2024 Events
December: Former Trainee Alaina Visits Lab
Just before Christmas former Chemical Biology grad student Alaina Richard visited the lab to tell us all about her experiences teaching at Vassar College this last semester. Dr. Richard was also finally able to pick up a long-overdue bottle of champaign to celebrate a paper that was published after she left the lab. We love it when lab alumni stop by to visit!
December: Sarah Burris-Hiday Commencement
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Sarah Burris-Hiday defended her dissertation last summer but participated in commencement at the end of the winter semester. Sarah was selected to carry the College of Pharmacy flag at commencement and was part of the platform party. Sarah's family and friends (and Dean Ellingrood, left) cheered this recognition of all her diligent research.
December: Christmas cookie decorating
The Scott lab gathered to make and decorate holiday cookies--in part to thank the College of Pharmacy staff and administration who support our research all year long. We also celebrated the birthday of Dr. Phil Cox who did a sabbatical with the Scott Lab this fall.
October: Scott lab apple picking and pumpkin carving
This fall everyone came over to the Scott house to pick LOTS of apples from the apple trees. There for a while our lab conference room and homes and the College of Pharmacy lobby were all full of apples from our bumper crop. Afterwards we carved pumpkins and watched a scary movie. Even Miss Eloise jumped in a pumpkin!
October: Alexi at SACNAS
Biological Chemistry graduate student Alexi Chabez attended the highly inspiring 2023 SACNAS NDISTEM Conference in Portland, Oregon. Alexi is also a mentor in the SACNAS Pathway to Graduate School Program.
October: Alexi wins Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant
Biological Chemistry graduate student Alexi Chabez won a Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant to defray costs of conducting clearly defined research projects. In this case the award supports laboratory supplies needed to purify and characterize CYP7B1 and its mutants. This important enzyme in human bile acid production associated with spastic paraplegia type 5. Nice job Alexi!
September: Jinhan Liu moves to Harvard postdoc
Recent Ph.D. and Medicinal Chemistry student Jinghan Liu has accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Andrew Kruse lab in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. Congratulations Jinghan and hope your move to Boston goes smoothly. We'll miss you and Uni and Charles!
September: Ellie Talk at ISSX
Pharmacology graduate student Ellie Frydendall's poster on an HTS version of a spectroscopic ligand binding assay for P450 enzymes was selected as a finalist in the Predoctoral Award Competition at the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics North American Meeting. Ellie presented her poster at the meeting in Boston, and gave an amazing flash talk. Nice job Ellie!
September: Alexi and colleagues design Biological Chemistry retreat logo
Biological Chemistry graduate student Alexi Chabez and her peers Dana Beseiso and Kira Holton put together the award-winning design for this year's Biological Chemistry Departmental retreat. This retreat was held at the Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center.
August: Welcome new members
The Scott lab welcomes Biophysics first year student Autumn Pilarski (left) and PIBS first year student Kierra Pendill (middle) for fall semester rotations. We also welcome Associate Professor Phil Cox (right) from Asuza Pacific University for a sabbatical learning how to express and purify human cytochrome P450 enzymes.
August: Summer movie night and Goodby to Jinghan
The lab said goodbye to Jinghan (and Charles and Uni) before their big move to Boston. We ate the lab-favorite Joe's pizza, and made s'mores around the campfire, followed by an outdoor movie--Disney's "Soul".
August: Presenting Dr. Sarah Burris-Hiday!
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Sarah Burris-Hiday successfully defended her dissertation research and has been awarded her Ph.D. Following an exemplary seminar, family and friends celebrated our newest Dr. in style. Congratulations Sarah! You rocked!
July: Jinghan Liu -> Dr. Jinghan Liu
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Jinghan Liu gave a stellar defense describing her structural and functional work with both CYP8B1 and CYP3A7. A unanimous thumbs-up from her committee means that Jinghan Liu is now Jinghan Liu, Ph.D. Celebrations ensued with the traditional champaign toast, chocolate fondue, and cake. Congratulations are in order for Dr. Liu who will soon be starting a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical.
July: Jinghan talks at Gordon Research Conference
Graduate student Jinghan Liu will be presenting her newest CYP3A7 structure containing four molecules of its substrate at the 2023 Drug Metabolism Gordon Research Conference and the accompanying Gordon Research Seminar. Exciting work, also recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
July: Alaina Richard Dissertation Defense
Chemical Biology graduate student Alaina Richard successfully defended her dissertation July 7, 2023. A lab celebration followed with appropriately themed P450 crystallography/NMR cake, champaign, and a Vassar College Visiting Assistant Professor Starter Kit, including an Einstein begonia.
June: Field trip!
The Scott Lab took our Jimmy John's to the Arb for a picnic and stroll through the Peony Garden, finally catching it in full bloom after missing it the last couple of years. Summer days in Michigan are wonderful!
May: New Scott Lab member!
After 8.5 months of coming to lab every day with her Mom, little Eloise Loomis is now available for oohs and aahs! Isn't she cute?
May: Sarah and Maggie at ASPET Meeting
Graduate student Sarah Burris and collaborator Mengqi (Maggie) Chai attended and presented their work at the recent ASPET meeting in St. Louis. Their poster won a second place poster award! Nice job Sarah and Maggie!
May: Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Discussion Group Meeting
The Scott lab greatly enjoyed the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Discussion Group meeting again this year. Held at the Michigan Union in Ann Arbor the meeting included both great science (CYP3A4/5! MBI! Nimatrelvir!) and good friends. Here we are at the conference dinner, joined by members of the Brixius-Anderko and Auchus labs.
April: Alaina Richard receives multiple job offers
The Scott lab has three awesome students graduating this year and Alaina is the first. In her search for positions with a strong teaching emphasis she recently received two offers, a teaching postdoc position from the UM NIH-funded Institutional Research and Academic Career Development (IRACDA) program and a visiting assistant professor position with Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Looks like Alaina will go from being a UM Wolverine to a Vassar Brewer late this summer!
April: Cara's 4th year seminar
Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis recently gave her departmental seminar talking about her recent pre-steady-state kinetic work with cytochrome P450 11B enzymes. Great job Cara!
March: Ellie summer internship at Pfizer
Pharmacology student Ellie Frydendall has accepted an internship at Pfizer this summer. She will be primarily working with the Structure and Molecular Science Group to characterize the structure-function relationship of drug metabolizing enzymes. She will have the opportunity to explore both structural biology and enzymology techniques complementary to those used in her thesis research and learn how to connect basic research to drug development programs in industry.
March: Celebrating pi day is a tradition in the Scott Lab
Mathematics is the language that allows us to describe both the molecular structure and the biochemistry of human cytochrome P450 enzymes. The Scott lab celebrated pi day this year with pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, and berry pie.
March: Cara gives CYP11B talk at Carroll University
Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis was invited by Assistant Professor Erin Taylor to share her research with undergraduate students in the Biochemistry Program at
Carroll University . Cara's talk was titled "Redox Partner Adrenodoxin Allosterically Alters the Function of the Human Steroidogenic Cytochrome P450 11B Enzymes". It's always fun to share the our research discoveries and Cara does a great job with that.
March: Lily Kim accepted to PhD program
Pharm.D. student Lily Kim has been accepted into the Medicinal Chemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan. Lily is a current UM Pharm.D. student who has been doing P450 ligand binding assays and enzymatic assays under the guidance of Med Chem graduate student Sarah Burris-Hiday for the last year. Exciting to see that Lily will have a lot more research experience in her future! Congratulations Lily!
February: Jinghan Wins Barbour Award
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Jinghan Liu has been selected by Rackham Graduate School as a Barbour Scholar. Originally endowed by Levi Barbour in 1917 to support female graduate students from Asia and the Middle East, this award recognizes Jinghan's exemplary research contributions to the structure and function of human (membrane) cytochrome P450 enzymes. Her recent work includes the first structures of the bile-acid producing cytochrome P450 8B1. Read more about Jinghan's work here.
February: Sarah Burris-Hiday awarded travel award to ASPET 2023 meeting
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Sarah Burris-Hiday was awarded a travel award from ASPET to attend the 2023 annual meeting to be held in St. Louis Union Station May 18-21. Come see Sarah's poster with collaborators Mengqi Chai and Michael L. Gross from Washington University and visit with other members of the Scott lab attending the meeting at Union Station.
January: Celebrating Nicole's new job with a Paint-and-Pour Event
Scott lab postdoctoral fellow Nicole Motl is moving to the UM Center for Structural Biology where she will use her crystallographic skills to help a broad array of clients reach their scientific goals. We'll miss Nicole, her cookies, and her flair for decorating and crafts, so it was only appropriate to mark her departure with a lab paint-and-pour event. Isn't our artwork fun?
January: Sarah receives Rackham Graduate Student Grant
Our very own Sarah Burris-Hiday has been awarded a Graduate Student Grant from the UM Rackham Graduate School. This $3000 award supports her as she is wrapping up her dissertation research on the interactions of human cytochrome P450 enzymes and NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase. Nicely done, Sarah!
December
November: Jinghan wins Medicinal Chemistry Outstanding Research Award
Senior Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Jinghan Liu was awarded the Department's Outstanding Research Award at the annual retreat held this year at Eagle Crest Resort. This nomination was based on her phenomenal research progress--three structures of human membrane cytochrome P450 enzymes, including the first two structures of CYP8B1, a target for diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. A well deserved honor for Jinghan!
October: Fun Friday in the lab
Just a goofy lab pic on an October Friday, starring lab decor and great people that keep things cheery!
October: Cara Loomis talk at MECC
Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis was select to give a talk at the 42nd Midwest Enzyme Chemistry Conference at Loyola University on October 15, 2022. The title of her talk was "Redox partner adrenodoxin allosterically alters the function of the human steroidogenic cytochrome P450 11B enzymes". An audience member said "Cara crushed her talk."
September: Ellie talks on CYP2W1 in the Pharmacology Department Seminar Series
Pharmacology graduate student Ellie Frydendall gave a great talk titled "Using Functional Studies to Characterize the Cytochrome P450 2W1 Active Site" in her Departmental Seminar Series. In addition to great content describing her screening strategy to identify CYP2W1 ligands, the seminar was presented very well, yielding lots of good questions. Ellie subsequently presented her work in poster form at the Pharmacology Department Annual Retreat at Maumee Bay State Park.
September: Postdoc Appreciation Week
Scott lab celebrates our two wonderful postdoctoral fellows, Nicole Motl and Kurt Harris. Nicole works on CYP2J2 and 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and is a fantastic baker and lab decorator. Kurt works on the structural biology of CYP4s and drug-metabolizing CYPs. He is our resident authority on all things Australian and enjoys traveling with friends. Both bring fun and perspective to our journey.
September: Cara awarded 2022 Halvor and Mary M. Christensen Award
Photo credit: Uhn-Soo Cho
The Biological Chemistry Department Trainee Awards Committee selected graduate student Cara Loomis as the 2022 Halvor and Mary M. Christensen Award. This award is presented to an outstanding Ph.D. student who has demonstrated excellence in academic scholarship and research. This honor carries a cash award of $1000 and invitation to present a talk at the Departmental Retreat. Cara's title was "Redox partner adrenodoxin allosterically alters the function of all three human steroidogenic CYP11 enzymes apart from its redox effects". Congratulations Cara!
September: ISSX/MDO meeting
Medicinal Chemistry graduate students Sarah Burris-Hiday and Jinghan Liu gave talks at the joint meeting of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics and Microsomes and Drug Oxidations: Diversity in DMPK - the Science and the Scientists. Sarah's talk was titled "Protein/Protein Interaction in the Human Cytochrome P450 System". Jinghan's talk was titled "Structure of CYP8B1 with a rationally designed CYP8B1 inhibitor: providing directions for inhibitor optimizations".
