Department of Biochemistry

Events

KARPAY AWARD LECTURE
12:20 PM, 1220 MRB III

January 19, 2021: James Hutchison, “We’re All in This Together: Choosing the Right RAFTing Partners” (Sponsored by the Center for Structural Biology) Contact us for Zoom info.

FRONTIERS IN BIOCHEMISTRY SEMINARS
12:00 – 1:00 PM via Zoom

TBA

Dissertation Defense

January 11, 2021: Vaughn Thada (Cortez Lab), “A common mechanism of ATR activation by TOPBP1 and ETAA1,” 1:00 pm, Zoom Flyer

January 18, 2021, Corey Eduardo Hayford (Quaranta lab), “Disentangling sources of phenotypic variability in oncogene-addicted cancers,” 10:00 am Flyer

BIOCHEMISTRY DISCOVERY/FLEXNER LECTURE
4:00 – 5:00 PM, 208 Light Hall

The next scheduled Biochemistry Flexner Discovery Lecture is TBD. Please check back here for updates.

In recent years, the Department of Biochemistry has hosted such illustrious speakers as: Jennifer Doudna, Peter Agre, Karl Deisseroth, Joan Steitz, NIDA Director Nora Volkow, Nancy Andrews, and several Nobel Prize winners (Sydney Brenner, Tom Cech, Andrew Fire, Bengt Samuelsson, Kurt Wuthrich, Sir Paul Nurse, and in 2017 Eric Kandel). View a full listing of all Vanderbilt Flexner Discovery Lectures, past and present. Lectures are recorded and may be viewed online.

STUDENT COLLOQUIUM Tuesdays, 4:00 – 5:00 PM 512 Light Hall

TBA

Biochemistry News!

Cortez named interim chair in the Department of Biochemistry; York named Impossible Foods chief science officer
David Cortez, Richard N. Armstrong Chair for Innovation in Biochemistry and professor of biochemistry, has been named interim chair in the Department of Biochemistry beginning Jan. 1. This follows the departure of John York, who was recently named chief science officer of California-based food technology startup Impossible Foods.
Kudos: Read about faculty, staff and student awards, appointments and achievements
Read about the latest faculty, staff and student awards, appointments and achievements.
Vanderbilt-Ancora partnership advances research for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Further research by biochemistry professors Charles Sanders and Bruce Carter into therapeutics for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited condition that damages peripheral nerves, will be funded by Ancora Innovation LLC, a Deerfield Management company that supports Vanderbilt’s innovative life science research.
Vanderbilt researchers work to build a molecular Trojan horse to battle COVID-19
Vanderbilt biochemists figure out how the little-understood Envelope protein helps SARS-CoV-2 function and how to disrupt the endogenously creative virus.
Vanderbilt contributes to the ‘Google Earth’ of the human body, starting with the kidney
Vanderbilt contributes molecular imaging data of kidney to the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program, a consortium of 18 diverse collaborative research teams across the United States and Europe.
Vanderbilt biologist uses rabies-like virus to illuminate how SARS-CoV-2 blocks immune response
Yi Ren, assistant professor of biochemistry, has contributed to research on the function and impact of the SARS-CoV-2 protein on immune signaling protein in host cells. This understanding may lead to the development of immune-enhancing therapeutics.
Ren’s lab advances SARS-CoV-2 research and prioritizes safety during Research Ramp-up
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Yi Ren and her team have made several discoveries to illuminate the mechanisms of key host-pathogen interactions involving viruses, with implications for gaining a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Vanderbilt biochemists reveal the cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease—too much of a good thing
Vanderbilt researchers—including Charles Sanders, associate dean for research and professor of biochemistry, and graduate student Justin Marinko—have illuminated the cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, putting them on the road to developing therapeutic approaches for the disease that affects one in 2,500 people.
Interdisciplinary melanoma research brings understanding of cellular resistance to cancer treatment, opening doors to new cures
Drug-tolerant persister cells–those that survive cancer treatment–found to rely on similar survival mechanisms across cancers, in a groundbreaking study led by Vanderbilt researchers.
Vanderbilt team works across disciplines to replicate cellular filament behavior for the first time, shedding new light on a fundamental cellular process
Cell biologists, physicists and computer scientists use computational modeling to pinpoint the components that shape cell behavior.