News
Undergraduates earn prestigious Goldwater Scholarships
 Two undergraduate students, sophomore Aakash Basu and junior Eric Zhang, have been named 2019 Barry Goldwater Scholars, a recognition that identifies them as having exceptional promise of becoming tomorrow’s future leaders in STEM. Basu is a neuroscience major working in the lab of Danny Winder (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, MPB) and Zhang is a molecular and cellular biology and history major working in the lab of Kathy Gould (Cell and Developmental Biology, CDB). Congratulations!
Hadadianpour to receive Schlumberg Foundation award
 Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology (PMI) grad student Azi Hadadianpour, from the lab of Scott Smith (Medicine), has recently been named a recipient of the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship Award. Thirty-eight fellowships were awarded for the 2019-2020 cycle to women from emerging economies and developing countries who are pursuing post-graduate studies in a diverse range of STEM disciplines in universities around the world. Congratulations!
Luderman awarded NIDCR fellowship
 This past month, Lauryn Luderman (lab of Ela Knapik, Medicine) was awarded a fellowship from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for her work on distinguishing the role of ERC1 isoforms in membrane trafficking during craniofacial and neuronal development. Congrats!
CDB retreat showcases student and postdoc research, images, movies
 This year’s Department of Cell and Developmental Biology annual retreat featured a state-of-the-department talk by chair Ian Macara, research talks by students and postdocs, two poster sessions, and ample food and social time. In addition, the winners of the CDB image and movie competition were announced. They are Natalya Ortolano (Gama lab, CDB) in the category of Developmental Biology, Caroline Cencer (Tyska lab, CDB) in the category of Single Cells and Cellular Structures, Alejandra Romero-Morales (Gama lab) in the category of Tissues & Organoids, and Leslie Meenderink (Tyska lab) in the movie category. Congratulations to the winners! For more information and to see all image and movie entries, visit the retreat webpage.
Graduate School designates new community space for graduate student, postdoc use
 Alumni Hall, which has housed the Graduate School since 2016, has been renovated to serve as a centralized social and study hub for graduate students and postdocs. It boasts a comfortable sectional and couches, upgraded tables and chairs, ample outlets, and a television for use during presentations and social events.
Graduate student housing project to commence this year
 The university has announced its plan for a project that will provide housing for 600 graduate students and postdocs at below-market value rates. Construction is expected to commence later this year.
Teaching, research celebrated at VUSM faculty meeting
 Several faculty with Basic Sciences affiliations were recognized at the Spring Faculty Meeting two weeks ago. For their excellence in teaching, Eric Skaar (PMI) received the F. Peter Guengerich Award for mentoring postdoctoral fellows or residents in the research setting and Maureen Gannon (Medicine) received the Thomas A. Hazinski Award for effectiveness in mentoring and professional development of faculty. In the outstanding contributions to research categories, Ken Lau (CDB) received the Sidney P. Colowick Award for research that serves as a platform for discovery in diverse areas, Mark Denison (Pediatrics) received the Ernest W. Goodpasture Award for groundbreaking research that addresses the pathogenesis of disease at the cellular and/or molecular level, and Dan Roden (Medicine) received the John A. Oates Award for working collaboratively or in a multidisciplinary manner to address important biological processes. Congratulations to all the faculty who earned a recognition!
IAMSE recognizes Osheroff for educational scholarship
 Congratulations to Neil Osheroff (Biochemistry), who has been recognized with the Distinguished Career Award for Excellence in Teaching and Educational Scholarship by the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE)! The recipient of this award must be an IAMSE member who has a distinguished record of educational scholarship, including educational research and dissemination of scholarly approaches to teaching and education. Recipients are selected based on the impact, ingenuity, and longevity of educational scholarship and their records of publications, presentations, and other forms of dissemination of educational scholarship.
Peek appointed Editor-in-Chief
 Congratulations to Richard Peek, Director of the Division of Gastroenterology and Professor of Medicine and PMI, who has been recently appointed to a five-year term as Editor-in-Chief of the leading journal Gastroenterology. Gastroenterology is the flagship journal of the American Gastroenterological Association and is ranked among the top one percent of all biomedical journals.
