
Eighteen undergraduate students in the Department of Biochemistry have received 2022 campus awards for research and scholarly excellence. The students are a mix of talented biochemistry majors and students who perform research in laboratories run by biochemistry faculty.

The Department of Biochemistry is pleased to announce its 2022 undergraduate and graduate student departmental awards and fellowships. The awards and fellowships celebrate 27 talented students in the department and are made possible by generous gifts to the department to fund graduate and undergraduate research.

In recognition of the outstanding lives and accomplishments of RNA Society members, each month the society profiles two members. Read about your colleagues' career paths, their advice for succeeding in science, and their favorite RNA!

Aging is part of the human experience, but not every experience is the same. Progressive neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s disease present many challenges to patients and their families. Researchers like UW–Madison junior Samuel Neuman, a biochemistry major and winner of a 2022 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, are using stem cells and regenerative medicine to find a solution.

The Joshua Coon Lab and Timothy Grant Lab united the power of two major tools in biotechnology. In research published in Nature Communications, the labs describe a game-changing advance that marries mass spectrometry and electron microscopy (EM).

Formally and informally, in lecture halls and online portals, by email and phone, and even on city buses, biochemistry faculty advance greater understanding of COVID-19 and ways to prevent the disease from spreading.

As part of the global effort to understand SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19), CALS scientists have pivoted their existing research projects, launched entirely new studies, and banded together to share knowledge and resources. Experts in the Department of Biochemistry are the linchpins of many of these efforts.

From identifying research areas of interest to navigating lab cultures, WISCIENCE’s undergraduate research programs are touchpoints for students during their time at UW–Madison. When undergraduate Jaitri Joshi graduates this spring, the biochemistry and life sciences communication double major will have spearheaded several WISCIENCE initiatives and been a WISCIENCE Undergraduate Research Peer Leader for over three years. Jaitri sat down with Department of Biochemistry communications specialist Catherine Steffel to share her story.

Assistant professor Jason Cantor has received a 2021 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. His was among the ten award-winning proposals that represent early-stage, innovative and cutting-edge technology in medicine and biomedical engineering.
“In our 16th year supporting innovative, early-stage biomedical research with the potential to benefit children, the 2021 competition for Individual Biomedical Research Awards once again proved to be exceptional. Nominees who received an award leveraged internal support and guidance from their participating institution, as well as the...

Three UW–Madison winners of the 2022 Barry Goldwater Scholarships are biochemistry majors and/or undergraduate researchers. Congratulations to the scholarship winners!

New study in Nature reveals at a molecular level how fidaxomicin selectively targets C. diff bacteria while sparing the innocent bacterial bystanders of the gut microbiome.

The CALS Awards recognize faculty and staff with different awards for their accomplishments and service to the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This year, biochemistry assistant professor Vatsan Raman received the Pound Research Excellence Award.
The award, which is supported by an educational development fund created to honor former CALS Dean Glenn S. Pound upon his retirement in 1979, is given to honor an outstanding, early-career CALS research scientist and to promote continued excellence in research.
“I want to thank CALS...

Several current and former student researchers from the UW–Madison Department of Biochemistry have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards. The five-year NSF GRFP program includes three years of financial support and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.
The 2022 class of fellows includes:
David Beier, a former Hoskins Lab undergraduate and a current graduate student at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor....
The CALS Awards recognize faculty and staff in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences for their accomplishments and service to the college and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This year, biochemistry researcher Ronnie Frederick received an Academic Staff Excellence Award. Recipients of this award demonstrate excellence, often performing above and beyond expectations, taking initiative, being creative in problem solving and having a personal and positive impact on their work. Frederick has worked in the Department of Biochemistry for over two decades.

Kurt Weiss joined the Department of Biochemistry in March as the new manager of the Biochemistry Optical Core (BOC). The research core is housed in the biochemistry department but is a resource for all campus researchers who are interested in using microscopy techniques in their work.
Weiss joins the BOC from the Morgridge Institute for Research, where he was an assistant scientist and former postdoctoral researcher. At Morgridge, he performed multi-scale imaging using light sheet microscopy in conjunction with tissue clearing, expansion microscopy, and live imaging with Jan Huisken...