counteract
the antiviral effects of IFNs. ICP0 is one of these proteins.
However, ICP0’s mechanisms of action are largely unknown.
Her initial approach to identify potential mechanism(s) used
structure-function analyses of ICP0 performed in collaboration
with a former graduate student in the Davido lab, Dr. Mirna
Perusina Lanfranca. From this project, Jessica has identified a
region in ICP0 that contributes to HSV-1’s ability in evading a
pre-existing type 1 IFN response. It is anticipated that results
from her studies will be submitted for publication later this fall,
and she is performing additional experiments that are the next
logical steps in her project.
The Goldwater Scholarship has been instrumental in allowing
Jessica to support her research endeavors on HSV-1 under
Dr. Davido’s mentorship. Furthermore, Jessica indicated that
the Goldwater Award “is an affirmation that I am being well
prepared for what lies ahead in graduate school thanks to the
generous help of everyone working in my lab”; she plans to
obtain a Ph.D. in Microbiology with an emphasis in virology.
Her long-term career goal is to become “a researcher at the
frontier of biomedical research and develop new therapies to
treat viral diseases”. Her mentor, Dr. David Davido, noted that
“Jessica possesses all of the qualities of a Barry Goldwater
Scholar, and I applaud the Goldwater Scholarship Committee
in the selection of this deserving student. This scholarship will
help to strengthen Jessica’s background in research and serves
as an excellent foundation to be admitted to and attain a Ph.D.
in one of the top Microbiology graduate programs. Given
Jessica’s drive, interests, and intellect, I do not doubt that she
will successfully reach her long-term career objective.”
11
Novel Autoimmune Treatment Strategies - by Dr. Stephen Benedict
How does the immune system
work and how can we use it to our
advantage.
Two primary goals of the research
group of Dr. Steve Benedict are to
help define how the immune system
works and to discover new ways to
control it. Familiar components of the
immune system include inflammation,
T cells, and antibodies, which are a few of the billions of other
cells, components and interactions in the body that protect us
from infections by bacteria, viruses and early stages of cancer.
Rarely, the immune system can go off track and attack us.
A result is any of over 100 autoimmune diseases including
rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Type I diabetes.
When the immune system attacks the wrong thing, it leads to
allergy such as hay fever or food allergies. Presently we control
the symptoms of these attacks with drugs like antihistamines
or those that reduce inflammation. Immunologists have been
preventing many diseases for the past 150 years using
vaccines to provide immunity. Similar to this, modern immunology seeks to control the immune response itself, both
to prevent and to treat diseases, rather than to fight a weak
or losing battle by attacking very complex sets of symptoms.
How does the immune system work.
The Benedict lab concentrates their studies on the T cell.
T cells control the rest of the immune system in that T cells
can turn on the immune response and other (inhibitory) T
cells can turn it off. All T cells become immature T cells in the
thymus and when they leave the thymus they have only a
few weeks to mature into functional T cells that can attack
infections and cancer, and can live up to 30 years in our body.
These are also the cells that initiate autoimmune diseases and
organ transplant rejection. So understanding how T cells work
is crucial for controlling them. T cells can travel to any place in
the body and can respond differently to the very diverse environments they find as they travel. Benedict lab research seeks
to define ways in which these different T cell responses can
control the immune system, and has led to several published
scientific papers that contribute to our understanding of
T cell maturation. Work by graduate students Kelli Williams
and Abby Dotson led to a patent for a method to turn on
inhibitory T cells for use as autoimmune disease therapy,
and a second patent application is planned in the next few
months. Research by graduate student Amy Newton solved
a long-standing question regarding the contributions of the
“bad” cholesterol LDL to atherosclerosis and how the “good”
cholesterol, HDL can oppose this. In work that was highlighted in MDLnx, an online email service informing physicians
of the latest cutting edge medical science, Amy found that
LDL unexpectedly guides immature T cells to promote atherosclerotic plaque in the blood vessels and HDL can prevent this.
How can we control the immune system.