August: Cara awarded NIH F31 Fellowship
Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis has just been awarded a 3-year NRSA fellowship from the Eunice Kennedy Shiver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. The title is "Defining Structural and Functional Differences Between Cytochrome
P450 11B1 and 11B2 Interactions with Redox Partner Adrenodoxin for Developing Cushing’s Disease and Primary Aldosteronism Treatments". Congratulations Cara!
August: Alexi passes her prelims!
Biological Chemistry second year graduate student Alexi Chabez passed her prelims this summer! Her topic was "Structural and functional characterization of human cytochrome P450 7B1 and its variants in spastic paraplegia type 5 patients". Congratulations Alexi!
July: Cara presents at ICCP450 in Washington D.C.
Rising 4th year Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis presented her work on adrenodoxin modulation of CYP11B1 function at the 22nd International Conference on Cytochrome P450 at the Hyatt Regency in Washington D.C. The meeting included lots of great talks, opportunities to network, and even a walking tour of the National Mall. I'm also bragging because two of my former trainees gave great talks: Fernando Estrada and Simone Brixius-Anderko .
June: Scott lab artwork
From a recent painting evening, you can see that we have a range of artistic styles. As Jimmy Buffet once said “It’s important to have as much fun as possible while we’re here. It balances out the times when the minefield of life [science] explodes.”
April: Alumni Aaron Bart joins Triana Biomedicines
Former graduate student Aaron Bart (Biophysics, University of Michigan) just joined a new startup company named Triana Biomedicines. He's working in the structural biology area on their molecular glue approach to formerly undruggable disease targets. Check them out here to see a familiar face in their group photo and under the Join Us section.
April: Scott lab posters at EB 2022
Exciting research projects were presented by (left to right): postdoc Nicole Motl, Medicinal Chemistry graduate students Jinghan Liu and Sarah Burris-Hiday, and Chemical Biology graduate student Alaina Richard.
April: Scott lab at Experimental Biology
The Scott lab is excited to be attending the 2022 Experimental Biology meeting in Philadelphia. Below we have current graduate students Alaina Richard, Sarah Burris-Hiday, and Jinhan Liu, postdoctoral fellow Nicole Motl, and former postdocs Simone Brixius-Anderko and Fernando Estrada just before the opening ASPET reception. If you are at EB, check out Scott lab posters tomorrow 10 am - noon (B117, B121, B123) and Monday 12:30-1:45 pm (A75).
March: Data collection at SSRL
Data collection at SSRL is always fun, but even more so when you have lots of fun crystals. Remember, beauty is only skin deep and it's the internal things that count the most--in people and in X-ray diffraction!
March: Happy Pi Day from the Scott Lab
3 . 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3 5 8 9 7 9 3 2 3 8 4 6 2 6 4 3 3 8 3 2 7 9 5 0 2 8 8 4 1 9 7 1 6 9 3 9 9 3 7 5 1 0 5 8 2 0 9 7 4 9 4 4 5 9 2 3 0 7 8 1 6 4 0 6 2 8 6 2 0 8 9 9 8 6 2 8 0 3 4 8 2 5 3 4 2 1 1 7 0 6 7 9 8 2 1 4 8 0 8 6 5 1 3 2 8 2 3 0 6 6 4 7 0 9 3 8 4 4 6 0 9 5 5 0 5 8 2 2 3 1 7 2 5 3 5 9 4 0 8 1 2 8 4 8 1 1 1 7 4 5 0 2 8 4 1 0 2 7 0 1 9 3 8 5 2 1 1 0 5 5 5 9 6 4 4 6 2 2 9 4 8 9 5 4 9 3 0 3 8 1 9 6 4 4 2 8 8 1 0 9 7 5 6 6 5 9 3 3 4 4 6 1 2 8 4 7 5 6 4 8 2 3 3 7 8 6 7 8 3 1 6 5 2 7 1 2 0 1 9 0 9 1 4 5 6 4 8 5 6 6 9 2 3 4 6 0 3 4 8 6 1 0 4 5 4 3 2 6 6 4 8 2 1 3 3 9 3 6 0 7 2 6 0 2 4 9 1 4 1 2 7 3 7 2 4 5 8 7 0 0 6 6 0 6 3 1 5 5 8 8 1 7 4 8 8 1 5 2 0 9 2 0 9 6 2 8 2 9 2 5 4 0 9 1 7 1 5 3 6 4 3 6 7 8 9 2 5 9 0 3 6 0 0 1 1 3 3 0 5 3 0 5 4 8 8 2 0 4 6 6 5 2 1 3 8 4 1 4 6 9 5 1 9 4 1 5 1 1 6 0 9 4 3 3 0 5 7 2 7 0 3 6 5 7 5 9 5 9 1 9 5 3 0 9 2 1 8 6 1 1 7 3 8 1 9 3 2 6 1 1 7 9 3 1 0 5 1 1 8 5 4 8 0 7 4 4 6 2 3 7 9 9 6 2 7 4 9 5 6 7 3 5 1 8 8 5 7 5 2 7 2 4 8 9 1 2 2 7 9 3 8 1 8 3 0 1 1 9 4 9 1 2
Math makes science happen!
March: Welcome new PIBS rotation students Alexi and Jackline
The Scott lab welcomes new rotation students Alexi Chabez (below left) and Jackline Onyango (below right). Both are in the PIBS graduate program . We're so glad to have you and looking forward to sharing our enthusiasm about P450 enzymes.
March: Jinghan presents at Structural Biology Semainar
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Jinghan Liu presented her CYP8B1 structure/function work at the UM Structure Seminar series, hosted by the Life Science Institute.
March: Celebration of candidacy
A reception honored all of the College of Pharmacy graduate students who achieved candidacy during the last two year. Our very own Jinghan Liu (pictured below immediately above the M) was one of those who well deserved the recognition.
March: Professional development for grad student Alaina
Chemical Biology graduate student Alaina Richard was accepted into the Preparing Future Faculty Program. Sponsored by Rackham and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, this certificate program will prepare her for a desired career teaching at a primarily undergraduate institution.
March: Travel grants awarded to Graduate Students Jinghan, Sarah, and Alaina
Medicinal Chemistry graduate students Jinghan Liu and Sarah Burris-Hiday and Chemical Biology graduate student Alaina Richard have been awarded Rackham Conference Travel Grants to help support their attendance at Experimental Biology 2022 in Philadelphia this April. Congratulations!
February: Ellie Frydendall on MedTech Crossroads
Scott Lab graduate student Ellie Frydendall also plays a leadership role in miLead. She recently appeared on a webinar for startups discussing how miLEAD works with clients on market and customer discovery. Check out the episode and professional training that this experience provides to UM graduate students with career ambitions in industry.
February: Postdoc Kurt accepted to Rapidata
Postdoctoral fellow Kurt Harris has been accepted to participate in a Rapidata 2022 . This two-week practical course in macromolecular X-ray data collection and solving structures is provided by the Stanford Synchroton Radiation Lightsource. Congrats Kurt!
February: Ellie Frydendall Seminar
Pharmacology graduate student Ellie Frydendall presented her work on cytochrome P450 2W1 in the departmental seminar series. Nicely done, Ellie!
February: College of Pharmacy Research Forum
Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis and Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Jinghan Liu presented their work at the College of Pharmacy Research Day. Cara presented her work on CYP11B1 interactions with adrenodoxin, while Jinghan presented her research on CYP8B1.
January: Welcome new trainees to the Scott lab
PIBS rotation student Michael Cadigan (right) and Pharm.D. student Lily Kim (left) are new to the Scott lab for winter 2022. Michael will be learning X-ray crystallography with Jinghan Liu, while Lily will be learning UV-vis ligand binding assays from Sarah Burris-Hiday.
January: Auchus sabbatical in the Scott Lab
UM Professor Professor Rich Auchus, M.D./Ph.D , is visiting the Scott lab to do a sabbatical learning X-ray crystallography during the winter 2022 semester. He and postdoctoral fellow Nicole Motl are using this opportunity to ramp up our structural collaboration on 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Welcome Rich!
In Memorium: Tsuneo Omura, co-discoverer of cytochrome P450
Tsuneo Omura and Ryo Satos's 1964 paper in JBC titled "The Carbon Monoxide-binding Pigment of Liver Microsomes" announced the discovery of cytochrome P450 enzymes.
Read about his life-long involvement in cytochrome P450 research here.
At right is an image of the speakers at the 2014 Microsomes and Drug Oxidations Meeting in Germany celebrating the 50th anniversary of P450s. Tsuneo Omura is in the front in the tan suit.
You can see his slides from a talk he gave about P450 enzymes at the 2018 Microsomes and Drug Oxidations meeting at Kyushu University in Japan.
November: Pat Brown from Impossible Foods gave a great seminar featuring heme
For a while now it's been known that our favorite heme from P450 enzymes is also a key component making artificial meat more similar to beef-based meat. In Impossible Food products this "heme" is in the form of heme-containing leghemoglobin, a protein naturally found in the root nodules of legume plants and which is produced recombinantly in yeast. Pat's fantastic seminar focused largely on the environmental impact and feasibility of switching to artificial meat sources which you can hear about for yourself in this interview. His journey is also an interesting example of an academic career transition to an entrepreneur, as he switched from Stanford University biochemistry professor to start Impossible Foods.
Image credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6U4H8WC9jg
October: Scott Lab Halloween
The Scott lab enjoys celebrating all holidays and this year we celebrated with some fantastic pumpkin carving and some fabulous seasonal decoration of our lab and conference spaces, a lot of it by postdoctoral fellow Nicole Motl.
October: Grad Student Awards at MECC
Graduate students Cara Loomis and Sarah Burris-Hiday won poster awards at the 41st Midwest Enzyme Chemistry Conference for their work on cytochrome P450 11B1 and cytochrome P450/reductase interactions, respectively. Way to go Cara and Sarah!
October: Stephen Gonzalez Joins the Scott Lab
Program in Biomedical Sciences/Biological Chemistry graduate student Stephen Gonzalez joined the Scott lab for a fall research rotation. Stephen is primarily working with Pharmacology graduate student Ellie Frydendall to learn crystallization and enzyme assays. Stephen earned his B.S. degree from California State University at Fullerton and participated in the UM Pharmacy REU program in Protein Structure and Function the summer of 2019. Stephen presented his work from the REU at the 10th annual Emerging Researchers national Conference in STEM and was featured in ASBMB Today . Welcome Stephen!
October: LIFE, HOPE AND SCIENCE: THREE JOURNEYS IN RESEARCH - What can we learn from the life stories of eminent women scientists?
Very cool to hear about the lives, inspirations, and personal and professional challenges from three Nobel Prize-winning women scientists. Hosted by Susan Hockfield from MIT, we heard from Georgina Ferry, biographer of Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkins of X-ray crystallography fame; from Jennifer Doudna of CRISPR gene editing fame; and from Elizabeth Blackburn of telomerase fame. Thanks for sharing your journeys!
September: Tom Pochapsky Joins for Sabbatical
We're thrilled to have Professor Tom Pochapsky from Brandeis University join us for a 2-month sabbatical in the Scott Lab. In addition to having Tom share his expertise in soluble cytochrome P450 NMR, it's great to have a collaborator and colleague here full time. Here's a photo of Tom (far left) with part of the Scott lab after lab meeting one beautiful fall day on the UM campus.
September: Kurt Harris and Arkajit Gupa join Scott Lab
We are so excited to have two new individuals in the Scott Lab! Kurt Harris joins us as a postdoctoral fellow, following his Ph.D. from the University of Queensland in Professor Elizabeth Gillam's P450 lab and a stint in patent law. Arkajit Gupa joined us as a PIBS rotation student, following a Master's in Chemistry at the Indian Institute Science Education and Research. Welcome Kurt and Arkajit!
