STMC trainee news: August 2018

Poster Award

Alan Buser, UNM undergraduate researcher in the Neumann lab, received an award for best poster presentation at the Undergraduate Pipeline Network Research Day for his presentation entitled "The Role of Leukemia Associated Rho GEF in a novel glucan-responsive force generation pathway".

Research Article Published

Congratulations to Dr. Matt Graus, former STMC predoctoral trainee in the Neumann lab, on the publication of a new research article in Cell Reports, entitled "Mannan Molecular Substructures Control Nanoscale Glucan Exposure in Candida". DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.088

Fellowship Award

Congratulations to STMC predoctoral trainee Eddy Anaya on receiving a competitive fellowship from the UNM Infectious Disease and Inflammation Program (NIH T32) to support his research project, entitled "Role of β-Glucan Structure in Dectin-1 Homo- and Hetro-Oligomerization in Innate Fungal Immunity".

STMC trainees win poster awards

Congratulations to Dr. Carolina Franco Nitta, Dr. Adrien Bosseboeuf, and Dr. Emanuel Salazar Cavazos for taking home awards for their poster presentations during the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center Research Day.

Left to right: Dr. Adrien Bosseboeuf, Dr. Diane Lidke, Dr. Emanuel Salazar Cavazos, Dr. Carolina Franco Nitta

2018 Retreat with STMC External Advisory Board

May 21, 2018. Watch a recent KOB-TV story on Gnana Gnanakaran’s efforts to promote Alzheimer’s research.

Wandinger-Ness featured on Fox-NM

2018 Retreat with STMC External Advisory Board

May 18, 2018. The STMC community is invited to attend our retreat beginning at 8:00 AM on May 18 in the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center Education Wing. Trainees are asked to RSVP for lunch with External Advisory Board members.

STMC’S Gnanakaran in the spotlight

Read about the scientific achievements of LANL collaborator, Dr. S “Gnana” Gnanakaran, in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

STMC's Wandinger-Ness receives 2017 Excellence in Basic Science Research Award

Dr. Angela Wandinger-Ness, Professor in Pathology and PI of STMC’s Project 3, received the 2017 Excellence in Basic Science Research Award for her outstanding contributions and research. These annual awards recognize UNM Health Science Center faculty, nominated by their peers, in five different categories: Basic Science Research, Clinical Science Research, Population Science Research, Junior Faculty Research, and Team Science Research. Congratulations to Dr. Angela Wandinger-Ness!

STMC's Cleyrat and Steinkamp featured in UNM Department of Pathology newsletter

Dr. Mara Steinkamp and Dr. Cédric Cleyrat were featured in the PathFINDER newsletter for their innovative work. Download issue

STMC trainee Anaya receives Biophysical Society (BPS) Committee on Inclusion and Diversity (CID) Travel Award

Eduardo Anaya, STMC trainee affiliated with the Neumann lab, was honored as the recipient of a Biophysical Society (BPS) Committee on Inclusion and Diversity (CID) Travel Award. The CID Travel Award will support his attendance and presentation of his research at the 2018 BPS Annual Meeting.

STMC's Lydia Tapia receives Borg Early Career Award from the Computing Research Association - Women (CRA-W)

Lydia Tapia, an associate professor in the University of New Mexico Department of Computer Science, has been awarded the Borg Early Career Award from the Computing Research Association – Women (CRA-W).

The award was presented recently at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Systems (IROS) in Vancouver, Canada.

The award recognizes an early-career faculty member or researcher in an industry or government lab who has made significant research contributions and also has had a positive and significant impact on advancing women and diversity in the computing research community. Nominations are received from institutions across North America. This is the first award to a researcher in New Mexico.

Tapia’s research focuses on the development of computationally efficient algorithms for the simulation and analysis of high-dimensional motions for robots and molecules. Specifically, she explores problems in computational structural biology, motion under stochastic uncertainty, and reinforcement learning. She is the recipient of the 2016 Denice Denton Emerging Leader ABIE Award from the Anita Borg Institute for high-quality research and a significant positive impact on diversity. Her work at the STMC is focused on simulating molecular assembly of IgE with allergens, leading to predictions of receptor aggregation for cell signaling. This novel work is supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, as well as an STMC graduate fellowship.

STMC's Dr. Judy Cannon recipient of Outstanding Mentor Award

Dr. Cannon was identified as having a strong dedication to mentoring, being an effective instructor, and having consistent involvement in BSGP activities. Additionally, the review subcommittee found her to have the most profound impact on student development.

STMC members Dr. Elaine Bearer, Dr. Diane Lidke, and Dr. Jennifer Gillette have won educational excellence awards in previous years.

Retreat with STMC External Advisory Board

September 30, 2016. The STMC community is invited to attend retreat beginning 8:00 AM on September 30 in the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center Education Wing. Trainees are asked to RSVP for lunch with External Advisory Board members.

STMC Director Wilson discusses new grant to help New Mexicans with blood disorders

January 7, 2016. STMC Director, Bridget Wilson, Ph.D., talks to Colton Shone, KOB-TV, about the new two-year $453,000 grant from the DOD to study myeloproliferative neoplasms. These are blood disorders in which the body produces too many red blood cells or too many platelets or in which the bone marrow in which these cells are made becomes too fibrous. About 200 people in New Mexico are diagnosed with these diseases each year. Read more about the grant and the work in the press release.