VICB names winners of Highly Cited Articles Award
 The Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology (VICB) has named James Crowe (Pediatrics) and Jennifer Pietenpol (Biochemistry) as the recipients for the 2019 Highly Cited Articles Award, which celebrates VICB members who have published high-impact primary research articles (determined by the number of citations) over the previous two-year period. Crowe’s winning article was published in Nature, and Pietenpol’s article in PLOS ONE; each one has been cited over 150 times. Crowe and Pietenpol will present at this year’s VICB Symposium (more details below) and will receive a $1,000 to celebrate their achievements. Keep up the great work!
Simerly paper named top downloaded article
 The Journal of Comparative Neurology has recognized Richard Simerly (MPB) as the author of one of the top 20 most downloaded articles between January 2017 and December 2018, and has made it open access until July 15. Simerly’s paper was in fact the first one he published after coming to Vanderbilt – so double congratulations to him!
Professors recognized as emeriti
 Among the 25 faculty recognized during last month’s Commencement ceremony were two Basic Sciences faculty: John Exton (MPB) and David Miller (CDB). Congratulations, and thanks for your many contributions to Vanderbilt!
2019 TIPs programs announced
Five interdisciplinary programs have been awarded funding for 2019 through Vanderbilt’s Trans-Institutional Programs (TIPs) Initiative. Two of the projects, “The Global VU Initiative” and “Novel NMR-based profiling platform for research and clinical applications,” involve faculty from Basic Sciences, and received seed grants that serve as incubators for exciting new ideas.
Zeppos, Wente appeal to federal lawmakers
 Chancellor Nick Zeppos and Provost Susan Wente recently visited Washington, D.C., to meet with the members of the Tennessee congressional delegation and to advocate for federal bipartisan investments in science and education.
Chancellor search town hall
 On June 5, the University held a town hall to inform Vanderbilt community members about the process that the Chancellor Search and the Chancellor Search Advisory Committees will carry out in the search for our ninth chancellor. The event was live streamed and recorded. Please refer to it and/or submit any input you have about what you’d like to see in our next leader. A second town hall is planned for September with an update on the search.
Wond’ry gets new director
 The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s innovation center, will have a new director as of July 1. Dave Owens (Professor of the Practice of Owen Graduate School of Management) has been named the Evans Family Executive Director and will be taking over from Robert Grajewski, whose three year term is coming to an end.
Inaugural Alzheimer’s Disease Research Day a success
 Vanderbilt’s first Alzheimer’s Disease Research Day, held on May 21, drew over 100 people to its talks, posters, and networking events. The event showcased Alzheimer’s Disease, small vessel disease, and neurodegeneration research from multiple clinical and basic science departments across campus, and featured a keynote talk by University of Southampton professor Roxana Carare.
Budko earns secondary appointment
 Kudos to Sergey Budko (Medicine), who was recently appointed to the Department of Biochemistry as a secondary faculty member.
New Discoveries
Pump action and symmetry informed by substrate or inhibitor binding
 A Science paper from the lab of Hassane Mchaourab (MPB) indicates that substrates of the protein pump P-glycoprotein enhance transport by stabilizing an asymmetric transition state, whereas inhibitors decrease transport by stabilizing a symmetric state.
Single antibody protects against multiple flu strains
 James Crowe and colleagues from Scripps and other institutions have found an antibody isolated from a healthy patient with an extensive history of flu vaccines that could protect mice from four strains of the flu, and which binds to a unique conserved site on the virus’ surface. The research was published in Cell.
Conformational selection binding for a cytochrome P450
 A recent paper from the lab of Fred Guengerich (Biochemistry) determined that cytochrome P450 17A1 binds to its steroid target through a conformational selection binding mode, versus an induced fit mode.
Tumor suppressor inhibits MYC
 The SNF5 subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeler was paradoxically posited to be a coactivator of MYC. The lab of Bill Tansey (CDB) has put the question to rest by determining that SNF5 actually blocks tumorigenesis through the inhibition of MYC.
