Farid El Kasmi and Eui Hwan Chung of the Jeff Dangl labpublished “Signaling from the plasma-membrane localized plant immune receptor RPM1 requires self-association of the full-length protein” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Co-authors include current post docs Ryan Anderson and Li Wan, former doctoral student Tim Eitas and former post-doc Zhiyong Gao. This work explores the relationship between protein structure and function of a representative plant resistance NLR protein.

Congratulations to Kate Augustine and Joel Kingsolver whose article titled “Biogeography and phenology of oviposition preference and larval performance of Pieris virginiensis butterflies on native and invasive host plants” was recently published in Biological Invasions.

The July 2017 issue of National Geographic features an amazing story about hummingbird flight, prominently featuring our own Ty Hedrick and his lab. The story is titled “Unlocking the Secrets Behind the Hummingbird’s Frenzy.”

John Bruno’s fascinating story about his summer research in Belize was recently published in The New York Times “Sunday Review Opinion” section. The story was titled: “My Depressing Summers in Belize,” and recounts Bruno’s observations on how global warming has affected marine life in the Caribbean, particularly on the coral reefs found there.

Congratulations to Frank Conlon’s lab which received an R01 grant award from the NIH and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The 4-year $1.5-million award is for studies of the role for the epicardium in cardiac development and congenital heart disease.

Congratulations to Dayun Jin (Darrel Stafford’s lab) whose paper titled “Molecular basis of the first reported clinical case of congenital combined deficiency of coagulation factors” appears in the journal Blood.

Congratulations to Celia Shiau, who has been awarded a 5-year Outstanding Early-Stage Investigator MIRA (Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences totaling ~$1.9 million. The MIRA award provides support for NIGMS-related research and provides flexibility for investigators to pursue innovative and important research directions as opportunities arise rather than tied to specific aims that are predefined and fixed. The Shiau lab will use this award to study the genetic and metabolic regulation of macrophage activation in vivo using zebrafish and other systems. This work has implications for the design of macrophage-targeted technologies for controlling inflammatory processes and addressing health challenges related to immune dysregulation, such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

Congratulations to Jill Dowen’s lab, which was awarded a 5-year NIH MIRA (Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. This award totals 1.2 million dollars and will support the study of fundamental mechanisms that connect genome organization and gene expression during development and disease.

Congratulations to these current or former members of Bob Goldstein’s lab who will be starting their own labs this fall as assistant professors: Minna Roh-Johnson at the University of Utah, Frank Smith at the University of North Florida, and Dan Dickinson at the University of Texas at Austin.

Recently, the College ran a Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching,a five-day workshop supported by HHMI and NSF that focused on three key themes of scientific teaching: active learning, assessment, and inclusivity. After the conclusion of the week, four of our own became “Scientific Teaching Fellows” – Celia Shiau, Jill Dowen, Sabrina Burmeister, and Spencer Ingley.