STMC faculty member Wandinger-Ness Leading Coalition to Build National Research Mentoring Network

January 4, 2016. Dr. Angela Wandinger-Ness, STMC project 3 PI, is leading a coalition of institutions across the country with Institutional Research and Academic Career Development post-doctoral training awards to help build a National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN). The goal of the NRMN is to create an online community of researchers from the undergraduate through the senior faculty levels for purposes of scientific workforce diversification and deliberate training and mentorship. A two-year, $500,000 supplement was awarded to the HSC through a partnership with Boston College and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Erasmus featured in ABQ Journal

November 6, 2015. STMC graduate student Frank Erasmus recently won a cash prize for his Elevator Pitch presentation, a venue for students to present new business and translational ideas. Read the full article

Congratulations, Christina Termini

September 25, 2015. Congratulations to Pathology Graduate Student, Ms. Christina Termini, for recently being awarded 3 prestigious fellowship/scholarships. Ms. Termini received the UNM Centro de la Raza Latina Graduate Fellowship, the Hispanic Women's Council Scholarship and the UNM Parent Association Scholarship. These awards provide career development opportunities for Ms. Termini, in addition to supporting her dissertation work in the laboratory of Jennifer Gillette. Congratulations Tina!

Neumann receives AAI Travel for Techniques award

Septmeber 4, 2015. Aaron Neumann, Assistant Professor, UNM Pathology, received an AAI Travel for Techniques award to train in methods used for purification and physicochemical characterization of fungal cell wall polysaccharides at the lab of David Williams at East Tennessee State University. This work is relevant to his STMC initiatives centered around Dectin-1 engagement of yeast glucan nanostructures.

Former STMC fellow appointed to new faculty position at Purdue

August 28, 2015. Fang Huang, former STMC graduate student, will begin his new position as Assistant Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. Fang continues his work in development of high resolution imaging techniques and data analysis methods. Congratulations, Fang!

UNM Cancer Center now NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center

August 12, 2015. Congratulations to all engaged in the hard work to help UNM Cancer Center achieve NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. UNM CC Director Cheryl Willman was joined by governor Martinez and other dignitaries at a press conference on August 12 to make this announcement. Many STMC faculty members, including PI Bridget Wilson as co-leader of the Translational Cancer Biology & Signaling Program and Angela Wandinger-Ness as Associate Director of Education, Training & Mentoring, contributed to this success. Read more

STMC's Angela Wandinger-Ness interviewed

STMC's Angela Wandinger-Ness and UNM colleague Laurie Hudson were interviewed on the "KRQE This Morning" on August 5. With clinical partner Muller, this team has discovered that a racemic form of the pain medicine ketorolac inhibits members of the RAC and RHO GTPases. This work has led to a clinical trial in ovarian cancer at the UNM Cancer Center. Watch the video

Gnanakaran interviewed about his research on biofuels for Earth Day

STMC member Gnana S. Gnanakaran was interviewed about his research on biofuels for Earth Day. Read the Biophysical Society interview

Gnanakaran also organized a conference on February 18-20, entitled "Toward an integrated understanding of drug resistance". The international workshop brought together experimentalists and theoreticians from the pharma, academia, and government to discuss mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and novel antimicrobial strategies.

Erasmus awarded F31 from NIH-NCI

STMC graduate student Frank Erasmus has been awarded an F31 from NIH-NCI on his pre-BCR project in precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Congratulations, Frank!

Senator Heinrich's visit to STMC

New Mexico's Senator Martin Heinrich recently met with STMC faculty to learn about our interdisciplinary scientific community. A mechanical engineer, Heinrich's visit included a trip to view the new technology under development in the STMC Superresolution Core (K. Lidke, Core Director).

STMC renewal featured in local print, TV news

The announcement of the STMC competitive renewal attracted great local press, including a feature on KRQE-TV, mention on KOB-TV and an article in the Albuquerque Journal. Link below connects to the ABQ journal story. Read more at the Albuquerque Journal

Matt Graus awarded fellowship by the American Association of Immunologists

Matt Graus, an STMC graduate student in the Neumann lab and affiliated with the UNM Nanoscience and Microsystems program, was awarded a fellowship by the American Association of Immunologists to support his work on the molecular mechanisms of fungal pathogen recognition by dendritic cell immunoreceptor signaling networks.

Dr. Vittorio Cristini among "top 1% citations" in Mathematics

Professor Vittorio Cristini, UNM professor of Pathology and member of the STMC, been named as one of most highly cited researchers in Mathematics by Thomson Reuters IP & Science.

From the news release: "Thomson Reuters collaborated with partner, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and producer of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, to create the Highly Cited Researchers listing for 2014. Thomson Reuters analysts assessed papers indexed between 2002 and 2012 in 21 broad fields of study. They tracked authors who published numerous articles that ranked among the top one percent of the most cited in their respective fields in the given year of publication. These documents represent research that the scientific community has judged to be the most significant and useful.

