The Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan Medical School has played a prominent role in the development of the subject of biochemistry. Students in the department receive training in identifying important biological problems, in developing models of the underlying biochemistry of these processes, and in using appropriate bio-chemical tools. More

Professor Ray Trievel has been named the recipient of the 2010 Etter Early Career Award from the American Crystallographic Association. He will receive this prestigious award next summer when he delivers a lecture at the ACA annual meeting in Chicago. The Etter award recognizes outstanding achievement and exceptional potential in crystallographic research demonstrated by a scientist at an early stage of their independent career. The award was established in 2002 to honor the memory of Professor Margaret C. Etter (1943-1992), who was a major contributor to the field of organic solid-state chemistry.

The William E.M. Lands Lectureship, sponsored by the Department of Biological Chemistry, is pleased to announce that it has invited Richard Wurtman, M.D. to give the 2009 lecture. Dr. Wurtman is the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Professor of Neuropharmacology, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, at MIT. Dr. Wurtman's discourse, Administering Phosphatide Precursors Increases Synaptic membrane, Dendritic Spines, and probably, Brain Synapses, will be on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 12:00 pm, North Lecture Hall, MS II.

Rowena Matthews, G. Robert Greenberg distinguished university professor emeritus has been elected to the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned organization in the United States. The ASP was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin to promote useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities. Today the Society has 987 members; Matthews is one of only 35 new members elected this year. APS

Professor Ruma Banerjee, with Sanjay Garg and Zhonghua Yan of BioChem, have published a new study with results that have implications for scientists looking for ways to enlist regulatory T cells to rein in misguided autoreactive T cells, and for other research areas as well. Regulatory T cells also influence the immune response in cancer, pregnancy, organ transplants and infection. The authors say they have uncovered a fundamentally new mechanism that holds in check aggressive immune cells that can attack the body’s own cells. Michigan Newsroom

Emeritus Professor Bernard W. Agranoff was published in JBC as part of its Reflections series. A year in the laboratory of Feodor Lynen, at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Chemistry in Munich, he recalls “participat[ing] in the exciting search to unravel the biosynthesis of cholesterol.” Later research into the possible phosphomonoesters of myo-inositol, and the possible physiological significance, leads to some rather interesting insights in brain inositol and lithium. Agranoff ends with some speculations regarding the possibility that terrestrial inositol preceded the existence of living organisms. Download the pdf.

The Journal for Biological Chemistry has published Emerita Professor Rowena G. Matthews' A Love Affair with Vitamins in the July edition as part of its Reflections series. In it Matthews tells of her progress from helping her biologist father preparing beef heart mitochondria for his research, to Radcliff in the 50s, and later Ann Arbor for thesis research with Vincent Massey and postdoctoral work with Charles Williams, who with Jud Coon convinced a then cautious University to hire her on as a Assistant Professor. Matthews’ subsequent adventures in biology make for compelling reading. Download the pfd.

Two state-of-the-art confocal microscopes recently delivered to the Kellogg Eye Center will allow BioChem's Debra A. Thompson to advance her study of the biological mechanisms of inherited retinal diseases. Thompson also received a Senior Scientific Investigator Award from Research to Prevent Blindness for her research project entitled, "Visual Cycle Defects in Inherited Retinal Degeneration." Kellogg

William E. M. Lands, who for 25 years was Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan before becoming Senior Scientific Advisor at National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is being celebrated for his life-long work in an article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The Selective Placement of Acyl Chains: the Work of W.E.M. Lands

Poster printing at the Research Information Technology Cooperative (RITC) is now easy with the implementation of a new ticketing system. Simply sign in at Footprints. Once there, fill out a simple form with your name, department, PI name, and a short code. Choose the size poster you want, and upload your file. For more information about posters see Poster Printing

The Medical School's Office of Research has published it's July issue of Biomedical News. In it you'll find information about research awards, both upcoming and received; training & education opportunities; and notices of papers published by Medical School colleagues. View complete newsletter in PDF form.