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April 2015 Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs
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From the desk of Vicky
Prince
University of Chicago|MBL collaboration
awards
The University of Chicago / Marine Biological Labs affiliation is leading to exciting new
collaborations. The recipients of the Lillie Research Innovation Awards for collaborative
research, named for Professor Frank R. Lillie who was both the second director of MBL and
the chair of the UChicago Department of Zoology (1910­1931), were announced in Winter
Quarter.
These awards are designed to support innovative collaborative research conducted at the
MBL that has high potential to make a major impact. One researcher is a resident scientist
at the MBL and one researcher is either at the University of Chicago or Argonne National
Laboratory. Awards were made to Dr. Eugene Chang (Professor, Dept of Medicine) and Dr.
A. Murat Eren (Assistant Research Scientist, MBL) to support their metagenomics work
analyzing microbial communities. This approach will ultimately be used to enhance the
study of how the microbiome influences digestive diseases. A second award went to Dr
Jianwu Tang (Associate Scientist, MBL) and Dr. Yuki Hamada (Associate Biophysical
Remote Sensing Scientist, ANL). Their project focuses on quantitative approaches to study
the impact of climate change. In addition to the Lillie awards, collaborative research efforts across the affiliation are also
being supported through exploratory research seed grants, postdoctoral fellowships and
graduate student research awards. Graduate students are encouraged to seek support
to attend MBL’s internationally renowned educational courses and workshops. The RFA is
on the UC website. Finally, in September 2015, MBL will be the site of the inaugural 6­day course in
“Quantitative approaches to the biological sciences,” open to the whole Autumn
2015 incoming graduate class. The course will be directed by Dr. Stefano Allesina (E&E)
and Dr. Stephanie Palmer (OBA) and will introduce the newest members of our research
community both to the importance of quantitative, computational and statistical
approaches to all areas of biology and to the “magic” of Woods Hole. Exposure to the
research and resources of MBL, including the Gemma collections boat (below) is expected
to promote future collaborative research.
RSS
Martin
Chalfie will
present 2015 DAC
address
New NIH
Biographical
Sketch
Format Get a jump on the
new biosketch format!
Faculty trainers on NIH
training grant competing
renewals submitted for
the May 2015 deadline
will be required to provide
their biosketch in the new
format.
Applicants for the
April 2015 NIH individual
fellowship deadline are
encouraged to use the new
format.
The SciENcv tool can be
used to create or update
both an NIH and NSF
biosketch.
See the NIH notice NOT­
OD­15­032 for
instructions and links to
sample documents.
Ursula Storb
honored at
two symposia
The Committee on
Immunology will
recognize Ursula Storb's
work on antibody
diversity on April 16 in
KCBD 1103 at 3:00 pm.
The Department of
Molecular Genetics and
Cell Biology will host a
symposium on Saturday,
May 2 to honor the
contributions of former
and current members of
the Storb laboratory.
EE Just Lecture:
October 26, 2015
Martin Chalfie, University
Professor at Columbia
University and Nobel laureate
2008, shared with Osamu
Shimomura and Roger Y.
Tsien, for the discovery and
development of the green
fluorescent protein, GFP, will
present the address at the BSD
Divisional Academic Ceremony
on Friday, June 12 at the Logan
Center for the Arts. The
program and divisional
dissertation awards will also be
announced.
Professor Chalfie will present a
public seminar on Thursday
afternoon, June 11, on the
development of GFP. The
(tenuous) University of Chicago
connection to this Nobel Prize is
that Professor Chalfie was a
graduate student at Harvard
Professor Tyrone Hayes (UC Berkeley),
will present the 4th EE Just Lecture on
Monday, October 26, 2015.
Professor Hayes' research has been on
the role of steroid hormones on
University with Robert Perlman,
now UC professor emeritus.
amphibian development. He is also
known for his work with
environmentalists regarding the effects
of pollutants on human life. More
information on the EE Just Lecture will
be announced in Autumn Quarter.
Alumni Career Panel
at UCWeekend 2015 Some alumni planned for their future
while in graduate school and some
alumni are in the right place at the
right time. BSD graduates returned to
campus to talk at UC Weekend 2015
and updates on three of the alumni are
now posted on the BSD alumni page.
New Alumni
New
postdoctoral
affairs
administrator
Rabiah Mayas (PhD, Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, 2007), Sean
Sheridan (PhD, Genetics, 2008), and
Radmila Sarac (PhD, Neurobiology,
Pharmacology, and Physiology, 2004)
were recently on campus for an alumni
career panel that during UC Weekend
The Biological Sciences
Division conferred the PhD on
10 students at the Winter
Quarter convocation on
Friday, March 20, 2015. There were 8 students who
received the M.S. degree. We
are very proud of our
new graduates.
and generously shared their
experiences to offer advice to current
and prospective students. Also
included in the career panel were
Adam Koch (PhD, Genetics, 2014),
now at AbbVie and Wen Lu (PhD,
Developmental Biology, 2010), a
postdoc at Northwestern University.
The Office of Graduate and
Postdoctoral Affairs welcomes
a new postdoctoral affaris
administrator, Erin Heckler.
Erin recently completed a
Rabiah, Director of Science and
Integrated Strategies at the Museum
of Science and Industry, was
interviewed after the event by current
students, Jenna Christensen (Cell and
Molecular Biology, Kovar lab) and
Matthew Tien (Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Crosson lab). Read
more. PDA and postdoc career
The BSD
Diversity
Committee
development programming.
Members of the Graduate
BSD student
fellowships and
accomplishments
New student fellowships are
updated regularly on the OGPA
website. Students who have been
recognized for excellence at
postdoc at Rutgers University
where she was involved in the
Erin is in BSLC 104A,
available at 4­7409 or by
email. Laurie Risner, who had been
the postdoc administrator
since August 2012, continues
on campus as the program
administrator in the Kennedy
Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities Research Center
and in support of the training
programs managed by Nancy
Schwartz.
Minority Committee voted
in February to change the
group’s name to the
Biological Sciences
Diversity Committee
(BDC). The new name better
reflects the BDC’s core
mission to facilitate and
promote the educational
national meetings are announced
and professional success
on the Accomplishments page.
of students from groups
underrepresented in the
basic science and
biomedical fields. Under
the leadership of the new
co­chairs, Barry Aprison,
PhD (Institute for
Genomics & Systems
Biology) and Carolyn
Johnson, PhD
(Committee on
Evolutionary Biology), the
BDC remains committed
to encouraging and
supporting social,
cultural, and scientific
Browzine helps
organize your reading
If you are an iPad user then you may
want to download the free BrowZine
app. This app works seamlessly
with your UChicago library
authentication to download the
latest issues of your favorite
journals into your personal virtual
library. Now there is no excuse for
not being up to date on your
reading!
interactions among all
graduate students in the
Biological Sciences
Division. The BDC will
continue to work to
increase awareness of
minority issues, to
provide students with
administrative support,
educational programs,
and mentorship, and to
ensure the availability of
funds for programs to
enhance diversity. The
BDC also will continue to
strive to improve student
recruitment strategies
through networking with
established regional and
national URM serving
organizations, as well as
by enhancing the visibility
of BSD graduate
programs. Upcoming
BDC initiatives include the
BSD Graduate Summer
Research
Program; SPINES’
(Summer Program in
Neuroscience, Ethics, &
Survival) Reunion on
Friday, October 16, 2015
at the Society for
Neuroscience annual
meeting; the E. E. Just
Lecture, scheduled for
October 26, 2015, as well
as Discover UChicago in
October for visits by
minority students who are
considering applying to
BSD PhD programs.
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