Newsletter (Vol. 2)

A new CMB steering committee was formed this semester to help guide program decisions. The committee is composed of the CMB Director, Dr. Katie Reindl, and a subset of faculty who mentor CMB students. Thanks to the following CMB faculty for serving in this important role: Dr. Stuart Haring, Dr. Yagna Jarajapu, Dr. Sheela Ramamoorthy, Dr. Sangita Sinha, and Dr. Kendall Swanson.

Congratulations to Angela Adsero (Biochemistry) who earned her Ph.D. in CMB this spring! Angela was mentored by CMB faculty member Dr. Stuart Haring. Her research focused on biochemical and cellular characterization of Replication Factor A during meiosis and the DNA damage response in yeast. Thanks to Dr. Yagna Jarajapu, Dr. Katie Reindl, Dr. Gary Secor, and Dr. John Wilkinson, for serving on Angela’s examining committee. Angela accepted a position as a molecular development scientist at Forge Biologics where she will be working to develop gene therapies for rare genetic diseases. Congratulations, Dr. Adsero!

The CMB graduate program welcomed a new student this spring. Md-Tariqul Islam joined the lab of Dr. Sheela Ramamoorthy (Microbiological Sciences) where he will study the molecular pathogenesis of torque teno virus in an in vivo model. Tariqul received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and M.S. in Microbiology from Sylhet Agricultural University. He completed a second M.S. in Erasmus Mundus in Science in Infectious Diseases and One Health, a program coordinated by three European universities. Tariqul enjoys traveling and playing soccer in his free time. Welcome to NDSU, Tariqul!

Jesmin Jahan, CMB student with Dr. Yagna Jarajapu (Pharmaceutical Sciences), had two posters selected for the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2021. Poster titles were "Angiotensin II and Angiotensin-(1-7) Modulate Mitochondrial Respiration in Mouse Mesenchymal Stromal Cells" and "Diabetic Impairment of Nitric Oxide Generation in CD34+ Hematopoietic Stem/ Progenitor Cells is mediated by TGF-B1/TSP-1/CD47 pathway". She was also selected to receive a travel award for the meeting. Well done, Jesmin!

Gauthami Nair, CMB student co-mentored by Dr. Mohi Quadir (Coatings & Polymeric Materials) and Dr. Katie Reindl (Biological Sciences) presented a poster entitled “Enhancing PDAC Response to Combination Therapy through use of a pH-sensitive Nanocarrier” at the DaCCoTA symposium and at the NDSU Graduate Student Council Research Symposium, where she won a first place poster award. Congratulations, Gauthami!

Philip Salu, CMB student mentored by Dr. Katie Reindl, presented his research “Use of Pancreatic Tumor Organoids to Identify Personalized Therapies” at the DaCCoTA Annual Symposium in June. CMB students Rahul Singh and Gauthami Nair also contributed to the work. Great job, Philip!

CMB student, Rahul Singh, and his mentor, Dr. Katie Reindl, published a review paper, “Glutatione S-Transferases in Cancer” in Antioxidants (Basel). [https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/10/5/701/htm] Congratulations, Rahul!

Congratulations to the following CMB Faculty Members who were awarded research grants this past semester!

• Dr. Laura Aldrich Wolfe (Biological Sciences) received an NSF CAREER award to use molecular techniques to explore the effects of agricultural management practices on fungal diversity and ecosystem function.
• Dr. Chris Colbert (Biochemistry) received an NSF Shared Instrumentation Grant to purchase a new cryo transmission electron microscope. He also received an NIH instrumentation grant to fund an analytical ultracentrifuge with absorbance and interference optics.
• Dr. Mohi Quadir (Coatings & Polymeric Materials) received a USDA NIFA award to engineer new biobased fire-retardant coating additives from agricultural byproducts.
• Dr. Sheela Ramamoorthy (Microbiological Sciences) received a USDA NIFA award to develop vaccines against porcine viruses and test their safety and efficacy infection models.
• Dr. Katie Reindl (Biological Sciences) received an NIH/UND award to investigate cancer-selective effects a natural product in pancreas organoid models.
• Dr. Sarah Signor (Biological Sciences) received an NSF award to study the role of alternative mRNA processing in adaptation to environmental toxins.
• Dr. Kendall Swanson (Animal Sciences) received USDA NIFA/SDSU funds to characterize corn harvested at high moisture

Former CMB student, Dr. Yang Mei, and her mentor, Dr. Sangita Sinha, published a manuscript, “Transient Unfolding and Long-range Interactions in Viral BCL2 M11 Enable Binding to the BECN1 BH3 Domain” in Biomolecules. Congratulations, Dr. Mei and Dr. Sinha!