Announcements

Share Science with NC High School Students 
Be an Ambassador for NC DNA Day 2021!

Sign up at: http://ncdnaday.org/sign-up/ambassadors/ [ncdnaday.org] 
It's time for the 15th annual NC DNA Day. Whether you're a DNA Day veteran or a first timer, we need you!  This year we have over 100 teachers requesting a virtual visit from scientist in their classroom. WE NEED YOU! Sign up and recruit your friends!
The short:          Be matched with a NC high school science teacher and their class          Zoom or Skype with the science classroom in late April or early May 2021          Tell high school kids about why you love science and your research          You can take the class on a virtual tour of your lab and answer their questions about instrumentation or model organisms (cell phone gimbal holders available to borrow)          Ready-made PowerPoint presentations are available to ambassadors on a variety of topics relevant to the high school students          Boost your CV with valuable teaching and broader impact experience! For more info and to sign up, go to: http://ncdnaday.org/sign-up/ambassadors/ [ncdnaday.org]

The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation – Ribbon of Hope Grant Program    The goal of the program is to have a positive impact on the lives of North Carolina’s citizens in each of the 100 counties. Two times per year the NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation will award grants of $25,000 to NC community-based nonprofit organizations. These grants will support activities that establish or expand local programs in science, health, and education to serve identified community needs.    Proposals should align with the goals and objectives of local community agencies and demonstrate sustainability after grant funds are expended.    Proposals should address critical community needs that have been identified through comprehensive needs assessment activities.    Application Deadline: April 1st    Information link & registration for info sessions: http://www2.mcrel.org/NCGSKFRibbonOfHope/index.asp    Application Link: http://www.ncgskfoundation.org/apply-ribbon.html

Foundation Funding Opportunities: https://ctsi.wakehealth.edu/-/media/WakeForest/CTSI/Files/Funding-Opportunities/NIH-Funding-Opportunities.pdf

RFA-OD-21-004 – Maximizing the Scientific Value of Existing Biospecimen Collections (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)          Purpose – to invite R21 applications to stimulate exploratory research relevant to the mission of the FDA – CTP using existing (publicly available) biospecimens currently stored in repositories in the US.          This will include, but not be limited to, collections associated with:   the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study   the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)   the NHLBI’s Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC)   the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.          Proposed research should seek to maximize the scientific value of these stored collections and to provide researchers with an opportunity to generate prelim data for subsequent research proposals.          Applications need to provide justification why the data set is unique and the research questions cannot be answered from a publicly available, nationally representative, data set.          Application due date: October 8, 2021 Full info: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-21-004.html

NIH Funding Opportunities: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/WeeklyIndexMobile.cfm

Upcoming Events

Department of Biochemistry Student Seminar Date/Time:     Monday, March 15th (12:00 pm – 1:00 pm) Speaker:         Stephanie Batalis (Graduate Student – Biochemistry) Title:             “SAMHD1 Phosphorylation Regulates Cellular Localization in Response to Growth Factor Signaling” Webex:           https://wakehealth.webex.com/wakehealth/j.php?MTID=m52c66f5d064cb5a7069dbef6c08f304f Meeting #: 185 673 4464 Passcode: dK6gCEYRR55 

The AGING Initiative is co-hosting with RCCN  on a Webinar: Social Media as a Tool for Career Development Date/Time: Wednesday, March 17th  (1:00 pm – 2:00 pm)          This webinar will cover how to use social media to advance your research and your career, how social media success can be used to expand the reach of your work and build your national profile,  understanding social media metrics, how to build an audience, and more! Featuring presentations from Alex Smith, M. Wynn Tranfield, Emmy Betz, and Anand Iyer.          Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0W9Ln6-ERIaQDWKQj9JYlw          Visit the RCCN website to learn more: https://www.rccn-aging.org/march-17-rccn-webinar [nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]

Cancer Genomics Shared Resource is hosting a webinar sponsored by Mission Bio Date/Time: Wednesday, March 17th (2:00 pm – 3:00 pm)          “Enabling True Multi-omics; Single-cell Genotypes & Phenotypes with the Tapestri Platform”          Presenter is Dr. Bobby Bowman          The Tapestri single-cell DNAseq platform enables single cell analysis of DNA sequence and structural mutations + Proteins – for correlating varied immuno-phenotypes with clonal composition of tumors, etc. Topics will include an overview of the Tapestri platform (including detection of SNVs, CNVs and proteins), hematology applications and solid tumor applications. Registration is required (link) https://bit.ly/3qrJBER

Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center – BRAAIN Conference Series Date/Time:     Wednesday, March 17th (4:00 pm – 5:00 pm) Speaker:         Ryan Pettit-Mee (PhD Candidate – Exercise Physiology – University of Missouri) Title: “Metabolic and Vascular Insulin Resistance: The Role of Physical Activity and Leveraging Exercise Responses” Zoom Info:     https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88578443962?pwd=MmdkOTRyNXVaNzVVckJFbk9LK005Zz09 Meeting ID: 885 7844 3962 Passcode: 756028

