Congressman Jim Cooper visited Vanderbilt Sept. 19th on a whirlwind tour that included a stop in the Center for Addiction Research (VCAR), a trip to the Asthma, Sinus, and Allergy Program (VASP), and a meeting with the Science Policy Group (SPG). The trip was arranged by graduate student Joe Luchsinger (Winder lab), who connected with Cooper through his work in the Early Career Policy Ambassador Program. This program, sponsored by the Society for Neuroscience, seeks to train young scientists to be grassroots advocates for the local and national support of science. Joe also arranged a visit to VCAR for members of Senator Lamar Alexander’s staff. Keep up the good work Joe!
Photo caption: Congressman Jim Cooper (seated) with his graduate student hosts from left to right: Coleman Harris (SPG), Joe Luchsinger (VCAR), Azadeh Hadadianpour (VASP), and Amrita Banerjee (SPG).
Congratulations to Calipari
Please join us in congratulating Erin Calipari who has won an Edward Mallinckrodt Jr Foundation award! Read more about her research.
Osheroff Receives Inaugural Armstrong Mentoring Award
Steve Townsend (VICB) has received the second annual Ruth A. Lawrence Investigator Award for Research in Human Milk Science. Congratulations!
Heading for the Moon
Congratulations to Ken Lau (Cell & Developmental Biology), Bob Coffey (Medicine, VICB), and Martha Shrubsole (Medicine) for landing an $11 million Cancer Moonshot grant to discover the routes by which benign polyps progress to colon cancer.
Simply Great
This year’s Simple Beginnings ceremony was a special opportunity to celebrate our 112 new doctoral students. Welcome to all!
In the News
We were pleased to see Fiona Yull (Pharmacology) and Erin Calipari (Pharmacology) talking about their research recently on NewsChannel5.
New Discoveries
New Target for Schizophrenia
Jeff Conn, Craig Lindsley, Carrie Jones and their VCNDD colleagues report the potential value of mGlu1 receptor activation in the therapy of schizophrenia.
Path to Insulin Resistance
Arion Kennedy, Alyssa Hasty, & colleagues describe the role of isolevuglandins in cytotoxic T-cell activation, leading to inflammation and insulin resistance in obese adipose tissue.
Methylglyoxal-Histone Adducts
Larry Marnett, Jim Galligan and associates report the presence and implications of histone adducts formed by the glycolytic byproduct methylglyoxal.
Elongating Microvilli in the Intestine
Matt Tyska and his lab reveal how IRTKS aids in the formation of microvilli in developing enterocytes.
Sonic Hedgehog in the Cerebellum
A report from Chin Chiang and his lab outlines the role of sonic hedgehog signaling in cerebellar development.
Combatting Norovirus
James Crowe and colleagues recently reported the isolation and characterization of human monoclonal antibodies that neutralize norovirus, the leading cause of GI disease worldwide.
Role of Myosin 5B in the Intestine
Jim Goldenring and his lab report the role of myosin 5B in localizing key intestinal transporters.
External Funding Opportunities
NIH Guide If you have not already done so, you are encouraged to subscribe to the NIH Guide email list, which provides a wealth of information on NIH grant programs. Subscribe here.
HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is seeking applications for the Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program, which supports postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups. Applications are due Jan. 9, 2019.
Limited Submission Opportunities
Information regarding limited submission opportunities may be found at the University website. You can also sign up to receive regular updates by e-mail.
Internal Funding Opportunities
Call for TIPS Proposals The Office of the Provost has issued a call for proposals for Trans-Institutional Programs, designed to support new ideas, cutting-edge research, and the development of infrastructure by supporting emerging and existing trans-institutional centers and institutes. Pre-proposals are due Oct. 29. More information is available here.
Academic Pathways Applications are being accepted for the Academic Pathways Postdoctoral Fellowship program, designed to help individuals from diverse backgrounds bridge the gap between training and an academic research career. More information is available here. The application deadline is Nov. 1.
