CMMBNEWS UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

FALL 2014 ISSUE 05

CMMBNEWS

CONTENTS

CMMB undergraduate student Elaina Graham is a recipient of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F.

Hollings scholarship. This program provides recipients with a stipend

during the academic year and the opportunity to participate in a 10-

week summer internship at a NOAA facility. Elaina interned at the

Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research

in Charleston, South Carolina,

wherein she analyzed the

effects of oil spill dispersants

on the grass shrimp

Palaemonetes pugio. After

data collection in South

Carolina, Elaina presented her

findings to a panel of scientists

at the NOAA Headquarters in

Silver Spring, Maryland.

Elaina says, “It was a pretty

amazing experience that gave

me a great opportunity to

network with scientists, as well

as experience a different type

of research than what I have

been able to do at USF.” Elaina

Graham is in her senior year

and will graduate in Spring

2015. She is a Cell and

Molecular Biology and

Anthropology double major, co

-President of the CMMB Club,

and member of the CMMB

Student Executive Council.

CMMB Department

Bowling Night

Friday, Nov. 14th

6—8pm

AMF University

Lanes

Fall 2014 CMMB

Undergraduate

Student Award

Ceremony

Friday, Dec.12th

1—2pm in ISA2023

See you there!

CMMB Department

Picnic at Riverfront

Park

Saturday, Mar. 21st

10am—2pm

Above: Elaina Graham collects grass shrimp to use in an experiment.

A Note From The Chair

Faculty & Scientist News

Faculty Spotlight

Undergraduate Awards

2

3

4

5

CMMB Happenings

Alumni Spotlight

Social Media & Seminar

6

7

8

I hope your Fall Semester has been

productive and that you are doing well in

your studies! CMMB students and faculty

continue in their award winning

scholarship. Trill Finlayson, a PhD student

in CMMB, was named a 2014 Tillman

Military Scholar and undergraduate Elaina

Graham was an Ernest F. Hollings scholar

for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration. In the past year, Dr. Stan Stevens has been awarded

three NIH grants, Dr. Meera Nanjundan was awarded two NIH grants,

and Dr. Les Shaw and Dr. Patrick Bradshaw also received NIH grants.

These grants not only fund original research projects, but they also

fund graduate and undergraduate student activities in our research labs.

Your own Chair became a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London

over the summer. The CMMB Student Executive Council has been

very active by building up the CMMB Club to over 70 students and

hosted a panel of faculty from USF, Moffitt and UF that discussed graduate

and medical school opportunities for students nearing graduation. You can

expect more such panels as the year progresses. These are only a few

examples of CMMB’s scholarly activities and awards over the past months.

CMMB has several faculty searches underway this year. We are

hiring two new instructors: one to assist in the upper division laboratories

and the other to teach in our Microbiology program. We are also searching

for a new assistant professor in the area of Microbial Pathogenesis. On a

more social note, CMMB organized a tailgate party at the Homecoming

football game this Fall, and we have the annual picnic coming up in the

Spring on Saturday, March 21st in Riverfront Park. I hope to see many of

you at the Fall 2014 CMMB Awards Ceremony and at the Fall

Commencement! When you graduate, or if you have already graduated,

please be sure to register with CMMB at http://biology.usf.edu/cmmb/about/

alumni.aspx.

- Dr. James R. Garey

Dr. Lindsey Shaw, CMMB Graduate Program Director

and Associate Professor, was featured on BayNews9 during

an interview with Dr. Randy Shuck on “Antibiotic

Resistance.” Dr. Shaw spoke about the possibility of a post-

antibiotic era due to antibacterial drug resistance and the

public health concerns associated with it. Dr. Shaw also

discussed the importance of developing new treatments and

methods to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

CMMB FACULTY MEMBER FEATURED ON BAYNEWS9

2 Fall 2014 CMMBNEWS

Help keep CMMB a high quality

program through your generosity. We

appreciate the support of generous

benefactors to ensure that education

and research at CMMB continue their

strength now and into the future.

Make an online contribution today!

JAMES GAREY, PH.D.

CMMB Chair and Professor, Dr.

James Garey was elected to become a

Fellow of the Linnaean Society of

London for his contributions to the

field of evolutionary biology.

DANIEL LIM, PH.D.

Dr. Daniel Lim has been awarded the

ASM Elizabeth O. King Award,

given to an individual who has made

notable and significant contributions

in the diagnostic, public health, or

medical microbiology as a member

of the Southeastern Branch of the

American Society of Microbiology.

RICHARD POLLENZ, PH.D.

Dr. Richard Pollenz received a five-

year $1.2 million Howard Hughes

Medical Institute Grant to develop

and implement a summer STEM

Academy enrichment program at the

University of South Florida.

