By Stephen Doster
In a heartwarming tribute to a remarkable career, more than 70 of his former graduate students and postdoctoral scholars recently traveled from across the globe for a three-day festivity on Oct. 3–5 to celebrate Larry Marnett’s 50 years in academia. Marnett is the dean emeritus of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, the Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research, and a university distinguished professor of biochemistry and chemistry.
After a welcome reception on Friday evening, Marnett led a program on Saturday with a presentation outlining progress in his academic journey from the early days at Wayne State University to the present, highlighting research focused on the role of oxidative lipid metabolism in cancer and inflammation. His and his lab’s many contributions include:
- Being one of the first groups to study endogenous sources of DNA damage and fully characterizing the chemistry and biology of the molecules generated by lipid oxidation and the DNA adducts that they form.
- Completely characterizing the structure and molecular bases for the interaction of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (the oldest and most prescribed drug type) with the cyclooxygenase enzymes COX-1 and COX-2.
- Generating COX-2–specific imaging agents by tethering fluorophores (molecules that fluoresce) and positron emission tomography ligands onto modified NSAIDs. These imaging agents could be useful for detecting early cellular changes in cancer.
- Discovering that the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonylglycerol is a selective substrate for COX-2 and that the resulting glyceryl prostaglandins (lipids with hormone-like effects in animals) are active in inflammation and neuronal signaling.
Marnett has published 488 peer-reviewed articles, which have been cited more than 62,000 times, and 76 book chapters, and he holds 25 patents. In addition to running a lab full time, Marnett was also the first associate director for research of what is currently the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the founding editor of the American Chemical Society journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. He started the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology alongside Stevenson Professor of Chemistry Emeritus Ned Porter, and was also the inaugural dean of the SOMBS. But he emphasized that his real legacy is the 47 Ph.D. students and 49 postdocs that he trained and their successful careers in research, education, business, communication, and other fields.
Former lab members shared their memories, experiences, and an entertaining video. Greg Reed, Marnett’s first Ph.D. student at Wayne State University, said “Choosing Larry Marnett, a new assistant professor in his first year as a faculty member, was the best (and luckiest) decision I made in my professional life.”
“The time I spent in Dr. Marnett’s lab as a graduate student had a tremendous impact on my career,” Laura Niedernhofer, PhD’96, said. “He instilled a real passion and curiosity about endogenous biochemistry and its role in human disease that has impacted every one of my grants, papers, and talks to this day.”
The Saturday celebrations culminated in a memorable evening at Nashville’s Frist Art Museum, which turned into a good-natured roast with hilarious and poignant remembrances by former lab members spanning the decades of Marnett’s career.
“Larry has always been a strong advocate and calming voice for his trainees,” former graduate student Will Beavers, PhD’15, said. “He was one of the first people in my life who believed that I was capable of success. Even though I have been out of his lab for many years, I still consider Larry an active mentor.”
The final speaker, John Kuriyan, dean of the SOMBS, shared with the audience that, as a newcomer to Vanderbilt in 2023, he, too, benefited from Dean Emeritus Marnett’s mentoring. Kuriyan congratulated Marnett on his stewardship and his vision in establishing the SOMBS in ways that ensure its stability.
The evening’s high point came with a surprise announcement of the Lemmings Alumni 50th Anniversary Endowment, which is designated to support programs for trainees in the Department of Biochemistry. The nickname “lemmings” was adopted by the students who followed Marnett from Wayne State to Vanderbilt and was conferred on all subsequent lab members. The fiftieth anniversary endowment will be renamed the Lawrence J. Marnett Endowment in Biochemistry upon his retirement.
As the laughter from the evening and a subsequent Sunday brunch faded, what remained was gratitude and a living legacy: a community knit by mentorship and an endowment to lift future scientists. Fifty years on, Marnett’s impact echoes forward in the successful careers of his former students and postdocs, proof that generosity and curiosity shapes lives far beyond the lab.
