"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.

Lab members surprised me with a birthday cake before discussing X-ray diffraction theory at our last group meeting of 2017.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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).

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!

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!

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.