Biochemists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have deciphered the molecular mechanisms that underpin how the synthesis of the active form of vitamin D is regulated in the kidney, summing up decades of research in this area that was started here in the Department of Biochemistry in the 1970s.
An upbringing on a Wisconsin dairy farm, combined with an interest in biochemistry, led 2008 biochemistry undergraduate alum Jacob Karlen to a career overseeing technology used to chemically analyze agricultural forage.
During the first semester of his freshman year in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Biochemistry, Karlen got involved in research at the Dairy Forage Research Center on campus. Through his biochemistry undergraduate classes and work in research, he developed a keen interest in the instrumentation used to gather data in the laboratory. Today he is...
Biochemistry assistant professor Ophelia Venturelli recently received funding for her proposal to the Army Research Office Young Investigator Program. Titled “Large-scale mapping and modeling of human gut microbiota stability and activity,” her research project seeks to develop new technologies to study microbiomes.
Over the years, the Department of Biochemistry's laboratories and staff members have mentored high school students through the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's Youth Apprenticeship Program. Apprentices have worked in biochemistry laboratories and in information technology and go on to successful careers or college education.
Staff scientist Mark Keller’s long and successful career in the Department of Biochemistry has received some much-deserved recognition. He recently earned the prestigious University of Wisconsin–Madison “Distinguished” job title — one of only a handful in the department to ever receive the honor.
Biochemistry’s faculty and students are supported by many talented scientific and administrative staff, and for years Keller has been an integral part of the lab of Professor Alan Attie.
By getting involved in the Adult Role Models in Science (ARMS) program, some biochemistry undergraduate majors are mentoring elementary and middle school students in science.
Ann Palmenberg and Rob Kalejta heard complaints at one too many virology conferences about the perceived lack of women among the invited and keynote speakers. So, they did what all good scientists do: They tracked down the data.
In their recent study, published in the Journal of Virology, the University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers examined 35 years worth of invited speaker rosters from four prominent virology meetings, including the American Society for Virology, which is hosting its annual meeting in Madison, Wisconsin starting June 24, 2017. They found that men were...
Out of a wide range of thirteen projects funded by the UW–Madison Microbiome Initiative, two of them are led or in collaboration with Department of Biochemistry faculty members. The funding was announced June 20, 2017.
The Integrated Program in Biochemistry — the joint graduate program of the Department of Biochemistry and Department of Biomolecular Chemistry — is proud to announce its recent award winners. Tyler Stanage earned the Sigrid Leirmo Memorial Award in Biochemistry and Michael Kelliher and Keren Turton each received a Denton Award for Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring.
Tyler Stanage, a graduate student
in the Cox Lab, won the 2017 Sigrid
Leirmo Memorial Award in Biochemistry.
The Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has a long and rich history of studying RNA biology. It’s what former postdoctoral scholar Aaron Goldstrohm says drew him to the department and helped further his career.
Goldstrohm was a postdoc in the lab of professor Marvin Wickens from 2001-2008. After a stint at the University of Michigan, where he earned tenure, he is now a faculty member at the University of Minnesota. He rapidly became a leader in understanding the mechanisms of RNA regulation, and most recently, its roles in human disease.
Congratulations to biochemistry undergraduate alumnus Bradley Carlson, who graduated in May, on the recent College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Senior Award that capped off his undergraduate career. The awards recognize academic excellence, leadership, and service.
Carlson, who hails from near Minneapolis, MN, grew up wanting to be a University of Wisconsin–Madison Badger because both of his parents are from Wisconsin. Having just graduated, he participated in many activities during his undergraduate education that are the pinnacle of leadership and service, all while...
Ophelia Venturelli, assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is one of two researchers in the University of Wisconsin System to earn seed funding from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Shaw Scientist Program to pursue innovative approaches to advancing human health while supporting their career development.
Venturelli’s lab seeks to understand how diverse networks of microorganisms living in the human gut communicate to realize key functions that impact health. Her goal is to determine how these microbes process information in response to...
The Department of Biochemistry is excited to announce the winners of its 2017 undergraduate and graduate student departmental awards and fellowships. These awards are made possible by generous gifts to the department to fund graduate and undergraduate research.
“These awards represent the excellence of our students and generosity of our supporters,” says chair Brian Fox. “We are proud to present these awards that help support undergraduates and graduate students in the lab.”
Each year, undergraduates from biochemistry labs travel with Department of Biochemistry faculty to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) annual meeting to participate in its poster contest. Keeping with tradition, the students were successful and brought home many awards from the 2017 meeting April 22-26.
“Overall our students represented the department extremely well,” says professor Mike Cox, who organizes the trip and travels with the students. “I had a lot of great comments from the judges about our students. These are terrific young people, and it...
Faculty from the Department of Biochemistry are leading two projects that recently earned UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative awards, in addition to numerous other department faculty being collaborators on many projects.
Professor Julie Mitchell is the principal investigator on “An Adaptive Computational Pipeline to Accelerate Drug Discovery,” and professor Robert Landick is heading “Bringing the Cryo-electron Microscopy Revolution to UW–Madison.”
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