June: Alaina ACS flash talk wins award
Chemical Biology graduate student Alaina Richard's flash talk at the Great Lakes Regional ACS Meeting won a presentation award and an e-gift card. Congratulations Alaina!
June: Great Lakes Regional ACS Meeting
Scott lab trainees took over a Chemical Biology flash talk session at the June ACS regional meeting hosted by the Minnesota section. Graduate students Alaina Richard (UM Chemical Biology), Sarah Burris (UM Medicinal Chemistry), Jinghan Liu (UM Medicinal Chemistry) and Postdoctoral Fellow Nicole Motl presented on the different P450 projects titled below.
May: Sarah Burris-Hiday selected to attend SSRL Rapidata X-ray Crystallography Course
Graduate student Sarah Burris-Hiday was selected and attended the intensive X-ray crystallography course at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. Normally held in Menlo Park, CA over a week, this year's virtual version of Data Collection and Structure Solving: A Practical Course in Macromolecular X-Ray Diffraction Measurement was spread out from May 5-15. That's still a lot of time in front of a screen but a highly valuable training resource for crystallography students.
May: Jinghan Liu talk at research symposium
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student Jinghan Liu was selected to present her work on human cytochrome P450 8B1 in the College of Pharmacy Research Symposium. Nice job Jinghan!
April: Simone wins poster award at Experimental Biology
Postdoctoral fellow Simoné Brixius-Anderko won second place in the poster competition for the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Division of ASPET during the annual Experimental Biology meeting. Nice job, Simoné and congratulations to all the winners!
April: Scott lab posters at Experimental Biology
Experimental Biology was virtual this year but provided an excellent opportunity for poster presentations. Jinghan Liu presented her work on CYP8B1 for the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, while Simoné Brixius-Anderko and Sarah Burris presented their work on P450/redox partner interactions under for the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
February: Scott lab encourages all our friends to join us:
January: Welcome to Dalia
First year Medicinal Chemistry student Dalia Soueid joins the Scott lab to do a winter 2021 lab rotation. Welcome Dalia!
December: A day in the lab
First year Biological Chemistry student Cara Loomis and fifth year Medicinal Chemistry student Sarah Burris-Hiday working hard in the lab, despite masks and social distancing.
August: Scott lab in JBC Special Issue Celebrating Women in Science
The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted 100 years ago this month, states that “The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged… on account of sex.” This addition, decades in the making, was simultaneously profound as an initial recognition of women’s rights and far too limited as an effort toward equality for women, a struggle that continues today. A Journal of Biological Chemistry virtual issue simultaneously celebrates progress made in regards to the participation of women in science, in the form of a subset of the Editors’ Picks papers published in JBC in the last three years with corresponding authors who are women, and serves as a reminder that we have much work still to do to fully include women, and particularly women of color, in the scientific endeavor. The Scott lab is proud that our work is included in this issue.
July: Cara passes Prelims in Biological Chemistry
First year graduate student Cara Davis Loomis passed her Prelim examination! Her 2-page proposal and oral presentation were very well received by her committee during an virtual session. Congratulations Cara!
July: Ellie selected for PSTP Training Grant
Graduate student Ellie Frydendall has been selected to participate in the Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant
Program here at the University of Michigan. This program provides supplemental training, mentoring, networking and career development opportunities and the opportunity to develop additional professional skills, such as organizing and running the annual symposium. Congratulations Ellie!
July: Simone selected for Moderated Poster at AHA Annual Meeteing
Postdoctoral fellow Simone Brixius-Anderko's poster abstract "Aldosterone Synthase Structure With Cushing’s Disease Drug Osilodrostat Provides Clues For Treatment Of Primary Aldosteronism" was selected as a "Top Trainee Advocacy Awardee" at the American Heart Association annual meeting . A recording of Simone presenting her poster as a Moderated Poster Presentation will be available to all participants during this virtual annual meeting.
May: Scott Lab Restart!
The College of Pharmacy and members of the Scott lab were selected as some of the first researchers back in the University of Michigan labs. Here Nicole, Simone, Sarah, Alaina, and Aaron model their masks and social distancing in the lab. It might not be so easy to see behind those masks, but we are *so grateful* to be back in our native lab environment. Go safe research, go!
May: Dr. Aaron Bart's Biophysics Ph.D. Reception
Aaron Bart's Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan Biophysics Program was recognized at a virtual reception via Zoom. Congratulations Aaron! Read more about Aaron (and the other graduates) on the celebratory Biophysics website.
April: Cara and Ellie join the Scott lab
First year graduate students Cara (Davis) Loomis (Biological Chemistry) and Ellie Frydendall (Pharmacology) have officially joined the Scott lab. We're thrilled to have them as permanent members of the Scott lab branch of the P450 family!
March: Scott lab happy hour
The Scott lab has taken over Zoom for lab meetings and (in this case) a weekly happy hour. Sharing here our Brady Bunch throwback photo (or Hollywood Squares for you older viewers!).
March: Scott Lab Shut Down due to Covid19
Unfortunately, the Covid19 virus resulted in the shut down of all UM research laboratories on March 20. But we're ready to restart experiments as soon as we are allowed to do so: pipette tips on the cart ready to autoclave and clean glassware ready for new buffers. Meanwhile we're all working hard remotely on data analysis and writing up papers. Hope to be back in the wet lab soon!
March: Collaborators Jeff Aubé and Caleb Vogt visit from UNC
Long-time collaborator and Eschelman Distinguished Professor Jeff Aubé
and his graduate student Caleb Vogt spent a couple of days with the Scott lab. We've been collaborating on substrates and inhibitors of the steroidogenic CYP17A1. Caleb and Scott lab postdoc Aaron Bart spent a couple of days in the lab preparing samples and running them on the mass spec. Jeff gave a wonderful seminar to the Department on his Tuberculosis project and some wonderful new solutions to controlling ring expansion reactions to make steroid analogs.
February: Pharmacy Research Forum
Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko, and graduate students Stephen Black, Alaina Richard, and Jinghan Liu all presented posters at the College of Pharmacy annual Research Day. Simone received second place for the McGlone Award. Congratulations Simone!
February: Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko Presents at Structural Biology Seminar
Postdoctoral Fellow Simone Bixius-Anderko presented her work on Aldosterone synthase or CYP11B2 in the UM Structural Biology Seminar. Nice job Simone!
January: Aaron Bart highlighted as DMD author
Postdoc Aaron Bart received the special honor of a Highlighted Author Award from Drug Metabolism and Disposition. Check out the highlight on their website and February 2020 monthly newsletter. The article for which he was recognized, "Human Cytochrome P450 1A1 Adapts Active Site for Atypical Nonplanar Substrate", has 100 free downloads available.
January: Simone selected for ASPET Travel award to EB2020
Simone Brixius-Anderko was selected to receive a Travel Award in the Postdoctoral Scientist category to attend the ASPET Annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2020. Presented to outstanding young scientists, this will help her present her AHA-funded research on CYP11B2. She was also selected to participate in the ASPET Drug Metabolism and Disposition poster competition. Join Simone at Experimental Biology April 4-7 in San Diego.
January: Welcome to Ellie and Hyun Gi
First year graduate student Ellie Frydendell and Pharm.D. student Hyun Gi Yun are joining the Scott lab! Ellie will complete her rotation over the winter semester learning to express, purify, and crystallize membrane P450 enzymes. Hyun Gi will be supporting graduate student Sarah Burris's project. Welcome to both!
December: The Scott lab is ready for the holidays!
December: Cara completes Scott lab rotation with poster
First year Biological Chemistry graduate student Cara Loomis topped off her fall rotation in the Scott lab with a poster presented at a session for all Biological Chemistry students. We'll miss Cara while she's off on a winter rotation in the Ohi lab.
December: Alaina passes her candidacy exam
Chemical Biology graduate student Alaina Richard successfully passed her candidacy exam! A lot of hard work has set her up well for her project examining P450 enzymes that work on eicosanoids. Congratulations Alaina!
December: Scott and Auchus labs at Natural History Museum
In lieu of our regular joint group meeting, in December the Scott and Rich Auchus labs made a visit to the newly renovated U-M Natural History Museum. We learned about Michigan flora and fauna, dinosaurs, and even DNA and protein folding ;-) and cells. Here is our picture inside the giant cell, which was followed by hot chocolate at Palmer Commons. A great way to celebrate the season and our collaboration.
November: Dr. Bart!
Scott lab graduate student Aaron Bart successfully defended his Ph.D. in the Biophysics Program at UM. The work contained in Aaron's dissertation has been widely recognized, by the Journal Of Biological Chemistry, Drug Metabolism and Division, the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and a Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship. Congratulations Aaron for completing a huge body of highly significant contributions to the P450 field.
October: Scott Lab in the Corn
The Scott lab and friends successfully traversed the Blaze corn maize just outside of Ann Arbor. Well, at least we found stops 1-4 and 6-8 and finished with all members of our group so we could enjoy s'mores and hot cider afterwards.
August: Alaina appointed to NIH Chemistry Biology Interface Training Program.
Alaina Richard, a second year graduate student in the UM Chemical Biology Program and the Scott lab, has been selected as one of this year's five new participants in the NIH-funded Chemistry Biology Interface Training Program. Congratulations Alaina!
May: Musical lab benches in the Scott lab
This spring/summer the Scott lab welcomed back three rotation students as new permanent lab members: Medicinal Chemistry first year students
Jinghan Liu (left) and Stephen Black (middle) and Chemical Biology first year student Alaina Richard (right). At the same time senior graduate student Aaron Bart is off to Genentech structural biology for a summer internship, but he left us with a few important words of advice on the back of his shirt . . .
May: Sarah Burris wins citizenship award
Third year Scott lab graduate student Sarah Burris was awarded the Medicinal Chemistry Departmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Citizenship for the 2018-2019 academic year. This award recognizes Sarah's service in the ACS Medicinal Chemistry local chapter, as student representative to the faculty, and within and beyond our lab and community. The award includes $250 and her name on a plaque outside the Med Chem office.
May: Scott lab attends Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Meeting
The Scott lab attended the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Discussion Group meeting, a two-day event held this year in Ann Arbor on North Campus. Aaron and Simone presented posters, but everyone enjoyed the talks and opportunities to meet new colleagues in our field. We're already looking forward to the 2020 meeting in Chicago!
May: Nicole attends Rapidata at SSRL
Postdoctoral fellow Nicole Motl attended the SSRL X-ray crystallography Rapidata course in early May. This one-week course in Menlo Park, CA is excellent training, including theory, hardware, software, and hands-on tutorials by guest lecturers and the wonderful SSRL scientific staff.
April: Experimental Biology
Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko and graduate student Aaron Bart presented their respective posters on CYP11B1 and CYP1A1 at Experimental Biology in Orlando, FL. Simone's abstract was also selected for a short talk in the Drug Metabolism and Disposition platform session. Simone's work won first place in the Division postdoc poster competition, so she will get to serve on the Division Executive Council for the next year, as Aaron has been doing for the past two years. Congratulations!
March: College of Pharmacy Research Forum
Postdoctoral fellow Simone Brixius-Anderko represented the Scott lab at the 2019 College of Pharmacy Research Forum on North Campus, sharing her structural work with CYP11B1. Her poster was titled "Structural differences in Cytochrome P450 11B Enzymes Key for Drugs Controlling Blood Pressure and Immune Responses".