There are upwards of 3,200 researchers from around the world recognized in this study. This compilation attests to the power and scope of citations in determining influential research across disciplines. To learn more about the methodology behind the listing of Highly Cited Researchers, visit http://highlycited.com/."

Cristini was also featured in an Albuquerque Business First article from August 2013, "Vittorio Cristini: 'Everything clicked'".

Photo credit: Randy Siner

STMC trainee Christina Termini Selected For Evans Scholarship

Congratulations to Christina Termini, recipient of the 2014-2015 Edmund J. & Thelma W. Evans Charitable Trust Scholarship. This scholarship recognizes students with outstanding scholastic ability who have excelled in biomedical research. Ms. Termini is an STMC trainee in the laboratory of Jennifer Gillette, where she uses super resolution imaging technology to evaluate adhesion receptor organization and signaling in hematopoietic stem cells. She's a great musician too!

The Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience, March 28-29, 2014

March 28-29, 2014: 333 Montezuma Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through illustrated lectures on the discovery of specific molecular pathways and cellular structures, and through complementary original watercolors, illustrations and microscopy images and videos,The Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience will reveal a dazzling view of the world of living cells. View The Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience

Gnanakaran featured in Biophysical Society newsletter

LANL computational specialist and STMC member Sandrasegaram "Gnana" Gnanakaran is featured this month in the Biophysical Society's newsletter.

Termini performance to be accompanied by super-resolution images

Christina Termini, graduate student in STMC member Dr. Jennifer Gillete's laboratory, will be performing in New Music New Mexico, UNM's graduate student contemporary chamber ensemble. Projections of super-resolution images of hematopoietic stem cells will accompany the music. Termini acquired the images using the shared facility from Dr. Keith Lidke's lab in Physics. She will also be performing a solo work for flute entitled Density 21.5 by Edgar Varese. This work will be accompanied by super-resolution images and videos of data acquisitions. The concert is on Thursday, November 21st at 7:30 PM in Keller Hall, in the UNM Fine Arts Center.

Cavazos receives scholarship

STMC graduate student Emanuel Salazar Cavazos is the recipient of a scholarship from the Mexico Secretariat of Public Education. The scholarship is intended to support the professional development of those students doing graduate studies in strategic areas outside of Mexico.

STMC Launches SuperCluster

STMC launches SuperCluster, a new set of tools for super resolution (SR) data analysis. The international SR community is welcomed to access and participate in "beta-testing" this new addition to our image analysis tool box. Read more about SuperCluster.

STMC graduate student Kasra Manavi receives UNM PiBBs Fellowship

STMC graduate student Kasra Manavi received a 2013-2014 PiBBs fellowship. PiBBs, the Program in Interdisciplinary Biological and Biomedical Sciences at UNM, is a cross-departmental, college and institutional collaboration of students and faculty interested in interdisciplinary biological research. For more information on PiBBs, visit http://biology.unm.edu/pibbs/index.html

STMC graduate student Kimberly Kanigel-Winner receives travel award

STMC graduate student Kimberly Kanigel-Winner has received a travel award to attend a 3-week workshop sponsored by Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute (PASI) and National Science Foundation (NSF). To be held in Proto Alegre, Brazil from July 08-July 26, 2013, the workshop is entitled "From Cells to Ecosystems: Frontiers in Collaborative Quantitative Physics-Based Multiscale Modeling of Biological Processes." For more information go to: https://sites.google.com/site/pasipoa2013/home

Alan Kuntz awarded Honorable Mention for CRA's Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award

Alan Kuntz, a UNM junior majoring in Computer Science, has been working for the past year on simulation tools for antibody aggregation with STMC Prof. Lydia Tapia and Ph.D. Student Kasra Manavi. He was just awarded an Honorable Mention for the 2013 Computing Research Association's (CRA) Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award. This award recognizes undergraduate students in North American universities who show outstanding research potential in an area of computing research.

STMC Modeling presented at the American Mathematical Society Spring Meeting in Boulder, CO

April 14, 2013. Professor Stanly Steinberg presented an invited talk on his work with STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza on "The Dynamics of Membrane Proteins" at a Special Session on Advances in Mathematical Biology at the Boulder meeting in April 2013. The AMS is the premier national organization dedicated to promoting mathematical research and its application in many fields, including biology.

NRSA Grant Awarded to STMC Graduate Fellow, Stephanie Jerman

Stephanie Jerman, a PhD candidate in the Wandinger-Ness laboratory, has been awarded a two year National Research Service Award (F31) from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to complete her dissertation research focused on the localization of EGFR to the primary cilium and the identification of protein partners that are within 40 nm in the primary cilia. Jerman will present a poster on her work at the American Association for Dental Research in Seattle WA (March 2013) and has been invited by the NIH program director to present at a second special forum for NIH trainees.

Understanding Cell Behavior Through Single Cell Molecule Biology Conference featured in Albuquerque Business First

The Understanding Cell Behavior Through Single Cell Molecule Biology Conference held earlier this year was featured in a recent Albuquerque Business First article, "UNM Cancer Center, Sandia team up to advance cell analysis". The article was written by reporter Dennis Domrzalski and can be read here.