A number of years ago, graduate student Scott Tibbetts
developed a method to specifically inhibit the self-attacking
autoimmune T cells. This was significant since out of the 100
million T cell types in our body, only a few hundred actually
cause one disease, and this method inhibited only those and
therefore did not lead to the widespread immunosuppression
induced by existing therapies. This work resulted in several
exciting publications and patents. Graduate student Abby
Dotson applied this therapy to studies of insulin dependent
diabetes in mice. She successfully inhibited the disease and
demonstrated that the therapy was indeed selective for
disease-specific cells. This work was highlighted by the
journal where it was published, featured in an international
science summary publication Global Medical Discovery and
in the newsletter INFOCUS of the American Autoimmune and
Related Diseases Association. Most recently, Amy and
undergraduate student Derek Danahy applied this therapy
to emphysema in mice and were successful in preventing the
disease. The paper was just published and is notable because
it supports the new concept that emphysema can have an
autoimmune component.
Students become distinguished alumni.
An important thing to note is that some pretty good work
has been done by graduate and undergraduate students who
are mostly local in origin but also from far away. Participating
students have been from: Wichita, Topeka, Lenexa and
Lawrence as well as Independence, and a small town in
northwest MO, and from Texas, Arkansas, Thailand and
Chicago. They have gone on to postdoctoral positions at the
best institutions and ultimately to excellent permanent jobs
as medical school faculty at the University of Florida, University of Kansas Medical School, St Louis University, Emory
University and Chulalongkorn University. They are all alumni
to be proud of. One final episode was very satisfying to the
group. KU Endowment contacted them about an alumni
couple who wished to support a very meaningful research
project. Her mother had been taken by emphysema and as
a memorial they wanted to strike a blow against the disease.
They temporarily founded the Patricia A. Watkins Emphysema
Research Fund in her mother’s name and supported the
Benedict lab to initiate attempts to attack emphysema with
the therapies they’d developed. Emphysema was not fully
established as autoimmune so there was some risk. As mentioned above, Amy and Derek were successful at preventing
the disease in mice. In addition, the support led to four other
publications, including Amy’s observations involving LDL and
atherosclerosis. The work done for the KU Alumni-founded
Watkins Fund catapulted two KU students to success: Amy to
a fine postdoctoral position at the University of Virginia and
Derek to an excellent Immunology graduate program at the
University of Iowa for his PhD.
12
Emeritus Faculty News
James Akagi
After retiring, I moved back to the Northwest, where I was born (Seattle, WA). I enjoy traveling and I make a trip each year. I have visiting such places as Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Hawaii, Rhine River, Dominican Republic, and many parts of the U.S. With age catching up
on me, I am satisfied staying in the Northwest.
I spend most of my time reading books of all subjects, cooking all kinds of food, specializing
in learning more about Asian food. I now am able to watch television programs, keep up
with the news, sports and movies that I missed during my working years. I discovered that it
is difficult for me to understand the current music of pop, bop and whatever, as compared
with my era of big band music, and knowing who the Beatles and Elvis were. It can be summarized by stating that my favorite movie is “A Song to Remember,” and my favorite song is
“To Each His Own.”
Some people that I know, who are members of the Tacoma Buddhist Temple, have asked me to give talks to various
groups who are interested in the forcible incarceration by the US Government, of the Japanese Americans living in the
West Coast states, into concentration camps during WWII. This was accomplished by not allowing the access to the Writ
of Habeus Corpus and due process of the law. I was a three-year internee of one of the camps, Camp Minidoka, located
in the southern desert region of Idaho. I have given talks to grade school, middle school, and high school classes, as well
as to three college groups and a couple of Federal Agency groups in Texas and Oklahoma. Minidoka is now a National
Historical Site. I am interested in supporting “Denosho”, which is the Japanese term for “To pass on to the next generation”.
My two sons, Jim and David, are doing well in their fields of study. Jim is retired after 25 years in the DEA, and he is currently the Chief of Police in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. David has been in Japan for the past 15 years, having taught English
to various groups. He is currently working as a consultant for a Japanese company.
During the years of my stay here, I have seen former students of mine. Walter Nakatsukasa who lives in Seattle; David Ou
who lives in Camas, WA; Bing Suh from Temple University; John Alderete, who is a professor at Washington State University; and Harold Drake from Germany. Herb Thompson, a former student of David Paretsky, lives in Port Angeles, WA but
we haven’t been able to get together with his wife and son. I enjoyed having met them all again and I am always glad to
see my former students and friends from KU.
Clarence Buller
Twelve years have passed since I retired from K.U. During that time I have enjoyed fairly
good health and I attribute that to adhering to regular exercise- mainly walking and
bicycling. I have fallen off my bike only one time. I live with Martha in Lawrence.