March: Scott Lab goes back to High School
Scott lab members Jinghan Liu, Aaron Bart, Sarah Burris, Simone Brixius-Anderko, and Dr. Scott spent the school day at Skyline High School teaching pipetting skills and gel electrophoresis to 9th grade biology students learning about DNA. This event was organized by MiRCore, a non-profit research organization with lots of opportunities for young people to get involved with research.
March: CYP11B1 paper highlighted in ASBMB Today
Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko's structure of CYP11B1 was highlighted in ASBMB Today.
February: Grad Student Aaron Bart Wins Predoctoral Fellowship
Scott lab graduate student Aaron Bart (Biophysics program) was recently awarded a Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship from the U-M Rackham Graduate School. This year-long fellowship supports outstanding doctoral students who have achieved candidacy and are actively working on dissertation research and writing, particularly those working on dissertations that are unusually creative, ambitious and impactful. The fellowship includes stipend, tuition, fees, and healthcare. Congratulations Aaron!
February: Grad Student Aaron Bart Presents at Genentech
Biophysics graduate student Aaron Bart was invited to present a talk titled "Applying Structure to Understand Cytochrome P450 1A1 Metabolism" at an internal symposium at Genentech DMPK. The visit to Genentech corporate headquarters on the South San Francisco campus included gowning up for a tour of the manufacturing process facilities.
January: CYP11B1 structure selected as JBC "Recommended Read"
Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko's paper elucidating the X-ray structure of human, cortisol-generating cytochrome P450 11B1 is the first structure of this enzyme. This complex with the breast cancer drug fadrozole showed preference for the opposite enantiomer compared to the 93%-identical CYP11B2 enzyme.
December: The Great Scott Lab Christmas Cookie Bake Off
All the lab members brought their favorite Christmas cookie recipe and we had a bake-off with the proceeds (after tasting!) going to our collaborators and the staff people who support our research all year long.
November: Aaron Bart talk in Structural Biology Series
Scott lab graduate student Aaron Bart gave a wonderful talk on his recent structural work in the UM Structural Biology series on Nov. 16. This included structures of CYP1A1 interactions with the grapefruit juice compound bergamottin (oxidized to nontoxic metabolites), the cancer drug erlotinib (oxidized to toxic metabolites), and durocarmycins in development for cancer treatment (prodrugs tissue specifically activated by CYP1A1 to active form).
November: Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko awarded AHA Fellowship
Scott lab postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko was awarded a two-year fellowship from the American Heart Association for her proposal titled, "Understanding aldosterone biosynthesis for the treatment of hypertension". Read the College of Pharmacy article about this award here. Congratulations Simone!
October: Dr. Liz Gillam visits Scott lab over Halloween
University of Queensland Professor Liz Gillam's
visit to the Scott lab happened to occur over Halloween so we took the opportunity to integrate some silliness into our group photo and to have a lab party featuring pumpkin carving. It was the first pumpkin carving for at least six of our members!
On the serious side, Dr. Gilliam gave a great talk titled "Gains and losses over ~450 million years of evolution of the vertebrate, xenobiotic-metabolizing P450s" featuring some of their very exciting work on ancestral P450 enzymes, some of which you can read about in their recent publication here.
On the serious side, Dr. Gilliam gave a great talk titled "Gains and losses over ~450 million years of evolution of the vertebrate, xenobiotic-metabolizing P450s" featuring some of their very exciting work on ancestral P450 enzymes, some of which you can read about in their recent publication here.
October: Simone presents seminar
Scott lab postdoctoral fellow Simone Brixius-Anderko gave a seminar describing her new structure of CYP11B1 and corresponding functional work at the UM Center for Structural Biology Seminar Series on October 19.
October: Postdoc Simone wins poster prize
Scott lab postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko presented her work at the Southeast Michigan Postdoctoral Symposium. Her 3-minute speed talk and poster focused on her work on the structure and function of CYP11B enzymes. Her poster won the second place award. Congratulations Simone!
September: Aaron's 2017 P450/b5 interactions paper selected for JBC special virtual issue
Graduate student Aaron Bart's 2017 JBC paper using NMR to map the interactions of important drug-metabolizing P450 enzymes with cytochrome b5 was selected for inclusion in a special virtual issue on "Drug metabolism, transport, and toxicity".
September: Bart paper on new CYP1A1 structures selected as JBC Editors' Pick
Graduate student Aaron Bart (Biophysics) recently published two new structures of human CYP1A1 with the grapefruit juice compound bergamottin and the cancer drug erlotinib in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. This paper was selected as one of JBC's Editors' Pick. This places Aaron's paper in the top 2% of JBC manuscripts. Aaron's author profile is here. Congratulations Aaron!
September: REU student Laura Sanchez presents research at home university
Undergraduate Laura Sanchez recently presented the results of her summer research in the Scott lab at the weekly science seminar at her home institution, Monmouth College in Illinois. Laura was a 2018 student in the University of Michigan NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program focusing on Structure and Function of Proteins.
September: Malika paper highlighted on DMD webpage
Postdoc Malika Godamudunage's recent paper comparing the interactions of adult CYP3A4 and fetal CYP3A7 with azoles was highlighted on the Drug Metabolism and Disposition website. For a limited time, download a free copy of the paper here.
September: Postdoc Nicole Motl wins Dziewiatkowski Dissertation Award
Scott lab postdoc Nicole Motl just won the the Dziewiatkowski Award for her previous research in the Bannerjee lab. This award is given by UM Department of Biological Chemistry for the student with the most outstanding Ph.D. dissertation during the previous academic year. It is given in memory of the late faculty member Professor Dominic D. (Jay) Dziewiatkowski. Congratulations Nicole!
September: Book is out summarizing human P450 structures
The book Dioxygen-dependent Heme Proteins is out! This book includes the chapter "Structures of Human Cytochrome P450 Enzymes: Variations on a Theme" written with postdoc Malika Godamudunage. Edited by Masao Ikeda-Saito and Emma Raven and published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, this book is available from the Publisher and on Amazon.
August: Award for Graduate Student Sarah Burris
Scott lab graduate student Sarah Burris was recently awarded a Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant. Congratulations Sarah!
August: REU Student Laura Sanchez finishes the Summer in the Scott Lab
Laura Sanchez, REU student in the College of Pharmacy NSF-funded REU program focusing on Structure and Function of Proteins, recently finished out her summer research experience. Working with postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko, she expressed and purified CYP3A5 and a CYP11B1 fusion protein, developing a nice set of technical skills along the way. We'll miss Laura but wish her all the best back at her senior year at Monmouth College!
August: Scott Lab Group Summer Discussion Book
This summer the Scott lab selected "Next Gen Ph.D." as our summer reading book. Discussions on the various chapters were useful in identifying our skills, interests, and values that should direct career paths, identifying transferable skills useful in a broad range of career paths, and practicing our interviewing and job-seeking skills. Overall, a highly useful read that prompted lots of great discussions within our group and a book we'd highly recommended for anyone considering graduate school and/or a postdoctoral position.
July: Scott lab summer party
The Scott lab took an evening out from a busy summer to celebrate Rahul's recent paper, as well as to say goodbye to chem bio rotation student Alaina Richard and REU summer student Laura Sanchez. We enjoyed lovely evening weather at the Scott house, a potluck highlighted by lots of delicious (!) food, and great times with family and friends. And of course some competitive badminton!
July: Sarah passes candidacy exam
Medicinal Chemistry graduate student passed her candidacy exam and is heading into full-time research on her project as she goes into her third year. Congratulations Sarah!
May: Welcome new REU and rotation students
Laura Sanchez is an undergraduate at Monmouth College in Illinois, participating in the University of Michigan, NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program in the Structure and Function of Proteins. She will be working with postdoctoral fellow Simone Brixius Anderko on CYP3A5 and CYP11B proteins. Alaina Richard is a first year graduate student in the University of Michigan Program in Chemical Biology who will be learning about a broad range of human P450 enzymes and a diverse set of techniques during her summer rotation. Welcome Laura and Alaina!
May: Former Scott Lab Postdoc Fernando Estrada Highlighted in ASBMB Today
Recent Scott lab postdoc and current assistant professor Fernando Estrada was highlighted in the May issue of ASBMB Today. Fernando talks about his journey from being the child of immigrants to community college in Dodge City, KS to Army officer to University of Buffalo faculty. A long but successful journey! Read the article here.
May: Scott Lab attends Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Discussion Meeting
A full complement of the Scott Lab attended the 2018 Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Discussion Group Meeting in Indianapolis. Rahul, Malika, Simone, and Aaron presented posters that were all well attended. The speakers were excellent throughout, though Annie, Christina, and Dr. Scott missed a couple while stuck on the Sheraton elevator until firefighters arrived--an, um, memorable experience? Conference dinner with remarks by our Program Officer Dick Okita and a tour of the Eli Lilly HQ rounded out the trip.
May: Postdoc Nicole Motl Joins Scott Lab
Nicole Motl earned her Ph.D. in 2017 from the University of Michigan. Her dissertation work, titled "Structural Enzymology of Sulfide Oxidation by Persulfide Dioxygenase and Rhodanese", was accomplished in the lab of UM colleague Dr. Ruma Banerjee. Nicole joined the Scott lab to add to her initial training in X-ray crystallography. Welcome Nicole!
April: Postdoc Simone attends SSRL RapiData workshop
Postdoctoral fellow Simone Brixius-Anderko attended the 2018 RapidData course in X-ray Diffraction Data Collection and Structure Solution. Although it may not look like it to outsiders, SSRL is a "scientific wonderland" that makes all of our membrane P450 structures possible. And it's run by the most wonderful researchers and support staff!
April: Grad student Aaron Bart Wins Poster Competition
Third year graduate student Aaron Bart won first place in the poster competition for the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Division of ASPET at Experimental Biology. This was Aaron's second year in a row winning this award, this year with an entirely new project focused on CYP1A1 structures with new ligands.
April: Collaborator Klaus Pors visits the Scott Lab
Klaus Pors, from the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Bradford, visited the Scott Lab to give an exciting seminar and research update focused on our duocarmycin collaboration. Duocarmycin natural products are ultrapotent anticancer compounds that can be activated by some tissue-specific cytochrome P450 enzymes.
Left to right, Rahul Yadav, Klaus Pors, Aaron Bart, Emily Scott, Malika Godamudunage, Simone Brixius-Anderko, Chris Ohmer, Christina Howard, Sarah Burris
Left to right, Rahul Yadav, Klaus Pors, Aaron Bart, Emily Scott, Malika Godamudunage, Simone Brixius-Anderko, Chris Ohmer, Christina Howard, Sarah Burris
April: Simone and Rahul Learning to Collect X-ray Data
Postdoctoral fellows Simone Brixius-Anderko and Rahul Yadav recently learned how to collect X-ray data remotely at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL). The facilities and staff at SSRL are critical resources for our crystallographic projects.
April: X-ray Crystallography Theory
The Scott lab just finished reading and discussing Alexander McPherson's "Introduction to Macromolecular Crystallography" over this academic year. From crystal symmetry to data collection to phasing methods, this book is highly recommended for presenting a treatment of the subject that readers at all levels are likely to learn from.
March: Former undergrad Cara Davis wins Goldwater Scholar and INBRE Star Trainee
Undergraduate Cara Davis learned recombinant protein expression and purification in the Scott lab mentored by postdoc Aggi Walsh and graduate student Aaron Bart. After the lab moved from the Univeristy of Kansas, Cara continued working on protein structure and function in the lab of Dr. Audrey Lamb. We're all thrilled that she has been recognized with the Goldwater Award and being selected as an INBRE Star Trainee. Cara says "I aspire to earn a Ph.D. in biophysics and research protein structure and dynamics at a university."