STMC Graduate Student Receives Best Presentation Award

Congratulations go to first year STMC graduate student, Emanuel Salazar Cavazos, who received two separate awards ($100 each) for his presentations at UNM Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Symposia. The first award recognized his efforts in the "First Year Students Rotation Symposia" in January 2013. Then, on Feb 15 Emanuel presented his work in a Symposium featuring projects from all students in the graduate program (First through Fifth Years) -- and he received First Place again! Emanuel's talks were on Single Molecule FISH, reflecting a new STMC initiative to quantitatively evaluate transcription in single cells.

STMC Science on the Cover of Physical Biology

Images from a new paper by STMC investigators Elaine Bearer and Vittorio Cristini were featured on the cover of Physical Biology for October 2012.

5 STMC Faculty are now Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

STMC leader Bridget Wilson PhD was recently elected as a Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Wilson is the Victor and Ruby Hansen Surface Professor in the Pathology Department and also serves as one of four program leaders at UNM's National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center. Fellows are recognized for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications. Dr. Wilson joins 4 other fellows within the STMC leadership: Drs. Janet Oliver, Elaine Bearer, Angela Wandinger-Ness and Byron Goldstein.

Recognition for STMC Research Director, Bridget Wilson

Congratulations to Dr. Bridget Wilson who received the 2012 Award in Basic Science Research at the Health Sciences Center's 4th Annual Research Day on Friday, October 26, 2012.

Bridget was also elected to the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum. Membership in this organization is by invitation, based up a record of significant and sustained achievements in basic and/or clinical research in the field of allergy, clinical immunology and related branches of medicine.

Christina Termini to perform with UNM Symphony Orchestra November 06

The UNM Symphony Orchestra will feature a flute performance by our very own Ms. Christina Termini on Tuesday, November 06 at 7:30 PM in Keller Hall, Center for the Arts, University of New Mexico. Ms. Termini is a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Sciences Program who works in the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Gillette in the Department of Pathology. Ms. Termini's thesis work is focused on identifying the role of the membrane scaffold protein, CD82, in regulating hematopoietic stem cell interactions with their niche. Her use of Super Resolution imaging techniques in collaboration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy has led to her recent award of an STMC graduate student fellowship. In October, Ms. Termini also received a Minority Travel Award from the American Society of Cell Biology to present her work at their annual meeting this December in San Francisco, CA. In addition to her long hours in lab, Ms.Termini is pursuing a Master's degree in Music at UNM.

Images from The Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience will be featured at the Annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology

Attendees at the December 2012 ASCB meeting in San Francisco will enjoy a gallery of large format prints of molecular and cellular images spread over two open spaces in the Moscone Center. In an article in the October 2012 ASCB Newsletter, the STMC-sponsored Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience event in Santa Fe is recognized as the inspiration for the event as well as the source of the large format illustrations by Graham Johnson, our 2012 Artist-in-Residence. The article emphasizes the ability of art to make science more accessible and understandable for both scientists and the public. We are thrilled that our outreach event has expanded its reach and hope that ASCB and other national and international organizations will want to take images from future Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience "on the road".
View the October 2012 ASCB Newsletter segment

DAMSIG is back!

All interested STMC members and trainees are encouraged to attend the biweekly meetings of DAMSIG, the STMC's Data Analysis and Modeling Special Interest Group. DAMSIG will meet biweekly from 3-4 pm on Thursdays in CRF G25 (with 4-5 pm open for discussion) beginning on Thursday, October 04.

The First Annual Winter q-bio Meeting

The success of the summer q-bio summer school and conference in Santa Fe has inspired a winter q-bio meeting in Hawaii. The San Diego NSCB is a primary sponsor and Santa Fe q-bio organizers Bill Hlavacek and Brian Musky are on the organizing committee. The first annual winter meeting will run from February 18-21, 2013 on Oahu. For more information and to register, see http://w-qbio.org/

Fluorescence Microscopy Shared Resource featured in the Cancer Center's Summer 2012 Shared Resources newsletter

STMC scientists established and continue to lead the UNM Cancer Center's Fluorescence Microscopy Shared Resource.

The Summer 2012 Shared Resources newsletter focuses on instrumentation and technical expertise currently offered in the microscopy core. Complementing the fee-for service core, next generation imaging is offered through the STMC Super-resolution Imaging core.

STMC co-leader Stan Steinberg will be the first speaker in the 2012/13 Consortium of the Americas seminar series

The Consortium is a Center in the UNM College of Arts and Sciences established to encourage collaborations between Latin America and UNM in interdisciplinary science. Professor Steinberg's seminar, "Understanding the Organization and Dynamics of Membrane Proteins", will be on August 27 at 1:30 PM in Physics and Astronomy 190.

Two new NIH grants for microfluidics integrated with biomarker detection and with imaging

August 2012. Dr. Anup Singh, leader of the STMC Microfluidics team, has been awarded a 5 year RO1 grant from NIAID. Grant R01AI098853 "Microfluidic Platform for Multiplexed Diagnostics" will support continued research on platform technologies for rapid and sensitive detection of biomarkers.

