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CMMBNEWS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
SUMMER 2015 ISSUE 07
Help keep
CMMB a high
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appreciate the
support of
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ensure that
education and
research at
CMMB continue
their strength
now and into
the future. Make
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today!
Congratulations to those of you who
graduated in the Spring semester and
an early congratulations for those
planning to graduate this summer.
We had a great CMMB awards
ceremony on graduation day, with 16
awardees along with their families
and friends. There were a lot of
activities in the Spring. We had a very nice departmental
picnic in March, several of our professors received proposal
enhancement grants, our own Sarah Martin received the USF
Excellence in Research Administration award and your
Chairman received the USF Outstanding Faculty award. We
expect that CMMB faculty members will submit 18 federal
research grant proposals this summer. Research grants allow
CMMB students to experience world-class research as they
work toward their degrees.
Two new faculty members will join CMMB late this summer
and become full time in the fall. Dr. Nikita Chavarria is an
instructor who will be teaching several microbiology courses.
Dr. Prahathees Eswara Moorthy is an assistant professor who
studies antibiotic resistance in the context of the bacterial
cell wall. CMMB welcomes them to USF!
I hope you all have a successful Summer Semester!
- Dr. James R. Garey
CONTENTS
A Note From The Chair
CMMB Spring in Review
Graduate Student Spotlight
Undergraduate Awards
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Alumni Spotlight
Graduations & Social Media
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Summer 2015 CMMBNEWS
CMMB’s Spring events
January 2015:
Associate Professor
Lindsey Shaw and
doctoral student Whittney
Burda obtain a U.S. Patent
for their novel research
with antibiotic compounds
used to treat resistant
strains of bacteria.
March 2015:
The CMMB Department and
CMMB Student Executive
Council host the 2nd Annual
Department Picnic at the USF
Riverfront Park. Thank you to
VWR for supporting the
picnic. We look forward to
next year’s picnic!
April 2015:
CMMB’s Unit Research Administrator
Sarah Martin receives the USF’s
Excellence in Research Administration
award for her exceptional dedication
and outstanding commitment to the
University’s research administration
enterprise.
CMMBNEWS
Summer 2015
in Review...
April 2015: CMMB Chair
James Garey receives USF’s
Outstanding Faculty Award,
in recognition of his
contributions to the field of
evolutionary biology and
election as Fellow of the
Linnean Society of London .
Late April 2015: Associate Professor Gary Daughdrill and Assistant Professor
Sandy Westerheide both receive Proposal Enhancement Grants. Associate
Professor Meera Nanjundan receives a CAS Internal Award. Assistant
Professor Cecilia Nunes receives a CAS Internal Award and International
Travel Grant from the USF Office of Research and Innovation.
Pictured above: Gary Daughdrill, Sandy Westerheide, Cecilia Nunes and Meera Nanjundan
May 2015:
CMMB hosts the 2nd Annual
Department Retreat at the Post
Card Inn on St. Pete Beach. A big
thank you to all those who
attended the retreat!
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Summer 2015 CMMBNEWS
GRADUATE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Master’s student Valentina Caceres was recognized for an
Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation by the Medical
Sciences Section of the Academy for her poster presentation titled,
“Regulation and targeting of the FANCD2 activation and DNA repair
for enhancing chemosensitivity”.
Whitney Ratliff at the Endocrine Society’s 97th Annual
Meeting & Expo in San Diego, California (March 4—8, 2015).
Ph.D. student Renee Fleeman was selected as a winner at the
7thAnnual Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Symposium. Renee will
receive a $500 travel grant, and invitations to the USF Student
Research Awards Luncheon and the Statewide Graduate Student
Research Symposium at the University of Central Florida.