March: Scott Lab Celebrates Pi Day
The Scott lab celebrated pi day with pies from the (regionally famous) Grand Traverse Pie Company and Simone's Mississippi mud pie with friends from the (Peter) Scott lab, the Auchus lab, and Pharmacy staff who help us out all year long. Happy Pi Day!
March: Seminar from Postdoc Malika Godamudunage
Scott lab postdoctoral fellow Malika Godamudunage was invited to present her recent work on structure and function of CYP3A4 and CYP3A7 enzymes at the UM Structural Biology Seminar Series.
February: Undergrad Annie Grech Awarded Merck Internship
Senior Biochemistry major and Scott lab member Annie Grech was selected for a summer internship at Merck this summer. She'll spend 10 weeks working on crystallization and structural biology of membrane proteins, building on her work here crystallizing CYP3A4 and CYP3A7 with postdoc Malika Godamudunage. Contratulations Annie!
February: Postdoc Rahul Yadav Seminar
Scott lab postdoctoral fellow Rahul Yadav was invited to speak at the UM Structural Biology Seminar Series.
December: Postdoc Simone Anderko-Brixius quoted in article on women in science
"Science is a brutally competitive field. Long days in the lab are a given. Every hour of available time is an advantage, especially in the crucial early years of a postdoctoral career." This article in Quartz outlines the contributions of Nobel prize winner and developmental biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard's efforts toward addressing disparities in overall workload for women scientists with children, focusing on stipend supplements. Current postdoctoral fellow Simone Anderko-Brixius received a Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard foundation during her Ph.D. and was interviewed for this article.
December: P450 cake!
Lab members surprised me with a birthday cake before discussing X-ray diffraction theory at our last group meeting of 2017.
November: Aaron and Rahul present at 2nd Gateway NMR Meeting
Scott lab members Sarah Burris, Aaron Bart, and Rahul Yadav attended the 2nd Gateway NMR Conference at Ohio State University. Aaron and Rahul presented posters describing recent work on P450/b5 interactions and P450 enzymes with substituted metal protoporphyrins, respectively.
September: Garrett Dow and Jorge Becerra start Scott lab rotations
Jorge Becerra (chemical biology graduate student, below left) and Garrett Dow (Med Chem graduate student, below right) initiated first year rotations in the Scott lab. Jorge is working on CYP3A proteins with postdoc Malika Godamudunage. Garrett is working on adrenodoxin and adrenodoxin reductase with CYP11 enzymes under postdoc Simone Anderko-Brixius.
August: Trey Shupp completes REU program under postdoc Rahul Yadav
Trey Shupp, an undergraduate student at Evangel University (and student of Natasha DeVore), worked in the Scott lab to complete the summer 2017 UM REU program in the Structure and Function of Proteins. Trey worked under postdoc Rahul Yadav to learn how to express cytochrome P450 proteins.
June: Sarah and Julie Join Training Grant
First year graduate students Sarah Burris and Julie Philippe have been invited to join the Pharmacological Sciences Training Program. A joint program between the Departments of Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry and the College of Pharmacy, this NIGMS-funded program provides synergistic translational education, research training, and career development to prepare students as leaders in the field of experimental therapeutics. Congratulations Sarah and Julie!
June: Aaron Candidacy Exam
Graduate student Aaron Bart recently passed his Candidacy exam in the U of M Biophysics Program. Congratulations Aaron! Such an event calls for cake! And if you know Aaron--coffee, in this case local favorite Roos Roast Lobster Butter Love coffee.
June: Billion Dollar Molecule
This summer the Scott Lab is reading and discussing the Billion Dollar Molecule, a great story of real-life science and drug development where both X-ray crystallography and NMR play key roles in defining the binding of new molecules to protein targets.
May: New Faces in the Scott Lab
The Scott lab welcomes first year graduate student Julie Philippe and undergraduate Trey Shupp. Julie is part of the U of M PIBBS Program in the Pharmacology Department and is undertaking a rotation in the Scott lab working with postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko developing expression and purification of some mitochondrial P450 proteins. Trey Shupp is a summer student in the REU for Structure and Function of Proteins and is working with postdoc Rahul Yadav to express, purify, and characterize CYP17A1 mutants. Trey's home institution is Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, where he has done research with former Scott lab graduate student and postdoc Natasha (Michno) DeVore. Welcome Julie and Trey!
April: Experimental Biology Meeting
The Scott lab was very well represented at the Experimental Biology Meeting in Chicago, IL.
Graduate student Aaron Bart received an ASPET travel award (above left, second row, far right). Aaron also presented a poster and was selected to give a short talk. His work won first place in the graduate student poster competition (above, right).
Postdoctoral fellow Malika Godamudunage presented a poster (above left) and was also selected to give a short talk. Her work won third place in the postdoc poster competition. Postdoc Rahul Yadav and co-author Ao Li from Wayne State University also presented their recent collaborative project as a poster (above right).
April: Welcome to Postdoc Simone Brixius-Anderko
Simone Brixius-Anderko earned her Ph.D. engineering cytochrome P450 21A1 for biotechnological applications in the laboratory of Dr. Rita Bernhardt at Saarland University in Germany. Simone and her entire family are moving from Germany to make their new home in Ann Arbor this month. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Scott lab Simone will continue working on steroidogenic P450 enzymes in the Scott Lab. Welcome Simone!
March: Pi Day!
The Scott lab took advantage of 3/14 to celebrate pi day with neighboring lab members who have been so gracious during our transition to U of M--and to sample some of the best pies from Ann Arbor area bakeries. Achatz apple and blueberry pies. Chocolate cream and rhubarb from the Grand Traverse Pie Company. And Zingerman's lemon chess pie. Mmmmmmmm! Based on the selection left over, I'd say they all had their fans--even rhubarb!
January: Welcome new lab members!
A big welcome to Sarah Burris and Annie Grech, who recently joined the Scott Lab.
Sarah Burris (below right) is rotating in the Scott lab during the Winter 2017 semester. Sarah is a graduate of Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis (IIUPUI) and a current first year Medicinal Chemistry graduate student.
Annie Grech (below left) started in the Scott Lab on a research project working with postdoc Malika Godamudunage to compare and contrast the structure and function of the major human drug-metabolizing enzyme from the adult (CYP3A4) and fetal/neonatal (CYP3A7) stages of life. Annie is a graduate of University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI and a current U of M biochemistry major.
December: Happy Holidays from the Scott Lab
The Scott lab further expanded our holiday celebrations this year by adding a Festivus pole (far left). Lab member Dhanushka captured the current Scott lab group members with an original drawing. Check out more of Dhanushka's drawings.
October: New Baby
Recently we got to celebrate with Postdoctoral Fellow Rahul Yadav and Laboratory Assistant Archana Mishra who are expecting a baby girl very soon!
September: Welcome to Archana Mishra
Archana Mishra joined the Scott lab as a temporary Laboratory Assistant. Archana recently completed her Ph.D. in Colloidal and Surfactant Chemistry in the English Lab at Wichita State University.
August: Scott lab moves to Michigan
In July the Scott lab shut down experiments, washed up all those beakers and flasks, crated up our equipment, and said goodbye to friends and colleagues in Malott Hall, our lab home at KU for the last 12 years. Early August we moved into our new space at the University of Michigan. Although we were a bit worried the lab equipment truck wouldn't clear the College of Pharmacy building (see bottom middle), all was delivered and put to rights. We're up and running again, so come visit us in Ann Arbor!
July: Cara poster presentations
Undergraduate Cara Davis presented a poster describing her work in the Scott lab at the KU Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session in Spooner Commons. Earlier in the summer Cara also presented this poster at the NIGMS 6th Biennial National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE) in Washington D.C.
June: Moving up to the big leagues
The Scott lab celebrated a valuable team player moving up to the big leagues: Postdoc Fernando Estrada left the Scott lab to take a position as an Assistant Professor at SUNY University at Buffalo. We marked the occasion by watching the Kansas City T-bones baseball team take on the Wichita Wingnuts at Community America Ballpark.
May: Panda cupcakes
Panda cupcakes: Just because Fernando is such a big fan of pandas. Save the Panda
May: Eder graduation
Undergraduate Eder Dávila-Contreras (right) has been working in the Scott lab under the mentorship of postdoc Fernando Estrada (left), but now he's graduating and is heading off to work for Teach for America at the Pinole Valley High School in Pinole, CA. Congratulations and best wishes, Eder!
April: Nick Martinez undergraduate research award
This spring undergraduate Nick Martinez (right) has been presenting a poster summarizing the techniques he has learned working in the Scott lab with his graduate student mentor Aaron Bart (left). The poster was first presented at the KU-Haskell University Undergraduate Research Symposium sponsored by the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program. The second event was the KU Undergraduate Research Symposium, at which Nick's poster was selected for an Outstanding Presentation Award AND the 3rd place Sigma Xi poster award. Congratulations Nick!
April: SSRL Crystallization Workshop
Indeed, you can teach an old dog new tricks. I attended the SSRL Crystallization Workshop, to learn about using the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) to perform time-resolved crystallography.
March: Nick Martinez selected for Brandeis REU Program
Undergraduate Nick Martinez was recently selected for the REU program at Brandeis University in Cell and Molecular Visualization. Congratulations Nick!
March: Fernando attends Vitamin D Workshop
Postdoc and K99 recipient Fernando Estrada attended the 19th Vitamin D Workshop held as a satellite meeting preceding the Endocrine Society meeting in Boston, MA.
February: Cara Davis selected as KINBRE Scholar
Honors undergraduate student Cara Davis was awarded a $6000 KINBRE scholarship for research in the Scott laboratory during the 2016 spring and summer semesters. Congratulations Cara!
January: Ice Skating at Crown Center
The Scott lab celebrated research productivity and publication by ice skating at the outdoor Crown Center rink in Kansas City. It was a first for Cara, Dhanushka, Fernando and Malika and a very cold day, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
Afterwards we warmed up while attending an excellent seminar at the KU Medical Center campus by Tim Tracy titled "The Role of Protein-Protein Interactions in Modulating Cytochrome P450-Mediated Drug Metabolism".
Afterwards we warmed up while attending an excellent seminar at the KU Medical Center campus by Tim Tracy titled "The Role of Protein-Protein Interactions in Modulating Cytochrome P450-Mediated Drug Metabolism".
January: Dhanushka accepted to Chemistry graduate program
Dhanushka Weerasekara, a M.S. student from Sri Lanka has been developing his research skills in the Scott lab since August and recently was accepted into the KU Chemistry Ph.D. program. Way to go, Dhanushka!
November: Postdoc Fernando Estrada at Steroid Research Meeting
Research by postdoctoral fellow Fernando Estrada was recognized as an outstanding contribution, as represented by a poster titled "Modulation of the steroidogenic cytochrome P450 17A1 structure via substrate and effector protein binding" at the 3rd Congress on Steroid Research in the Windy City.
November: Great Plains Regional Annual Symposium on Protein and Biomolecular NMR
Once again the GRASP meeting yielded a great opportunity to focus on protein NMR. Fernando gave an excellent talk titled "Analysis of the interaction between cytochrome P450 17A1 and the flavin mononucleotide domain of human reductase". Attendees from the Scott lab included (below right, from left to right): Elyse Petrunak, Aaron Bart, Malika Godamudunage, Fernando Estrada, Dr. Scott, and Rahul Yadav (not shown).
November: Introducing high school students to STEM studies
Dr. Scott and several other KU faculty presented research in STEM fields to 200 area high school students at the Business of STEM Skills to Achieve Symposium, sponsored by Junior Achievement.
October: Visit from Olathe North High School
Fernando Estrada led tours of students in the Life Sciences Program at Olathe North High School through the Scott lab to show them how science is really done (but only after a little lab cleanup!).