After leaving academia I enjoyably spent a lot of time in my carpentry shop. This resulted
in construction of some useful items (furniture, cabinets, even a barn) and also in the
accumulation of many unremarkable projects, most of which now reside in the attic and
some have disappeared in the fireplace. Most satisfying, however, have been my activities
as a forester. We have a small farm (it came along with Martha when we married) which
includes some cropland and a forty acre stand of mature oak, walnut, hickory, sycamore, locust , paw-paw bushes
and osage orange trees and Morel mushrooms. Ten years ago this timber stand was much in need of maintenance.
Because I acquired a Kubota tractor (it conveniently has a fender mounted beer can holder), some chain saws and a log
splitter it has become a very pleasant place which is frequented by deer, coyotes, turkeys and many other birds. Also,
our neighbors have unlimited wood for their fireplaces.
Martha and I have taken many enjoyable car trips, mostly for visiting family and friends.
13
Erik Floor
These days children and grandchildren are a focus. (Naps, too.) Most of my family is in the picture, except Lisa, who
graduated KU in Art History. She plans to teach Art in public school. My son, Stephen (left with little Miles), graduated
KU in Physics and Computer Science and went to grad school in biophysics at UCSF. He is now a postdoc at Berkeley.
His wife Liz (right) was also a biophysics student at UCSF. We’ve visited the Bay Area regularly for years. Stephen has a
Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship and hopes to find a job at a prestigious institution. My daughter Sara (left) and her son
Argil (front) live in Berkeley where her husband is on the ceramics faculty.
I have extensive genealogy materials scattered in boxes and computer files. I know how to turn piles of data into a story
(paper) and hope to do this with this stuff. The unusual name “Floor” has been tracked way back through record archives
by relatives here and in Sweden. Our oldest known ancestor is a Spanish nobleman, Richard de Flor, in 1220. His son
Roger de Flor was a famous pirate who used his earnings on the high
seas to finance military adventures. His son, Roger de Flor II married Isabel
Plantagenet, great granddaughter of King Henry III. These Flors lived in
England in the 1400’s during the Wars of the Roses between two
Plantagenet houses. One of my European relatives found a Flor family
crest somewhere. We’ve had a copy up on the wall for years. It features
three roses. Imagine my surprise recently when reading about the Wars of
the Roses, I noticed that the Flor rose is the same heraldic symbol used by
Plantagenet royalty. You may kiss my ring.
Dick Himes
I retired in 2000 but was fortunate to have NIH funding for eight more years to continue
my research program. In addition, I was the Co-PI on a 15 year NIH grant designed to help
investigators at KU, KUMC, and KSU obtain preliminary data so that their grant applications
would have a greater chance of being successful. So I have been fully retired only since June 2015.
Sue and I still live in Lawrence. We have been fortunate to be able to do a lot of international
traveling. We have visited all the continents and 55 countries. We hope to continue our interest in
travel. We are in good health and try to keep in shape, handball and walking for me, swimming
and walking for Sue, and strength training for both of us. In July I celebrated my 80th birthday.
Paul Kitos
Paul Kitos and his wife Gwyn moved to Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada 7 years ago. Burnaby is
a suburb of Vancouver. They live on a hillside overlooking Burrard Inlet and have a sterling view of
the mountains and city of Vancouver. During the summer they spend much time in their flower
garden - gardening is relatively easy in the B.C. coastal climate. They live close to their daughter
Theresa and her husband Andy and a complement of other relatives. Theresa and Andy are
employed at nearby Simon Fraser University. Retirement agrees with them. They read a lot;
Gwyn paints.
Marge Newmark
I’m feeling some effects of my age (93) but am still getting by. I attend a senior strength training
class twice a week at a Lawrence Recreation Center and still live in my own home with my cat.
A senior driving service van gets me where I need to go. I’m looking forward to my 94th birthday
next year.
14
Robert Sanders
My wife, my son, and I moved from Kansas to Sanford, NC, in October 2014. Sanford is about 50 miles
south of Raleigh and Chapel Hill. The move is permanent. Its main down side is that I will not be able
to attend the Department of Molecular Biosciences departmental seminars, which I used to help me
stay current with advances in molecular biology. At this time my main activity is that I have been
working on my book, which is Contributions of African American Scientists to the Fields of Science,
Medicine, and Inventions (Second Edition). Nova Publishers will publish it later this year. I hope that
the KU Library will obtain a copy of it for your review.
