National network for cryo-ET nears completion

In 2020, the National Institutes of Health announced the formation of a National Network for Cryo-ET: four funded centers, with UW-Madison as a hub that also coordinates activities. The network will provide access to and training in routine and advanced cryo-electron tomography specimen preparation, new methods development, high-resolution data collection and computational analysis. Over the …

Venturelli R21 to provide major advance for personalized microbiome therapies

Clostridioides difficile, an antibiotic-resistant intestinal pathogen, is the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections in the United States. Treatment of a Clostridioides difficile, also known as C. difficile, infection may include courses of antibiotics or fecal transplants in which the fecal sample of a healthy donor is transplanted into a patient with C. difficile. These treatments …

NIH R24 grant will support user access to cutting-edge biological NMR at NMRFAM

This year has been an important one for the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (NMRFAM). The facility’s co-directors were awarded a NIH grant to pioneer innovative methods for solid-state NMR; then, an NSF award helped establish a multi-institution network for advanced NMR. Now, another award from the NIH will help NMRFAM maintain and excel …

WARF Accelerator Award given to advance lab-on-a-chip, single-cell analysis method

Scientists around the world may soon use a method developed by postdoctoral researcher Leland Hyman to study cell-to-cell variability in diverse cell populations. Hyman’s method, which he developed during his time as a graduate student, provides scientists with gene expression information from tens of thousands of single cells. “Single-cell methods are becoming increasingly important across …

Biochemistry faculty receive WARF Research Forward grants

Several Biochemistry faculty are part of two inaugural WARF Research Forward Grants. The Research Forward initiative is supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and will provide funding for 1–2 years, depending on the needs and scope of the project. This initiative replaces the now retired UW2020 WARF Discovery Initiative. Biochemistry Associate Professor Aaron Hoskins as …

NSF award to establish network for advanced NMR across three institutions

The University of Wisconsin–Madison will join a first-of-its-kind collaborative network for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which researchers use to probe large biological molecules like proteins and RNA. The National Science Foundation announced a $40 million award to establish the Network for Advanced NMR (NAN) linking three institutions: UConn School of Medicine, the University of Georgia …

Venturelli Lab receives R21 to research antibiotic resistant genes

Biochemistry Assistant Professor Ophelia Venturelli has been awarded an Exploratory/ Developmental Research Grant (R21) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award is in support of the development of new methods to uncover associations between antibiotic resistance genes and microbial hosts in the human gut microbiome. The rise and spread of bacteria that are …

Cryo research featured in Grow magazine

The Department of Biochemistry is home to two new facilities conducting groundbreaking work in Cryo-EM and Cryo-ET. The UW–Madison Cryo-EM Research Center (CEMRC) is set to open in spring 2021, and the opening of the Midwest Center for Cryo Electron Tomography (MCCET), a national hub, is anticipated in early 2022. Both centers are housed in the Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical …