THE Careers ISSUE Connect your community with a virtual scientific event Interested in hosting a virtual event? The ASBMB is here to help. The ASBMB provides a platform to share scientific research and to discuss emerging topics and technologies in an interactive, virtual setting.

When you host a virtual event with the ASBMB, your event will: n accommodate up to 500 attendees n be marketed to the ASBMB’s 11,000 members n reach the ASBMB’s network of journal authors and meeting attendees

Learn more about how to submit your proposal at asbmb.org/meetings-events NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES 2 30 66 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE LEADERSHIP AFTER THE LONGEST MARCH, With challenges come opportunities ON THE CUTTING EDGE SCIENCE MARCHES ON An interview with Toni Antalis, 4 the ASBMB’s new president MEMBER UPDATE 69 34 BEING BLACK 10 JOB SEEKERS FEEL THE EFFECTS IN THE IVORY TOWER IN MEMORIAM OF THE PANDEMIC AND POLITICS 12 STUDENT CHAPTERS A virtual high school science fair Careers 13 42 How a research tech can work from NEWS home in the time of COVID-19 13 ASBMB launches industry advisory group 44 Grant writing tips for beginners 14 ASBMB receives NIH grant to promote faculty diversity 47 F(i/u)nding your next hypothesis 49 Illuminating leadership during crisis 16 51 My postdoc road was rocky — LIPID NEWS then the pandemic hit Organizing fat: Mechanisms of creating and organizing cellular lipid stores 53 How can labs reopen safely? 56 A year of unrest and grace — 18 reflections on my journey to tenure JOURNAL NEWS 18 How lipid droplets stay in shape 58 Think you’d like to move away 20 Sorting and secreting insulin from the bench? by expiration date 22 Proteomics reveals hallmarks of aging 60 Supporting Ph.D. students in the time in brain stem cells of COVID-19 23 Estrogen receptor antagonist shows promise for treatment of gallstone 62 In my first real U.S. winter, I got snow; disease in my second, I got a pandemic 24 Celebrating the images scientists create 64 There and back again 25 From the journals 22 44

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 1 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY With challenges OFFICERS COUNCIL MEMBERS Suzanne Barbour Toni M. Antalis Joan Broderick President Charles Craik come opportunities Gerald Hart Matt Gentry Past President Susanna Greer Audrey Lamb By Toni M. Antalis Wei Yang James M. Ntambi Secretary Takita Felder Sumter it is a a special honor to begin my particularly important in the present Joan Conaway Kelly Ten–Hagen Treasurer term as president of the American COVID-19 environment and given ISociety for Biochemistry and Mo- the novel challenges we, as scientists, EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ASBMB TODAY EDITORIAL lecular Biology. The ASBMB is very are facing. Universities have closed, Robert S. Haltiwanger ADVISORY BOARD Carla Koehler Rajini Rao dear to me. and much research has been halted Co-chairs, 2020 Annual Chair I began my scientific career as this year. We all cautiously are work- Meeting Program Committee Ana Maria Barral Natasha Brooks an undergraduate obtaining summer ing out safe conditions for reopening Cheryl Bailey Kelly Chacón Chair, Education and research experience in a biochemistry and continuing laboratory research. A Beronda Montgomery Professional Development Bill Sullivan lab and have been hooked ever since. new paradigm is emerging at universi- Committee Melissa Vaught My doctoral thesis research at Rice ties — virus testing systems are being Daniel Raben Binks Wattenberg Chair, Meetings Committee University focused on biophysical and put in place, and there are changes Sonia Flores ASBMB TODAY kinetic analysis of electron transport to the formal academic processes, Chair, Minority Affairs Angela Hopp in cytoahrome oxidase, which led to which will undoubtedly have lasting Committee Executive Editor Nicole Woitowich [email protected] a first-author paper in the Journal of effects. Many scientific and teaching Chair, Science Outreach and Comfort Dorn Biological Chemistry. Publishing that activities are moving fully or partially Communication Committee Managing Editor first paper in JBC and receiving those online, with strict guidelines for social Terri Goss Kinzy [email protected] reprints with my name in print for the distancing and mask wearing. Chair, Public Affairs Lisa Schnabel Advisory Committee Graphic Designer first time was truly exciting! This is unchartered territory. It Ed Eisenstein [email protected] My research interests have has impacted our younger scientists Chair, Membership Committee John Arnst Susan Baserga Science Writer evolved over the years into the study significantly: graduate students aim- Chair, Women in Biochemistry [email protected] of proteases and protease-activat- ing to complete their dissertations, and Molecular Biology Laurel Oldach ed signaling pathways that affect postdoctoral fellows looking for jobs Committee Science Writter Sandra Weller [email protected] tumor metastasis, inflammation and junior faculty trying to build Chair, Publications Ed Marklin and vascular biology. My lab studies networks and collaborations. The Committee Web Editor several inflammatory mechanisms ASBMB is committed to providing Lila M. Gierasch [email protected] Editor-in-chief, JBC Allison Frick that promote blood clotting and the career-development resources for Multimedia and Social Media A. L. Burlingame Content Manager resolution of venous thrombosis as these groups, including its recently Editor, MCP [email protected] well as proteolytic signaling pathways revamped online career center, the Nicholas O. Davidson Barbara Gordon used by ovarian cancers to facilitate Art of Science Communication Editor-in-chief, JLR Executive Director Kerry-Anne Rye [email protected] tumor dissemination and spread. course and virtual presentation op- Editor-in-chief, JLR I have continued my association portunities. (See asbmb.org/career- with the society by serving on the resources for those and more.) For information on advertising, contact Pharmaceutical Media Inc. at 212-904-0374 or [email protected]. Publications Committee and the Therewill be challenges in Finance Committee and later as maintaining financial support for treasurer. This has allowed me to see discovery research with increasingly the ASBMB grow and develop into competitive funds and uncertain a robust organization that strives to economic conditions. The ASBMB www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday meet the needs of all of its members. serves as a defender of science and PRINT ISSN 2372-0409 Thanks to the ASBMB scientific influencer of government policy on

Articles published in ASBMB Today reflect solely the authors’ views and not leadership, the excellent staff and the issues of concern to ASBMB mem- the official positions of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular many dedicated committee volunteers, bers. The society responds rapidly Biology or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. Mentions of products or services are not endorsements. the society is in great shape. This is to policy proposals and changes and

2 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

stands firmly against attempts to po- and editorial board members, all of liticize science and science funding. whom deserve our thanks for their (See asbmb.org/advocacy for recent dedicated service to the society and policy statements and to learn how to the scientific community. participate in advocacy efforts.) With challenges come opportu- Importantly, we must ensure nities. This is an exciting time to be social justice, fairness and civility for a molecular and biological scientist. all and in all that we do. Advances in genomics, imaging, Our immediate past president, bioengineering, CRISPR technolo- Jerry Hart, did a tremendous job gies, cryogenic electron microscopy, Follow us guiding the society through some vaccine development and compu- major challenges over the past two tational learning are advancing our on Twitter years and deserves a special thanks. understanding of biological systems Importantly, he led the careful and significantly. Stay up to date on consultative effort by the society to The ASBMB is devoted to the latest science make all three ASBMB journals — advancing the science of biochem- JBC, Molecular & Cellular Proteom- istry and molecular biology and published in ics, and the Journal of Lipid Research serving the needs of the scientific ASBMB journals. — fully open access in 2021. This community. I encourage you to visit means that the final versions of the the ASBMB website (asbmb.org) to high-quality articles will be imme- learn about all of the resources and diately available to everyone around wonderful activities that the society the world, thus reducing barriers to provides and the impact on our scien- @jbiolochem scientific knowledge and accelerating tific community. scientific discoveries. A long history You too can join this effort and of sound financial stewardship by the make a difference. Let us know what society has enabled this to happen in will make us even better. We welcome an affordable way for authors — soci- your thoughts. ety members and nonmembers alike. Read ASBMB Today science writer @jlipidres We are truly indebted to Herbert Laurel Oldach’s interview with Tabor, who served at the helm of Toni Antalis on page 30. JBC for 40 years and who strongly supported and helped to mold the Toni Antalis (tantalis community of biochemists and mo- @som.umaryland.edu) is a professor of physiology at @molcellprot lecular biologists that we have today. the University of Maryland JBC Editor-in-Chief Lila Gierasch, School of Medicine, where she is also the associate MCP Editor-in-Chief Al Burlin- director for training and game and JLR co-Editors-in-Chief education and the director of the program in molecular Nicholas Davidson and Kerry-Anne medicine and the graduate Rye are doing wonderful jobs of program in life sciences. She began her term as the overseeing their publications with the ASBMB’s president on support of excellent associate editors July 1.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 3 MEMBER UPDATE

Royal Society elects for life each year on the basis of their ing and recommending actions to Clore as fellow scientific contributions. Americans implement programs, benefits and Marius Clore, are eligible to join the Royal Society services to advance the mission of National Institutes only as foreign members; the society, the society and meet the needs of its of Health distin- however, changed its rules two years members. She will also participate in guished investiga- ago to allow dual citizens (not resi- the Industry Engagement subcom- tor and chief of the dent in the U.K. or Commonwealth) mittee. Protein Nuclear such as Clore to become full-fledged Ed Eisenstein, chair of the Magnetic Reso- fellows. committee, said, “My colleagues on nance Section at Clore discusses his JMR article, the membership committee and I Clore the Laboratory of “A common sense approach to peak are thrilled that Renee is joining our Chemical Physics in the National In- picking in two-, three-, and four-di- efforts. She has an ideal background stitute of Diabetes and Digestive and mensional spectre using automatic and interesting ideas on how to help Kidney Diseases, has been elected a computer analysis of contour dia- us develop benefits and programs of fellow of the Royal Society. grams,” in a video at youtube.com/ interest to society members that are Clore, a molecular biophysi- watch?v=pmrDK_IOZKc. interested in transitioning to a career cist and structural biologist, is best in industry. We can’t wait to start known for pioneering characteriza- Yura joins membership working with her.” tion of the three-dimensional struc- committee tures of proteins and nucleic acids Renee Yura is Johnson named dean using nuclear magnetic resonance the newest member at UCLA spectroscopy. In addition to describ- of the Ameri- Tracy John- ing proteins from pathogens, phos- can Society for son, a professor phorylation-dependent structural and Biochemistry and of molecular, cell, binding changes, and the structures Molecular Biology and developmental of macromolecular complexes, Clore Membership Com- biology at the Uni- is also known for development of Yura mittee. versity of Califor- biophysical methods that have Yura is a nia, Los Angeles, continually extended the range of director of diagnostics at Pfizer, Inc. Johnson has been appointed applicability of NMR. Recently, his where she leads implementation of dean of the division work has focused on development of companion diagnostic strategy in of life sciences in the UCLA College, new NMR methods to capture very internal medicine, inflammation and effective Sept. 1. short-lived conformational states, immunity, and rare disease. She has Johnson, who holds the Keith which are a small proportion of a more than ten years of experience and Cecilia Terasaki presidential population of macromolecules but in companion and complementary endowed chair, has been a UCLA are often critical for function. He has diagnostic assay development, and faculty member since 2013 and has received numerous honors, includ- she previously worked at Celgene, served as associate dean for inclu- ing election to membership in the Novartis and Ortho Clinical and sive excellence in the division of life National Academy of Sciences and Janssen Diagnostics. She received her sciences since 2015. Before coming to fellowship in the American Academy Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology UCLA, she was a member of the UC of Arts and Sciences. from the Pennsylvania State Univer- San Diego biological sciences faculty. The Royal Society, the U.K.’s sity College of Medicine in Hershey, She earned her bachelor’s degree in national scientific academy, equiva- Pennsylvania. biochemistry and cell biology at UC lent to the U.S. National Academy Yura will serve a three-year term San Diego and her doctorate in bio- of Sciences, was founded in 1660. on the membership committee, chemistry and molecular biology at It publishes journals, makes policy which focuses on the retention, UC Berkeley. She was a Jane Coffin recommendations and hosts scien- growth and engagement of the Childs postdoctoral fellow at the tific meetings. The Royal Society has ASBMB membership. The committee California Institute of Technology. about 1,700 fellows, with 50 elected is charged with considering, review- Johnson’s research focuses on un-

4 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 MEMBER UPDATE

derstanding the mechanisms of gene regulation, particularly RNA splicing, chromatin modification and the intersection between these reactions. LAGATTUTA CAROLYN A Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor, Johnson also started the UCLA-HHMI Pathways to Success program for students from diverse backgrounds in STEM fields. She is the principal investigator for an HHMI grant aimed at promoting greater access and success for students studying life sciences who transfer from community colleges. Johnson has served as a perma- nent member and then chair of a National Institute of General Medical Carol Greider shared both the 2006 Lasker Award and the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology Sciences study section, is a member or Medicine. of the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Counselors, and Greider to move to UCSC serves on the executive board of the Carol Greider, a Bloomberg distinguished professor, Daniel Nathans Society of HHMI Professors. At professor and chair of the department of molecular biology and genetics UCLA, she is the chair and director at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will join the faculty at of the biomedical research minor the University of California, Santa Cruz, in October as a distinguished and a member of the UCLA Hu- professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology. man Pluripotent Stem Cell Research Greider has been visiting UCSC while on sabbatical from Hopkins Oversight committee. since September 2019. She told a UCSC press officer, “The science here in MCD Biology is fantastic … I also see opportunities to make a differ- Student chapter president ence in terms of underserved populations and women in science.” Evensen wins awards Equity in STEM has long been a passion for Greider. She served on a Claire National Institutes of Health working group that delivered recommenda- Evensen, a college tions to end sexual harassment, participated in a congressional briefing on senior who grad- the same topic that the ASBMB sponsored in 2018, and wrote a policy uated from the paper with colleagues on increasing gender diversity in the scientific University of Wis- workforce that appeared in Science in 2019. consin–Madison in Greider is best known for her discovery as a graduate student of telo- May with a degree merase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, permitting cells to continue in biochemistry replicating DNA without losing genetic information. She has been widely Evensen and mathematics, recognized for that work, sharing both the 2006 Lasker Award and the is taking a string of honors along 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with graduate mentor Eliza- with her. beth Blackburn and collaborator Jack Szostak. Evensen served as president Greider’s lab at Hopkins, where she joined the faculty in 1997, has of the ASBMB Student Chapter continued to explore the molecular mechanisms of telomere elongation at UW-Madison. Her research in and regulation, describing and characterizing more components of the ASBMB member Thomas Record’s telomerase complex in yeast while also investigating the role of telomeres lab focused on the biophysics of in aging and degenerative diseases in humans. transcription initiation by RNA polymerase. At graduation, the university

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 5 MEMBER UPDATE

announced that Evensen had received the Teddy Kubly Award for Compre- hensive Undergraduate Excellence, a $2,000 prize honoring students who CONSTANCE BRUKIN CONSTANCE have shown personal initiative, high academic achievement, leadership and communication skills, and finan- cial self-support. This is the latest in a long series of awards for Evensen, including Goldwater, Astronaut and Marshall scholarships. She was also a finalist for a Rhodes scholarship. Evensen’s next step will be to attend the University of Oxford for a master’s program in mathematical Bruce Stillman and colleagues determined the mechanism and control of the initiation of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. Taylor among Diverse’s top 35 Stillman wins Heineken Prize Diverse mag- Bruce Stillman, president and CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Labora- azine has named tory, has been awarded the Dr. H.P. Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Erika Taylor, an Biophysics for his research on eukaryotic DNA replication. associate professor Stillman’s lab studies the process by which DNA is copied within cells of chemistry, envi- before they divide. Working with yeast and human cells, his team has ronmental studies identified many cellular proteins that function at the DNA replication and integrative fork during the S phase, the portion of the cell-division cycle when DNA sciences and synthesis occurs. Among these are proteins that facilitate the assembly Taylor faculty director of chromatin, the protein–DNA complexes that form chromosomes. of the McNair Program at Wesleyan Stillman and colleagues have also determined the mechanism and control University, one of its 2020 top 35 of the initiation of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. women in higher education. A native of Australia, Stillman earned a Ph.D. from the John Curtin As the faculty director of Wesley- School of Medical Research at the Australian National University and an’s Ronald E. McNair Post-Bacca- then moved to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow laureate Program since 2018, Taylor in 1979. He was promoted to the scientific staff in 1981 and has been works with students from under- at the laboratory ever since, serving as director of its cancer center from represented groups to help them 1992 to 2016. He was appointed president in 2003. succeed in postgraduate education. Stillman has been elected to the Royal Society, the U.S. National Women and other underrepresented Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and students have comprised more than the Australian Academy of Science. He has been named a fellow of the three-quarters of her 75 lab members American Association for Cancer Research and his previous awards have to date. included the 2014 Herbert Tabor Research Award and the 2019 Gairdner Taylor’s research focuses on Award. enzyme mechanism determination, The Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, bestowed by gene function assignment, transi- the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, honors top interna- tion-state and mechanism-based tional researchers in biochemistry and/or biophysics whose scientific inhibitor design, and directed evo- work offers new perspectives, achieves breakthroughs and opens up new lution of enzyme function. Her lab avenues for others. The biennial Heineken prizes, also awarded in med- takes a multidisciplinary approach icine, art, history, environmental science and cognitive science, are the to investigating problems, seeking Netherlands’ most prestigious scientific award. ways to exploit enzymes found in nature to perform reactions that will

6 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 MEMBER UPDATE

advance the fields of chemistry and medicine. Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree

in chemistry with honors from the EMORY UNIVERSITY University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana– Champaign. She did her postdoctoral research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She joined the Wesleyan faculty in 2007. Founded in 1984 as Black Issues In Higher Education, Diverse: Issues Liz Enyenihi contributed to recent work that identified patients with biallelic variants in in High Education is a source for the EXOSC5 gene. news and information on educating people of color and other underrep- Enyenihi wins Emory chemistry award resented groups. The magazine wrote Liz Enyenihi, a member of Emory University’s American Society that Taylor “has been a passionate for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Chapter, has received advocate for diversity, lending time the school’s excellence in chemistry award recognizing a senior who has and energy to provide opportunities excelled in chemistry throughout their Emory career. in science for female, minority and While still in high school, Enyenihi was co-author on a published low-income students.” paper studying an RNA binding protein in cancer cells. She joined Anita Corbett’s lab in the fall of her first year at Emory and has studied Koleske appointed how pathogenic missense mutations in a complex required to process Ensign professor at Yale RNAs cause distinct, and sometimes fatal diseases. She has modeled Neuroscientist RNA exosome malfunction in a budding yeast model system to explore Anthony Koleske how the specific amino acid changes encoded by these missense variants has been appointed alter the function of this essential, evolutionarily conserved complex. the Ensign profes- She contributed to recent work published in Human Molecular Genet- sor of molecular ics that identified patients with biallelic variants in the EXOSC5 gene, biophysics and and she is working on another co–first author publication. Last sum- biochemistry and mer, she worked in Anton Bennett’s lab at Yale University on a project of neuroscience at that included investigating the effects of a Noonan syndrome–linked Koleske Yale School mutation on cell-signaling pathways. of Medicine. A Woodruff Scholar at Emory, Enyenihi received highest honors Koleske joined the Yale facul- for her senior thesis, the chemistry department’s ACS Undergradu- ty in 1998. His lab focuses on the ate Award for Excellence in Analytical Chemistry and a Goldwater molecular mechanisms of dendrite Scholarship. She has balanced her academic interests with social justice and synapse development in neurons, issues on campus, volunteering with Project SHINE and as a STEM processes that rely on cell adhesion Pathways mentor. and cytoskeletal remodeling. Using “Working with Liz was absolutely like interacting with a graduate biochemistry, anatomy, advanced student,” Corbett said. “On campus, she was also a role model and imaging approaches and electrophys- leader seeking to engage others in the STEM fields. I am delighted to iology, the lab investigates cell surface have had this opportunity to work with such an outstanding scientist, receptors, kinases and cytoskeleton and I greatly look forward to following her career.” modulators that govern brain devel- She will return to the Bennett lab at Yale for the coming year while opment and its impact on cognition, she applies to M.D./Ph.D. training programs. Her doctoral degree will learning and other behaviors. The lab ideally include a planned study of how variations in the microbiome is also pursuing genetic abnormalities may be linked to racial health disparities. linked to neurodevelopmental and

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 7 MEMBER UPDATE

psychiatric disorders to understand how Miesenböck shares Shaw Prize developed, researchers could use elec- they disrupt normal neurodevelopment. Oxford trophysiology to stimulate individual Koleske is the deputy dean for professor Gero neurons or groups that were closely scientific affairs for the basic sciences Miesenböck is one linked in space but not neurons that at the Yale School of Medicine. Pre- of three recipients were members of the same functional viously, he served as director of Yale’s of the 2020 Shaw network but dispersed throughout combined Ph.D. programs in the bi- Prize in Life Sci- the brain. By genetically manipulat- ological and biomedical sciences. He ence and Medicine. ing neurons to express the membrane was co-founder and co-director of the Miesenböck, the photoreceptor rhodopsin and some university’s Amgen Scholars summer Miesenböck Waynflete profes- associated signaling proteins, Miesen- research program for undergraduates sor of physiology böck and his lab successfully activated pursuing research careers and has di- and director of the University of selected neurons using light in 2002. rected the China Scholarship Coun- Oxford’s Centre for Neural Circuits They followed up with a demonstra- cil/Yale World Scholars program. and Behavior, shares the prize with tion that photoactivation of neurons The Ensign professorship is a 10- Peter Hegemenn of the Humboldt could control behavior in fruit flies in year, renewable position at the medical University of Berlin and Georg Nagel 2005 and have continued to use op- school, endowed by an anonymous of the University of Würzburg in togenetic techniques — now with the donor in 1951 to honor Ralph Hart Germany for their contributions to easier-to-use channelrhodopsin pro- Ensign, a 19th century Connecticut the development of optogenetics. tein — to understand how the brain merchant and manufacturer. Before the field of optogenetics organizes and processes information.

Wooldridge wins Virginia Tech award for undergraduate research Rowan Wooldridge, an under- molecules that bind to two unchar- uate researcher has really opened my graduate at Virginia Polytechnic In- acterized receptors in Sinohizombi- eyes to how passionate I am about stitute and State University, won the um meliloti, a bacterium that fixes science,” said Wooldridge, who is university’s inaugural Undergraduate atmospheric nitrogen and forms a set to graduate this fall with a degree Research Excellence Award. symbiotic relationship with certain in biochemistry and plans to attend Rowan Wooldridge will graduate legumes. His findings highlight how graduate school for biochemistry this fall with a degree in biochemistry a better understanding of this process at Virginia Tech. “I could not have and will go on to graduate school. could lead to a reduction in chemical asked for a better experience to lay Wooldridge, a member of fertilizer use. the groundwork for the rest of my Virginia Tech’s American Society for “This experience as an undergrad- career.” Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Chapter, was one of three undergraduates to receive the award after the Dennis Dean Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Conference, which was held virtually after the university’s midsemester COURTESY OF ROWAN WOOLDRIDGE COURTESY OF ROWAN shift to remote learning. The daylong celebration was aimed at offering undergraduates the opportunity to gain experience communicating their research or creative scholarship while engaging faculty and other students. During the conference, Wool- dridge presented his work on Rowan Wooldridge studies a bacterium that fixes atmospheric nitrogen and forms a symbiotic relationship with certain legumes.

8 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 MEMBER UPDATE

Optogenetics has become widespread in neuroscience and Miesenböck has received numerous awards and prizes for the work. Miesenböck grew up in Austria, where he earned his medical degree, then went to New York to conduct postdoctoral research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. He stayed on in New York as an assistant professor at Cornell University and later joined the faculty at Yale University. He moved to his current position at Oxford in 2007. Louis B. Justement is FASEB’s new president. Mary-Ann Bjornsti is FASEB’s new vice president- The three annual Shaw priz- elect for science policy. es — in astronomy, life science and medicine and mathematics — each Justement, Bjornsti assume leadership positions come with an award of $1.2 million. at FASEB The prizes are named for the late Louis B. Justement, a professor of microbiology at the Universi- Hong Kong entertainment mogul ty of Alabama at Birmingham, took office as the new president of the and philanthropist Run Run Shaw, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology on July 1. who established them in 2002. FASEB is a coalition of 29 scientific societies (including the ASBMB) that advocates for sound scientific policy and increased research funding in the biological and biomedical sciences. It also publishes rigorous and reproducible research and hosts the Science Research Conferences series. Justement, whose studies focus on signaling pathways involved in B cell terminal differentiation, directs UAB’s graduate and undergraduate programs in immunology and has published on biomedical education and training. In a Q&A that FASEB published, Justement emphasized his plans to redouble the organization’s advocacy efforts to promote the role of science as a source for apolitical, factual information to policymakers and legislators. He said he also intends to increase FASEB’s efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in science and to work diligently with the FASEB board and staff to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on FASEB’s finances. Mary-Ann Bjornsti, who chairs the department of pharmacology Send us your news! and toxicology at UAB and is the associate director for translational Have you recently been research at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, has become promoted or honored? FASEB’s vice president-elect for science policy. Do you have good news Bjornsti studies the role of the small ubiquitinlike modifier, or to share with your fellow SUMO, in response to DNA damage during replication, with particular ASBMB members? Email interest in protein SUMOylation during chemotherapy and the potential for modulating the SUMO pathway as a new cancer therapy. it to us at asbmbtoday@ She also serves as secretary/treasurer for American Society for Phar- asbmb.org and don’t macology and Experimental Therapeutics, a FASEB member society, and forget to include previously was president of the Association of Medical School Pharma- a photo! cology Chairs.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 9 IN MEMORIAM

Earl Davie Zena Werb

Earl Warren Davie, Zena Werb, a a pioneer in the study professor at the Univer- of blood clotting, died sity of California, San June 6. Francisco, a renowned Davie was born in cell biologist, a pioneer Tacoma, Washington, in cancer research and in 1927 and earned an advocate for women his undergraduate and in science died June doctoral degrees from 16. She was 75. the University of Wash- Born in a ington in the 1950s. refugee camp near As a graduate student, he Earl Davie was named a Legend Bergen-Belsen during World War II, Werb moved with her worked with Hans Neurath in Hematology by the American family to Canada in 1948. She was educated in a one-room on protein structure and Society of Hematology in 2008. schoolhouse in rural Ontario before attending the University function. (Read the Journal of Toronto. She earned her Ph.D. in cell biology at Rockefel- of Biological Chemistry’s 2005 Classic article about their work, ler University, New York, studying with Zanvil Cohn and did “Hans Neurath: the Difference Between Proteins That Digest postdoctoral studies with John Dingle at the Strangeways and Proteins That Are Digested.”) Research Laboratories in Cambridge, U.K. Davie was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, Werb worked at Dartmouth Medical School before finding where he worked with Nobelist Fritz Lipmann. He then took a her academic home of more than 40 years at UCSF where she faculty position at Case Western Reserve University School of became vice chair of the anatomy department. She was also Medicine, where he met Oscar Ratnoff and blood research first the co-leader of the cancer, immunity and microenvironment piqued his interest. He returned to UW to join the faculty in program at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer 1962. Center and a member of the executive committee of the Davie and colleagues reported the waterfall sequence Sabre-Sandler Asthma Basic Research Center at UCSF. (sometimes called the waterfall cascade) in the journal Science The Werb lab studies the effects of the extracellular in 1964. This sequence begins with the activation of a small matrix microenvironment and its component proteases on amount of a factor and results in the production of large cells, particularly in stem cell maturation and neoplasia. Werb’s amounts of thrombin and then fibrin. (Read the JBC’s 2006 work in establishing the active role of the ECM in normal cell Classic article on Davie’s work, “The Waterfall Sequence for signaling and in cancer progression is widely recognized: Her lab Blood Clotting: the Work of Earl W. Davie.”) Davie’s blood coag- discovered several matrix metalloproteases and characterized ulation research informed the development of numerous clinical both the protease cascades that activate these enzymes, and the tests and therapeutics. endogenous inhibitors that block them, contributing to a growing He became a member of the JBC editorial board in1968 understanding of the importance of proteolysis in regulating signal and served two, nonconsecutive terms. By 1975, he became transduction. The lab identified roles for cleaved fragments of chair of the UW biochemistry department, serving for almost a ECM proteins that differed from the full-length molecules, studied decade. He also served as secretary of the ASBMB during that integrin signaling and, in recent years, investigated protease time. activity in stem cell proliferation and angiogenesis. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences Werb received many honors for her work, notably the E.B. and named editor of the journal Biochemistry in 1980. And in Wilson Medal from the American Society for Cell Biology. She 1981 he co-founded one of Seattle’s first biotech companies, was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ZymoGenetics, which was later bought by Novo Nordisk and and member of the National Academy of Science with a then Brisol–Myers Squibb. lifetime achievement award from Women in Cell Biology and a UCSF lifetime achievement award in mentoring.

10 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 IN MEMORIAM

Edward L. Hogan

Edward Leo Hogan, who served as chair of the neurology department at the Medical University of South Carolina, died May 3 of complications of lung cancer. He was 87. Hogan, an academic physician, ran a lab that studied multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Narendra Bankik, who worked with Hogan in the 1970s, said in an obituary in the Post & Courier that patients from all over the region would travel to Hogan’s lab to participate in his research and take advantage of his expertise. Hogan was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on July 26, 1932. For undergraduate and medical studies, He attended Tufts University, where he was on the cross-country team and developed a lifelong love of running. He completed a residency at what was then the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, which later merged with two other hospitals to form what is now known as Brigham and Women’s Hospital. There he met his future wife, Gail Manning Hogan, who was a nurse. They were married for nearly 60 years and had four children. Hogan completed a residency, specializing in neurology, at Boston City Hospital and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Tufts. He served as a captain the U.S. Army’s medical corps at Fort Dix in New Jersey. He took his first faculty position, in 1966, at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. In 1973, he moved to join MUSC, where he was a professor and chair. An Irish-American interested in his family’s roots, Hogan bought a stone cottage in the 1990s in Leenane, a town in County Galway, and spent several months a year there with his family for 25 years. He was an adjunct professor of microbiology at the National University of Ireland. Hogan, who had a distinct Boston brogue and a fondness for bowties and Mercedes Benzes, was an avid fan of the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots. He ran competitively into his 80s and amassed a many race trophies. Above all, he enjoyed family time. According to a family obituary, “His love of family also involved his enlisting three generations to run the Turkey Day Run, regularly sharing a spot of superior Irish whiskey at a family gathering and cheering on his grandchildren on sports teams or in choirs.” Hogan is survived by his wife, children and many grandchildren.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 11 STUDENT CHAPTERS

A virtual high school science fair By Anna Hoang & Patricia Melloy

he American Society for future, as we would at an in-person “This was my first year judging Biochemistry and Molecular science fair. We were amazed at their at NJRSF, and I have to say I was T Biology gave the Fairleigh Dick- professional demeanor. According to very impressed with all of the inson University ASBMB Student one of the fair’s judging coordinators, presentations. Since I was new to judging, I wasn’t sure of what to Chapter funding for an award at this Diana Vengsarkar, 80% of the proj- expect. I approached the panel spring’s Nokia Bell Labs North Jersey ects slated for the in-person fair were with an open mind and judged each Regional Science Fair, or NJRSF, a shared in the virtual event, for a total student reasonably. ” regional competition for high school of 79 projects and 97 students. —Anna Hoang students. Originally planned as an Ananya Raghavan, an 11th grader in-person event, NJRSF went virtual at the Academy for Math, Science my school hours, which limited the due to the COVID-19 outbreak. and Engineering at Morris Hills time I could spend with the cells so A virtual science fair requires High School, won the FDU ASBMB that I didn’t miss too many of my a video conferencing system. The Student Chapter Special Award. classes … For me, this represents a NJRSF organizers selected a platform She studied compounds that might year’s worth of collecting data, redo- called BlueJeans, and they assigned facilitate the reactivation of a mutant ing assays and culturing cells over and each judging group to a different vid- tumor protein, p53, into wild-type, over again.” eo conference, along with a science specifically in glioblastoma cells. She Ananya’s persistence earned her fair representative to help the judges performed a green fluorescent protein four more awards at the fair, includ- stay on schedule and address any assay using two genetically engi- ing an International Science and technical issues. Students entered the neered tumor cell lines to see how Engineering Fair Grand Prize, the top conference one-by-one for individ- quinolines could reactivate mutant award in the NJRSF. ual 15-minute slots to present their p53, with the reactivation determined We missed moving easily to dif- projects. by the degree of fluorescence. ferent parts of a poster and having the The two of us participated in spe- “I’ve always been interested in spontaneous conversations at posters cial awards judging for biochemistry cancer research, ever since two of my and between posters that add to the and molecular biology–related post- close family members were diagnosed fun of an in-person fair, but the vir- ers. All eight students in our category with lymphoma and ovarian cancer,” tual fair was a success. Most students presented their projects via Power- Ananya said, adding that she emailed and judges were disciplined about not Point with little or no technical diffi- about 50 professors before finding running over their allotted time, so culty. Most gave a brief presentation a lab at Drew University where she students competing in more than one and then answered our questions. We could work on this project. special award category could move on saw how well they knew the subject “I found it very difficult to con- to their next video conference. matter, their methods and related duct my experiments at times,” she

research questions to tackle in the said. “I had to go to the lab during Anna Hoang (hoang@ student.fdu.edu) is the Ananya Raghavan, who won the FDU president of the Fairleigh Dickinson University ASBMB Student Chapter Special Award, ASBMB Student Chapter. poses with the poster she did not get to present. For the virtual fair, she presented

her research as a PowerPoint. Patricia Melloy (pmelloy @fdu.edu) is the faculty

COURTESY OF ANANYA RAGHAVAN COURTESY OF ANANYA advisor of the Fairleigh Dickinson University ASBMB Student Chapter. She is an associate professor of biological sciences.

12 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 NEWS

ASBMB launches industry advisory group Aim is to link industry and academic scientists effectively By Laurel Oldach

oung researchers in the life sci- ences who want to chart a career Ypath in industry often feel cast adrift, according to Ed Eisenstein, because many professors have little experience with business hiring prac- tices and professional norms. Eisenstein, a professor of bioengi- neering at the University of Maryland and chair of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Membership Committee, is leading a new advisory group convened by the committee and society staff to help both in the society’s outreach to scientists in industry and in educat- ing ASBMB members about possible industry careers and how to prepare and later career — even retired; men cessful scientists in industry. for them. and women; (from) different geo- Finally, Eisenstein said, he would “I ran a biotech center for Mary- graphic areas of the country.” like to see the society recognize some land for a dozen years,” Eisenstein Six ASBMB members who work of the research he didn’t see until he said. “I discovered very quickly at companies such as Genentech and began working with biotech com- … that there was exciting science PepsiCo signed on to help. Over the panies: work that may become part being done everywhere, not just in next year, Shyretha Brown, Mark of the patent literature instead of academia.” However, he said, that Harpel, Lana Saleh, Melissa Starovas- appearing in journals. The ASBMB appreciation for industrial research is nik, Douglas Storts and Paul Wright could highlight this work with new not widespread among his peers. will work to determine how the awards or invited lectures at the Eisenstein and other members ASBMB can offer programs and re- annual meeting, and by inviting of the Membership Committee see sources of value to scientists working members who work in industry to a role for scientific societies such as in, and contemplating, nonacademic share stories about their careers and the ASBMB in connecting scientists research careers. research. If you would have advice who work within and outside of the The group is considering several or ideas for the new working group, ivory tower. But before launching preliminary ideas. The first is to offer please contact Jennifer Dean at such efforts, he said, the society needs professional skills development for [email protected]. expert feedback. trainees in academia who hope to “Rather than get a group of transition to industry: for example, academics in the room” to discuss offering training in science commu- Laurel Oldach (loldach@ outreach to industry, Eisenstein said, nication to potential investors, rather asbmb.org) is a science writer for the ASBMB. “we decided we needed some better than fellow scientists. The society Follow her on Twitter inside information. … We tried to might also match student members @LaurelOld. convene a diverse group of people: with internship programs and work large industry and small; early career to highlight the career paths of suc-

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 13 NEWS

ASBMB receives NIH grant to promote faculty diversity MOSAIC program will provide individualized coaching and networking and presentation opportunities tailored to scholars’ needs By Angela Hopp

he American Society for Bio- chemistry and Molecular Biology Thas received a cooperative agree- ment with the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Gen- eral Medical Sciences to develop and execute a program that will support postdoctoral fellows and new inves- tigators from diverse backgrounds embarking on careers at research-in- tensive institutions. The ASBMB will receive almost $1.27 million over five years to serve as one of three inaugural host organi- promising postdoctoral researchers writing workshop, for example, zations for the Maximizing Oppor- from diverse backgrounds from their has been very impactful, and our tunities for Scientific and Academic mentored, postdoctoral research po- Journal of Biological Chemistry Independent Careers, or MOSAIC, sitions to independent, tenure-track recently launched an early-career program. The American Society for or equivalent faculty positions at reviewer program. We will extend Cell Biology and the Association of research-intensive institutions. these programs to our MOSAIC American Medical Colleges are the The NIGMS began accepting ap- scholars,” said Ruma Banerjee of the other two host organizations. plications from postdoctoral research- University of Michigan, the co-in- “The ASBMB has a long history ers for MOSAIC K99/R00 awards vestigator for the ASBMB’s MO- of supporting underrepresented sci- in 2020. Once it makes the awards, SAIC grant. “In addition, we will entists. We established what is now the institute will assign awardees to create opportunities for our scholars known as the Minority Affairs Com- participating host organizations that to present their work at the national mittee in the 1970s. Over the past align with their scientific interests. meeting, network cross-institution- almost five decades, it has engaged The ASBMB’s MOSAIC program ally with peers, and receive culturally in a number of effective activities,” will leverage its established professional aware coaching in a setting that is said Barbara Gordon, the ASBMB’s development, mentoring and network- non-evaluative.” executive director and MOSAIC ing activities and offer new ones. Each participant will be paired principal investigator. “I am very “The society’s IMAGE grant with a coach at a different institu- pleased that we have received this tion. In addition, each year’s scholar grant, as it will allow us to take our cohort will be anchored by a coach, support to a new level.” building a community of prac- The MOSAIC Postdoctoral tice. Importantly, all coaches will Career Transition Award to Pro- be trained to discuss and respond mote Diversity (K99/R00) aims appropriately to issues relating to to enhance workforce diversity by gender, race and culture, including, facilitating a timely transition of Barbara Gordon Ruma Banerjee for example, stereotype threat and

14 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 NEWS

Other ASBMB programs and awards for minority scientists

IMAGE grant writing workshop: This annual Ruth L. Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award: program, funded in part by the National Science This annual award recognizes an outstanding scientist Foundation, trains about 35 new faculty members in who has shown a strong commitment to diversity. The best practices for securing federal research funding. winner receives a cash prize of $3,000 and a plaque and gives an invited lecture at the society’s annual Marion B. Sewer Distinguished Scholarship for meeting. Undergraduates: This annual program provides up to $2,000 to help cover the tuition costs of up to five Promoting Research Opportunities for Latin undergraduates committed to enhancing diversity in American Biochemists: This annual travel-award the biomedical workforce. program allows Latin American graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to spend up to six months in Graduate student travel awards: This program U.S. or Canadian laboratories. Participants get access provides up to $1,000 in travel expenses for to technologies and expertise that may not be readily underrepresented graduate students presenting their available in their home countries, allowing them to work at the society’s annual meeting. Recipients of grow their skills and contribute to building capacity in the travel awards also are paired with mentors at the the life sciences at home. meeting. microaggressions. their public speaking skills. each scholar’s needs, Banerjee empha- “A major goal for the coaches will In the second year, they will put sized that the ASBMB rejects looking be to engender a culture of effective those skills to the test by giving short at the need to diversify the biomedi- communication and openness that talks at the society’s annual meeting, cal workforce through a deficit lens. invites frank discussions of concerns and they will engage in a number of “To achieve what has been an without anxieties about repercussions,” other skill-building workshops and elusive goal of diversification, it is Banerjee said. In addition, each cohort webinars, such as training on prepar- imperative that we assess and address will have regular virtual meetings ing scientific figures for publication the restrictions that continue to to establish “a safe space for open and reproducibility. challenge inclusive participation and discussions of sensitive issues that they A highlight of the third year help perpetuate a demographic im- might not discuss with colleagues and will be the society’s grant writing balance,” she said. “We will introduce mentors at their institutions.” workshop. That workshop is assessed new programming to engage admin- regularly and, by the last count, 85% istrators at the MOSAIC scholars’ What the ASBMB participants will do of participants had won grants within home institutions in discussions on The ASBMB’s component of three years. barriers to sustainable change and ev- the MOSAIC program will offer a The final two years of the MO- idence-based approaches to improv- professional-development curriculum SAIC program, which will coincide ing outcomes.” to help awardees prepare for and nav- with participants’ first years as pro- For more information about the igate the transition to professorship. fessors, will be carefully tailored to in- ASBMB MOSAIC program, visit In the first year, when all partic- dividual scholars’ goals and needs but www.asbmb.org/diversity/MOSAIC. ipants will be engaged in postdoc- could include, for example, editorial toral research, participants will focus training, additional public speaking Angela Hopp (ahopp on network building and science opportunities, pedagogical training @asbmb.org) is the communication. Their activities and mentoring training. ASBMB’s communications will include, for example, taking the director and executive editor of ASBMB Today. ASBMB’s online course The Art of Institutional change Follow her on Twitter Science Communication to develop Though the society aims to serve @angelahopp.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 15 LIPID NEWS

Organizing fat: Mechanisms of creating and organizing cellular lipid stores By W. Mike Henne

ife is unpredictable, so cells regulated, establishing the existence nexin protein family, as a tether that create nutrient reservoirs that of spatial determinants that govern promotes LD biogenesis at ER– L enable them to subsist during not only where LDs form within LD contact sites. Snx14 is highly prolonged starvation. Cells generate the ER network but also where they conserved, and orthologs in yeast lipid droplets, or LDs, the primary accumulate within the cytoplasm. and Drosophila play similar roles nutrient reservoirs of eukaryotes. Here, I briefly summarize some of in ER–LD crosstalk, underscoring These lipid storage organelles, com- these findings and how they reveal the functional conservation of LD posed of a phospholipid monolayer a remarkable spatial organization in tethers across evolution. surrounding a neutral lipid core, lipid metabolism and LD biogenesis. 2. Protein tethers connect LDs form on the surface of the endo- Lipid droplets can be organized to other organelles, regulating LD plasmic reticulum, or ER, which by these three mechanisms within a positioning and use in the cell: In generates almost all the lipids within cell. 1) The endoplasmic reticulum addition to being tethered to the ER LDs. contains nascent LD lenses that are as they mature, LDs are connected In many cells, LDs maintain subdomains for LD biogenesis. 2) to other organelles, and this provides contact with the ER for extended LDs establish contacts with other or- an intuitive mechanism to arrange periods, so ER–LD interorganelle ganelles, and this affects their spatial them spatially in the cell. Elegant crosstalk is essential for cellular positioning as well as their ability to studies have found proteins that lipid homeostasis. We know that exchange lipids with those organ- enrich at interfaces between LDs LDs play important roles in energy elles. 3) LD subpopulations can be and mitochondria, LD–peroxisomal and cellular homeostasis, but recent segregated spatially in the cytoplasm contacts, LD–plasma membrane studies also highlight noncanonical and are affected differentially by contacts, LD–lysosome contacts, roles for LDs in lipotoxicity control, lipases such as ATGL. and even contacts between LDs. development, cell signaling and 1. The ER network contains Many of these studies show that LD even reservoirs for hydrophobic lipogenic hot spots that organize interorganelle junctions are sites of metabolites. lipid processing reactions and LD lipid exchange between the LDs and LDs can remain in cells for biogenesis: Many recent studies of recipient organelles. extended periods before metabolic LD formation and emergence from 3. LD mobilization is highly cues mobilize them. They often are the ER network focus on seipin, regulated, and cells appear to con- mobilized in periods of energetic an ER-resident protein linked to a tain pools of LDs that are created crisis, prompting the question: How severe form of congenital general- and mobilized under specific do cells organize their LD stores to ized lipodystrophy, or abnormal fat nutrient cues: During fasting or in maximize storage and harvesting storage. Studies show that seipin response to cellular cues, cytoplas- efficiency? accumulates at neutral lipid lenses mic lipases mobilize LDs to liberate Uncontrolled LD mobilization within the ER network where seipin free fatty acids and glycerol into the can spill toxic fatty acids into the cell oligomers support the growth of cytoplasm. Hyperactive lipolysis interior. Fatty acids act as biological nascent LDs. Researchers now view can disrupt cellular homeostasis, so detergents that can dissolve mem- nascent LD lenses as lipogenic ER regulatory mechanisms fine-tune branes, so cells must regulate LD subdomains containing structural LD synthesis and breakdown. Some production, storage and mobiliza- factors and enzymes that drive lipid regulate the recruitment and activity tion. synthesis reactions. In addition to of lipases on the LD surface, and Studies have found that LD seipin, our group has identified others control the creation of LD production and turnover are highly Snx14, a member of the sorting subpopulations that are mobilized

16 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 LIPID NEWS W. MIKE HENNE W.