Biochemistry/Microbiology & Immunology Virtual Seminar Date/Time:     Thursday, March 18th (2:00 pm – 3:00 pm) Speaker:         Dr. Sylvie Doublié (https://www.med.uvm.edu/mmg/faculty/sylvie-doubli%C3%A9-ph-d ) Professor, Dept. of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics – University of Vermont – Larner College of Med. Title:               “DNA Plymerase Theta, the Swiss Army Knife of End-Joining” Webex:           https://wakehealth.webex.com/wakehealth/j.php?MTID=m5659b4d8aa10d4bee9d7588d4ab134fd [wakehealth.webex.com] Meeting #: 178 766 5875 Passcode: Wake21

Molecular Medicine Journal Club – MMTS 782 Date/Time:     Friday, March 19th   (10 am – 11 am) Speaker:         John Parks Title:               TBA Webex:             https://wakehealth.webex.com/wakehealth/j.php?MTID=m78492e974abffa3b36c84066419a8ff Meeting #: 178 672 2875   Password: mDNXWbPm539

Recent Publications

Blumhagen RZ, Schwartz DA, Langefeld CD, Fingerlin TE. Identification of Influential Variants in Significant Aggregate Rare Variant Tests. Hum Hered. 2021 Feb 10;1-13. [Online ahead of print] PMID: 33567433. https://doi.org/10.1159/000513290 

Messier SP, Mihalko SL, Beavers DP, Nicklas BJ, DeVita P, Carr JJ, Hunter DJ, Lyles M, Guermazi A, Bennell KL, Loeser RF. Effect of High-Intensity Strength Training on Knee Pain and Knee Joint Compressive Forces Among Adults with Knee Osteoarthritis: The START Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021 Feb 16;325(7):646-657. PMID: 33591346. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.0411 

Opron K, Begley LA, Erb-Downward JR, Freeman C, Madapoosi S, Alexis NE, Barjaktarevic I, Barr RG, Bleecker ER, Bowler RP, Christenson SA, Comelias AP, Cooper CB, Couper DJ, Doerschuk CM, Dransfield MT, Han MK, Hansel NN, Hastie AT, Hoffman EA, Kaner RJ, Krishnan J, O’Neal WK, Ortega VE, et.al. Lung microbiota associations with clinical features of COPD in the SPIROMICS cohort. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2021 Feb 5;7(1):14. PMCID: PMC7865064. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7865064/ 

Fenu EM, O’Neill SS, Insuasti-Beltran G, Pettenati MJ, Giffen M, Harrison WT. Sudden Unexpected Death in a Child from Acute Myeloid Luekemia. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2021 Feb 5. [Online ahead of print] PMID: 33590987. https://doi.org/10.1097/paf.0000000000000667 

Teng T, Shively CA, Li X, Jiang X, Neigh GN, Yin B, Zhang Y, Fan L, Xiang Y, Wang M, Liu X, Qin M, Zhou X, Xie P. Correction to: Chronic unpredictable mild stress produces depressive-like behavior, hypercortisolemia, and metabolic dysfunction in adolescent cynomolgus monkeys. Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 15;11(1):126. PMID: 33589604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01251-8 

Member News

Congratulations to Dr. Genesio Karere on his funding award from the COVID-19 Research Assistance Fund Project title:    Molecular Mechanism Underlying Early Atherosclerosis

Member Highlights

Guangxu Jin, PhD Assistant Professor, Bioinformatics - Cancer Biology Dr Guangxu Jin received his PhD in Applied Mathematics with a specialization in Bioinformatics from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He has a long-term interest in developing novel computational methods for sequencing analyses and their application to translational and clinical research. Currently, his team utilizes single-cell RNA-seq and state-of-the-art single-cell mass cytometry (CyTOF) to study clinical response to checkpoint immunotherapy (anti-PD-1 or anti-CTLA-4) and investigate immunological mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance and acquired resistance. He received the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) 2020 – 2022 Translational Research Academy (TRA) Scholar. He is a member of the AACR project GENIE consortium, responsible for Foundation Medicine sequencing data processing and uploading at WAKE. He is a member of the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center (WFBCCC) and the Center for Precision Medicine (CPM). Complete List of Publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1VWl5gi7ufikr/bibliography/48077725/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending.  Selected works:    Yang W, Jin G. Origin-independent analysis links SARS-CoV-2 local genomes with COVID-19 incidence and mortality.  Brief Bioinform. 2020 Sep 14;bbaa208. PMCID: PMC7543285. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc7543285/    Xue G, Jin G, Fang J, Lu Y. IL-4 together with IL-1β induces antitumor Th9 cell differentiation in the absence of TGF-β signaling.  Nat Commun. 2019 Mar 26;10(1):1376.  PMCID: PMC6435687 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc6435687/    Alistar A, Morris BB, Desnoyer R, Klepin HD, Hosseinzadeh K, Clark C, Cameron A, Leyendecker J, D’Agostino Jr R, Topaloglu U, Boteju LW, Boteju AR, Shorr R, Zachar Z, Bingham PM, Ahmed T, Crane S, Shah R, Migliano JJ, Pardee TS, Miller L, Hawkins G, Jin G, Zhang W, Pasche B. Safety and tolerability of the first-in-class agent CPI-613 in combination with modified FOLFIRINOX in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer: a single-centre, open-label, dose-escalation, phase 1 trial.  Lancet Oncol. 2017 Jun;18(6):770-778. PMCID: PMC5635818. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5635818/    Jin G, Wong STC. Toward better drug repositioning: prioritizing and integrating existing methods into efficient pipelines. Drug Discov Today. 2014 May;19(5):637-44. PMCID: PMC4021005. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc4021005/