NEW STUDENTS JOIN M2M FALL 2014

December 2014 Volume 4, Issue 2

M2M Connection

Inside this issue:

Six New PhD

Students Join M2M

Fall 2014

1

Words from the

M2M Directors

2

Welcome Aboard

New Track Faculty

2

Congratulations,

M2M Graduates!

Reflections on M2M

by Michael Mina

2

3

Summer Research

and CDC Trip

3

M2M 700 Class

Speakers and

Highlights

4

In Spring 2014, the M2M Program welcomed its

fifth cohort. Adding to the fold are six new students

from various PhD programs in the Laney Graduate

School. New student, Ashley Holmes, commented

“The M2M program-- especially the seminar-- has

been a great way to stay up-to-date on current

issues and cutting-edge research here at Emory.

I enjoy learning about a diverse range of ideas and

research outside of my own program, and

networking with individuals from different scientific

backgrounds”.

READ ABOUT THE STUDENTS’ RESEARCH BELOW—-

Rachel Burke

Population Processes and Dynamics of infectious

Diseases Track, Epidemiology Department

Rachel’s research centers on the development and

diagnosis of micronutrient deficiencies in maternal

and infant populations, focusing on the role that

inflammation (clinical and subclinical) plays in

these processes. Relatedly, she is interested in the

intersection of nutritional status and enteric

infections in pediatric populations in developing

country settings.

Ashley Holmes

Biomarkers and the Development of Acute and

Chronic Diseases Track, Nutrition and Health

Sciences, GDGGS

Ashley’s research focuses on how diet and lifestyle

factors affect biomarkers of systemic and colon

inflammation, and how those biomarkers are

associated with colorectal cancer risks.

Liz Kennedy

Public Health Genomics Track, Genetics and

Molecular Biology Program, GDBBS

Liz’s research aims to define the role of site-specific

DNA methylation in the regulation of gene

expression, genome-wide. She is working to create

a method that will incorporate knowledge of

relationships between DNA methylation and gene

expression for the interpretation of epigenome-wide

association studies.

Alex Kotlar

Public Health Genomics Track, Genetics and

Molecular Biology Program, GDBBS

Alex’s current research focus is currently revising

the SeqAnt genomic sequence variant annotator

with Dr. Mike Zwick and Dr. Dave Cutler. His focus

is on the use of computer technology to

disseminate complex biological data in order to

benefit the health of medically underserved

populations.

Elizabeth Marder

Biomarkers and the Development of Acute and

Chronic Diseases Track, Environmental Health

Sciences Program, GDBBS

Elizabeth’s research examines Methods

development for quantification of environmental

exposures, specifically those of interest within the

Michigan PBB Registry’s multigenerational cohort

(including polybrominated / polychlorinated

biphenyls, hexabromobenzene and DDT/DDE)

Exposure-related human health effects.

Sarah Whitaker

Population Processes and Dynamics of Infectious

Diseases Track, Biology/Anthropology Department

Sarah's research examines the ways in which

culture, history, economics, and environment affect

the emergence, spread, and persistence of

infectious diseases. She hopes to understand how

human behavior influences the spread of illness

and to learn how to engineer environments that

promote better health outcomes.

Fall

20

14

M2M

Molecules to Mankind:

“Connecting lab and

population sciences to

create a new kind of

biomedical scientist”.

Left to right: (Bottom) Rachel Burke, Sarah Whitaker,

Liz Kennedy; (Top) Elizabeth Marder, Ashley Holmes,

Alex Kotlar

M2M is a project in the Laney Graduate School

and funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund

(500 words needed)

Words from the Directors

Page 2 M2M Connection

Molecules to Mankind Program

(M2M)

Emory University

1518 Clifton Rd, Rm 4047

Claudia Nance Rollins

Public Health Building

Phone:

404.712.8779 (o)

Questions or comments about

the M2M CONNECTION

newsletter?

Contact: Debbie Byrd, Editor

M2M is on the web!

www.m2m.emory.edu

Drs. Nael McCarty and Julie Gazmararian

Congratulations M2M graduates 2013-14!

Pierre Ankomah

MD/PhD

Michael Mina

MD/PhD

Carla Moore

PhD

Joshua Shak

MD/PhD

Lisa Staimez

PhD

Huakang Tu

PhD

Welcome Abroad New M2M Track Faculty!

Roberd Bostick (left), Juan Leon (center) and William Shafer

(right)

Roberd Bostick, MD/MPH, is a professor in the Department

of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health and is a

Biomarkers Track Leader.

Juan Leon, PhD/MPH, is an assistant professor in the Hubert

Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public and is

an Infectious Diseases Track Leader.