CMMBNEWS
Summer 2015
Outstanding CMMB Student Award
Tiffany Miller
CMMB Students of Excellence Award
Joel Eisenberg
Jason Rodencal
Jordan See
Microbiology Students of Excellence Award
Lauren Allison
Kirsten Antonen
Matt Lazzara
Cell & Molecular Students of Excellence Award
Piero Carletti Bonomo
Anjali Kewalramani
Kabir Kewalramani
Leadership Award
Elaina Graham
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award
Muhammad Rehan
Outstanding Non-Thesis Masters Award
Anastacia Parks
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant
Neil Copes
Melanie Kuehl
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Summer 2015 CMMBNEWS
CMMB ALUMNI UPDATE
Kristine Griffett, Ph.D. (2011)
Former Doctoral Student in Dr. Richard Pollenz’s Lab
Current Post-doctoral Research Fellow at St. Louis University
School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri
Q: When you were an undergraduate, what profession did you want to
pursue?
A: When I first began college, I wanted to go into medicine. I was an
Emergency Medical Technician for my community’s volunteer ambulance
company while obtaining my Bachelor’s degree in Biology. After graduating,
I pursued a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology – that is when I fell in love
with research. By the time I graduated with my Master’s, I knew that I
wanted to focus on research and teaching.
Q: Tell us about your graduate research experience and how it led to your
current profession.
A: My graduate research focused on utilizing zebrafish embryos to
identify and characterize a unique set of genes within two separate known
regions of genomic instability, one on chromosome 18 and the other on
chromosome 4. The fish used in this study were previously classified as
CMMBNEWS
Summer 2015
genomic instability (gin) mutants 1-12 based on the increased incidence of somatic
mutation during early embryogenesis. While performing these studies, I was
afforded great opportunities to learn a variety of techniques from faculty in CMMB,
Molecular Medicine and St. Pete Children’s Hospital, and to present my research at
various conferences and USF-based events. The graduate research experience made
me more confident in my ability to problem-solve, think objectively, and
communicate. I believe that these skills are what led to my current position, as well
as my perseverance to succeed.
Q: What do you love about your current job?
A: I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Saint Louis University School of Medicine
under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Burris. This lab is focused on Nuclear Receptor
Pharmacology and Drug Discovery. I love this job! It is actually quite different from
what I studied at USF, but I think the fact that I learn something new everyday keeps
it exciting. I have pursued projects in metabolism and the various diseases caused by
misregulation of metabolism including NAFLD, NASH, Cancer, and Diabetes. It’s
really nice that I can use my genetics background and apply it to physiology and
chemical biology in order to understand and treat different diseases. I recently
received my own NIH funding, have had authorship on several high-impact papers,
and I am involved in teaching new graduate students in lab and department. It has
been a very rewarding experience so far.
Q: How did your CMMB graduate experience help prepare you for your career?
A: CMMB has great faculty that really shaped who I am today. Dr. Pollenz, Dr.
Nanjundan, and Dr. Shaw are all very supportive of the CMMB students. There was
always a sense of comfort in being able to go to any of them with questions, whether
about research or jobs, etc. The faculty members are all great mentors, and it is
because of my interactions with them that I learned to become an independent
thinker and investigator. The experience also taught me how to manage my time
better – research, teaching, writing, etc. It was a very well rounded graduate
experience.
Q: What words of advice would you offer current undergraduate and graduate
students?
A: I think the most important things to have as a student are persistence and
patience. I was dead-set on going to medical school until I began doing Drosophila
research as a Master’s student. I am very grateful that I pursued research instead. If
you find something you love, continue doing it, even if it is difficult. The hard work
will pay off! ■
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Summer 2015 CMMBNEWS
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF
OUR SPRING GRADUATES!
Scott Cukras
M.S. in Biology, concentration in Cell
and Molecular Biology
Devon Marking
M.S. in Microbiology
Weinan Deng, Jumanah Ghunaim, Yazhuo Han, Matthew
Mercurio, Ning Shen, Anthony Spilker, Meena Subhashini
Subbarayan, Zheying Sun, Gang Xian & Sandra Zivkovic
M.S. (Non-Thesis) in Biology, concentration in Cell and
Molecular Biology
Ryan Henry, Anastacia Parks & Carolyn Tales
M.S. (Non-Thesis) in Microbiology
CONNECT WITH CMMB!
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We love to hear from you! Please
send career updates to: Tiffany
Ferrer, 4202 East Fowler Avenue,
ISA 2015, Tampa, FL 33620 or
email [email protected].