Lipid droplets can be organized by these three mechanisms within a cell. 1) The endoplasmic reticulum contains nascent LD lenses that are subdomains for LD biogenesis. 2) LDs establish contacts with other organelles, and this affects their spatial positioning as well as their ability to exchange lipids with those organelles. 3) LD subpopulations can be segregated spatially in the cytoplasm and are affected differentially by lipases such as ATGL.

differentially by lipolysis. down during low-nutrient subsis- by the cell? How do cells decide Our lab uses Drosophila tissue tence. In mouse enterocytes, pools of where to create hot spots in the ER to study how adipocytes control LD LDs derived from lipid absorption network where nascent LDs are storage and mobilization. We have at the basolateral side of the cell created and emerge? Is LD biogenesis found that larval adipocytes contain are mobilized by intestinal adipose a protein-driven event, or are proteins spatially distinct LD subpopulations triglyceride lipase, or ATGL, activity, mere facilitators of lipid-driven LD that respond differentially to LD but lipids absorbed on the enterocyte biogenesis? mobilization. A pool of small LDs apical surface appear to resist ATGL We hope to address these and near the cell surface are mobilized lipolysis and are instead shunted into other questions as new tools and when the organism fasts and multiply chylomicron synthesis for export. technologies emerge. during high-nutrient feeding. This This all implies that distinct lipid indicates that LD positioning in the pools are maintained within cells and cytoplasm may dictate lipolysis. Sim- are exposed selectively to lipolysis. It W. Mike Henne (mike.henne ilar mechanisms are present in yeast suggests that positioning of LDs and @UTsouthwestern.edu) is and mammalian tissues. In yeast en- lipid pools determines lipid storage an assistant professor in the department of cell biology at tering into stationary phase growth, and mobilization. the University of Texas LDs tend to grow and accumulate Many questions remain. How are Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His lab studies lipid near the cell’s digestive vacuole, where distinct lipid pools and LD subpop- droplets and the organization some LDs are delivered to be broken ulations maintained and demarcated of metabolism in cells.

LIPID RESEARCH DIVISION asbmb.org/lipiddivision

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 17 JOURNAL NEWS

How lipid droplets stay in shape By Martin J. Spiering

ipid droplets, or LDs, are key all cell types. So we hypothesized lipid storage structures in cells. that LDs serve as active centers for L One might think that they the storage and breakdown of neutral simply result from lipid molecules lipids. separating out within the aqueous These metabolic processes are intracellular environment. However, critical for maintaining energy ho- LDs are well-organized organelles meostasis in the body. For example, surrounded by proteins that act as during feeding, the adipocyte stores gatekeepers that tightly control lipid food energy that exceeds the body’s entry and exit. current energy needs; during fasting, One LD-associated protein adipocytes release fatty acids into Andrew Greenberg and colleagues identified is perilipin 1, or PLIN1. Andrew circulation. perilipin as a major protein associated with Greenberg, his late mentor Con- We wanted to study these lipid droplets. stantine Londos and colleagues at fundamental processes and identify the National Institute of Diabetes the adipocyte proteins that regulate and Digestive and Kidney Diseases neutral lipid metabolism in response What did you find in your 1991 discovered PLIN1, an abundant to fasting and feeding. paper? protein in fat cells and the first More than 95% of all radiola- protein identified on the LD surface. What prompted your study? beled phosphate that was incorpo- They reported this in a 1991 Journal In 1990, we became interested in rated into cellular proteins after the of Biological Chemistry paper now investigating the role of a phospha- PKA stimulation went into PLIN1, recognized as a JBC Classic. tase that dephosphorylates hor- making it the predominant PKA JBC technical editor Martin Spi- mone-sensitive lipase, or HSL, and substrate in adipocytes. In immuno- ering asked Greenberg about the dis- contributes to insulin actions that in- cytochemical studies in differentiated covery of PLIN1 and how it spurred hibit lipid breakdown in adipocytes. adipocytes, we saw anti-perilipin further investigations into fat storage To home in on the phosphorylation/ immunoreactivity in well-defined and metabolism. The conversation dephosphorylation mechanisms, we ringlike patterns around both large has been edited for length and clarity. loaded rat adipocytes with phospho- and small intracellular lipid droplets. rus-32–labeled inorganic phosphate PLIN1 was the first protein we How did you become interested in and incubated them with varying found that localized specifically to studying LDs? concentrations of the beta-adreno- the LD surface, suggesting that it When we started this work, LDs receptor agonist isoproterenol in the regulates triglyceride metabolism in had been identified, but their roles absence and presence of insulin. LDs, and PLIN1 was expressed most in regulating lipid metabolism were We previously had seen that after robustly in adipocytes unclear. We knew little about the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A, intracellular architecture of neutral or PKA, activation, a major hyper- What’s the main function of perilipin lipid metabolism and the nature and phosphorylated protein migrates in LD maintenance? localization of the proteins that regu- as a 65–67 kDa protein on SDS- PLIN1 mainly acts as a dynamic late LD assembly and maintenance. PAGE. When we fractionated the scaffold for proteins involved in the In earlier studies, LDs were phosphate-loaded adipocytes, this storage and hydrolysis of neutral found only in fatty liver and in the phosphoprotein localized exclusively lipids in LDs. It’s a dynamic inter- foam cells of atherogenic plaques. to the fat cake, sparking our interest play; PKA-mediated hyperphosphor- But as we studied the literature, we in learning more about its potential ylation of PLIN1 enhances lipolysis saw that they are present in almost role in adipocyte metabolism. by activating adipose tissue triglycer-

18 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JOURNAL NEWS

ide lipase, or ATGL, and localizes In adipocytes, after PLIN2 associates metabolism to downstream signaling PKA-phosphorylated HSL to the LD with developing LDs, PLIN1 binds pathways. surface. to and displaces PLIN2 from the Without PKA activation, mature LD. Does PLIN1 have a role in metabolic PLIN1 binds and sequesters the Other proteins at the LD surface disorders such as obesity and LD-binding protein CGI-58. With include the cell death–inducing diabetes? PKA activation and ensuing PLIN1 DFFA-like effector proteins, which In obesity, inflammation in phosphorylation, CGI-58 is released inhibit the hydrolysis of stored tri- adipose tissues is marked by elevated from PLIN1 and then binds to and glycerides. levels of cytokines, such as tumor increases the activity of ATGL. necrosis factor alpha, that reduce the What’s the main focus of current expression of both the PLIN1 gene Is PLIN1 the only LD-associated research into PLINs? and protein, resulting in increased protein? We want to understand better adipocyte lipolysis and release of fatty Since our 1991 paper, researchers how PLINs are involved in regulating acids into circulation. These fatty ac- have identified four more pro- the activities of ATGL and autophagy ids are taken up by the liver and can teins that resemble PLIN1 in both that hydrolyze stored triglycerides cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease sequence and conserved motifs. and to delineate the functions of the and elevate triglyceride levels. Among these, PLIN2 and PLIN3 PLIN isoforms. These fatty acids also can alter in- are expressed ubiquitously. PLIN1 Research has expanded into LD sulin signaling pathways and result in and PLIN2 are present exclusively biogenesis, the role of phospholip- insulin resistance in hepatocytes and on LDs, whereas PLIN3, PLIN4 and ids associated with the LD surface, skeletal muscle cells, which may lead PLIN5 have been found on the LD identification and function of other to diabetes. In steatotic human livers, surface, the cytoplasm and, in some proteins that associate with and traffic PLIN1 expression is increased, and cases, the nucleus. to LDs, and interactions of LDs with PLIN1 is localized around hepato- PLINs have distinct roles in other intracellular organelles such as cyte lipid droplets, likely promoting different cell types. Depending on mitochondria. triglyceride accumulation. cell type, PLIN3 or PLIN 4 binds A growing body of work is initially to the nascent LD. In non- investigating how PLINs and other Have any therapeutic strategies or adipocytes, PLIN2 then binds to and LD proteins may act as nutrient and agents emerged that target PLIN? displaces PLIN3 on the mature LDs. lipid sensors to link changes in LD One class of anti-diabetic drugs, the thiazolidinediones, bind to and activate a transcription factor that binds the PLIN1 gene promoter and increases its activity. This can increase the levels of PLIN1 mRNA and protein and block TNF-alpha’s effects on PLIN1 expression and rates of lipolysis. So, both PLIN1 and cy-

COURTESY OF ANDREW GREENBERG tokines represent potential targets for ameliorating inflammation caused by fatty acid release from adipocyte LDs.

Martin J. Spiering was the technical editor at the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Follow him on Twitter @spieringmj. Perilipin (stained red) binds to the surface of lipid droplets (green) and functions as a dynamic scaffolding protein that controls entry and exit of lipids from the droplets.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 19 JOURNAL NEWS

Sorting and secreting insulin by expiration date The age of insulin parcels may matter, researchers say, when it comes to diagnosing and treating diabetes

By Anand Rao

study in the Journal of Bio- age. “Accordingly,” they wrote, “these ences between the pools definitely logical Chemistry describes a approaches are effective only for a is going to lead us into something Anew way to determine the age short period.” meaningful.” of insulin-storage parcels, known Insulin is produced by beta cells In their paper, the researchers as granules, and sheds light on how of the pancreas and stored in insulin describe a technique they developed their age affects their release into granules, which are then organized to distinguish younger insulin gran- the bloodstream. The findings could into pools and finally secreted into ules from older ones. The scientists help experts better understand dia- the bloodstream. Pools of young placed a fluorescent protein, called betes and fine-tune therapies for it. insulin granules are preferred for Syncollin-dsRedE5TIMER, into Insulin is a hormone that man- secretion over pools of old ones, for newly created insulin granules and ages the level of sugar, or glucose, in reasons that remain unclear. used a laser and detector to visualize the bloodstream. It is secreted by the that marker. In younger granules, pancreas into the bloodstream when About one in 10 the marker emits a green fluorescent blood sugar levels rise. When insulin light; as granules get older, the mark- circulates in the bloodstream, muscle Americans and more er begins to emit a red fluorescence. and other cells absorb glucose to use than 415 million people The authors monitored the it as fuel, and so blood sugar levels movements of and other changes in decline. In Type 2 diabetes, formerly worldwide have diabetes, insulin granule pools and saw that, known as adult-onset diabetes, this according to the Centers as predicted, both mouse and human process fails. Glucose builds up in cells preferentially release younger for Disease Control and the blood, either because the pan- insulin granule pools into the blood- creas cannot produce enough insulin Prevention. stream in response to glucose. to keep up with dietary sugar intake The researchers then set out to or because the gland simply isn’t learn more about how pancreatic working as it should. The scientists whose work was cells sort insulin granules into pools About one in 10 Americans and published in JBC wanted to learn and release them when they are more than 415 million people more about how pancreatic cells experiencing metabolic stress. The worldwide have diabetes, according can distinguish between pools with concern is that, when under stress, to the Centers for Disease Control young or old insulin granules. beta cells “could potentially lose their and Prevention. Up to 95% of “Current therapeutics do not ability to distinguish young (gran- them have Type 2. Treatment often take the existence of pools into con- ules) from old,” they wrote in their requires painful and frequent insulin sideration,” said Melkam Kebede, an paper. injections or the use of mechanical assistant professor at the University The team isolated beta cells from insulin pumps. There is no cure. of Sydney who oversaw sthe study. mice and simulated chronic low, The researchers noted in their “By evolution, the (pancreatic) cells high and normal blood sugar levels paper that existing therapies for have determined what to secrete and found different glucose levels diabetes increase insulin secretion and what not. Understanding the determine which pools of insulin without regard for insulin granule mechanism and molecular differ- granules, young or old, are secreted.

20 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JOURNAL NEWS

Basal, low glucose (2.8mM) High glucose (16.7mM, 10 min) This series of live cell images represents insulin granule secretion. Syncollin-dsRedE5TIMER was used to visualize the age of secretory granules BELINDA YAU in beta cells subjected to low or high glucose conditions.

They saw similar results when they used a common mouse model for Type 2 diabetes known as the db/ db mouse. These findings are important, Kebede said, because “all the drugs that affect insulin secretion…just push any granule within the cell and eventually fail.” Older insulin granules are naturally degraded in normally functioning beta cells, noted lead author Belinda Yau of the University of Sydney, but, in diabetes, a greater percentage of insulin granule pools are secreted, and there’s a mismatch in how they’re released. Being able to visualize insulin granules as they age and understand- ing better how their age affects their secretion may lead to the discovery of new biomarkers capable of indicat- ing the development of diabetes and could help in the creation of thera- pies for Type 2 diabetes. “If we can understand what makes up the granules and makes them do what they do, we can figure out a way to target the things that slow down or speed up their secre- tion,” Yau said.

Anand Rao ([email protected]) is a science communicator for the ASBMB. Follow him on Twitter @AnandRaoPhD. 10 uM

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 21 JOURNAL NEWS

Proteomics reveals hallmarks of aging in brain stem cells By Laurel Oldach

yelin, a fatty substance akin to wire insulation, allows fast Mneuronal signaling both within the brain and to the rest of the body. DE LA FUENTE ALERIE GUZMAN When myelin in the brain or spinal cord is damaged, adult stem cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, or OPCs, respond by develop- ing into new, fully fledged oligo- A cell culture mixture grown in the lab includes oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (green dots) and dendrocytes that wrap new myelin differentiated oligodendrocytes (white and red, with branches). Guzman de la Fuente conducted the around neurons, protecting them cell culture and microscopy. and restoring their ability to carry fast electrical messages. system for studying how myelin without gaining the ability to make The human body’s ability to formation goes awry with age, she myelin. The team noticed that as ani- regenerate lost myelin declines with said. “We think that studying adult mals aged, their stem cells were more age. Patients with multiple sclerosis OPCs … is more relevant to what likely to have difficulty metabolizing are intimately familiar with this will happen in the progressive phases cholesterol, an important component shift. The disease, usually diagnosed of MS, in patients over 50.” of myelin; older OPCs were more in a patient’s twenties, arises when a In a recent paper in the journal apt to express proteins involved in person develops an immune response Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, other neurodegenerative disorders to myelin proteins. It starts out as a Guzman de la Fuente and her col- such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s series of flare-ups of symptoms such leagues in Robin Franklin’s lab at the disease, although what these changes as muscle weakness and numbness, University of Cambridge reported mean remains to be elucidated . followed by months or even years in a comparison of the proteomes of Finally, as with many aging cells, the remission as new oligodendrocytes OPCs from neonatal, young adult OPCs from older mice also showed provide fresh myelin. The disease and mature mice. Franklin’s lab and changes in protein homeostasis. shifts to a progressively worsening others previously have studied the It will take time and further disability in middle age. transcriptome of these cells. How- experiments to determine which Neuroscientist Alerie Guzman de ever, Guzman de la Fuente empha- of these changes cause the remye- la Fuente is interested in developing sized, RNA and protein levels are not lination decline that appears with a better understanding of oligoden- always perfectly correlated. age. But, Guzman de la Fuente said, drocyte progenitor cells to determine Some protein features were quite having a clearer picture of how the why remyelination falters with age. stable through a mouse’s lifetime. brain changes with aging can only The answer could inform scientists Others changed dramatically. The help future efforts to treat multiple who hope someday to treat MS with team focused on the proteins that sclerosis. pro-remyelinating therapies. changed most between young and “Most labs studying oligoden- mature adulthood, and they identi- Laurel Oldach (loldach@ drocyte progenitor biology use neo- fied a few patterns. asbmb.org) is a science writer for the ASBMB. natal OPCs to test drugs,” Guzman As with many aging cells, the Follow her on Twitter de la Fuente said. “These cells are stem cells from older mice showed @LaurelOld. incredibly powerful at forming my- some gene-expression drift, acting as elin.” That makes them an imperfect if they had begun to differentiate but