October: Elyse visits UNC Chapel Hill
Postdoc Elyse Petrunak visited colleagues Dr. Jeff Aubé and Caleb Vogt at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Eschelman School of Pharmacy to collaborate on CYP17A1 steroid assays.
October: NIH MERIT Award for Scott Lab
The NIH selected our grant on Cytochrome P450 Structure and Function for a MERIT award, providing the opportunity to gain up to ten years of support. Read a lay description of the proposed work of the main thrust of research in the Scott lab in the news release here.
September: Welcome Postdoc Rahul Yadav
The Scott lab welcomes postdoctoral fellow Rahul Yadav. Rahul comes form the laboratory of Moriah Beck at Wichita State University where he worked on NMR spectroscopy of the protein palladin.
August: Aaron Bart Poster Presentation
Second-year Molecular Biosciences graduate student Aaron Bart presented his recent NMR work at the annual Graduate Student Symposium in the Kansas Union.
August: Welcome Undergraduates
Fall 2015 brought several new undergraduate faces to the Scott lab. Cara Davis (far left) is a freshman Honors student learning an array of basic laboratory skills from various current lab members. Eder Davila-Contreras (middle) is a McNair Scholar Biochemistry major learning protein expression and purification working with postdoc Fernando Estrada. Nick Martinez (far right) is a part-time KU student who returned to the Scott lab to work with graduate student Aaron Bart.
August: Med Chem Faculty Say "Aloha" to new PharmD Students
(Left to right) Medicinal Chemistry faculty Ryan Altman, Tom Prisinzano, Brian Blagg, Emily Scott, Blake Peterson and lab instructor Judy Wu welcome the incoming P1 Pharmacy students.
August: Phenix Protein Crystallography Workshop
The Scott lab attended a two-day workshop presented by Phenix Consortium Developers Paul Adams, Tom Terwilliger, Pavel Afonine, and Nigel Moriarty on getting the maximum out of the Phenix software for protein structure determination.
July: Elyse Petrunak Ph.D. Defense
Congratulations to Medicinal Chemistry Ph.D. student Elyse Petrunak, who successfully defended her dissertation work titled "Structural and Functinal Evaluation of Steroidogenic Cytochrome P450 Enzymes".
June: Problem Solving Challenge
Ever feel like you are trapped with your labmates? Well the Scott lab group really was! We divided into two teams to see which could find their way out of a locked room puzzle in 60 minutes or less by cracking codes and solving riddles. Though these are techniques we use in the lab all the time, we were much less successful on this particular day.
Fernando, Youbin, Aggi, Nick, and Dhanushka challenged the room called "Szechuan Secret" (above left). Aaron, Elyse, Silvia, Malika, and Dr. Scott tried their problem-solving skills to take on "Room 13" (above right).
May: Visiting Graduate Student Silvia Bonomo
Silvia Bonomo is a visiting graduate student in the Scott lab for part of this summer. Her lab home is with Drs. Flemming Steen Jorgensen and Lars Olsen in the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen. She has used computational approaches to screen for possible inhibitors of the human steroidogenic CYP17A1 and is visiting us to determine if these compounds indeed bind and inhibit the enzyme. Welcome Silvia!
MAY: BEST practice institute
Aggi Walsh and Dr. Scott took part in a 2-day workshop on teaching practices run by the KU Center for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Scott used the opportunity to redesign MDCM 601: Medicinal Biochemistry for the Pharmacy students, while Aggi used the skills gained to get off to a great start teaching BIOL 600: Introductory Biochemistry in fall 2015.
April: Graduate student Elyse Petrunak at EB2015
Senior graduate student Elyse Petrunak presented a short talk and a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Biology (ASPET) held as part of Experimental Biology in Boston, MA. Elyse's attendance was partially supported by a travel award from ASPET.
April: Vitamin D Meeting
Postdoctoral fellow Fernando Estrada, now working on vitamin D metabolism as part of his K99 award, attended the 18th Workshop on Vitamin D in Delft, Netherlands April 21-24.
April: DNA Day
Postdoctoral fellows Aggi Walsh, Malika Godamudunage, and Fernando Estrada volunteered their time to visit area schools and present interactive lessons on DNA topics and share their enthusiasm for science. Thanks for volunteering guys!
March: Promotion for Dr. Scott
The lab surprised me with cake to celebrate a recent promotion to full professor. I love that the "FE" that drives P450 enzymology is also in the center of "professor" and has flames coming out of it on the cake.
February: Malika baby shower
We're looking forward to a new addition to the lab as postdoc Malika and spouse Kasun expect a beautiful baby girl.
January: Tyler Stone joins Scott lab
Undergraduate student Tyler Stone has joined the lab to get exposure to basic science research. Tyler is currently a P1 Pharm.D. student here at KU. Welcome Tyler!
December: Happy Holidays from the Scott Lab!
Left to right: Malika Godamudunage, Youbin Tu, Fernando Estrada, Aggi Walsh, Elyse Petrunak, Aaron Bart, and Dr. Scott
December: Dr. Scott Goes back to middle school
Dr. Scott got the opportunity to share what research scientists do in their job at Southwest Middle School's Career Day. Making edible DNA models with the kids was a lot of fun--especially when we learned about mutations made by missing nucleotide bases (as we started nibbling on our creations!).
October/November: Elyse posters at meetings
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak presented her work comparing inhibitors of the steroidogenic cytochrome P450 17A1 at both the joint JSSX/ISSX Meeting in San Franscisco and the KU Cancer Center Research Symposium & Multidisciplinary Oncology Conference.
October: Lab outing
A lab trip near Topeka was a chance to work on our team-building skills as we figured out our way through a corn maze on an unusually warm fall day.
Left to right: Malika Godamudunage, Kasun Imaduwage, Aaron Bart, Hazel Scott, Sage Scott, Emily Scott, Isabella Estrada, Fernando Estrada, Dan Jasion, Suzanna Jasion, Xavier Estrada, Vicki Jasion, Aggi Walsh
Sepember: Lab Fire Extinguisher training
Youbin and Malika take their turn using the buddy system during fire extinguisher training for the lab group. Thanks to KU Environment, Health and Safety.
September: Masao Ikeda-Saito seminar visit
Professor Masao Ikeda-Saito, Professor at Tohoku University and current president of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, visited the Scott lab and KU, giving a talk about new heme-degrading enzymes.
Left to right: KU Chemistry professor Mario Rivera, Professor Ikeda-Saito, KU Medicinal Chemistry Chair Tom Prisinzano
August: Fernando presents at ICMRBS Meeting
Postdoc Fernando Estrada presented a poster titled "NMR Evidence of Conformational Selection in a Human Membrane Cytochrome P450 Enzyme" at the International Council on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems meeting in Dallas, TX.
July: Fernando receives favorable review of NIH K99/R00
Current NRSA postdoctoral fellow Fernando Estrada received a favorable review on a new NIH Pathways to Independence award, which necessitated cake all around at lab meeting this week.
July: Elyse Selected as University Graduate Fellow
Fifth year graduate student Elyse Petrunak was selected by the Medicinal Chemistry Department to receive the Graduate Studies Dissertation Year Fellowship for 2013-2014. Congratulations Elyse!
June: Visiting graduate students
Malika Godamudunage (Aaron Rowland Lab, New Mexico State University) and Allison Colthart (Tom Pochapsky Lab, Brandeis University) temporarily joined the Scott lab to learn how to express and purify different human cytochrome P450 proteins. Welcome Malika and Allison!
Malika Godamudunge (left) and Allison Colthart (right)
June: Elyse wins poster award
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak (left) won the graduate student poster award at the University of Oklahoma COBRE in Structural Biology Annual Symposium. First place in the postdoc category was also a KU participant, Michael Barta (middle). The prizes, ipad minis, were awarded by symposium organizer, Ann West (right).
June: Elyse attends Career Development conference
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak attended the 2nd annual Chemistry-Biology Interface Conference on Career Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as an affiliate student of the KU Chemical Biology Training Grant Program.
June: Fernando to FASEB/NIGMS Postdoc Career Transitions Workshop
Fernando Estrada, current postdoc and president of the KU Postdoctoral Association, attended the 2014 Postdoctoral Preparation Institute Workshop in Bethesda, MD, sponsored by FASEB and NIGMS.
May: Microsomes and Drug Oxidations Meeting
The 20th International Symposium on Microsomes and Drug Oxidations in Stuttgart, Germany featured a special session celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 publication of a new carbon-monoxide-binding pigment in liver microsomes called cytochrome P450.
May: Aaron Bart earns Bachelors Degree, Joins Scott lab as a graduate student
KU undergraduate student Aaron Bart has worked in the Scott lab for several years and, with completion of his degree, now joins the Scott lab as a graduate student in the Molecular Biosciences Department. Welcome (back) Aaron!
May: Scott Lab Mini Golf
Mini golf, laser maze, and burgers and beer to celebrate recent lab research accomplishments.
April: MIKI Meeting
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak presented her work on the structure and mechanisms of steroidogenic cytochrome P450 17A1 at the 2014 MIKI meeting in Chicago, IL.
April: Postdoc Research Day and STEM Career Fair
As president of the KU Postdoctoral Association, postdoc Fernando Estrada organized the second annual KU Postdoc Research Day. This event hosted Dr. Paula Stephen, 2012 Science Careers Person of the Year, as the guest lecturer on "How Economics Shapes Science".
See the KU Press Release
February: X-ray Training the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL)
Postdoctoral fellows Youbin Tu and Fernando Estrada and graduate student Charlie Fehl (Aubé lab) went with Dr. Scott to the SSRL where they learned how the synchrotron operates and how to collect and process X-ray diffraction data. Several new structures of CYP17A1 were solved on this trip.
SSRL at dusk (Photo credit: Brad Plummer)
Left to right, Charlie, Youbin, Fernando at SSRL beam line 12-2
January: Elyse talk at Graduate Honors Symposium
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak was selected to present her work during in a talk at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy Annual Honors Symposium. Her talk was titled "Structural and Functional Analysis of Substrate interactions with Cytochrome P450 17A1."
January: Scott Lab at the Spencer Art Museum
A visit to the Spencer Art Museum to take an updated group photo turned into an unexpectedly zen-like experience.
Left to right, Aaron Bart, Elyse Petrunak, Dr. Scott, Fernando Estrada, Youbin Tu, Aggi Walsh
November - Fernando talk in KU Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Postdoctoral fellow Fernando Estrada was invited to present his research in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Fall Seminar Series.
November - KU Cancer Center Symposium
Graduate students Elyse Petrunak and Charlie Fehl (Aubé lab) won first place for their poster titled "Structure-based design of novel cytochrome P450 17A1 inhibitors for sex steroid-driven cancers". They were awarded $1,000 in travel funds.
October - Elyse and Charlie's CYP17A1 research highlighted by KU
Charlie and Elyse's work on the design and testing of new CYP17A1 inhibitors was highlighted on several KU venues, including the KU website and a HUGE billboard along the highway.
August - Science City
The Scott lab group and families participated in a team-building scavenger hunt at Science City.
August to December - Dr. Scott away on NMR sabbatical
Brandeis University Professor Dr. Tom Pochapsky and NMR Director Dr. Sue Pochapsky (along with very patient graduate students Allison Colthart and Drew Tietz) graciously shared their NMR expertise with Dr. Scott during her fall 2013 sabbatical.
