News & Events
2024
November 2024
Presentations, Events, Lectures & Workshops
Annie Brong, (PhD Candidate), working in the lab of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM, was invited to present at the American Heart Association's 2024 Scientific Sessions.
October 2024
Honors and Awards
S. Saif Hasan, PhD; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UMSOM, was presented with Teacher of the Year award at the 2024 Graduate Program in Life Sciences/Office of Postdoctoral Scholars Awards Ceremony.
Presentations, Events, Lectures & Workshops
Bryan Roth, MD/PhD; Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor Department of Pharmacology, UNC Chapel Hill Medical School presented at the 32nd Steinberg/Wylie Lecture Series on the topic of “Drug Discovery Meets AI”.
September 2024
Presentations, Events, Lectures & Workshops
Emmanuel Asiedu (PhD Candidate; NIH-IMSD Meyerhoff Graduate Fellow) and Hugo Bibollet (PhD Candidate; Graduate research assistant) both presented talks at the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Student Presentations, on the topics of "The role of angiopoietin-like 4 in DNA repair pathways and cisplatin resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma” and "CaV1.1 voltage sensor tracking through functional site-directed fluorometry in muscle fibers", respectively.
Ryan Gumpper, PhD; Research Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, SOM University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill presented a talk at the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology’s Fall Seminar Series titled "Molecular insights of psychedelic mediated 5HT2A signaling".
August 2024
Publications
Karndeep Singh, (PhD Candidate), working in the lab of Michael Summers, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UMSOM, contributed to “Role of RNA structural plasticity in modulating HIV-1 genome packaging and translation” (S. Yasin et al), published August 13th in Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 121(33). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2407400121
July 2024
Grants & Contracts
Amara Ejikemeuwa, (PhD Candidate; NIH-IMSD Meyerhoff Graduate Fellow) was awarded a T32 Training Grant in Cancer Biology.
Annie Brong, (PhD Candidate), working in the lab of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM, was awarded a Keystone Symposia (J1) Future of Science Fund scholarship.
Presentations, Events, Lectures & Workshops
Annie Brong, (PhD Candidate), working in the lab of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM, gave an oral presentation at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2024 Scientific Sessions. Her talk was on the topic of “Constitutive Deletion of the Obscurin Ig58/59 Domains Induces Structural and Electrophysiological Remodeling in Atria.”
June 2024
Honors and Awards
Matthew Eason, (MD/PhD Candidate), working in lab of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM was awarded 2nd Prize for his submission in the 16th Annual Graduate Translational Research competition. Eason’s project focuses on how to utilize the protein obscurin to construct a new and effective therapy that inhibits metastatic spread of breast cancer tumors.
Publications
Aishwarya Iyer, (MD/PhD Candidate), working in the lab of of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM was the corresponding author on “Compound heterozygous variants in MYBPC1 lead to severe distal arthrogryposis type-1 manifestations”, published June 5th in Cell (191). DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148339
May 2024
Honors and Awards
David J. Weber, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM was recognized with the designation of Distinguished University Professor, the highest appointment bestowed on a faculty member at UMB. He, and the five other members of this year’s cohort, will be celebrated and receive their Distinguished University Professor medals during UMB’s third annual Faculty Convocation on Sept. 12.
Presentations, Events, Lectures & Workshops
Aishwarya Iyer, (MD/PhD Candidate), working in the lab of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM, was an Invited/Selected ECI Moderator at the Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2024 Myofilament Meeting. At the same meeting, she was awarded Best Early Career Investigator (ECI) Trainee Oral Presentation.
April 2024
Grants and Contracts
Richard Thompson, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM and Huihui Zeng, PhD, Research Associate, UMSOM are the lead inventor and co- inventor, respectively, of “Methods for Detecting and/or Predicting Age- Related Macular Degeneration and/or Alzheimer’s Disease,” which was issued European patents in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on April 3.
Michal Zalzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM and Rodney Taylor, MD, MPH, Professor, UMMS are the lead inventor and co-inventor, respectively, of “Methods for Generating Multipotent Stem Cells from Tonsillar Biopsies,” which was issued a U.S. patent on April 16.
Honors and Awards
Spiro Sevdalis (PhD Candidate), while working in David J. Weber, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM, was awarded a travel stipend by END and funded by Norell to attend the 65th Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference.
Noha Ghonim, (PhD Candidate), was awarded Outstanding Oral Presentation in the in the 46th Annual Graduate Research Conference of University of Maryland.
March 2024
Honors and Awards
Aishwarya Iyer, (MD/PhD Candidate), working in the lab of of Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM, was the 9th Recipient of the Attillo R. and Myrtle L. Jackson Award. This annual award recognizes a PhD or MD/PhD candidate whose outstanding meritorious service to humanity is continually demonstrated by ongoing acts of generosity and kindness.
Publications
Michal Zalzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM published “Reprogramming Chromosome Ends by Functional Histone Acetylation”, in Int J Mol Sci, 25(7). DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073898.
January 2024
Publications
Michal Zalzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM published “DeepFreeze 3D‐biofabrication for Bioengineering and Storage of Stem Cells in Thick and Large‐Scale Human Tissue Analogs”, in Advanced Science, 11(11). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202306683.
Honors and Awards
Noha Ghonim, (PhD Candidate), took 2nd Prize in the Poster Presentation Awards for the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program Annual Retreat.