22 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JOURNAL NEWS

Estrogen receptor antagonist shows promise for treatment of gallstone disease By Guananí Gómez–Van Cortright

omen are twice as likely as men synthesizing compounds that target high-cholesterol diet and gave them to suffer from gallstone disease, G protein–coupled receptors, created doses of estradiol to induce gallstone Wdue to estrogen’s role in trigger- an array of drugs and tested their formation. After eight weeks, the ing cholesterol gallstone formation. affinity for the G protein–coupled mice were injected with various doses While small gallstones are common, estrogen receptor, or GPER, which of CIMBA, and then researchers in some people cholesterol forms previously had been associated with removed their gallbladders. crystals that build up and become gallstone formation. These gallbladders, each about too large for the gallbladder to expel. “It took almost four years to nail the size of a grain of rice, had to The resulting gallstone disease causes down how to test for whether these be cut open under a microscope to excruciating pain and sometimes sep- compounds were binding to and an- count and analyze their gallstones. sis. The standard treatment is surgical tagonizing the G–coupled estrogen re- Wang’s lab found that treatment with removal of the entire organ. ceptor,” Arnatt said. “No one had done CIMBA reduced the formation of Christopher Arnatt, a researcher any true medical chemistry on this, estrogen-induced gallstones in some in the department of chemistry at St. and now we have over one hundred mice and also found a dosage at Louis University, has been working compounds that bind to this receptor which no gallstones formed. While to address the role of estrogen in gall- that can be used to study it further.” the mouse model results are promis- stone disease. “Having a preventative Arnatt’s team showed that one ing, making this compound available cure out there for all at-risk people of those compounds, 2-cyclohex- for human use would require safety would be amazing,” he said. yl-4-isopropyl-N-(4-methoxybenzyl) testing and clinical trials. Arnatt’s lab collaborated with aniline — referred to as CIMBA — Arnatt is optimistic about the David Q.H. Wang’s lab at the Marion was selective for GPER, making it a potential of CIMBA and the other Bessin Liver Research Center at the strong candidate for further testing. GPER antagonists. “These new com- Albert Einstein College of Medi- The second phase of the project pounds will provide researchers with cine in New York on a recent paper put CIMBA to the test in mice. a lot of new tools,” he said. “Having published in the Journal of Lipid Wang’s lab, one of very few labs in new drugs out there will expand peo- Research. the world that research gallstones, ple’s ability to test this receptor and Arnatt’s lab, which specializes in put ovariectomized female mice on a its pharmacology.” Arnatt plans to investigate how to make CIMBA more bioavailable G protein-coupled estrogen and less toxic for gallstone preven- receptor with new selective tion treatment, and he hopes to use antagonist, CIMBA, bound these GPER-binding compounds to reduces estrogen-induced CHRISTOPHER ARNATT CHRISTOPHER understand better the receptor’s role gallstones (background in the body. image) in female mice. DOI: 10.1194/jlr.RA119000592

Guananí Gómez–Van Cortright (guananigvc@ gmail.com) is an outdoor educator and science writer.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 23 JOURNAL NEWS

Celebrating the images scientists create By Courtney Chandler

f an image is worth a thousand

words, then images of lipid re- RAMON SUN/JLR Isearch are worth their own series. The Journal of Lipid Research has started just that with a new article format, “Images in Lipid Research,” launched earlier this year. These articles are one-page, peer-reviewed publications with a single image and caption that high- light current topics in lipid physiolo- gy and biochemistry. In his “Images in Lipid Research” paper, researcher Ramon Sun included these MALDI-mass The idea stemmed from a spectrometry images of gangliosides in a wild-type mouse brain, which show distinctive distribution suggestion made by Stephen Young, of two very similar ganglioside species in different regions of the brain. associate editor at the JLR and a professor at University of Califor- which also may appeal to authors. them in the journal. nia, Los Angeles, during an editors’ With their compressed format, the Rye said the editors hope that meeting. Kerry-Anne Rye, co-editor- articles give authors the opportunity a visually appealing image with a in-chief of the JLR and professor at to make a single point clearly and simple, targeted message will catch the University of New South Wales concisely. the attention of a broad scientific in Sydney, Australia, said the idea Ramon Sun, an assistant profes- audience beyond those who regularly resonated with the group. After that, sor in the department of neurosci- read the JLR. The images and their the American Society for Biochemis- ence at the University of Kentucky, stories might then prompt this new try and Molecular Biology staff took decided to submit to the series to audience to read the JLR, thus ex- the reins and turned the concept highlight one of the many images panding the footprint of the journal. into reality. he’s been able to collect using an “Who knows? We may even end In his editorial about the series, advanced mass spectrometry tech- up helping some nonscientists recog- Young wrote that he hopes to “cele- nique. With his image of differential nize that science is fun and exciting brate scientists and the images they ganglioside localization patterns in and not limited to the domain of the create” in a format that is also “effec- the brain, he hoped both to high- stereotypical, white-coated and be- tive in communicating discoveries of light the technique his group used spectacled test-tube holders of comic lipid research.” and to tell a short story that spatial book fame,” Rye said. So far, the Images in Lipid Re- differences should be taken into Check out the JLR’s Images in search series has been popular with consideration during interrogation of Lipid Research page for more stun- authors. Rye said submissions took lipid metabolism. ning images. If you’re interested in off right from the start. “Images can convey an otherwise submitting an image of your own, all “The series may resonate so complex paradigm in a simple and the information can be found on the strongly with authors because many easy to understand format,” Sun said. JLR website. of them have wonderful pictures that In addition to highlighting new end up not being a good fit in the fi- lipid research with the series, the ed- Courtney Chandler (courtneyec19@gmail. nal manuscript,” Rye said. The series itors hope to generate interest within com) is a postdoctoral “provides a forum for these pictures a broader audience. The JLR is researcher at Johns to be shared with a community of sharing most of the images through Hopkins University and a careers columnist for the like-minded, interested colleagues.” social media outlets such as Facebook ASBMB. Follow her on The published images are citable, and Twitter as well as publishing Twitter @CourtneyCPhD.

24 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JOURNAL NEWS

From the journals

By Jack Lee, Amrita Mandal & Anand Rao

We summarize a selection of The authors also observed specific inhibitors sensitize TNBC cells to recent papers from the Journal of enrichment of bioactive lipids — existing therapies. Biological Chemistry, the Journal LPC, LPC (0) and LPI — in the These results suggest that by of Lipid Research and Molecular small dense LDL subclass, which is targeting ODC, TNBC cells might & Cellular Proteomics.sion. Future highly atherogenic. These three bioac- become responsive to cancer ther- investigation will help delineate tive phospholipids are known to drive apeutics that are effective in other the exact pathways and molecules inflammation and could therefore cancer subtypes. involved. favor fatty plaque formation in blood DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.012376’’ vessels. These data suggest that the Analyzing the lipid profile bioactive lipid signature in highly Identifying acetylation in atherogenic dyslipidemia atherogenic LDL could be a poten- sites in a coronavirus Low-density lipoprotein, or tial biomarker for atherogenicity in Like the virus that causes LDL, often has been called the “bad cardiovascular disease. COVID-19, MERS-CoV is a corona- cholesterol.” Excess LDL accumulates DOI: 10.1194/jlr.P119000543 virus that can cause severe respiratory in the walls of arteries, progressively illness. A better understanding of leading to atherosclerotic plaque for- A new target to tackle how host cells respond to MERS- mation. The rupture of such plaques hard-to-treat cancers CoV infection could help prevent a triggers a thrombotic reaction that Treatment of patients with tri- future pandemic. can block blood flow to the heart ple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC, Some other viruses require protein or brain, causing a heart attack or is hindered by a dearth of therapeutic acetylation for viral replication; in a stroke. Factors such as genetics, a options. This is because TNBC cells recent paper published in Molecular high-fat diet, lack of physical activity, lack estrogen receptors, progesterone & Cellular Proteomics, Lin Zhu of obesity and diabetes can contrib- receptors and excess human epider- Hong Kong Baptist University and a ute to high LDL. To lower LDL, mal growth factor receptor 2, better team of Hong Kong researchers ex- many physicians prescribe statin known as HER2 receptors, and plored whether MERS-CoV proteins drugs, which block the function of thus do not respond to traditional also are acetylated by host factors. a key enzyme in liver for cholesterol hormonal therapies or interventions After obtaining viral proteins synthesis. targeting HER2 receptors. from infected cells, the researchers Atherogenic dyslipidemia is a In recent work published in the enriched for peptides with acetylated clinical condition in which patients Journal of Biological Chemistry, lysine residues. All the acetylated have high levels of both LDL and Renee Geck of Beth Israel Deaconess peptides corresponded to pp1ab, a triglycerides with low “good choles- Medical Center and collaborators polyprotein that forms 15 different terol,” or high-density lipoprotein. In used metabolomics profiling to show proteins involved in MERS-CoV a study published in the Journal of that TNBC cells grown in culture replication. Bioinformatic analysis Lipid Research, M. John Chapman dishes, when exposed to cytotoxic suggested that proteins in the SIRT1, and a team of international research- chemotherapy drugs, display alter- HDAC and TIP60 families could be ers analyzed the effect of statin treat- ations to arginine and polyamine upstream regulators of these acetyl- ment on 12 obese, hypertriglycer- metabolites, suggesting changes to ation sites. Experiments are needed idemic hypercholesterolemic men polyamine metabolism. The authors to confirm the actual role of the for 180 days. They report that the demonstrate that this occurs through acetylated proteins during viral repli- treatment reduced absolute plasma a reduction of the polyamine bio- cation, but the study’s findings hint at concentration of all 23 lipid classes in synthetic enzyme ornithine decar- possible therapeutic targets to explore. LDL except the lipotoxic ceramides. boxylase, or ODC, and that ODC DOI: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001897

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 25 JOURNAL NEWS

Zinc triggers a tau transformation

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by brain cells that wither etry — the measurement of particle concentration by light scattering and die, resulting in loss of memory and other mental faculties. Tau is — and fluorescent microscopy, the researchers observed that zinc a soluble microtubule-associated protein that, under pathological con- strongly promotes LLPS of tau. Once formed, the highly dynamic tau ditions, accumulates and aggregates, causing intracellular inclusions droplets retain their liquidlike characteristics for several hours, and they known as neurofibrillary tangles, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Recent are abolished by the addition of a metal chelating agent. The authors studies have indicated that tau is capable of forming liquid droplets demonstrated that replacing select amino acid residues from tau after undergoing liquid–liquid phase separation, or LLPS. This process protein eliminated zinc’s ability to induce LLPS. Exposure of tau to other can induce the formation of pathological tau, which then propagates divalent metal ions such as magnesium, cobalt, nickel and iron did not from neuron to neuron, inducing tau aggregation. However, how LLPS induce the same response. of tau is stimulated remains unknown. The researchers suggest that zinc could accelerate tau’s propensity Growing evidence indicates that the level of zinc ions is elevated in to aggregate. Moreover, in contexts of cellular stress, zinc may influence vulnerable regions of brains with Alzheimer’s disease. In a recent paper the abnormal interaction of tau with other proteins, thereby disrupting published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Virender Singh and normal cellular function. These findings provide new insights into the colleagues at Case Western Reserve University sought to determine link between abnormal zinc homeostasis and the pathogenic process in whether abnormal zinc homeostasis plays a role in the origination of Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies. Alzheimer’s. Using recombinantly expressed tau proteins, turbidim- DOI: 10.1074/jbc.AC120.013166 —Anand Rao

A panel of representative images depicting fusion events of tau droplets induced by the addition of zinc. VIRENDER SINGH ET AL./JBC

New insights into the consequences of these mutations human siblings with RLBP1 muta- consequences of a retina have not been well studied. tions had retinal pigment epithelium protein mutation Jose Ronaldo Lima de Carvalho and photoreceptor abnormalities Retinal degeneration is a leading Jr. and colleagues at Columbia Uni- and reduced levels of 11-cis-retinal, cause of incurable low vision and versity investigated the significance a vitamin A derivative critical for blindness worldwide. Mutations in of RLBP1 mutations through an light detection. The authors found the retinaldehyde-binding protein analysis of siblings with RLBP1 mu- that mutation carrier parents show a 1, or RLBP1, gene, which encodes tations, their asymptomatic carrier reduction in 11-cis-retinal, demon- for the visual cycle protein cellular parents and Rlbp1/Cralbp–/– knock- strating visual cycle deficiencies retinaldehyde-binding protein, better out mice, which do not produce though they reported no symptoms. known as CRALBP, cause an auto- RLBP1 or CRALBP. Using a range These findings, reported in a re- somal recessive form of retinal de- of functional assays, the authors cent paper in the Journal of Biolog- generation. However, the functional observed that the mutant mice and ical Chemistry, expand the defined

26 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JOURNAL NEWS

CEP5 helps plants tolerate droughts

Environmental stresses, such as drought, affect plant growth, de- 15 days without water, normal plants were pale and wilted, but nearly velopment and reproduction. In a recent paper published in Molecular all the overexpressing plants still had green leaves. The researchers saw & Cellular Proteomics, Stephanie Smith of the University of Notting- similar tolerance to osmotic stress. They observed elevated expression ham in the UK and Shanshuo Zhu of VIB/University of Ghent in Belgium, of stress-related transcription factors in CEP5-overexpressing plants together with an international team reported a previously unknown role even under unstressed conditions; they propose that this readies plants for the CEP5 peptide in osmotic and drought stress tolerance in Arabi- for future stress conditions. dopsis. They propose that the peptide stabilizes auxin transcriptional Auxin is a plant hormone involved in growth and developmental repressors and fine-tunes the level of auxin signaling. processes. Auxin-responsive markers had reduced activity in plants CEP5 previously was shown to play a role in shoot and root overexpressing CEP5. Additional CEP5 also led to quick stabilization or growth. To better understand activity downstream of the peptide, accumulation of transcriptional repressors of auxin signaling. Seedlings the researchers quantified differences between the proteomes and overexpressing the peptide were more sensitive to chemical or genetic phosphoproteomes of normal shoots and those of shoots overexpress- interference of proteasome activity than normal seedlings. ing CEP5. Based on gene ontology annotations, they write that 30% of These results indicate that CEP5 affects auxin-mediated process- the proteins that were upregulated or downregulated were involved in es, including drought and osmotic stress tolerance. Future work is “response to stress” while 17% were involved in “response to abiotic needed to identify all the proteins involved, but the results support a stimulus.” new model for regulating auxin transcription repressors. Consistent with these findings, CEP5-overexpressing plants with- DOI: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001826 stood drought stress tolerance tests better than normal plants. After ­—Jack Lee