SCIENTIST SPOTLIGHT

PATRICK BRADSHAW, PH.D. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

YOUNGHOON KEE, PH.D.

New Researcher Grant (NRG) and

Proposal Enhancement Grant (PEG)

Awards from the USF Research &

Innovation, and the Moffitt Cancer

Center’s American Cancer Society

Institutional Research Grant

MEERA NANJUNDAN, PH.D.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

CECILIA NUNES, PH.D.

Florida Strawberry Research

Education Foundation

LINDSEY SHAW, PH.D.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

STANLEY STEVENS, JR., PH.D. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

and USF Internal Award from the

College of Arts & Sciences

CMMBNEWS Fall 2014 3

CMMB WELCOMES NEW VISITING INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Eric Sikorski received his Ph.D.

from Florida State University and is a

visiting instructor with CMMB

beginning Fall 2014. Dr. Sikorski is

teaching lectures in Biology I and

General Microbiology this semester.

Dr. Stanley Stevens Jr., Assistant Professor , is par t of

the Structural and Computational Biology group in the

Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular

Biology. His laboratory utilizes mass spectrometry-based

proteomics to understand the impact of oxidative stress on

cell function with current focus on investigating the effects

of alcohol-induced oxidative stress on both the liver and

central nervous system. Proteomics, in particular, is a

powerful, unbiased approach that provides global-scale

information at the protein level and has significantly enhanced our

understanding of the molecular basis of human disease as well as

fundamental biological processes. In addition to his own research focus in

alcohol, Dr. Stevens has collaborated with numerous investigators at USF as

well as outside institutions to employ proteomics as a tool in a broad range

of biomedical applications including infectious disease, autism, drug

addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.

Most recently, Dr. Stevens received a

2014 USF Faculty Outstanding

Research Achievement Award, which

recognizes faculty who have received

truly exceptional recognition of their

research with preeminent awards,

grants, or publications in top journals.

Within the past 18 months, Dr.

Stevens has published 13 peer

reviewed scientific papers in high-

impact journals including the Journal

of Proteome Research, Human

Molecular Genetics and

Gastroenterology. In the past year,

Dr. Stevens received three R21 grant

awards from the NIH (NIAAA) to

investigate alcohol-induced oxidative

stress and its effects on epigenetic

modification changes in various cell

types including brain (microglia) and

liver (hepatocyte) cells. ■

4 Fall 2014 CMMBNEWS

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Top: The Stevens lab group. Bottom: Dr.

Stevens (middle) is pictured alongside

USF President Judy Genshaft (left) and

Dr. Paul Sanberg, Senior Vice President

for Research & Innovation (right).

Avery Johnson & Anne Marie Carpenter

CMMB Student Excellence Award

Diego Peralta

Microbiology Student Excellence Award

Emily Varjassy Health Sciences Student Excellence Award

Daniel Stehli

Special Award: First Generation Student

Rahmy Tawfik

Special Award: Microbiology Service

Kenyaria Noble

Outstanding CMMB Student Award

Vedad Delic Outstanding CMMB Teaching Assistant Award

Dr. Patrick Bradshaw CMMB Faculty Teaching Award

Congratulations!

CMMBNEWS Fall 2014 5

AWARDS CEREMONY RECIPIENTS

WANT TO SUBMIT CONTENT TO THE NEWSLETTER?

Send news or ideas to: Sasha Peers, CMMB Newsletter Editor, via

email at peers@usf.edu. For CMMB Alumni, contact Sasha

regarding how to be featured in the Alumni Spotlight!

CMMB GRADUATE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN

THE 6TH ANNUAL GRADUATE STUDENT

AND POSTDOCTORATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Thank you to all those who

participated to represent CMMB.

Congratulations to Jessica Brunquell

who was selected as a winner of a

$500 travel award from the Office of

Graduate Studies. Jessica was one of

three winners in the Natural Science

category and one of 12 total award

winners at the symposium.

CMMB is proud to announce that Trillitye

Finlayson, a Ph.D. student in the Cell

and Molecular Biology program, was

named 2014 Tillman Military Scholar,

along with two other USF students. The

Tillman Scholars Program recognizes

recipients for their service, leadership and

academic excellence.

CMMB CONGRATULATES THE FOLLOWING GRADUATES:

CMMB HAPPENINGS!

6 Fall 2014 CMMBNEWS

Above: Jia Yuan, CMMB

Graduate Student

Above: Ronan Carroll,

Postdoctoral Scholar, Shaw

Lab

Above: Melanie Kuehl,

CMMB Graduate Student

Above: Andy Weiss,

CMMB Graduate Student

Above: Jessica Brunquell,

CMMB Graduate Student

Above: Whitney Danse,

CMMB Graduate Student

CMMB STAFF MEMBER RECEIVES USF AWARD

Congratulations to Sarah Martin, Unit Research Administrator, on receiving a

USF Outstanding Staff Award. This awards program recognizes USF

employees for exceptional dedication, commitment and innovative thinking.