Additionally, Dr. Keith Lidke, PI of the STMC Super-resolution Imaging team, and Dr. Conrad James, co-leader of the STMC Microfluidics team, have received a 3 year R21 grant from NIGMS. Grant R21GM104691 "Reflected Beam Illumination Microscopy using a Microfluidics Device" is the first to support collaborative research between two STMC core technologies.

New NIH Grant awarded to STMC member Jim Werner

August 2012. Dr. Werner, a STMC member in the Center for Integrated Nanotechnology at LANL, has been awarded a new 5 year R01 grant from NIAID "Three-Dimensional Molecular Tracking" of FceRI in Live Cells" to support further refinement and applications of his innovative 3D tracking confocal microscope. A subaward to STMC biologists Bridget Wilson and Diane Lidke will provide cells, reagents and critical scientific questions linked to a better understanding of the spatial regulation of receptor dynamics and signaling activity.

A NCI Provocative Questions grant emerges from a STMC Grand Challenge Award

August 2012. STMC members Scott Ness and Jeremy Edwards have earned continued support for their STMC Grand Challenge award "A Novel Next-Generation Proteomics Assay" through a NCI Provocative Questions RO1 grant titled "Alternative RNA splicing and protein products in leukemia outcome". One goal of their continuing work is to radically improve antibody-based proteomics analyses so that protein modifications and protein-protein interactions can be measured at the single molecule level.

New NIH Grant Awarded to Dr. Jeremy Edwards

Dr. Edwards, PI of the UNM modeling core, has been awarded a 5 year grant (RO1 GM104973) titled "A spatially coarse-grained rule-based framework for modeling large molecular networks". Funded through the NSF/NIH program in Mathematical Biology, the grant includes a sub award to STMC external member, Dr Adam Halasz from the University of West Virginia.

New NIH Grant awarded to Dr. Elaine Bearer

Congratulations to Dr. Bearer on her new 5 year NIH grant for "Live imaging of brain circuitry in mouse models of PTSD". This 5 year grant from NIMH will integrate magnetic resonance and optical imaging with computational image analysis and mathematical modeling to map fear responses in brain circuitry.

Please welcome Dr. Carolyn Pehlke to STMC

Dr. Pehlke will join the STMC Image Analysis and Informatics Core on June 15, 2012. In May 2012, she completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Wisconsin on "Quantification of Collagen Alignment: Tools for Characterizing Cancer Invasion and Progression". Her interdisciplinary research was comentored by Drs. David Beebe and Patricia Keeley (Cancer Biology) and Dr. Kevin Eliceiri (Director of the UW Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI) and co-inventor of the OMERO image informatics program). Carolyn has extensive experience in image processing and image analysis using Matlab, ImageJ and other programs. She brings expertise in image informatics as a pioneering user and contributor to the OMERO software.

STMC Leader Diane Lidke elected to the CINT Users Executive Committee

The Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies is a DOE-funded national user facility devoted to collaborative research on the design, performance and integration of nanoscale materials, including nanophotonic and optical nanomaterials and bio-mimetic nanosystems. CINT has user facilities at both the Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. The UEC serves as a liaison between the user community and Center management and is the primary feedback mechanism by which the Department of Energy assesses the value of CINT facilities to the scientific community.

STMC mathematician Arnaud Chauviere will teach in the Ecole de Printemps 2012 of the French Society of Theoretical Biology

The Spring school, to be held in Saint-Flour, France from June 4-10, 2012, will focus on numerical and hybrid methods to help understand living systems, with a particular focus on:

• signaling in biological systems
• self-organization and morphogenesis

More information is at Ecole de Printemps 2012 de la Société Francophone de Biologie Théorique

Physics graduate student Kathrin Spendier is now Dr. Spendier

Kathrin defended her thesis on "Dynamics and Distribution of Immunoglobulin E Receptors: a Dialog between Experiment and Theory" on April 4th.

Kathrin was a fellow of the UNM program in Interdisciplinary Biology and Biomedical Science (PIBBs) program as well as a STMC Fellow. Her dissertation research was with STMC mentors Jim Thomas, Bridget Wilson, Diane Lidke, Keith Lidke and Jerilyn Timlin and also with Professor Nitant Kenkre. Kathrin is moving to the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, where she will be a Research Associate in the BioFrontiers Institute that focuses on research at the interface of biology and physics.

New NIH RO1 Grant Awarded to Dr. Judy Cannon

Congratulations to STMC member Judy Cannon, Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Pathology, on her new grant titled "The role of PKCtheta in T cell and T-ALL migration". This 5 year, $1.9 million grant from NIAID will integrate imaging and modeling techniques to understand and identify novel regulators of T cell migration and how these regulators may also control leukemia cell metastasis. Collaborators on the project include STMC member Melanie Moses, Associate Professor of Computer Science, and STMC postdoc, Francois Asperti-Boursin.

2012 Clinical and Translational Science Center grant awarded to STMC faculty member Aaron Neumann

The goal of this project, entitled "Flow Cytometric Screening in Fungal Biofilms", is to develop enabling methodology to screen for drugs effective against the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans grown in the clinically relevant biofilm format. A bead-based biofilm model suitable for high throughput flow cytometric screening and a scalable assay for biofilm permeability will be developed to be used in screens for compounds that increase biofilm permeability and improve antimycotic drug access to biofilms.