After 15 days without water, normal Arabidopsis plants appear pale and wilted (top panels). In contrast, plants overexpressing CEP5 remain green (bottom left panel). Additionally, these plants can recover quickly from drought (bottom right panel). STEPHANIE SMITH ET AL./MCP

phenotype of affected individuals, bone has a lipid attached by an ether phine Fontaine and colleagues at the uncover a previously unreported or vinyl–ether bond and the sn-2 Université de Tours, France, summa- phenotype in carriers of RLBP1 position is enriched for polyunsatu- rized the role of ELs and associated mutations and show consistencies rated fatty acid, or PUFA. ELs play fatty acids, or FAs, in neurological between affected humans and R important roles in cell signaling, diseases, cardiac abnormalities and lbp1/Cralbp–/– mutant mice. cellular differentiation and mem- cancer biology. The review empha- DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA120.012695 brane trafficking. Some cellular sizes the role of ELs in ion channel effects of ELs could be downstream regulation because both are involved Ether lipids and fatty of their role in regulating ion chan- in human disorders. acids in disease nels, which are embedded in lipid FAs derived from ELs are a major Ether lipids, or ELs, are a special membrane. component of neuronal membranes class of phospholipid in which the In a recent review published in and regulate membrane ion channels sn-1 position of the glycerol back- the Journal of Lipid Research, Del- important for neurotransmissions.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 27 JOURNAL NEWS

Plant stanol shows promise for rare disorder

Niemann-Pick type C disease, or NPC, is a rare inherited lipid me- In a paper published in the Journal of Lipid Research, Inês Magro tabolism disorder caused by mutation in NPC1 or NPC2 genes responsi- dos Reis of Maastricht University and a team of European researchers ble for the transport of cholesterol in lysosomes, membrane-bound describe their recent work on the effects of stanols on mice with dys- organelles that contain digestive enzymes. When transport out of the functional NPC1 protein. After feeding the mice a plant stanol–enriched organelles is impaired, cholesterol builds up inside. Common symptoms diet for five weeks, the researchers observed a significant lowering of of NPC include nerve disorders, liver damage, weight loss and inflam- liver damage, cholesterol accumulation and inflammation, as well as a mation. No cure exists, and the disease can be fatal. shift toward an anti-inflammatory blood profile. This improvement was Plant stanol ester supplements have been beneficial against cho- more pronounced at higher stanol doses. lesterol accumulation and inflammation in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, The study indicates that dietary supplements of plant stanol esters or NASH, and atherosclerosis. Plant stanol esters look a lot like choles- could be an effective way to reduce damage related to cholesterol terol at a molecular level and help to block cholesterol absorption in the storage. Researchers now need to investigate the appropriate doses and body. They are found naturally in nuts, seeds and legumes as well as side effects of plant stanol for use in humans with NPC. in stanol-fortified margarine spreads, cereals and other foods that are DOI: 10.1194/jlr.RA120000632 widely available. ­—Amrita Mandal

Nuts are natural sources of plant stanol esters. PETER FEGHALI/UNSPLASH

FA deficiency is involved in neuro- pathways and molecules involved. Paris and the National Institute of logical disorders. Diets rich in n-3 DOI: 10.1194/jlr.RA120000634 Health and Medical Research in PUFAs are beneficial for heart disease France, along with collaborators, patients. EL-derived PUFA helps An energy-regulating sought to uncover the factors respon- regulate ion channels in the heart to enzyme needs nutrients sible for AMPK activation. Using prevent arrhythmia. EL-derived FAs AMP-activated protein kinase, mouse liver cells grown in culture are also involved in cancer cell prolif- or AMPK, is a sensor that helps dishes, the researchers showed that eration, metastasis and apoptosis, and cells adapt to changes in nutrition glucose availability activates AMPK, FAs are used as a biomarker in breast, to maintain cellular energy states in while changes in levels of the hor- prostate and lung cancer. The authors the liver, but what exactly AMPK is mones glucagon and insulin had no propose that EL-regulated ion chan- sensing has not been clear. effect on AMPK. Furthermore, they nels could have an important role in In recent work published in the showed that glucose deprivation and cancer progression. Future investi- Journal of Biological Chemistry, the deficiency in AMPK activity exac- gation will help delineate the exact Camille Huet of the University of erbate the reduction of cellular ATP.

28 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JOURNAL NEWS

These results suggest that nutri- Deamidation is rife immune system to identify cells tional changes rather than hormonal in the immunopeptidome with perturbed N-glycosylation for variation sensitize AMPK to the T cells target infected and dam- elimination. energetic strain associated with fast- aged cells by recognizing peptides DOI: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001846 ing and that this effect is critical for presented on cell surfaces by human regulating energy in liver cells. leukocyte antigen. Post-translation- An energy-regulating DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.010244 al modification of these peptides enzyme needs nutrients expands the variety of possible signals AMP-activated protein kinase, or Enzymes, TB and displayed by cells. But few systematic AMPK, is a sensor that helps cells allostery studies have explored modifications adapt to changes in nutrition to Allostery, the process by which across the entire immunopeptidome. maintain cellular energy states in proteins transmit effects from one site In a recent paper published in the liver, but what exactly AMPK is to a separate, often distant functional Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, sensing has not been clear. site, can help enzymes meet the meta- Shutao Mei of Monash University In recent work published in the Jour- bolic demands for their end products. and a team of Australian researchers nal of Biological Chemistry, Ca- Better understanding of this phenom- found that 2.5% to 7% of associated mille Huet of the University of Paris enon helps researchers understand peptides are deamidated, with the and the National Institute of Health biological processes and catalyzes the amide group removed from asparag- and Medical Research in France, design of new drug treatments. ine and glutamine residues. along with collaborators, sought to In a paper published in the Jour- The researchers analyzed the uncover the factors responsible for nal of Biological Chemistry, Want- amino acids flanking the deamidated AMPK activation. Using mouse ing Jiao of the University of Can- residues to identify possible motifs. liver cells grown in culture dishes, terbury and collaborators examined They found a pattern for asparagine: the researchers showed that glucose 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7 a preference for threonine or serine availability activates AMPK, while phosphate synthase, or DAH7PS, an two positions following the affected changes in levels of the hormones enzyme central to amino acid synthe- residue. This motif, NX(S/T), is ca- glucagon and insulin had no effect on sis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, nonical for N-linked glycosylation. AMPK. Furthermore, they showed the bacteria that causes tuberculosis The researchers tested a pos- that glucose deprivation and the de- in humans. The authors showed that sible role of peptide:N-glycanase, ficiency in AMPK activity exacerbate a single amino acid substitution abol- or PNGase; this enzyme removes the reduction of cellular ATP. ished the allosteric communication N-linked glycans from misfolded These results suggest that nutri- in DAH7PS, but it did not affect its glycoproteins and is known to de- tional changes rather than hormonal catalyzing abilities. amidate asparagine. In the presence variation sensitize AMPK to the These results provide insights into of a PNGase inhibitor, the immu- energetic strain associated with fast- the delicate dynamics of enzyme reg- nopeptidome contained significantly ing and that this effect is critical for ulation and may lead to the discovery fewer NX(S/T)-containing peptides. regulating energy in liver cells. of new treatment options for TB. The researchers propose asparagine DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.010244 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA120.012605 deamidation as a means for the

Jack Lee (jackjleescience@ Amrita Mandal Anand Rao gmail.com) is a graduate (amritamandal09@gmail. ([email protected]) is a student in the science com) is a postdoctoral fellow science communicator communication program at at the National Institutes for the ASBMB. Follow the University of California, of Health. She earned a him on Twitter Santa Cruz. Follow him master’s in biophysics and @AnandRaoPhD. on Twitter @jackjlee. molecular biology in India Read more of his work at and a Ph.D. in molecular jackjleescience.com. biology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Ohio.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 29 FEATURE Leadership on the Cutting Edge

Toni Antalis, a physiologist who discovered membrane-anchored proteases, takes on the ASBMB’s presidency By Laurel Oldach COURTESY OF TONI ANTALIS COURTESY OF TONI

How has it been for you leading a lab during the pandemic? For me as a PI, it has not been as bad as it has been for my students and postdocs and for others in research training. I enjoy reading and writing and catching up with the scientific literature. The story of SARS-CoV-2 has been fascinating. However, I have students who really Toni Antalis became the 87th president of the ASBMB on July 1. had to put their whole theses on hold for three or four She will serve for two years. months because they could not get into the lab to start new experiments. I find that young scientists love to be in the lab doing experiments and discovering, but they ew American Society for Biochemistry and Molecu- don’t like to write so much. In some ways, this has been lar Biology president Toni Antalis and the ASBMB an opportunity for them to gather their thoughts, put all Ngo way back. Her first first-author paper as a Ph.D. of their data together and think about what their research student was published in the Journal of Biological Chemis- findings mean in the context of the scientific field. But try, as was a paper she co-authored with a Ph.D. student of they probably didn’t need this long to do that. her own that set her on her current research path studying As for me, I seem to be busier with virtual meetings membrane-anchored serine proteases. from home than when I was in my office. It is hard to say Antalis, a professor of physiology at the University of why, but there are always student proposals and exams, as Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, directs the well as organizing how teaching is to become more virtual school’s Ph.D. training program in molecular medicine in this new COVID-19 environment. Virtual meetings and is the associate director for training and education at can be quite tiring — although it is good to see faces and the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive expressions as well as have conversation. I think it calms Cancer Center. On the day that Antalis’ lab began gingerly everybody down. to reopen after four months closed due to COVID-19, We’re looking forward to being in person in the lab, ASBMB writer Laurel Oldach spoke to the society’s new though this will take time. The University of Maryland leader about her research and the challenging times ahead. is reopening very cautiously, and there are lots of chang- Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity. es around the buildings to mitigate spread of the virus.

30 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 FEATURE LAURIE RELUZCO/ASBMB LAURIE

Antalis (sixth from right) joined an excursion to Great Falls National Park during the 2019 Serine Proteases small meeting. She cofounded the biannual meeting in 2015.

We’ve set up a social distancing regimen for the lab so How does the anthrax toxin work? that everybody maintains six feet of distance, wears gloves One of the anthrax toxin proteins binds to specif- and masks when appropriate, and has access to plenty of ic receptors on human cells where it is proteolytically sanitizers. In our building, a special antiviral adhesive has processed by human proteases, allowing it to form a pore been put on all the door handles and frequently used push that enables toxic peptides to enter and kill cells. We have buttons — this seems a neat invention. engineered a toxin that takes advantage of the overactivity of membrane-anchored serine proteases on the surface of As you get back into the lab, what research questions ovarian tumor cells and limits the growth of the cancer are you most excited about working on? cells in ovarian cancer and likely many other cancers. My research interests are in proteases and protease-ac- tivated signaling pathways that affect tumor metastasis, in- How did you first get interested in serine proteases? flammation and vascular biology. We are studying several As a postdoctoral fellow. I cloned a serine protease inflammatory mechanisms that promote the resolution of inhibitor of the plasminogen activation cascade, known as venous thrombosis, in order to accelerate the process and PAI-2/SerpinB2, and that began my interest in fibrinoly- potentially avoid surgical intervention. sis, the process of blood clot dissolution. We also study how membrane-anchored serine prote- When the genome was sequenced at the turn of the ases function to promote the dissemination and spread of century, I was working at Queensland Institute of Medical ovarian cancers and affect their responses to chemothera- Research in Brisbane, Australia. My graduate student John py. While chemotherapy will kill tumor cells, tumors can Hooper and I noticed that there was a family of serine become resistant to these treatments, and this is a problem proteases that anchor directly on cell membranes. We because alternative effective therapeutic options are lim- published a review on this protein family in JBC in 2001, ited. We use pre-clinical mouse models of human ovarian and we’ve been trying to better understand what these cancer dissemination and spread to better understand proteases do ever since. In fact, one of these, TMPRSS2, molecular mechanisms that we might be able to exploit for is an activator of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and inhibitors of alternative treatments. As we are always looking for ways this protease are in clinical trials. The growth in this field to translate our basic research findings to the clinic, we are led to a 2015 ASBMB Special Symposium on Membrane working on a potential prodrug therapy using a mutated Anchored Serine Proteases, which is now held every two to anthrax toxin to target and kill ovarian tumor cells. three years.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 31 FEATURE

“I’ve been involved with the ASBMB for a long time, and I’ve watched it progress and evolve over the years.” ASBMB BUZZA ET AL. / JBC 2017 ET AL. BUZZA

The membrane-anchored serine protease matriptase is involved in Tony Antalis, past president Jerry Hart (left) and ASBMB chief financial epithelial barrier formation and maintenance. In this micrograph of the officer Steve Miller (right) pose at a meeting of the ASBMB Council. mouse intestinal epithelium, from an Antalis lab study investigating how the enzyme is changed in a model of irritable bowel disease, matriptase is shown in red and nuclei (stained with DAPI) are in blue.

JBC was key to how you got involved in ASBMB The ASBMB is remarkably well positioned to meet these leadership, right? head-on. I look forward to working with the society lead- I have had a longstanding relationship with the journal ership, the membership and all of the staff to help keep and the society. I was invited to join the editorial board of the society moving forward and continuing to innovate. JBC in 2003 by Dr. Judy Bond, an associate editor, and One major change this year is the transition of the was elected to serve as a member of the ASBMB Publica- ASBMB journals to gold open access. This is an important tions Committee in 2006. I was chair of the committee step. As scientists, we all want scientific literature openly from 2008 to 2011, and in 2011, I was elected treasurer of accessible to all members of the scientific community, but the society; I served in that capacity for six years. So, yes, at the same time it is important to develop a workable I’ve been involved with the ASBMB for a long time, and finance structure that maintains the quality, transparency I’ve watched it progress and evolve over the years. It’s a and rigor that are the hallmark of the ASBMB journals. really impressive society. I am proud of the ways in which Another challenge we face these days is the importance the ASBMB serves the needs of the scientific community of not politicizing science. Scientific societies play an im- by promoting science advocacy, communication, edu- portant role in trying to prevent politicization of science cation and outreach and how it invests in the careers of funding and of scientific results. In the next few years, junior scientists. given the persistence of COVID-19 and the uncertain economy, maintaining financial support for scientific re- As president, what do you see as the way forward search and supporting funding agencies like the National for the society? Institutes of Health is going to be critical. I believe a number of challenges are facing not only Years of basic research in diverse fields have made it this society but all scientific societies in the next few years. possible to move fast in developing a vaccine for SARS-

32 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 FEATURE

“I’ve been involved with the ASBMB for a long time, and I’ve watched it progress and evolve over the years.” ASBMB COURTESY OF TONI ANTALIS COURTESY OF TONI

Antalis and her graduate students Tierra Johnson (left) and Nisha Pawar During the 2019 Serine Proteases meeting, Antalis posed with having some fun at the 2019 ASBMB annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. organizers Bob Lazarus of Genentech (left) and Eric Camerer of INSERM.