William Shafer, PhD, is a professor in the Microbiology and

Immunology Program, Graduate Division of Biological and

Biomedical Sciences, and is an Infectious Diseases Track

Leader.

Several M2M students were busy enhancing their research this

summer 2014. Below are some of the academic events our

students participated in during the summer.

Erica Smearman, MD/PhD student, Predictive Health track, has

been actively involved in TEDxEmory, serving on the executive

board and helping plan the annual conference, consisting of a full

day of well renowned and passionate speakers across a range of

disciplines, and attracting over 700 students and faculty in

attendance this past spring. Erica also serves as a TEDMED

affiliate, bringing a live streaming of the annual TEDMED

conference to Emory in conjunction with local Emory

programming and events..

Constance Harrell, MD/PhD student, Infectious Diseases track,

attended the annual meeting for the Psychoneuroimmunology

Research Society (PNIRS) in Philadelphia this past May, and really

enjoyed her experience. She presented a poster on

neuroinflammatory implications of a high-fructose diet, and was

able to attend a wide variety of talks ranging from microbiome-

immune interactions, gut-brain feedback, and more.

Alaine Broadaway, student in the Population Biology Ecology &

Evolution program (PBEE), Public Health Genomics track,

attended the Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics in Seattle,

Washington.

Mary Bushman, student in the PBEE program, Infectious

Diseases track, attended the Evolution Conference in Raleigh,

NC. She was interested in learning about recent advances in

evolution biology.

Katie Coakley, student in the Nutrition and Health Sciences

Program, Biomarkers track, collected dissertation data on new

campers at this summer’s Metabolic Campy with her advisor, Dr.

Rani Singh.

Page 3 M2M Connection

M2M– From a Former Student’s Perspective By Michael Mina, MD/PhD

M2M Students Utilize Professional Development

Funds This Summer 2014

During the spring semester, the M2M students toured the CDC David J. Spencer Museum. The exhibit was entitled Health is a Human Right: Race and Place in America.

Erica Smearman, M2M student, commented, “Being a part of M2M has provided numerous unique experiences that I have felt honored to be a part of, the tour of the CDC being one of them. Having personal time with the tour guide as she walked us through the exhibit and answered our questions was a fasci-nating and engaging way to learn about the history of U.S. and health disparities and come away with an understanding of how far we've come, yet how much further we can still go”.

A virus born from the jungles of West Africa alters the

course of US elections. Nucleotide-swapping among particles in a

small corner of the earth shifts global economies. Adoption of

maize cultivation dramatically reduces life expectancy. Fear-

conditioning and diet in childhood alter phobias and risk of type-

II diabetes for generations. And a parasite carried by the mosqui-

to Anopheles for thousands of years casts an agonizing shadow

of pain and despair in many of Atlanta’s youth today.

From the beginning of time, our world has been on an

unforgiving trajectory of increasing complexity, and the science

to appreciate these complexities and reconcile seemingly dispar-

ate phenomena has struggled to keep pace. Indeed, the low-

hanging fruits in the realm of knowledge and discovery have

been devoured, leaving the higher (dimensional) fruits still hang-

ing, though largely invisible to the core scientific disciplines of

today. To keep pace with the increasingly intertwined nature of

our existence, science must take a cue from natural order and

follow suit, bridging and intertwining seemingly unrelated disci-

plines to develop new processes and bridge pathways, and

reimagine what it means to “do science.”

The Molecules to Mankind (M2M) program aims to do

just this. Grounded in the mature and polished scientific disci-

plines that have proven the power of reductionist thought, M2M

trains students to weave these together, to generate new ap-

proaches and build connections that extend the boundaries of

science and push for trajectories that stand a chance at keeping

pace with our increasingly complex environment.

The M2M program has at its core a mission to teach and

encourage tomorrow’s scientists to combine some aspect of the

biological sciences with the population-based and computational

sciences. By connecting the biological, where the pace of ad-

vances are intrinsically bound to the rate-limiting steps of the

biological processes themselves, with the computational—largely

limited only by the knowledge input into the system—we can syn-

ergistically advance our understanding of the biological world by

“skipping” many of the rate-limiting steps thanks to the high-

throughput computational advances of recent decades. For ex-

ample, while finding a mutation underlying a particular pheno-

type once required up to a lifetime of work, today, simulations

and highly optimized computational techniques can predict what

mutation might cause a specific phenotype. That mutation can

then be directly synthesized and placed into a genome of a live

organism to directly interrogate its biological implications, effec-

tively taking a huge leap over the rate-limiting steps of the biolog-

ical system.