Call for Chancellor Faculty Fellows Nominations The Office of the Provost has issued a call for nominations of associate professors to appointment as Chacellor Faculty Fellow, which provides research support of $40,000/year for two years. Nominations are due Nov. 9. More information is available here.
Events
ArtLab Reception ArtLab, a program that explores the intersection of art and science will hold an opening reception Oct. 4 at the Wond’ry from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.
Discovery Sciences Emerging Scholars Lecture Don’t miss your chance to hear Leonard Alfredo Harris (Quaranta lab), who will speak Oct. 10, at 4:00 PM, 512 Light Hall on “Bet Hedging as a Survival Strategy in Complex Biological Systems and Cancer.”
Scientific Immersion and Mentorship Match Fair Attend this event on Oct. 15 at the Student Life Center Ballroom (4:00 to 7:00 PM) to network with and recruit talented VU undergraduate students. Register here.
Alex Brown Memorial Symposium – Save the Date
A celebration of the life, science and impact of Alex Brown will be held Nov. 5 (8:00 to 5:00 PM) in rooms 235/237 Commons Center on Peabody Campus. All are invited!
Grant Proposal Workshops L-POD (the Leveraged Proposal Organization and Development Program) will offer Proposals 101, a workshop to assist early career faculty in grant proposal development from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Oct. 12 (209 Garland) and again on Nov. 7 (U6206 MRBIII). A second workshop, designed to provide assistance in securing funding from the Department of Defense will be held Oct. 22, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in 201 Alumni Hall. For more information and to register, go here.
SouthEast Lipid Research Conference The 2018 SELRC will be held Nov. 1-3 at the Vanderbilt Student Life Center. More information and registration may be found here.
Basic Sciences Fall Faculty Meeting
Faculty, please mark your calendars for the Basic Sciences Fall Faculty Meeting on Nov. 15 in U1220 MRB III. More information to be provided closer to the date.
VCAR Science Day The Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research will hold its 2nd annual Science Day Nov. 16 at the Belcourt Theater. Register here.
Announcements
Genomic Medicine Training Program Applications for the Genomic Medicine Training Program are being accepted until Nov. 6. More information can be found here.
Call for University Course Proposals The Office of the Provost has issued a call for proposals for University courses to enable faculty to introduce and teach innovative courses to students from across each of the schools and colleges. Proposals are due Nov. 12. More information is available here.
Faculty Gateway Now Online The new one-stop shop for all faculty needs created by the Office of the Provost is now available.
S10 Grant Reporting All faculty are reminded of the importance of properly citing NIH shared instrumentation grant (S10) support in any publications of research that employed instrumentation acquired with S10 grant funding. This includes research involving VU and/or VUMC core facilities that have received such support — the Core directors are more than happy to provide you with the grant number to cite. Appropriate citations should be made in the actual research paper when the paper is reported to NIH at “My NCBI”, and upon submission of the paper to PubMed Central.
Molecular Omics Updates The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), a state-of-the-art omics shared resource is providing a monthly email to help omics researchers optimize their experiments and stay current with CIT innovations. Sign up here to receive the updates.
Please Register to VOTE! The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 9. More information can be found here.
A New Way to Promote Your Research Faculty who would like to promote their research and expertise through The Conversation, an independent news and research website with all content produced by academics and edited by a team of former journalists, should contact Erin Facer.
A Quick Primer on Patents If you think you may have a discovery that should be legally protected, you can get a summary of the process and answers to FAQs here.
Barista-Wordpress Migration
The migration of Basic Sciences lab and department sites to WordPress is in progress. Most lab sites should have migrated by now. WordPress department sites should go live in mid-late October You can reserve a 30-min Open Office Hours slot to learn more about how to use WordPress. For more information, contact the Digital Strategies. Contact us if you are interested in being part of the Basic Sciences WordPress online chat group.
Catch Up On VU Basic Science News!
We regularly update our website with some of the latest VU Basic Sciences news stories. This is also where we post “Discoveries” – the latest published research by Basic Sciences faculty.
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