CoV-2. For example, we know about TMPRSS2 because What do you enjoy doing in your time outside of working of cancer research, ACE2 because of research in vascular hours? What do you do to recharge? biology, the SARS-CoV-2 protein structures and genom- I can highly recommend yoga; it’s so good for relieving ics because of biochemistry and molecular biology — all stress. I try to do other exercise too, but yoga is my favor- research is important in the middle of a pandemic. We ite. My family includes two rescue cats that keep me busy need to support our society members so they can continue — they’re about 2 years old now. I do a fair bit of reading to do important groundbreaking research. of news stories and analyses, and I also belong to a book In these times, scientific advocacy is crucial. We want club, which allows for interesting discussions and many to maintain support, stability, fairness and good practices different perspectives. We recently read “Bad Blood: Se- in science and throughout the community. Supporting crets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup,” the bizarre story young people so they can progress in their science careers about the rise and fall of the biotech company Theranos is important, and the more we can advocate for the next — and a lesson in the importance of ethics. generation, the better it will be for the scientific commu- nity and for research as a whole. This is also a crucial time for facing America’s legacy of racism. Scientific societies can play a pivotal role in advo- cating for broader access to and equity in STEM. Com- Laurel Oldach ([email protected]) is a munication is key. I want to hear from all members of the science writer for the ASBMB. Follow her on Twitter @LaurelOld. society and make sure that all ASBMB leaders are aware of their issues and perspectives so we can move forward in the best possible and most strategic way.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 33 FEATURE

Job seekers feel the effects of the pandemic and politics

Grant-funded postdoc positions seem secure, but hiring freezes and the Trump administration’s attempts to curb immigration worry researchers ready to start new labs and PIs and committees courting talent.

By John Arnst

n mid-March, Deepika Vasudevan was in Vasudevan, who investigates regulation of the middle of negotiating faculty position mRNA translation in ophthalmological disor- offers with two public universities in the ders, is one of more than 350 members of the Northeast. Then campuses across the U.S. “Future PI” Slack channel, where academic Ishuttered to help stem the COVID-19 researchers discuss job applications, inter- pandemic. And then came the hiring freezes. views and offers, along with other aspects of Just like that, the positions favored by preparing to become a principal investigator. Vasudevan, a sixth-year postdoctoral research “There are at least a dozen people who are fellow at New York University’s Langone in limbo. They’ve had second visits canceled Medical Center, disappeared. or soft verbal offers withdrawn. At least from “We finalized the start date and the start- what I read, I seem to be the only unlucky up package. And the chair of the department one who had a written offer rescinded,” she emailed me saying that they were waiting to said. “A couple of people talk about search hear from the dean,” she said. “But then, a chairs really going to bat for them and mak- Deepika Vasudevan week later, he emailed me saying, ‘the dean ing sure the offers have been signed even with has asked me to withdraw your offer citing hiring chills in place. There are also many for financial uncertainties the school of medicine whom second visits were canceled due to the is facing due to COVID-19.’ That was really search being suspended.” tough.” Vasudevan quickly reached out to the de- Uneven thaw partment chair at the second university, who For every aspiring PI frozen out of a shared her concern about the rapid uptick in faculty search, there are frustrated hiring hiring freezes. On April 2, that university also committee members whose efforts to fill their Daniela Cimini announced a freeze — leaving Vasudevan with departments have been derailed. few options once her K-99 funding runs out Daniela Cimini is one of them. A profes- in September. sor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State She is not alone. Since April, hiring freezes University, Cimini thought she had found have halted faculty searches and some post- the perfect candidate back in March for a doctoral hiring at more than 400 universities. tenure-track systems biology position at the At the same time, recent restrictions on H-1B university. visas have constrained recruitment of interna- “We had a great candidate, but the hiring tional postdoctoral fellows. freeze went into effect before we could get a

34 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 FEATURE

contract signed,” she said. “That freeze will hiring policies in response to the pandemic. not be lifted for the next recruiting cycle, so Phelps and her staff conducted a survey it is quite uncertain when or if we will be able of postdoctoral affairs offices and found that to get this candidate.” 67% of the institutions that responded have However, some universities, such as Okla- granted one-year extensions to their postdoc- homa State, have continued filling faculty toral term limits. They also found that many positions deemed essential while funds for universities have granted exceptions to hiring Charles Sanny other positions remain frozen. freezes for PIs who will fund postdoctoral Charles Sanny chairs the department of positions with their grants. biochemistry and microbiology at the OSU “It seems like most institutions are still Center for Health Sciences and has been in- hiring if the positions are externally funded, volved in its ongoing search for a new faculty which is most of the positions,” she said. member. This was the case for Michael Johnson, “It’s not like there’s been a whole bunch a bacteriologist at the University of Arizona of recruiting going on throughout the Center seeking a postdoctoral fellow for his lab. “I Michael Johnson for Health Sciences during the COVID-19 needed to get a waiver to even be able to crisis. It’s just that we started about a year have the job opening,” Johnson said. “I think ago, and the process was allowed to continue there’s a lot that people can do remotely in and come to a conclusion,” Sanny said. “We terms of training, and then we can get them had some candidates that actually were able into the laboratory once things are, I guess, to come to the interviews before the lock- back to normal, whenever that might be.” down happened.” Carlos Castañeda, a biophysicist at Syra- A more recent candidate, he added, had cuse University, also is seeking two postdoc- to be interviewed on Zoom. toral fellows for his lab despite the university’s Patricia Phelps Despite hiring freezes for faculty posi- hiring freeze and distancing requirements in tions, many primary investigators still are lab settings. hiring recent Ph.D. recipients to work in “These positions are supported entirely by their labs. my federal grants, and that has been extremely Patricia Phelps, director of professional helpful in convincing the university that these and career development at the Johns Hopkins are positions that I’m entirely taking care of,” School of Medicine, has been tracking how he said. “So, in some ways, the fact that there universities have changed their postdoctoral is a hiring freeze throughout the university Carlos Castañeda

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 35 FEATURE

hasn’t affected my ability to hire.” and Economic Security (CARES) Act, went Castañeda is, however, concerned about to universities that were close to closing. increasing difficulties in hiring both interna- So, as universities are freezing hiring, tional and domestic candidates. they’re also slashing other parts of their bud- “Many strong candidates have been gets. international, and the ability to hire them Ohio University, which boasts an on-cam- “Our state- supported is definitely a big question mark right now, pus student body of 20,000 undergraduates public partially because of the pandemic and partially and an endowment of nearly $600 million, institutions for other reasons,” he said. “Currently, it is recently announced that it was planning to are taking a certainly easier to hire domestic than it is to eliminate 58 nonfaculty staff positions in its huge financial hire international. However, many domestic College of Arts and Sciences. In May, Ohio hit because of candidates have had their Ph.D. defenses Gov. Mark DeWine announced a nearly the pandemic. ” pushed back due to prolonged lab closures.” $800 million cut in state spending, $110m —Paula Phelps noted a similar shift in policies of which was from college and university Stephan at universities that responded to her survey, funding. And in July, the University of North saying, “The key change I see is the focus on Carolina Board of Governors told chancellors U.S. candidates, which could create a whole at all 17 campuses to prepare plans to cut separate issue for research.” their budgets by up to 50%. According to Paula Stephan, a labor econ- Beleaguered budget omist at Georgia State University who focuses In July, U.S. Immigration and Customs on the careers of scientists and the economics Enforcement announced that international of science, that pain is being felt at most pub- students would have to take some in-person lic universities and institutions. classes in the fall or leave the country, spur- “Our state-supported public institutions ring Harvard University and the Massachu- are taking a huge financial hit because of the setts Institute of Technology immediately to pandemic. In my own state, institutions are sue the government. As amicus briefs from going to have to take an 11% to 14% cut next other universities piled up, the government year,” she said. “And, if you talk to people and backed down. ask how they’re going to cover those, one of International students are a major source them is through canceling positions they were Paula Stephan of revenue for both public and private seeking to fill. So I think that says that the universities, and mounting costs related to market for new hires is definitely not going to COVID-19 are already punishing large pub- be very strong.” lic universities, many of which are in states that cannot run budget deficits. Postdoc prospects Worse, an analysis provided by Moody’s April Rodd, an environmental toxicol- Investors Services to the Washington Post in ogist in the fourth year of her postdoctoral 2016 found that the University of Virginia, fellowship at Brown University, in March University of Michigan, Ohio State Uni- began looking at her options for academic April Rodd versity, the University of North Carolina at jobs in the fall, only to watch faculty searches Chapel Hill and the University of Texas sys- get canceled. tem, among many others, had less than one “It worked out. I wouldn’t have gotten year’s worth of cash in their financial reserves. maternity leave if I had ended up taking Earlier this year, millions of dollars from the any of those positions. But it’s put me in a federal government’s coronavirus relief pack- nervous position,” said Rodd, who recent- age, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief ly became pregnant after years of trying to

36 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 FEATURE

start her family. While Rodd and her PI had within and outside of the academy. discussed the possibility of her staying in her “I’ve always thought that industry sound- lab until the beginning of the 2021 academic ed appealing; it’s somewhere you can still do year, limited resources and funding rendered research but also have the infrastructure to that untenable. contribute to a pipeline to impact a disease,” “No matter what, I’m going to lose that she said. window of time between the spring and the According to Kerry Boehner, an executive beginning of the next academic year,” she recruiter at KOB Solutions who has been re- Ryo Higuchi–Sanabria said. “And I just don’t know what the fall is cruiting scientists for the pharmaceutical and going to look like. I don’t think any of us do, biotech industries for two decades, certain in- including the universities.” dustry sectors have remained mostly unfazed (Read April Rodd’s essay about her post- by the economic downturn. doc experience on page 51.) “When the recession hit in 2008, things Ryo Higuchi–Sanabria, a fifth-year post- definitely slowed down,” Boehner said. “So, doctoral fellow at the University of Califor- when the pandemic hit, I expected the same, nia, Berkeley, and his peers are also dismayed. because everything else slowed down, so why “Usually things would start to open up wouldn’t biotech and pharma? And, the exact Ashley Frakes now. That was my experience last year,” he opposite has happened. It really depends on said. Last fall, Higuchi–Sanabria applied the kind of research that someone was doing and interviewed for tenure-track positions at in their postdoc or in their Ph.D.” universities in the greater Bay Area, more or According to Beth Keeler, associate vice less as practice, and then he started applying president of global talent acquisition at Mer- again in earnest this summer. ck, the pharma giant has not seen a notable “There’s absolutely nothing open. And increase or decrease in the number of appli- some universities are saying that they’re cants for positions that require postdoctoral or Kerry Boehner planning to open applications in September other levels of experience. if they didn’t fill positions from last year.” “I think it’s been steady and it’s been con- Because many of the postdocs who would sistent, and if you looked at it year over year, have filled those tenure-track positions are you would not see this year standing out as still on the job market, Higuchi–Sanabria is being all that different,” Keeler said. “I think worried that the pool of applicants will only in pharmaceuticals, you always have a little become more competitive next year. bit of a shift, whether it’s to a therapeutic area “Essentially all the people who couldn’t or toward particular functional expertise, like Beth Keeler get a job from the 2020/2021 cycle because oncology or vaccines. But there has not been a of the hiring freeze will be applying in the dramatic uptick or a downtick in terms of vol- 2021/2022 cycle,” he said. “A lot of my ume … when you look at our overall hiring colleagues who were planning to apply are volume for this year versus last year, it’s almost saying they’re going to wait till next year, or exactly the same.” they’re just going to start applying for indus- For scientists like Frakes, whose research try now.” is readily translatable to industry, that means a path out of academia may be available. But Industry’s appeal for postdocs like Rodd and Vasudevan, who Ashley Frakes, a research fellow in the hope for careers as independent investigators, same lab as Higuchi–Sanabria whose research the future is less clear. involves how astrocytes and microglia While Vasudevan waits for the freezes at regulate aging, is considering positions both the universities she’d been negotiating with

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 37 FEATURE

“I think the fact that so many New Yorkers have it worse really gives me pause to say, ‘Well, I guess it could be worse.’” —Deepika Vasudevan

to thaw, her PI, Hyung Don Ryoo, is piecing in their packets for one year. But he’s worried together funding so she can continue working about how hiring committees will evaluate in his lab. the overflowing pool of applicants for ten- “Moving forward in the fall, I think ure-track positions next year, some of whom I’m going to be doing all the preliminary had less access to their labs and research experiments that I would have been doing materials than their peers. in my new lab, except at my postdoc lab,” “Hopefully they will be erring on the Vasudevan said. “That’s kind of the thread to side of grace, saying, ‘We know you didn’t my sanity. I think it also gives me a little bit get a chance to do this (experiment) be- of perspective that New York has just taken cause of COVID, so we can’t in good faith such a big hit … I still mope from time to or good conscience hold that against you,’” time, but I think the fact that so many New he said. “But, at the same time, here’s this Yorkers have it worse really gives me pause to other person that might have been working say, ‘Well, I guess it could be worse.’” throughout this entire thing and got some great results. How do you treat that?” A long arc Some universities are making changes

in policies to reflect how disruptions from John Arnst ([email protected]) is COVID-19 have affected researchers’ produc- an ASBMB Today science writer. tivity. Follow him on Twitter @arnstjohn. According to Johnson, the University of Arizona has allowed professors who were up for tenure, including him, to delay turning

38 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020

AWARD WINNERS THE Careers ISSUE

42 How a research tech can work from home in the time of COVID-19 44 Grant writing tips for beginners 47 F(i/u)nding your next hypothesis 49 Illuminating leadership during crisis 51 My postdoc road was rocky — then the pandemic hit 53 How can labs reopen safely? 56 A year of unrest and grace — reflections on my journey to tenure 58 Think you’d like to move away from the bench? 60 Supporting Ph.D. students in the time of COVID-19 62 In my first real U.S. winter, I got snow; in my second, I got a pandemic 64 There and back again

40 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 JUNE/JULY 2020 ASBMB TODAY 41 CAREERS

How a research tech can work from home in the time of COVID-19 By Scott Aoki

ara, my research technician, to be near family and improve the 1. Personal and professional asked what she should be work- community she loves. development K ing on from home during the This is all whimsical This category includes tasks coronavirus outbreak, and I didn’t daydreaming. Right now, I need to that improve a research technician’s know how to respond. figure out what a research technician knowledge base. Graduate students I just started my research lab last should be doing while physically are not the only people who need August, and she was my first hire, away from the job she was hired to to catch up on their reading. We all a recent college graduate with two do. Graduate students and postdocs benefit from reading further into lab- years’ work experience in biotech. have their to-do list built into the oratory projects, and this time away I have big plans for Kara. In two job. They can start work on a grant, from the lab allows techs to study years, I will encourage her to apply catch up on reading or finish writing the origins of their work. Kara now for graduate programs in biochem- that thesis, manuscript or review. is investigating the expression profile istry. It will be a challenging next We typically hire lab technicians of a Caenorhabditis elegans gut-spe- step, but with her intelligence and to do tasks at the bench. What can cific promoter and when it turns on diligent work ethic, I know she will they do if they no longer have access during larval development. do well. I don’t know what she’ll do to a laboratory bench? Kara and I This category also includes deep- with her degree, but I not-so-secretly came up with these three general er investigation into the methods, hope that she comes back to Indiana categories. COURTESY OF SCOTT AOKI COURTESY OF SCOTT

Lab technician Kara Osburn and researcher Scott Aoki keep in touch with Zoom calls while Aoki’s lab at Indiana University is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