ALUMNI UPDATE

Bruce Leckey, B.S. Biology 2011 Former Undergraduate Researcher in Dr. Westerheide’s

Lab and Current Medical Student at Lake Erie College of

Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Bradenton, FL

Q: Tell us about your research experience and how

it led to your current profession. A: Dur ing my studies at USF, I was for tunate enough to have been a student in Dr. Westerheide’s

Molecular Biology of the Cell course. She is an

amazing professor, and when I learned that she ran a lab in CMMB, I took the chance and applied to

participate in her research. I was paired with one of

her doctoral candidates who assigned me the task of studying the regulation of the heat shock response in

Caenorhabditis elegans. After working on this project

for nearly two years, we eventually published a paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. This research

experience, along with the published paper,

undoubtedly gave me an edge in the competition for medical school.

Q: What do you love about your current job? A: While being a medical student is not a job per say, it is extremely demanding. I have spent

countless hours with my nose stuck in stacks of books

over the first two years of school. Although stressful, those countless hours have not been in vain. Medical

school is not just about studying until you think

you’ve lost your mind. There are so many opportunities as a student to go out into the

community and begin getting patient interaction

through volunteering. For me, participating in public health fairs has been what I love most about my

current status as a second year medical student. Now

on the cusp of beginning rotations, I will actually get the opportunity to be involved in the primary care of

patients. That is what makes the stress of medical

school all worth it and is why I love medicine.

Q: When you were an undergraduate, what

profession did you want to pursue? A: The story of those who find out from a very

young age that being a physician is their life goal is not one that I can say I shared. During high school, I

didn’t really have a vision of exactly what I wanted to do with my life, although I knew I had an interest in

science. When starting my undergraduate classes, I

decided to take several introductory math and science based classes to see if it was for me. Those

introductory classes got me really excited about

science. Already having the desire to help others, it wasn’t hard to come to the conclusion about what I

should to do with my life and what profession I

should pursue.

Q: How did your CMMB experience help prepare

you for graduate school? A: The two years I spent working in Dr. Westerheide’s lab presented me with a chance to

grow as a student of the sciences. The mentoring I

received is more than I could have ever asked for, but I also had the chance to fail and succeed on my own.

The research environment is very demanding and you

have to constantly seek out information and find solutions to problems you’ve never faced before. This

is a skill that is essential for success in graduate

school, and being in a research environment definitely presents you with enough problems to become quite

sufficient in that respect. Being a part of CMMB

research takes dedication and discipline, and it helped me mature into a student capable of handling the

stress of medical school. I am eternally grateful to Dr.

Westerheide and Dr. Rachel Raynes (my doctoral candidate mentor at that time), as well as all the other

members of this lab, for one of the best experiences of

my life and for helping me become the competent student I am today.

Q: What words of advice would you offer current

undergrad students? A: My advice for cur rent undergrads is to take

advantage of every opportunity that is presented to

them. Whether these opportunities come in the form of volunteering, participating in research, or if

nothing else just doing the best you can in every

course you take. Too often many students don’t realize until late in their undergraduate studies that

they are lacking in one or more of these areas, and

when applying for graduate programs you may come to find out that your application is not up to par. Other

than strict academic related advice, I would advise

student to enjoy their time at USF. You don’t have to spend every waking moment studying (but of course

you shouldn’t spend every waking moment partying

either). Find something that you enjoy doing and once in a while just throw your books aside and have some

fun. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with

schoolwork and an escape is always a good idea. ■

CMMBNEWS Fall 2014 7

CONNECT WITH CMMB!

8 Fall 2014 CMMBNEWS

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!

We love to hear you! Please send

career updates to: Tiffany Ferrer,

4202 East Fowler Avenue, ISA

2015, Tampa, FL 33620 or email

tferrer1@usf.edu.

keep i

n t

ouch

August 29 Jia Fang Moffitt Cancer Center

September 5 Melanie Kuehl CMMB Graduate Student

September 12 Hui-Yi Lin Moffitt Cancer Center

September 18 Stanley Stevens CMMB Tenure Seminar

September 19 Anthony Imudia USF Morsani College of Medicine

September 26 Christina Richards USF Department of Integrative Biology

October 3 Brock Grill The Scripps Research Institute

October 10 Susan Nagel University of Missouri

October 17 Dung-Tsa Chen Moffitt Cancer Center

October 24 Feng Qi Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

October 31 Eric Jonasch MD Anderson Cancer Center (Texas)

November 7 Eric Skaar Vanderbilt University

November 14 Andrew Hausrath University of Arizona

November 21 Marcus Smolka Cornell University

December 5 Dan Zurawski Walter Reed Military Medical Center