June - International Conference of Cytochrome P450 Meeting
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak, postdoctoral fellow Fernando Estrada, and collaborator Dr. Jennifer Laurence joined Dr. Scott at the International Conference of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes, held this year in Seattle, WA. Elyse presented a poster titled "Structural and Functional Analysis of Substrate Interactions with Cytochrome P450 17A1", while Fernando's poster was "Substrate-Modulated Cytochrome P450 17A1 and Cytochrome b5 Interactions Revealed by NMR". We had time for some really good Indian and Pakistani food at a dinner reunion with Linda Blake , who recently graduated from the Scott Lab, and Dr. Jeannine Chan, who recently completed a sabbatical with us. After long days of talks and posters, we did take advantage of the conference dinner cruise to the Tillicum Village Lodge and a tour of some of Seattle's finest breweries.
June - Anne Reed-Weston back for summer research
Anne, back from her freshman year at Dartmouth University, temporarily rejoined the lab for summer 2013 to learn molecular biology techniques including site-directed mutagenesis and DNA gel electrophoresis, so she was amused by this somewhat antiquated display at Science City later in the summer.
May - Lindsay Graduates, Selected for Summer Research Training
Lindsay was awarded a spot in the KU Cancer Center Student Summer Research Training Program at KU Medical Center with Dr. Jeffrey Holzbierlein and Dr. George Vielhauer to work on a bladder cancer project.
May - Lab Alumna Natasha DeVore visits (and Matt too)
Natasha and Matt DeVore were back to visit from their postdocs at Los Alamos National Lab Matt's graduation. Congratulations Matt!
April - MIKI meeting
Graduate students Elyse Petrunak and Charlie Fehl both gave talks about their work on CYP17A1. Elyse's oral presentation was titled “Effects of a Single Active Site Residue Mutation (A105L) on Prostate Cancer Target Cytochrome P450 17A1”. The annual MIKI meeting was in Minneapolis, MN this year.
April: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Undergraduate Lindsay Astleford presenter her research titled " The functional role of Y201 in the human steroidogenic cytochrome P450 17A1 enzyme" at the annual KU Undergraduate Research Symposium.
April - Spring Lab cookout
Time for burgers, badminton, and beer to celebrate papers, presentations, and new crystals (always reason for celebration!).
March - Alumna Linda Blake visits lab
Recent graduate student Linda Blake is back in town. Most of the Scott lab got to visit with Linda over coffee and celebrate the publication of her recent paper "Benzylmorpholine analogs as selective inhibitors of lunch cytochrome P450 2A13 for the prevention of lung cancer in tobacco users" in Pharmaceutical Research (for which she was owed the bottle of Champaign).
February - X-ray Training at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)
Inside the beamline hutch
A trip to the Stanford Synchrotron LightSource (SSRL) to collect X-ray data on Beamline 12-2 yields training for postdoctoral fellow Aggi Walsh, graduate student Elyse Petrunak, and undergraduate Aaron Bart.
Elyse, Aaron, and Aggi outside Building 120 for safety training.
January - Frontiers of NMR in Biology Meeting
Postdoc Fernando Estrada receives a travel award and attends the Frontiers of NMR in Biology meeting in Snowbird, Utah to present his work on NMR studies of cytochrome b5 interactions with CYP17A1.
January - Graduate Honors Symposium
Elyse Petrunak presents her latest work on the A105L mutation of CYP17A1 at the KU School of Pharmacy Graduate Honors Symposium.
January - Welcome to Jeannine Chan for sabbatical
Dr. Jeannine M. Chan from the Chemistry Department of the Pacific University Oregon is visiting the Scott lab for the spring semester. Dr. Chan will learn how to express and purify CYP2A6, NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase, and cytochrome b
November: Scott Lab Group Photo
Left to right, back row: Aggi Walsh, Lindsay Astleford, Dr. Scott
Front row, Fernando Estrada, Youbin Tu, Elyse Petrunak, Vickie Jasion
November: Welcome new postdocs
Two new postdocs join the Scott lab: Youbin Tu, below left, with experience in cytochrome P450 enzymes arrives from Candada and Victoria Jasion, below right, with experience in peroxidase and nitric oxide synthase arrives from California.
November: Goodbye Natasha
Natasha DeVore leaves the lab to take a position as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Geoffery Waldo at Los Alamos National Labs. But first, one last game night . . .
November: KU Cancer Center Symposium
Postdoc Aggi Walsh was selected to present a short talk at the KU Cancer Center Symposium. In addition her poster titled “Human Cytochrome P450 1A1 Structure and Utility in Predicting Drug Metabolism and Xenobiotic Activation” tied for first place.
November: GRASP NMR conference
Postdoc Fernando Estrada was selected to present a short talk at the GRASP conference titled “Solution NMR Study of the Interaction between a Human Cytochrome P450 Enzyme and its Redox Partner Cytochrome b5
October: International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX)
Dr. Emily Scott selected as the 2012 recipient of the North American New Investigator Award from the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics. Pictured Left to Right: XenoTech Chief Scientific Officer, David Buckley; North American New Investigator Award in Honor of James R. Gillette Winner, Emily Scott; Ronald Estabrook; Scientific Achievement Award in Honor of Ronald Estabrook, Sponsored by XenoTech Winner, R. Scott Obach; and ISSX Awards Committee Chair, John Miners.
Postdoctoral fellows Aggi Walsh and Natasha DeVore were awarded travel awards from the International Society of the Study of Xenobiotics to attend the 18th North American Regional ISSX Meeting in Dallas, TX.
Aggi’s poster titled “X-ray Structure of Human Cytochrome P450 1A1 and Insights into Function from Docking Studies” won 3rd place in the postdoctoral category. Natasha’s poster titled: “The Steroidogenic Cytochrome P45017A1: Residues with Key Roles in Binding and Catalysis” won 1st place in the postdoctoral category.
October: COBRE Symposium on Protein Structure and Function
Postdoctoral fellows Aggi Walsh and Fernando Estrada present their work on CYP1A1 and CYP17A1, respectively, at the COBRE 2012 Symposium on Protein Structure and Function.
October: Halloween at the Scott Lab
Heme pumpkin carving by graduate students Natasha DeVore, Elyse Petrunak, and Alex Salyer (not shown).
September: Chemical Biology Training Grant Symposium
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak presented a poster at the Chemical Biology training grant symposium on structure/function analysis of the A107L mutation of CYP17A1
July: Time for Celebration
Time for a celebration! Lab celebration of Fernando's NRSA fellowship and publication of two papers. Eva and Aggi’s paper on CYP2A inhibitor selectivity is published in Drug Metabolism and Disposition. Natasha’s paper on CYP2A nicotine and NNK structures is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
July: Fernando Awarded NRSA
Postdoctoral fellow Fernando Estrada is awarded a prestigious NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA). His project, titled “Application of solution NMR to (human) membrane cytochrome P450 17A1” will support his research for 2 years.
June: Going Away Lunch for Michelle and Linda
Left to right, Natasha DeVore, Elyse Petrunak, Linda Blake, Michelle Jackson, Fernando Estrada, Aaron Bart, Lindsay Astleford. Not shown, Anne Reed-Weston.
June: Picnic and Stargazing at Powell Observatory
The lab group enjoyed a picnic of Oklahoma Joe's BBQ followed by an evening of astronomy at Powell Observatory in Louisburg, KS. After a brief talk presented by members of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City we viewed the night sky using the Ruisinger telescope. Capable of gathering over 11,000 times the light of the human eye, this telescope yielded beautiful views including the rings of Saturn and the M13 cluster of ~300,000 stars.
June: Elyse Orals Exam
Graduate student Elyse Petrunak successfully completes her orals, receiving her M.S. and moving on to the Ph.D. stage of her research.
May: Eva Stephens M.S. Defense
Photo by A. Adams
Eva Stephens successfully defended her Master’s thesis titled "Cytochromes P450: Inhibition of CYP2A enzymes involved in xenobiotic metabolism and generation of CYP26 enzymes involved in retinoic acid metabolism." Celebrations followed with lab members, friends, and family (Eva with parents and sister shown at right).
May: Commencement
Lab member Linda Blake (far right) participated in the 2012 Commencement along with two other Medicinal Chemistry graduates, Jennifer Treece (far left) and Juan Araya (middle).
April: MIKI Meeting
Eva Stephens and Charlie Fehl present posters at the 50th Annual MIKI Meeting held in Iowa City, IA. Charlie’s poster wins second place in the poster competition.
March and April: Michelle Jackson poster-mania
Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) student Michelle Jackson presents her work at three poster sessions in two months: the KU Annual Graduate Research Competition, the Office for Diversity in Science Training Annual Student Research Symposium at Haskell Indian Nations University, and Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego.
March: Bowling at the KU Jaybowl
March: Linda Blake’s Defense Party
Linda successfully defends her Ph.D. dissertation research titled "Cytochromes P450 as therapeutic targets and counter-targets for the prevention of lung cancer and treatment of steroidogenic diseases", becoming the Department of Medicinal Chemistry's first Ph.D. graduate in the department's Biochemistry Track. Celebrations ensued at the reception following.
Linda with her parents
February: Higuichi Bioscience Center Science Talks
Natasha DeVore and Aggi Walsh present posters on CYP17A1 and CYP1A1.
January: Nature Paper Published
Graphic design (above) by Jing Jian
Structures of Human Cytochrome P450 17A1:
Insights into Drug Design for Prostate and Breast Cancers
Insights into Drug Design for Prostate and Breast Cancers
- Cytochrome P450 17A1 (CYP17A1) performs sequential hydroxylase and lyase reactions essential for the production of steroid hormones called androgens and estrogens.
- Prostate cancer and breast cancer proliferate in response to androgens and estrogens, respectively.
- Thus, inhibition of CYP17A1 is a new approach to treating prostate and breast cancer, but no structures of CYP17A1 were previously available to assist in drug design.
- The first structures of CYP17A1 are complexes with drugs either recently approved by the FDA for metastatic
prostate cancer (abiraterone or Zytiga®) or currently in clinical trials (TOK-001 or Galeterone®). These structures:
- demonstrate that both drugs bind more perpendicular to the heme, rather than the parallel orientation proposed
- reveal important opportunities to improve drug design
- demonstrate similarities to steroid receptors that are likely the basis for the dual mechanism of action for TOK-001 at the androgen receptor
- elucidate the structural roles of many mutations found in patients with diseases called 17-hydroxylase deficiencies
See the KU Press Release
Structures of the human steroidogenic membrane cytochrome P450 17A1 are published in Nature:
DeVore, N.M. and Scott, E.E. Cytochrome P450 17A1 structures with prostate cancer drugs abiraterone
and TOK-001. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature10743.
January: 10th Annual K-INBRE Symposium
Aaron Bart presented his poster titled "X-ray Structure of the Human Enzymes Responsible for Adrenaline Biosynthesis"
December: Lab Party
A party at Dr. Scott's house to celebrate many recent achievements by lab members including recent papers, graduate school and Pharmacy school applications, and research awards.
December: Research Award
Lindsay Astleford was awarded an Undergraduate Research Award of $1000 for Jan-June 2012.
November: University of Kansas Cancer Center Annual Research Symposium
Lab members presented their research at The University of Kansas Cancer Center Annual Research Symposium in Kansas City, MO.
Linda Blake's poster "Lung Cancer Chemoprevention: Selective Inhibition of Cytochrome P450 2A13"
Eva Stephen's poster "Selectivity of Cytochrome P450 2A6 Inhibitors versus Cytochrome P450 2A13"
Elyse Petrunak and Charlie Fehl's poster "Rational Design of Cytochrome P450 17A1 Inhibitors to Treat Prostate Cancer"
Natasha DeVore's poster "Structure of human cytochrome P450 17A1, a key enzyme in androgen biosynthesis and target for prostate cancer therapy" won the 3rd place poster award, $300 towards travel to a meeting.
