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2022

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Sierra

Dr. Sierra  Marker wins 2022 NCI Director’s Innovation Award

 Dr. Sierra Marker, a postdoctoral fellow in the Schnermann lab, won the NCI Director's Innovation Award for her proposal entitled "Harnessing transporter upregulation to create selective probes for HNSCC.  This award carries a $10K prize added to her research budget.

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Jordan

Dr. Jordan Meier chosen for NCI Center for Cancer Research Director’s Award

Dr. Jordan Meier was selected to receive an NCI Center for Cancer Research Director’s Award in Basic Biological Science, which recognizes individuals for conducting and executing outstanding basic biological research, for his exceptional achievements in total chemical synthesis used to expand the epigenetic regulatory role of acetylation.  His accomplishments were recognized in a virtual awards ceremony in Spring 2023.

Twin Win for CBL - 2022 NCI Director's Innovation Awards

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Sid and Syed

Drs. Siddharth Matikonda (left) and Syed Usama (right), both of the Schnermann Group were recipients of the 2022 NCI Director's Innovation Award in Career Development.  This program is designed to support development of highly innovative approaches and technology aimed at significant cancer-related problems and offers one-time awards that are targeted to Postdoctoral Fellows, Staff Scientists, and Staff Clinicians at all levels, with an upper limit of $10,000.
 

Drs. Monessha Nambiar and Sierra Marker win the 2022 Sallie Rosen Kaplan (SRK) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Women Scientists

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Monessha and Sierra

Congratulations to the CBL fellows, Dr. Monessha Nambiar from the Schneider Lab, and Dr. Sierra Marker from the Schnermann Lab, for winning the 2022 Sallie Rosen Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellowship. This fellowship prepares female NCI postdoctoral fellows for their independent careers by providing mentoring and networking opportunities, and career building tools for women in science. For the February Women in Chemistry Highlight, we interviewed Monessha and Sierra to learn about this great program, their experience during the application process, and what it means to be a Sallie Rosen Kaplan Fellow.

 

Dr. Sung-Eun Kim, CBL alum and CEO of Oncobix signs research agreement with SK Chemicals

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Oncobix

(2022) SK Chemicals R&D Center Director Kim Jeong-hoon (left) and Oncobix CEO Kim Seong-eung shake hands after signing the cooperation agreement at the Oncobix headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

2021 

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Jordan

2021 NCI Director's Award conferred to Dr. Jordan Meier

This award was in recognition of Dr. Meier's outstanding accomplishments in developing new strategies to define and therapeutically manipulate protein and RNA modifications.  Learn more about Dr. Meier's research.



 

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Vincent du Vigneaud

Joel Schneider awarded the 2021 American Peptide Society Vincent du Vigneaud Award

Vincent du Vigneaud (May 18, 1901 – December 11, 1978) was an American biochemist who won the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone,” a reference to his work on the cyclic peptide oxytocin.  The Vincent du Vigneaud Awards recognize outstanding achievement in peptide research at mid-career. The du Vigneaud Awards are sponsored by Bachem, and are awarded to two deserving recipients at the biennial American Peptide Symposia.


 

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Brandon Liu

Brandon Liu wins 2021 Outstanding Poster Award

Congratulations go out to Brandon Liu, a Postbac CRTA Fellow in the Barchi group, for receiving an Outstanding Poster Award at the NIH Postbac Poster Day 2021 earlier this year. Brandon’s poster was entitled "O-Linked Glycopeptides Binding to Proteins: The Influence of Serine vs. Threonine". Posters were judged by teams of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and staff scientists/staff clinicians, and are recognized for having authored posters with the top scores. 
 

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CEN title page

Cancers that grow on the surfaces of organs and the linings of body cavities are notoriously difficult to treat. 

A new therapeutic hydrogel that can be injected or sprayed onto large surfaces could be an effective tool in fighting such cancers.  See Nature Nanotechnology 2021.

 

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 molecule interacting with a bacterial riboswitch

Switching on RNA (CCR Milestones 2021)

CCR scientists are developing small molecules that target RNA. This figure highlights a molecule interacting with a bacterial riboswitch that controls gene expression. Studying systems like this can provide the basis for developing new RNA-binding drugs. Learn more.
 



 

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Carol Lipschultz

Bright Futures in Cancer Research – Schnermann Group featured in Colby Magazine.

Martin J. Schnermann had been broadly interested in science and German in his first years at Colby, but switched his major to chemistry because of organic chemistry class with Das Thamattoor, the J. Warren Merrill Professor in Chemistry and Natural History.  Schnermann went on to get his Ph.D. in chemistry at Scripps and was a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Irvine before coming to NCI in 2008.  To date, Schnermann has brought four Colbians into his lab, where he develops new molecules for cancer drug delivery and imaging. Currently, Carol Lipshultz ’20 is spending two years there as a chemical biology research trainee.

2020

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XZ426 bound to an active site of the HIV intasome
XZ426 bound to an active site of the HIV intasome.

Imaging study of key viral structure shows how HIV drugs work at atomic level

(2020) XZ426, created by Dr. Xue Zhi Zhao in the Burke Lab, is a latest generation of INSTI that highlights how small changes in the integrase active site can have notable implications for drug binding and design and provide mechanistic insights into why a leading INSTI retains efficacy against a broad spectrum of drug-resistant variants. This work, which appeared in Science, provides insights that could help design or improve new treatments for HIV.   


 

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Radar and cell depiction of new technology to map oncometabolite fumarate interaction with proteins in the cell

Charting the Chemistry of Hereditary Kidney Cancer (CCR Milestones 2020)  

Mapping of metabolic changes reveals the proteins that are altered in kidney cancers, offering clues for how the disorder emerges.  The radar and cell depict the new technology developed by the study authors to map how the oncometabolite fumarate interacts with proteins in the cell and influences tumor formation. Learn more.

2019

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Far-red fluorescent probe

Diving Deep into the Red  (CCR Milestones 2019)

Fluorescent probes help biologists illuminate the inner workings of cancer cells. A new class of far-red fluorescent probes peers deeper into live tissues.  Fluorescent molecules are used frequently to dye and illuminate cells to be studied. Fusing a ring system (shown in white) onto an existing chromophore (the part of the compound responsible for absorbing light, shown in red) makes the new molecule much brighter. These new dyes, which are assembled using recently discovered organic chemistry techniques, will allow researchers to peer more deeply into living systems with unprecedented resolution. Learn more.