Read more: http://hsc.unm.edu/research/ctsc/funding_projects_April2012.shtml

STMC leader Diane S. Lidke has been awarded a $1.4 million NIH RO1 grant

Titled "Single Molecule Imaging to Quantify FcεRI Signaling Dynamics," the new 5 year award from NIGMS integrates multiple imaging modalities, both novel and established, to capture and quantify the sequence, lifetime and subcellular localization of protein interactions that govern signal initiation. Collaborators on the project include Dr. Keith Lidke, Assistant Professor of Physics, Dr. Bridget Wilson, Professor of Pathology and Dr. Marcel Bruchez from Carnegie Mellon University.

A Human Frontier Science Program Grant has been awarded to STMC leader Diane S. Lidke and an international team

Dr. Diane S. Lidke, Assistant Professor of Pathology, and three international collaborators have been awarded a HFSP Program Grant of over $1.3 million. Research Grants provided by HFSP support basic research in the life sciences with emphasis on novel, innovative and interdisciplinary approaches that involve scientific exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries. The three year project entitled "Nano-Mechano-Biology: spatiotemporal remodeling of membrane nanoplatforms under mechanical forces" is in collaboration with Dr. Alessandra Cambi from the Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences (Nijmegen, the Netherlands), Dr. Maria Garcia-Parajo from the Institute of Photonic Sciences (Barcelona, Spain) and Dr. Satyajit Mayor from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (Bangalore, India).

As they circulate, cells of the immune system experience a large range of mechanical stimuli: from shear stresses encountered in blood flow and lymph nodes to irregular topographical cues of extracellular matrix fibers and changes in tension during movement from capillaries to tissue. The Lidke team will exploit cutting-edge biophysical tools, including superresolution and hyperspectral imaging, nanospectroscopy and novel microfluidics devices to explore how mechanical stress alters membrane protein organization and signaling at the molecular level.

Of the 800 pre-proposals submitted, only 68 were accepted as full proposals and eventually 25 were granted. The application by Lidke and collaborators was ranked number one.

STMC Modelers Moving to New Positions

STMC Staff Scientist Krishnan Radhakrishnan will take a new position as Resident Physician, Preventive Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY. Krish's research in Kentucky, funded by the American Cancer Society, will focus on mathematical models of cancer control and prevention.

STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza will begin a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, in August 2012. Flor will launch an independent research program building on her accomplishments in image analysis and modeling of membrane organization and its role in signal initiation.

Arnaud Chauviere, STMC member and Research Assistant Professor of Pathology, will leave UNM for a tenure track position in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Grenoble, France.

Two STMC postdocs to be recognized at the 2012 SIAM Conference on the Life Sciences

The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) will host a Conference on the Life Sciences (LS12) on August 7-10, 2012 in San Diego, CA. The conference goal is to provide a cross-disciplinary forum for catalyzing mathematical research relevant to the life sciences.

STMC postdoc Avanika Mahajan, a cell biologist, will present her work, collaborative with cell biologist Bridget Wilson and modelers Dipak Barua and Bill Hlavacek, on "Initiation and Regulation of Mast Cell Signaling through the FceRI Pathway."

STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza, a mathematician, will present her work, collaborative with cell biologist Diane Lidke and modelers Michael Wester and Stanly Steinberg, on "Insights into Cell membrane Microdomain Organization from Live Cell Single Particle tracking of the IgE High Affinity Receptor FceRI of Mast Cells".

Avanika Mahajan and Flor Espinoza both received travel awards through a grant to SIAM from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

2012 STMC Pilot Award to Eric Carnes, Chemical Engineering and Keith Lidke, Physics

The Carnes/Lidke pilot is to develop biocompatible, non-blinking, non-agglomerating fluorescent nanoparticles as quantum dot replacements for single-particle tracking.

Pictured: Dr. Eric Carnes

The Art of Systems Biology and Nanoscience recognized

Pasatiempo, New Mexico's weekly magazine of Arts, Entertainment and Culture, (www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/) honored the 3rd annual STMC/CNTC outreach event by a cover image from the work of our artist-in-residence Graham Johnson and by an in-depth interview with the artist. More than 450 people registered for the two day event, that included scientific illustrations by Graham Johnson, lectures on systems biology and nanotechnology by Ron Vale from UCSF, Bette Korber from LANL and Piotr Grodzinski from NCI, demonstrations by Karen Dell (Ibio seminars), Stephen Jett (atomic force microscopy) and Jason Haroldson (Vislab 3D) and hands-on nanoscience experiments for kids of all ages presented by the Nanoscience and Microsystems graduate students from UNM.

The New Mexico Center for Spatiotemporal Modeling announces a new faculty recruit

Aaron Neumann, Ph.D., has joined the UNM Department of Pathology and the STMC as Assistant Professor. His research uses quantitative live cell optical microscopy techniques to explore the cell biology and signal transduction of fungal pathogen sensing.

STMC member Angela Wandinger-Ness writes about the importance and rewards of role models and mentoring

STMC member Angela Wandinger-Ness writes about the importance and rewards of role models and mentoring in November 2011 ASCB Newsletter.
Download the article.

New grant from the Oxnard Foundation awarded to STMC member Alexandre Chigaev

Chigaev's work integrates high resolution imaging, flow cytometry and modeling to understand the spatial and temporal regulation of integrin VLA4 affinity in normal and malignant hematopoietic cells. The $100,000 award will provide 2 years of support beginning January 1, 2012.

One of four "Technology Development for New Affinity Reagents Against the Human Proteome (U54)" grants awarded to STMC Affinity Reagents Core PI Andrew Bradbury

This new funding from the NIH Common Fund through the Office of the NIH Director will support the production of large numbers of recombinant high quality polyclonal antibodies from which monoclonal antibodies can subsequently be selected and engineered for greater affinity and specificity. Through its focus on generating antibodies to signaling proteins, the award represents a groundbreaking development for systems approaches to signaling pathways.

Nanotools and super-resolution imaging reveal new details of ErbB1 dimerization

STMC members Diane and Keith Lidke have pioneered applications of quantum dot nanoprobes and live cell imaging to explore the dynamic properties of ErbB receptors implicated in multiple cancers. In a collaboration with STMC member Bridget Wilson, their team now integrates measurement with modeling to generate the first direct evidence for the transient co-confinement of unoccupied ErbB1 receptors on the membranes of epithelial cells. They also report the first real time measurement of ErbB1 dimerization kinetics. STMC student Shalini Low-Nam (now a postdoc in the A. Hoppe Lab) is the first author. STMC student Pat Cutler is a co-author.
Download the article.

STMC PI Janet Oliver is named the Frederick H. Harvey III Chair of Pathology

Established by the Harvey Family, the Harvey Chair recognizes faculty who lead innovative translational research.

STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza invited to talk at the NIMBioS Investigative Workshop

STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza invited to talk at the NIMBioS Investigative Workshop on "Mathematical Modeling of Intracellular Movements".

The workshop will take place at the National Institute of Mathematics and Biological Synthesis of the University of Tennessee from October 24-26, 2011.

Flor will present "Insights Into Cell Membrane Microdomain Organization from Live Cell Single Particle Tracking of the High Affinity IgE Receptor, FcepsilonRI, of Mast Cells".

STMC member Angela Wandinger-Ness will spend Oct-Nov, 2011 at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology

Her visit was hosted by Dr. Roger Goody and funded by a DAAD Visiting Professorship Award.

STMC graduate student Fang Huang is now Dr. Huang

On August 05, Fang Huang successfully defended his PhD thesis in Biophysics on "The Evaluation of ERK1 Dimerization Models using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy and the Development of Analysis Algorithms for Single-Molecule Super Resolution." Fang's primary mentor was Keith Lidke, Assistant Professor of Physics, with co-mentors Jim Thomas, Professor of Physics and Diane Lidke, Assistant Professor of Pathology. Fang is off to Yale for a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Joerg Bewersdorf, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and of Biomedical Engineering.

New Pilot and Postdoc Match Awards

Drs. Angela Wandinger-Ness and Heather Ward from the UNM Department of Pathology have been awarded a STMC pilot project for research on "The Spatiotemporal Analysis of Ciliary Trafficking and Signaling".

Primary cilia are ubiquitous cellular substructures that serve as signaling integrators and as such are critical to normal cellular function and proper organismal development. Polycystins -1 and -2 are ciliary proteins that are central to ciliary signaling through calcium and tyrosine kinase cascades. The pilot project integrates biological measurement with modeling to test the hypothesis that ciliary calcium signaling depends on a coordinate, spatially and temporally regulated trafficking and assembly of a multimeric polycystin-EGFR-RPTPγ protein complex within a flotillin- 1 and -2, cholesterol enriched membrane domain.

STMC postdoc match funds will support a new postdoctoral fellow, Dr. François Asperti-Boursin, to work with STMC immunologist Dr. Judy Cannon (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology) and STMC modeler Dr. Melanie Moses (Computer Science). Dr. Asperti-Boursin completed his PhD at the Institut Cochin in Paris under the supervision of Dr. Emmanuel Donnadieu. His STMC project will focus on the spatiotemporal regulation of T cell motility.

August ACSB Newsletter highlights UNM Academic Science, Education and Research Training program led by STMC member Angela Wandinger-Ness

The August edition of the ACSB Newsletter highlights the UNM Academic Science, Education and Research Training program for postdoctoral fellows led by STMC member Angela Wandinger-Ness. ASERT can support STMC postdocs wishing to achieve excellence as both educators and research scientists.
Download the article

STMC postdoc Espinoza invited to participate in Investigative Workshop Mathematical Modeling of Intracellular Movements

STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza has been invited to participate in the Investigative Workshop Mathematical Modeling of Intracellular Movements (MMiMo) (http://nimbios.org/workshops/WS_intracellular_mv), sponsored by the NSF-funded National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). The workshop will be held at NIMBioS in Knoxville, Tennessee, from 24-26 October 2011.