The surprising dynamism of basement membranes
 Despite the fact that basement membranes are subject to environmental damage and must be repaired while maintaining functions, little is known about their repair. In response, researchers from the lab of Andrea Page-McCaw (CDB) have devised a new damage model to study basement membrane repair.
New model to explore in vitro endocardial-myocardial interactions
 Recently, Scott Baldwin’s lab (Pediatrics) published a paper discussing endocardial paracrine signaling in the context of the early stages of myocardial differentiation.
Seasonal light exposure of mothers can affect offspring mental health
 The lab of Douglas McMahon (Biological Sciences) recently explored the effect of seasonal light exposure on pregnant mice and found effects on serotonin and depression that persisted into offspring adulthood.
Yeast with the least
 The group of Antonis Rokas (Biological Sciences) has discovered a species of budding yeast, Hanseniaspora uvarum, that has lost a large number of genes related to the cell cycle, metabolism, and DNA repair that are widely considered to be essential for life.
Fungus-released spermidine facilitates growth on amphibians
 Louise Rollins-Smith (PMI) and colleagues have identified spermidine as a fungus-produced molecule that is essential for its growth and that depresses frog immune responses through the inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation and viability.
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.
NCI Cancer Moonshot
The Cancer Moonshot program at the NCI has a variety of funding opportunities available. Details are here.
Basic Experimental Studies with Humans
The NIH has recently announced the publication of new funding opportunities specifically for research involving human subjects that aims to understand the fundamental aspects of phenomena without an immediate or apparent application. See their FAQs here and keep on the lookout for these opportunities.
New NIH F33 grant opens for NIGMS-funded PIs
This F33 is targeted toward experienced scientists who wish to make major changes in the direction of their research careers or who wish to broaden their scientific background by acquiring new research capabilities. Standard application dates apply to this grant. Visit the program announcement for more details.
2019 NIH Director’s Award Programs
Requests for applications for the following Common Fund/Office of the Director NIH programs have now been issued:
- New Innovator Award Program (DP2) – Application Deadline August 26, 2019. RFA-RM-19-006.
- Pioneer Award Program (DP1) – Application Deadline September 6, 2019. RFA-RM-19-005.
- Early Independence Awards Program (DP5) – Application Deadline September 13, 2019. RFA-RM-19-008.
- Transformative Research Awards Program (R01) – Application Deadline September 20, 2019. RFA-RM-19-007.
Arnold and Mabel Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Sciences or Chemical Instrumentation Award Program has an open call for postdocs conducting advanced research within the core areas of fundamental chemistry or the development and building of chemical instrumentation. Their research must be innovative in method, speed, or process, or must represent new instrument technology. The 2020 applications are open between June 12, 2019 and September 6, 2019. Visit the Beckman website for more information and to apply.
NIH Director’s Transformative Research Awards (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
This FOA is a Common Fund initiative for scientists proposing “groundbreaking, exceptionally innovative, original, and/or unconventional research with the potential to create new scientific paradigms, establish entirely new and improved clinical approaches, or develop transformative technologies.” Applications must be submitted by September 20, 2019, at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization. More details here.
NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional)
Investigators wishing to forgo the traditional postdoc route after completing their doctoral studies may apply for this grant designed to accelerate their entry into research careers. Applications are due by September 13, 2019, at 5:00 PM local time of the applicant organization.
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 email.
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BioRender interest
You’ve got your scientific talks down – you can present to the experts all day long. But can you explain your science to your relatives? Can you talk about why your research is important – without using jargon? Or are you looking to learn how to do it? Take a stab at presenting to a general audience at 
Fair Play workshop
The 
Day of the Documents
This image, courtesy of graduate student Justine Sinnaeve, shows a glioblastoma tumor that was frozen, sectioned, and stained with metal-tagged antibodies; 7 (out of more than 30) markers are shown in this particular visualization. This image is exemplary of a pilot project between the labs of Rebecca Ihrie and Jonathan Irish to bring imaging mass cytometry (IMC) to Vanderbilt. IMC allows researchers to identify 30-35 different markers to get a nuanced understanding of the types of cells that are present in a single sample, like with mass cytometry, except that IMC allows them to discern structural and spatial relationships between cell subsets.