By promoting an understanding of both bench-top and

computational or population sciences, whether through engaged

discussion or mentored research, M2M trains current and future

scientific leaders to build new connections across the realms of

science and society. The M2M program pushes its members—

students and faculty alike—to think broadly about and develop

the tools to understand deeply the complex mysteries of today

and tomorrow so that we, as scientists, can be at the forefront in

promoting healthful and intelligent choices that will help sustain

our complex world.

Spring Semester Students Visit CDC Health Museum

Page 4 M2M Connection

Rafi Ahmed, PhD, Professor, Microbiology/Immunology, School of Medicine; Director, Emory Vaccine Center Vaccines and Immunotherapy: Harnessing the Immune System

Mohammed K. Ali, MBChB, MSc, MBA, Assistant Professor, Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health Translating Ideas into Policy and Practice

Solveig Argeseanu, PhD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health Social Networks in Health

John Barr, PhD, Chief, Clinical Chemistry Branch & Biological Mass Spectrometry Laboratories, Division of Laboratory Sciences, CDC Biomarkers of Infectious and Chronic Diseases

Max D. Cooper, MD, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory School of Medicine How Did Our Adaptive Immune System Evolve?

Neal Dickert, Jr., MD/PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiology, Emory School of Medicine Challenges Related to Informed Consent

Tim Lash, PhD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health Molecular Markers of Endocrine Therapy Failure: Resources, Results and Future Directions

Julie Gazmararian, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health Health Equity

Juan Leon, PhD/MPH, Assistant Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health Infecting Humans with the Norovirus

Vasiliki Michopoulos, PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, Emory School of Medicine Translational and Clinical Research and "How I Got to Where I Am Today."

Jennifer Mulle, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health Challenges of Genetic Studies in Psychiatric Disorders

Gretchen Neigh, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Emory School of Medicine The Glucocorticoid Receptor: Nexus Among Systems in Health and Disease

Arshed Quyyumi, MD/FACC, Professor, Division of Cardiology, Emory School of Medicine Stem Cells and Advanced Biomarkers for CVD Risks

Stephen T. Warren, PhD, FACMG, William Patterson Timmie Professor of Human Genetics and C.H. Candler Chair in Human Genetics, Emory School of Medicine Unraveling Fragile X Syndrome

M2M Class Features Faculty Discussion

Leaders in Spring & Fall Semesters 2014

During the fall semester M2M class, three faculty panels of

experts generated lively discussions and interaction from the

students and faculty on various topics including Ebola, HIV and

Exposome HERCULES.

CDC Panel: The Ebola Virus

Almea Matanock, MD, Pediatrician and Epidemic Intelligence

Service Officer, Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch, CDC

and Jonathan Yoder, MPH, Epidemiologist, Division of Food-

borne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, CDC

Emory School of Medicine Panel: HIV

Susan Allen, MD/MPH, Professor, Department of Pathology and

Laboratory Medicine, Emory School of Medicine and Eric Hunter,

PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medi-

cine, Emory School of Medicine

GA Tech & RSPH Panel: Exposome and HERCULES

Gary Miller, PhD, Asa Griggs Candler Professor, Associate Dean

for Research, Department of Environmental Health, Rollins

School of Public Health and Eberhard Voit, PhD, Professor, Da-

vid Dr. Flanagan Chair and GA Research Alliance Eminent Schol-

ar in Systems Biology, W.H. Coulter Department of Biomedical

Engineering, GA Tech.

Student Review Books for M2M Classes

During the M2M annual retreat in April, the students were polled

on what books they wanted to discuss in coming semesters.

Hence, in the spring semester, the students reviewed a book

entitled, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. M2M Co-Director,

Dr. Julie Gazmararian and M2M student, Ben Rambo-Martin led

the review session. In the fall semester, the students reviewed a

book entitled, Food Politics which is one of today’s hot topics on

food politics and science. M2M student, Katie Coakley, moderat-

ed the session.

Faculty Panels Discuss Topics—-

From Ebola to the Exposome

Food Politics

laid the ground-

work for today's

food revolution

and changed

the way we re-

spond to food

industry mar-

keting practices.

This pathbreaking, prize-

winning book helps us under-

stand more clearly than ever

before what we eat and why.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta

Lacks is a non-

fiction book by

American author

Rebecca Skloot. It

is about Henrietta

Lacks and the

immortal cell line,

known as HeLa,

that came from her cervical can-

cer cells in 1951.

During the fall semester, M2M

students met with Visiting

Professor, Dr. Luciano Marrafino

from Rockefeller University about

the use of CRISPR and Cas9 for

Genome editing.

M2M students who attended were: Kristen Howery, Kelly Shaw, Erica Smear-

man, Alex Kotlar, Mary Bushman and Elizabeth Marder. Dr. Marrafino (center).

Visiting Professor Meets with M2M Students