Biophysics at the Cutting Edge: A Report from the 55th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society

Diane Lidke's work with Shalini Low-Nam and Bridget Wilson using 2 colors of quantum dotS to quantify the motions of EGFR monomers and formation of dimers was highlighted in a new review by Prithwish Pal. Download the review

STMC postdoc Flor Espinoza awarded NSF travel grant to attend Applied Mathematics Perspectives 2011 workshop on Reproducible Research: Tools and Strategies for Scientific Computing

The workshop will be at the University of British Columbia, July 13-16, 2011.

STMC member Angela Wandinger-Ness in May 2011 newsletter of the American Society for Cell Biology

Wandinger-Ness is featured in an ASCB Profile.
Read the article

STMC member Judy Cannon appointed a 2011-12 Public Policy Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists

STMC member Judy Cannon appointed a 2011-12 Public Policy Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists. For more information visit AAI.

STMC investigators to speak at Discovery Day, 2011

Jeremy Edwards and Angela Wandinger-Ness are featured speakers at Discovery Day (April 29, 2011), the annual one-day research conference cosponsored by the UNM HSC Division of Biocomputing and the UNM Center for Molecular Discovery. For program information, see Discovery Day 2011.

The STMC announces two Grand Challenge awards beginning April 1, 2011

In their proposal "A novel next-generation proteomics assay", joint PIs Drs. Scott Ness and Jeremy Edwards will test a novel approach for radically improving antibody-based proteomics analyses so that protein modifications and protein-protein interactions can be measured at the single molecule level.

In their proposal "Modeling Vesicular Traffic inside Cells", joint PIs Drs. Vittorio Cristini and Elaine Bearer will create a mathematical-computational model of particle behavior inside cells and test model predictions through experimental analyses of the behavior of functionalized nanobeads in living cells.

STMC Grad student Patrick Cutler wins Biophysical Society Student Research Achievement Award

309 society student members participated in this competitive event held during the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting on March 6 in Baltimore, Maryland. View press release

Dr. Scott Ness awarded a STMC pilot project for research on "Connecting cytoplasmic signaling pathways to the spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression"

Dr. Scott Ness, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, has been awarded a STMC pilot project for research on "Connecting cytoplasmic signaling pathways to the spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression". The proposed experiments will establish links between upstream signaling pathways and the transcription factors that regulate cell fate, and will provide new data for the development of novel interactions and modeling projects within the STMC.

STMC PI Janet Oliver elected an AAAS Fellow

Janet Oliver was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the Fellows Forum held on 19 February 2011 during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. AAAS Fellows are recognized for outstanding contributions to science and technology.

STMC Graduate Student Shalini Low Nam is now Dr. Shalini Low Nam

February 04, 2011. Thesis title: "Quantitative Analysis and Modeling of ErbB Receptor Diffusion and Dimerization Dynamics on Live Cells using a Fluorescent Probe Library". Shalini will be joining the lab of biophysicist Dr. Adam Hoppe at South Dakota State University.

Vittorio Cristini, PhD, has joined the Departments of Pathology and Chemical Engineering and the STMC as Full Professor. His research focuses on the mathematical modeling of tumor growth and metastasis.

Jennifer Gillette, PhD, has joined the Department of Pathology and the STMC as Assistant Professor. Her research focuses on applications of new imaging technologies to understand the development of hematopoietic stem cells.

Lydia Tapia, PhD has joined the Department of Computer Science and the STMC as Assistant Professor. Her research focuses on the modeling of molecular motions, including conformational changes in membrane proteins.

Kathrin Spendier receives 2011 Student Travel Award from the Biophysical Society

Kathrin Spendier has received the 2011 Student Travel Award (press release ) from the Biophysical Society. She will receive the award at the 2011 Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 2011.

STMC members featured in Quantum

The Fall 2010 issue of Quantum features STMC's Melanie Moses, PhD ("Making Connections") and Janet Oliver, PhD and Bridget Wilson, PhD ("The Communication of Cells"). Quantum is published by the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of New Mexico.

NCI Reveals Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer's $150 Million in Grants

The National Cancer Institute has announced some $150 million in research funding over 5 years to institutions targeting nanotechnology approaches to detect, fight and treat cancer. More than 30 institutions across the country will receive nanocancer funding. Read the full article here..

STMC joins the international systems biology network

Sysbionetwork is a non-profit organization designed as a resource to bring information to System Biology Centers across the world.

Recognition for Diane Lidke

Diane Lidke received the Junior Faculty Research Award at the UNM Health Sciences Center's Second Annual Faculty Research Day Awards Ceremony October 1, 2010.

Diane will also receive the 2011 Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award from the Biophysical Society for her innovative work integrating the disciplines of biophysics, bioimaging and quantitative biology. The Award will be presented at the 2011 Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, March 5-9, 2011.

Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center

STMC scientists have been awarded a Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center (CNTC) grant from the NCI. The new grant is a partnership between the STMC and the Nanoscience and Microsystems (NSMS) graduate program. It provides graduate and postdoctoral stipends and training in interdisciplinary research that integrates cancer biology with nanotechnology and computational modeling. The co-PIs are the STMC Director, J. Oliver (joliver@salud.unm.edu) and the NSMS Director, A. Datye (adatye@unm.edu).