Del Shankel
The major news from the Shankel household is that after 21 pleasant summers in Seattle we sold
our condo there and are now residing full-time again in Lawrence. We are also building a new home
here. Also, I still have an office in Haworth Hall, and spend 1-2 hours there on most days – Room
1002, phone 785-864-3150. In addition our daughter Kelley married her long-time boyfriend this
summer and is working for a veterinary clinic in Spokane, Washington; and our daughter Jill is a
civil engineer living in Danville, California. She and her husband (Dan Lopez) have two children,
Benjamin 17 and Madeline 14. Dan is also a civil engineer. Carol and I still enjoy University life and
hearing from former students.
Rob Weaver
I’ve been enjoying retirement a great deal. Betsy and I still live in Lawrence. Why would we live
anywhere else when our daughters and granddaughters and most of our friends live here? I’m
still revising my molecular biology textbook, but the sixth edition is currently on hold because a
well-known journal publisher is demanding many hundreds of dollars per image for permissions,
and we use about 90 of their images. Betsy and I have been travelling quite a bit. In September,
we joined four other couples who are good friends from college in a trip to Greece for two weeks.
One of the guys in the group is still doing geological research there, so we will visit his research
site. In June, Betsy and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. We visited Washington,
D.C., my boyhood home in Arlington, VA, and spent our actual anniversary at the Inn at Little
Washington in Washington, VA. I’m attaching a picture taken in the kitchen of the inn after dinner.
Friends of MB
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Irving S. Johnson on July 10, 2014. Dr. Johnson
received his Ph.D. in Zoology from KU and went on to a very successful career in biomedical
research. He also served as a member of the KU Biological Sciences Advisory Board. Among his
many achievements, Dr. Johnson's pioneering work in recombinant DNA technology at Eli Lily
& Company led to the first commercial production of human insulin. Dr. Johnson endowed the
Irving S. Johnson Distinguished Professorship in Molecular Biology, which is currently held by
Dr. Berl Oakley. Our deepest sympathies go out to Dr. Johnson's family and all those whose
lives he touched. He will always be remembered for his great contributions to science and
his generosity to KU.
Del Shankel (Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and former Chancellor of the University) wrote an invited
perspective entitled "Memories of a Friend and Mentor – Charlotte Auerbach" for Mutation Research/ Reviews
in Mutations Research.
James Akagi (Retired Professor) visited KU last summer,
traveling from his current home in the Seattle area. He
spent the day reminiscing about his days in the former
Department of Microbiology, catching up with friends and
colleagues, meeting new Molecular Biosciences Faculty
Members and learning about current research and other
developments in the department. Jim is shown here with
faculty members Hefty, Stetler, Egan and Benedict outside
the Akagi Conference Room in the MB office.
15
Thank You for Your Support of KU Biology Student Research!
We are excited to announce that our campaign to raise funds for the
purchase of a research grade laboratory glassware washer was successful,
and a washer has been purchased. This purchase will enable our student
researchers to spend more of their time on research, and less time washing
research glassware. We’d like to express our sincerest thanks to the members
of the Biological Sciences Advisory Board, Alumni, Friends of KU Biology,
the Undergraduate Biology Program, and the Departments of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology and Molecular Biosciences whose contributions made
this purchase possible.
• John Howieson
• Nick Franano
• Michael and Kathleen Beckloff
• Cynthia Reiss-Clark
• Rob and Betsy Weaver
• Joseph and Melody Gatti
• John Brown and Mary Hise
• KC Area Life Sciences Institute
• Joan Hunt
• Carolyn Holcroft
• Del and Carol Shankel
• Haifa A.M. Alhadyian
• Deborah and David Faurot
• Joseph Lutkenhaus and
Janet Woodroof
• Susan Egan
• Jenna and Brian Goodman,
with a matching gift from
KU Endowment
• KU Undergraduate Biology
Program
• KU Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
• KU Department of Molecular
Biosciences
Your gift will make a difference!
GIVE NOW
Your donation will help us to fulfill our goals of educating future scientific
leaders and making research discoveries that contribute to global and
human health. Your gift is important for ongoing and future activities of
the Department of Molecular Biosciences and will help us:
• Recruit top-notch graduate students
• Support the visits of nationally and internationally renowned
seminar speakers
• Support undergraduate and graduate student research discoveries
For other giving opportunities, contact Jenna Goodman at
[email protected] (785-832-7417)
Contact us and like us on Facebook
Department of Molecular Biosciences
molecularbiosciences.ku.edu
[email protected]
785-864-4631
https://www.facebook.com/MolecularBiosciences-University-of-Kansas
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