News & Events Archive

Elaine Fuchs to speak at CMB Symposium
CMB Symposium on Sept 4, 2007 (from Fall 2007)

Dr. Elaine Fuchs will present the Myron Levine Lecture on Tuesday September 4, 2007 at Rackham. Dr. Fuchs received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Princeton, followed by postdoctoral studies at MIT. After rising through the academic ranks at Univ Chicago, Dr. Fuchs joined Rockefeller University where she is currently the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, and heads the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development. In addition to receiving numerous awards, she is a Howard Hughes Investigator and member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Fuchs' research focuses on how multipotent stem cells of the skin give rise to epidermis and follicles. She and her lab colleagues study how skin epithelial cells respond to various external cues to coordinate changes in gene transcription, cell polarity, adhesion, and cytoskeletal dynamics. Of importance, elucidating the normal process of tissue development is a key first step in understanding how these processes go awry in genetic skin diseases, including cancers.

Fall Short Course features New Frontiers in Signal Transduction (from Fall 2006)

The CMB Short Course on "New Frontiers in Signal Transduction," organized by CMB students Travis Maures and Nate Lanning, focused on newly identified mechanisms of signal transduction and innovative methods to study signal transduction. Dr. Mien-Chie Hung (MD Anderson Cancer Ctr) opened the course with a presentation on his work showing that members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family translocate to the nucleus where they directly bind DNA elements and stimulate transcription. Dr. Hung's work redefines years of dogma on receptor tyrosine kinase signaling. Speaker Jeff Wrana (Univ Toronto) pioneered a method of high-throughput proteomics called LUMIER (luminescence-based mammalian interactome mapping) which he used to identify signaling networks derived from his work on TGF beta that shed light on cross-talk among multiple signaling pathways. Dr. William Tansey (Cold Spring Harbor Labs) presented his work demonstrating novel connections between components of the ubiquitin proteasome system and transcriptional activation. Dr. Natalie Ahn (Univ Colorado Boulder) spoke about her use of mass spectrometry and proteomics to survey changes in the proteome when signal transduction pathways are induced. This enabled her to identify new targets of the MAPK pathway that regulate diverse cellular functions. Each lecture, which attracted investigators throughout the University, was preceded by a chalk talk for students registered for the course (CMB 630). The course was co-sponsored by the Genetics Training Program, and this semester, also by the Bioinformatics Program and Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology.

CMB welcomes twenty new students into the Program this year (from Fall 2006)

Entering CMB students are featured in the CMB Newsletter, October 2006 edition. The group includes seventeen students from PIBS, two MSTP students and one student who transferred from another Program. The new CMB students have entered labs throughout twelve departments, located in the Life Sciences Institute, the School of Public Health, and Medical School.

CMB Program assembles for Annual Symposium (from Fall 2006)

Mike Levine and Shelley Berger at the CMB Symposium

CMB students and faculty assembled for the 26th Annual Symposium on September 5, 2006 to launch the academic year. The Symposium featured Shelley Berger, CMB alumna, as the Myron Levine Lecturer. Her keynote address presented her latest work and new ideas on "Histone and factor post-translational modifications in genomic regulation." Dr. Berger holds the Hilary Koprowski Endowed Chair in Gene Expression and Regulation at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia . Faculty members Dan Bochar and Ray Trievel, and CMB students Teresa Cesena and Brandi Thompson, hosted Dr. Berger's visit, which was co-sponsored by the Dept of Biological Chemistry. The lecture was followed by the Annual CMB Poster Session, featuring 95 posters representing CMB faculty labs. Student Poster Awards, provided by the Rackham Graduate School , were selected from among 56 posters presented by CMB students. Poster Session faculty coordinators Katy Keegan and Renny Franceschi presented the awards to: Chris Carter (first prize, mentor K. Collins), Evan Michael (second prize, mentor A. Dlugosz), Teresa Cesena (third prize, mentor J. Schwartz) and Abdo Najy (third prize, mentor M. Day). Honorable mentions were awarded to Andrea Baines, Marsha Blauwkamp, James Daley, Rachel Edwards, Irfan Lodhi and Heather O'Malley. Student coordinators of the Poster Session were Andrea Baines and Chris Carter.

CMB holds Research Forum, introduces new students and faculty
(from Spring 2006)

CMB held the second annual Research Forum on May 25 to feature student research and introduce new CMB students and faculty. CMB students whose abstracts were selected for formal platform presentations of their research were Teresa Cesena, James Daley, Brendan Looyenga, Evan Michael, Mark Prindle and Aaron Rozeboom. The Research Forum was coordinated and chaired by CMB faculty Ben Novitch and Lois Weisman. The student presentations were followed by dinner and introduction of thirteen new CMB students entering from PIBS. Sixteen new CMB faculty were also welcomed and had the opportunity to present posters of their research. The Program also congratulated recent CMB PhD recipients and CMB students who recently received awards. The Program and students each presented gifts to Linda Wilson, CMB Administrator, as a token of appreciation. A new edition of the CMB Newsletter was distributed and the Program extended thanks to the many CMB students and faculty who coordinated CMB events and served on CMB committees this year. William Feliciano and Rachael Adams were student coordinators of the Forum.

Abstract deadline for Fall Poster Session announced
(from Spring 2006)

Abstracts for poster presentation at the 26th Annual CMB Poster Session are due on July 31, 2006. The CMB office will be accepting electronic submission of abstracts from CMB students and faculty. All posters will be presented on Tuesday September 5, 2006 in the Michigan League Ballroom. Students will present their posters to judges during the morning of Sept 5th, and the formal poster session and reception will take place at 2:00 pm, immediately following the Myron Levine Lecture. Contact the CMB office at cmbgrad@umich.edu for additional information.

Shelly Berger will present the Myron Levine Lecture
at the CMB Symposium, September, 2006
(from Spring 2006)

Shelly Berger, a CMB alumna, is a recognized leader in the field of chromatin modifications:
http://www.wistar.upenn.edu/research_facilities/berger/research.htm.
She will return to UM to deliver the keynote address at the Annual CMB Symposium, the Myron Levine Lecture, on Sept 5, 2006. The lecture is followed by the Annual CMB Poster session and presentation of student poster awards.