October: GRASP-NMR
Fernando Estrada describes his work with Andi Skinner in a poster titled titled "2D Solution NMR Studies of a Human Cytochrome P450 Enzyme" at the 5th Great Plains Regional Annual Symposium on Protein and Biomolecular NMR (GRASP-NMR) Meeting in Lawrence, KS.
September: Annual COBRE External Advisory Committee Meeting
Natasha DeVore presents poster "Structures of human cytochrome P450 17A1, an important enzyme in androgen biosynthesis and target for prostate cancer therapy."
August: Annual Scott Lab Retreat, this year on the Gasconade River
Left to right, Efthimios Stephanopolous, Aaron Bart, Sommer Amundsen, Michelle Jackson, Linda Blake, Emily Scott, Natasha DeVore, Matt DeVore, Brad Bolton, Andi Skinner, Eva Stephens, David Hymel.
August: Andi Skinner Enters Private Sector
Andi Skinner accepts a new job as at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
July: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Aaron and Michelle present at the KU Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium.
June: DeVore wins the Ruckpaul Award
Natasha DeVore wins the FEBS J. Klaus Ruckpaul Poster Award at the 17th International Conference on Cytochrome P450 Natasha received her award from Tsuneo Omura. Omura and Sato first characterized cytochrome P450 enzymes as cytochromes in 1964.
May: DeVore Graduates with Ph.D.
Natasha DeVore successfully received her Ph.D. degree from the KU Department of Molecular Biosciences. Congratulations Natasha!
May: Andi Presents at PEGS Conference
Andi Skinner attended the 7th annual PEGS (protein engineering summit) conference in Boston and presented her poster titled "Generation of Human Cytochrome P450 Suitable for High-Resolution Solution NMR Analysis of Ligand Binding".
April: Linda and Eva Present at the MIKI Conference
Linda Blake and Eva Stephens presented posters at the 49th annual MIKI conference, held in Lawrence, KS for the Medicinal Chemistry Departments of Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois-Chicago. Eva's poster was titled "Selectivity of Cytochrome P450 2A6 Inhibitors versus Cytochrome P450 2A13". Linda's poster was titled "Lung cancer chemoprevention: Selective inhibition of cytochrome P450 2A13".
April: Dr. Scott Awarded Early Career Achievement Award
Emily Scott was awarded the Early Career Achievement Award from the Drug Metabolism Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and gave an award lecture at Experimental Biology titled "(CYP)2B or not 2B: That is the Question".
April: DeVore Defends Ph.D. Research
Natasha DeVore successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation titled "Structure and function of human cytochrome P450 enzymes: Xenobiotic metabolism by CYP2A and steroid biosynthesis by CYP17A1"
March: DeVore Wins Award for Poster
Natasha DeVore won a $250 award for her poster at the KU Graduate Research Symposium in the Kansas Union.
February: Blake Speaks at KU Medical Center
Linda Blake gave an invited research seminar at KU Medical Center Department of Radiation Oncology titled "Lung Cancer Chemoprevention: Selective Inhibition of Cytochrome P450 2A13"
February: Bart Receives KINBRE Research Scholarship
Aaron Bart received a 2011 undergraduate research scholarship through the Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program (KINBRE). This fellowship supports Aaron’s work on human phenylethanolamine N-methyl transferase for the Spring and Summer semesters of 2011.
January: Blake Talk Airs to Kansas High Schools
Linda Blake represented KU research in a series called "Lunch at the Lab with Kansas Bio" aired to high schools across Kansas as part of the BioGENEius Challenge. Her talk was titled "Reducing Lung Cancer in Smokers".
January: Volunteering New Year's Day at LINK Kitchen
The Scott lab serves ~175 lunches at LINK, a local nonprofit organization serving hot meals to the hungry.
Left to right, Elyse, Mike, Emily, Andi, Brad, Lindsey, and Aggi in the kitchen.
Dueling salad preparations
Brad and Andi
Mike and Elyse
Linda and Matt work drinks and the counter
No job is finished without the cleanup and these guys have it down.
Left to right, Aggi, Aaron, Matt, and Efthimios.
Natasha
December - DeVore Wins Poster Competition
Natasha DeVore’s poster was selected as the first place winner by keynote speaker Dr. Benjamin Cravatt (The Scripps Research Institute) at the poster competition for the NIH-sponsored Dyanamic Aspects of Chemical Biology Training Grant Symposium.
November - Cancer Center Research Symposium
Cancer Center Research Symposium poster competition: Linda Blake and Natasha DeVore presented their current research projects at the KU Cancer Center Research Symposium, at KU Medical School in Kansas City.
October - Porubsky's Deli
If it’s October, it’s chili season and that means the annual lab trip to Porubsky’s Deli for chili and hot pickles or a cold plate and pickles. Either way, it’s about the hot pickles and some fun.
October - Stephens Speaks at Rockhurst
Eva Stephens gave a guest lecture titled "Cytochrome P450 Research: Methods and Applications" at Rockhurst University Department of Biology for Dr. Laura Salem's undergraduate Biotechnology course.
July - 4th Annual Scott Lab Canoe Trip
Beside the Current River (left to right): Efthimios Stephanopoulos, Aaron Bart, Lindsay Astleford, Emily Baize, Melbien Tinio, Matt and Natasha DeVore, David Hymel, Dr. Scott, Andi Skinner, Brad Bolton, Linda Blake, and Eva Stephens
And of course Bo and Pixie (with Eva)
July - Bart Presents at American Crystallographic Association
Undergraduate Aaron Bart presented a structure of cytochrome P450 2A13 with the compound pilocarpine at the American Crystallographic Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
June - Carr Research Award for Excellence in Biochemistry
Natasha DeVore won the Carr Research Award for Excellence in Biochemistry from the Molecular Biosciences Department. This award is given annually.
May - Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Meetings
The entire Scott lab participated in the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism Discussion Group Meeting in St. Louis.
Aaron Bart
Linda Blake
Natasha DeVore
Andi Skinner
Eva Stephens
Aggi Walsh
April - Bart Presents at KU Symposium
Aaron Bart presented the poster "Interactions of the drug pilocarpine with human drug metabolizing enzymes" at the KU Undergraduate Research Symposium 2010 sponsored by the Honors Program. Aaron also won an Undergraduate Research Award to partially support his summer research on the human enzyme phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT).
April - DeVore Speaks at Experimental Biology
Natasha DeVore gave a talk at the ASPET Drug Metabolism session at Experimental Biology in Anaheim, CA describing her paper that won the James R. Gillette Best Paper of 2009 Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition in the Drug Metabolism category. The paper was "Key residues controlling binding of diverse ligands to human cytochrome P450 2A enzymes (Drug Metab Dispos 37:1319-1327, 2009 by NM DeVore, BD Smith, JL Wang, GH Lushington and EE Scott).
Dr. Steve Leeder, Drug Metabolism Division President-Elect;
Natasha Devore; Dr. Jeffery Stevens, Drug Metabolism Division President
Natasha Devore; Dr. Jeffery Stevens, Drug Metabolism Division President
April - Blake Awarded Two Fellowships
Linda Blake has won two fellowships, one from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education and one form the KU Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation. Congratulations Linda!
March - Linda Blake Oral Exam Celebration
Linda Blake and friends at her orals party.
February - Newmark Award Finalist
Natasha DeVore (in pink) is one of five finalists for the Newmark Award, given by the Department of Molecular Biosciences for excellence in biochemistry research.
2009 Lab Babies
The Meneely family doubled on 12/16/09. Left to right, Kathy with Eve, Lexi with Sophie, and Anthony with Ana.
Charles Wilson Daniel Porubsky (Charlie) was born to Patrick and Michelle on 8/8/09.
December - Ice Skating at Crown Center
Lab ice skating (left to right): Andi Skinner, Aggie Walsh, Emily Scott, Eva Stephens, Natasha DeVore, and Linda Blake.
2009 Scott Lab Christmas Tree
November - Paper of the Year in Drug Metabolism and Disposition
Natasha DeVore paper wins James R. Gillette Drug Metabolism Best Paper of 2009 from Drug Metabolism and Disposition for "Key residues controlling binding of diverse ligands to human cytochrome P450 2A enzymes" (Drug Metab Dispos 37:1319-1327, 2009 by NM DeVore, BD Smith, JL Wang, GH Lushington and EE Scott)
November - Symposia
Linda Blake presents her current work as a poster at the KU Cancer Research Symposium.
Natasha DeVore presents her current research in the KU Molecular Biosciences Seminar Series.
October - Scott Lab Autumn Outing
Scott Lab Autumn Outing at Gary's Berries Corn Maze (left to right): Sandi Blake, Linda Blake, Jonathan Sanford, Eva Stephens, Aaron Bart.
September - Transitions
Megen Miller Culpepper takes postdoc position in Dr. Amy Rosenzweg's lab in the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University.
August - Annual Scott Lab Canoe Trip
Annual Scott Lab Canoe Trip on the North Fork River (left to right): Linda Blake, Sommer Amundsen, Anjali Kiggal, Aaron Bart, Eva Stephens, Emily Scott, Matt Culpepper, Megen Culpepper with Patty and Lucy, Matt DeVore, and Natasha DeVore.
May - Experimental Biology
Natasha DeVore and Linda Blake present their work at Experimental Biology in New Orleans, LA as part of the Drug Metabolism Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Natasha won a travel award from ASPET to attend and present her work.
May - Southwest P450 Conference
Linda Blake presents her work in a talk at the 8th Southwest P450 Meeting.
April - MIKI Meeting
Linda Blake presents her work at the 47th Annual MIKI Meeting in the Twin Cities, MN.
March - Patrick's Defense Party
After defending, Patrick quickly realizes it's amino world.
You've never played cards until you've played full-body contact cards with Patrick.
March - KU School of Pharmacy Graduate Honors Symposium
Kathy Meneely presents her work at the KU School of Pharmacy Graduate Honors Symposium.
February - KU Graduate Research Symposium
Linda Blake and Natasha DeVore present posters of their work at the KU Center for Research’s 2009 Graduate Research Competition.
Linda’s poster won third place.
Photograph by KU University Relations
January - SCUBA Party
The Scott lab tried out SCUBA diving in the KU Robinson pool.
The Kansas Carribean
Natasha searches carefully for sharks
January - Winter Conference
Linda Blake and Patrick Porubsky present posters of their work at the 9th Winter Conference on Medicinal & Bioorganic Chemistry in Steamboat Springs, CO.
October - International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics
Kathy Meneely presents a poster at the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics in San Diego, CA.
September - Natasha M.S. Defense
Natasha DeVore successfully defends her Master's thesis research titled "The Human Cytochrome P450 2A Family: Functional Comparisons and Identification of Amino Acids Essential for Substrate Recognition".
July - Microsomes and Drug Oxidations Meeting
Kathy Meneely presents a poster at the Microsomes and Drug Oxidations Meeting in Saratoga Springs, NY.
July - Lab Canoe Trip
Scott lab summer 2008 canoe trip (left to right): Dr. Scott and Hazel Scott; Matt and Natasha DeVore (with Romulus); Kathy, Lexi, and Anthony Meneely; Patrick and Michelle Porubsky; Linda Blake; and Summer Amundsen.
May - Southwest P450
Patrick Porubsky presents the first structures of human cytochrome P450 2E1 in a talk at the 7th Southwest P450 Meeting in Navasota, TX.
April - MIKI and Experimental Biology Meetings
Melanie Blevins both successfully defends her Master's thesis and presents a talk describing her work at the MIKI meeting at the University of Iowa.
Natasha DeVore's poster "Identification of active site residues essential for the metabolism of acetaminophen in human 2A cytochromes P450" was also selected for a talk at Experimental Biology 2008. This poster also won a poster award two weeks later at the 46th Annual Medicinal Chemistry Meeting-in-Miniature (MIKI).
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