42 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS

equipment and programs we use in back burner when we have work and obtain extramural funding. What the lab. We are still novices using the that needs to be done right away. is my role as a supervisor during a departmental confocal microscope, Working remotely forces us to slow catastrophic event that is completely and part of Kara’s work from home down and provides time to work out of my hands? is to become acquainted with the on creative lab-related endeavors. My conclusion is to strive for microscope software. The knowledge Much to the chagrin of my friends normalcy. I may not have the training she gains about using the imaging and mentors, I’ve been dragging to work in a hospital emergency software for quantitation and gener- my feet on developing a lab web- room or develop a potent virus ation of publication-quality images site. Kara now has time to help me vaccine, but I can adjust our work to will be a great help to the lab once we with this project; she’s looking into make my team feel needed and pro- get back up and running. user-friendly software and helping to ductive. By continuing to contribute plan and develop content. With this as a lab member, Kara will, I hope, 2. Lab organization work, she is developing new skills in return to the bench feeling that she Working from home provides website design and programming. never left her position. time to catch up on lab organiza- I’ve also asked her for help with my tional projects. Kara has helped writing, such as editing the essay you me update our lab inventory in an are currently reading. electronic database, including primer When I became a professor, the and plasmid lists that were months first thing other professors told me Scott Aoki ([email protected]) behind. Organization also can mean was that nothing I’d done previously grew up in Hawaii, earned developing new protocols for the lab. in science would prepare me for the a veterinary degree from the University of California, As Kara learns the microscope soft- position’s demands. I’m certain no Davis, obtained a Ph.D. at ware, she will draft new cheat sheets one was referring to the challenge of Harvard University and did his postdoc work at the University to help novice users. starting a lab in the face of a pandem- of Wisconsin–Madison. He ic. It was hard enough trying to figure is an assistant professor of 3. Creative opportunities biochemistry and molecular out the correct next steps to recruit biology at the Indiana Creative tasks often go on the talent, develop a laboratory culture University School of Medicine.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 43 CAREERS

Grant writing tips for beginners By Bill Sullivan

rant writing is a daunting task, (or a portion of it) to the American R03s are for smaller two-year especially if you’ve never written Heart Association as well? If there is projects designed to address sim- Ga grant before. I’ve been writing an aspect of your project that does pler questions, gather data or make grants for 20 years, and I’ve served not have a clear clinical application, reagents for a larger project in the on multiple study sections for a then investigate the possibility of future. variety of granting agencies. Here are sending it to the National Science Be sure the scope of your aims some of the lessons I learned along Foundation. fits with the correct funding mech- the way. Many private foundations fund anism. research proposals. At some univer- Large funding institutions such 1. Define the key question your sities, grants administration offices as the NIH house multiple agencies research will address. circulate calls for proposals from and study sections. Talk to your col- If you cannot state your research a variety of these foundations. If leagues and the program officers at hypothesis or goal in a succinct yours does not, do some hunting the funding agencies; they can help manner, you are not ready to write online and compile a list of granting you gauge whether your research a grant. You need to refine your agencies you can target. When you topic is appropriate for submission thoughts and ideas, and identify read research papers in your field, there. a distinct gap in the knowledge take note of who funded the work — that you are qualified to fill. You maybe you can submit your grant to 4. The significance of your work may need to read more literature, them. Be sure to tailor your applica- should not be limited to the medical brainstorm with others or gather tion appropriately to each funding problem. more experimental data before you agency. An application that has been Significance is not limited to the write. It is much easier to write (and repackaged without care is spotted epidemiology of a disease or disor- review) a grant that has a highly fo- easily and typically suffers in the der; everyone knows that cancer, di- cused question. After you formulate review process. abetes and malaria are major clinical that research question, develop two problems. Your significance section or three specific aims that address 3. Target the correct funding must include why your particular different aspects of it. Aims cannot mechanisms and review panel. approach to these health problems is overlap, and one aim should not be Granting agencies usually have unique or important. What makes dependent on the results of another. multiple types of applications. Some the particular signaling pathway you of the most common at the NIH are chose to investigate worthy of in- 2. Identify multiple funding the R01, R21 and R03. tense interrogation? What is it about agencies. R01 grants fund three- to five- your experimental compound that Once you’ve defined a question year research projects that require makes it more promising than oth- to study, you are in position to substantial preliminary data to con- ers? How will the results from your market your solution to a variety of vince reviewers of their significance work represent a sustained impact on granting agencies. Note the plural. It and feasibility. Projects of this kind the field and not just an incremental is permissible to pitch your idea to include detailed studies that address advance? If you fail to convince a multiple funding agencies and foun- mechanisms underlying biological reviewer that your specific approach dations, although you cannot accept phenomena or clinical problems. to the stated biological problem or money for the same project from R21 grants are for shorter two- disease is novel and groundbreaking, more than one. For example, if you year research projects that are defined your grant is likely to fall through submitted a grant to the National as high risk, high reward. R21s can the cracks. Institutes of Health to study cardio- fund exploratory projects that take a It is useful to spell out clearly the vascular disease, why not submit it chance on an unorthodox idea. deliverables of your project. After

44 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS GREEN CHAMELEON/UNSPLASH

the aims are completed, state exactly the terms. Remember that a picture Remember, reviewers have a large how the results will advance the field. speaks 1,000 words — a simple stack of grant applications to review. In addition, if you are generating diagram that clearly spells out the It helps to make yours easy on those key reagents, data sets, compounds overarching question and how each tired eyes. Make your application or methods that the field can use for aim will address it is an effective way readable and inviting so it is clear and years to come, be sure to mention to depict your research plan. understandable. A convoluted grant them. Action words such as “deter- application is frustrating to review mine,” “define” and “identify” are and often works against you. The best 5. Watch your language! better than nebulous or incremental applications I’ve reviewed are elegant, Do not take it for granted that words like “characterize,” “validate” simple and clear. everyone knows the importance of and “explore.” You also want to avoid Take advantage of grant-writing your subject area. More often than proposing to test “if” something will seminars or pre-review panels at your not, at least one of your reviewers happen because it raises the question, university. Check out society resourc- will be outside of your field. It is What will be done if that some- es such as the American Society for critical that you make your appli- thing doesn’t happen? For example, Biochemistry and Molecular Biolo- cation understandable and exciting rephrase “We will test if protein x gy’s IMAGE workshop. If no such to those reviewers. Nothing loses a interacts with protein y” to “We will resources are available or feasible, reviewer faster than excessive jargon; determine the proteins that interact form your own group to critique your if you must use jargon, clearly define with protein x.” research plan prior to submission. Be

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 45 CAREERS

No one enjoys negative reviews, especially when you were misunderstood or when the reviewer was flat-out wrong. A trusted colleague once gave me some great advice: After getting your reviews, write the rebuttal you want to write; delete it the next day, and then write the rebuttal you have to write.

sure to include people who are not in 7. Timing can be important. After getting your reviews, write the your field. It may behoove you to make a rebuttal you want to write; delete big splash with the work support- it the next day, and then write the 6. Learn what a successful ing the application just prior to its rebuttal you have to write. In other research proposal looks like. review. Try to target publication words, get your frustrations out but Study grant applications that of this study a month or so before do so in private. The response to have been funded. You can ask your your grant is reviewed (that is when reviewers that you have to write must colleagues or campus grants office if reviewers will be reading proposals). exude a respectful tone and showcase they have applications that you could Arrange a press release from your your objectivity regarding the science examine for guidance in crafting university to help promote said pub- you are proposing. your own. Examples of successful lication, and share the news on social More often than not, reviewers grant applications are also available media. You and your exciting new try very hard to critique your grant online (the National Institute of findings will be fresh in the minds of fairly and weigh its merit objec- Allergy and Infectious Diseases has a reviewers, and your productivity will tively against the other competitive page devoted to sample applications be noted. Alternatively, preprint serv- applications in their steep pile. Many at niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts-/ ers can be a useful way to showcase reviewers offer helpful comments sample-applications). your work prior to study section, that will, in fact, improve your One of the best ways to learn and most agencies allow you to cite application and the quality of your what sort of application works and preprints in your research plan. On a science. On occasion, however, a re- what doesn’t is to serve on or sit in related note, take care not to publish viewer may have been unqualified or on grant review panels. You proba- anything that completes any part unfair, and you can bring this to the bly will not be asked to serve on a of the research plan, or you will be attention of the study section officer study section until you are a funded dinged for already having finished a in a professional manner. investigator, but some agencies and part of your proposal. I hope these tips help you craft universities may allow you to sit in winning grant proposals. Good luck! and observe. It is incredibly valuable 8. Respond appropriately to

to learn what reviewers like and reviewer comments. Bill Sullivan (wjsulliv dislike in an application. Even if you No one enjoys negative reviews, @iu.edu) is a professor at Indiana University School are successful in securing a grant, especially when you were misun- of Medicine and the author serving on a study section is highly derstood or when the reviewer was of several books. He is a member of the ASBMB recommended to help improve your flat-out wrong. A trusted colleague Today editorial advisory future grant writing. once gave me some great advice: board. Follow him on Twitter @wjsullivan. 46 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS

F(i/u)nding your next hypothesis By Audrey L. Lamb & Graham R. Moran

ne of the most daunting on their current ideas. nine project folders, two of which moments in anyone’s career is The current generation of we have gotten funded. More Orealizing that you need a new researchers is drawn necessarily into than half of the projects remain idea. For a research scientist, this re- cycles of renewal and reinvention. in the gestational stage. When we alization typically coincides with the New ideas can come in a variety of hear or see something that sparks assembly of a grant proposal. forms: They can be a branch of a path our interest, we drop the idea If your ideas seem derivative, you are already on or a new path alto- into a folder for future evaluation pedestrian or uninspired, you will gether. Either way, new ideas require and maturation. have a hard time depicting them as courage, a willingness to be inspired, • Digging: Spend some time anything else. In the early brain- and an investment of time for litera- digging up new ideas in the storming period, you need to develop ture research and the development of literature. For example, review a genuine fascination. Scientific preliminary evidence. articles frequently have “unan- funding has an unintended validating swered questions” sections, which effect for researchers, but history only How might you identify and develop provide a foundation of prior reports discoveries; no textbook ever a new idea? work and a solid premise for lauded the career funding associated • Listening: Attend seminars and future investigation. In contrast, with a foundational idea. Inquiry and be open to ideas of colleagues in articles from high-impact journals analysis remain the bases of scientific your field (enzymology for us) often have leading-edge, high- achievement. or more broadly (biology/chem- risk, high-reward results that can In recent history, there was a pe- istry). Audrey developed a new serve as the basis for projects that riod when senior faculty would, with idea after receiving an email from will elaborate knowledge in a some pride, quote the number of a trusted friend and colleague new field. This is especially useful years “their” grant had been funded. who sent a recently published for developing cross-disciplinary The current generation of research- and rather overstated article that projects in which you apply your ers does not expect such funding claimed the focus of both of their skills to expand on the work of continuity as the norm. Nor do they labs was out-of-date. While not someone from a disparate field. expect that one area of accomplish- accurate, it was certainly a spur. • Teamwork: Sometimes, to ment will be sufficient to sustain the • Lists: We have a shared drive stay afloat while new ideas are four decades of their career. titled “grant ideas.” It contains hatching, it is wise to contribute Arguments can be made for and against merit-based funding, for which the researcher’s reputation and past research successes are the pri- mary review criteria. In recent years, we have seen the reinstatement of this idea in the form of the National Institutes of Health’s Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award and Method to Extend Research in Time mechanisms, known as MIRA and MERIT. However, these grants only equal about 6% of all those fund- ed via the R01 mechanism. Most researchers must seek funding based

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your expertise to other people’s aims for a grant in response to a call Being nimble has advantages projects. A strong collaboration for applications that does not inspire for researchers at all levels, from frequently leads to a new inspi- us (ask Audrey about high-through- primary investigators to trainees, and ration. put screening). Few aspects of expands the discipline to which they • Life: Paying attention to major research are more demoralizing than contribute. They acquire versatility life events can be a source of having grant funding that compels by maintaining an opportunistic and invention. For example, one you to complete aims that do not willing stance toward new prob- of Graham’s current projects fascinate you. lems. As researchers tackle multiple evolved when a childhood friend Some ideas have an easy path to projects during their careers, this succumbed to brain cancer. After demonstrating feasibility. For others, provides opportunities for continued reading about the treatment persistence is key, and some never learning and growth. In addition, the plan, Graham chose to initiate pan out. Avoid being drawn into scientific community benefits from a new project about an enzyme areas that do not readily adapt or improved inclusivity of perspectives, that is implicated in the dis- scale to your skill set (ask Graham which in turn more efficiently drives ease’s progression. Similarly, we about RNA modifying enzymes and discovery. are all aware of the potential of observations made on the micromo- contributions to the worldwide lar scale). Graham R. Moran effort to thwart the march of Lastly, when developing your ([email protected]) is a professor of biochemistry COVID-19. ideas for the broader scientific and Carl Moore endowed A new project is only viable if community, remain aware that they research chair at Loyola University Chicago. it is intrinsically interesting to the must be framed in a way that in- researcher, feasible at the bench and spires others, including grant review inspiring to other researchers. Possi- panels. You need a receptive audience Audrey L. Lamb bly the most difficult skill to develop for your new idea, and targeting ([email protected]) is a is the ability to recognize which ideas the wrong audience is futile (for professor of biochemistry in the department of satisfy all three criteria. example, we originally targeted our molecular biosciences at Many of us have fallen into the riboflavin biosynthesis grant to the the University of Kansas. trap of chasing grant dollars, writing wrong panel).

Thinking about a career move? Look for our CAREERS COLUMN every Friday at asbmb.org/asbmbtoday.

Courtney Chandler Martina G. Efeyini Elizabeth Stivison covers industry careers covers alternative careers covers academic careers

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Illuminating leadership during crisis

By Melissa Vaught

risis has a way of revealing things that a leader cannot or should not builds between the joy of learning about leaders, from the lab man- disclose (examples include legal pro- and openness and the demand to be Cager to the top of the institution. ceedings and confidential matters). self-assured and right. We are pushed In times of uncertainty, the spotlight Transparency is more than a data to promote the importance and is on them. How they react and com- dump. It includes contextualization: impact of our work and field and, municate decisions (or don’t), while how we got the information, what it implicitly or explicitly, to elevate its influenced by organizational policy means for us, what assumptions have value — or at least the perception of and culture, tells us something about been made, how the organization is its value — above others. their values. responding. Sharing the what and It should come as no surprise, The charismatic, confident leader why of the things that affect your then, that transparency can feel risky might make for a good business team builds trust, which can help or at the very least uncomfortable, in profile or biography, but contrary to your team grow. part because it may require admitting popular caricatures, these character- weaknesses, deficiencies, even mis- istics don’t make an excellent leader. Humility takes. Humility requires that we rec- Literally volumes have been written In my own experience, the cul- ognize failures and flaws. But it also to describe styles, types and char- ture of academic science often pushes frees us from perfection. Humility acteristics of leaders good, bad and for an appearance of confidence, empowers us to say, “I don’t know.” great. In this moment, I find myself even to the point of arrogance. We It keeps us from buying into our own looking most for the following three are taught to pick apart every result hype. We can accept and embrace traits. presented to us, to question every a dependence on others. They may claim and to defend vociferously our even help us with those questions we Transparency own work and point of view. As our don’t have answers for yet. It comes Knowledge is power, yet some- scientific training advances, a tension easier to some than others, but just times managers hoard it, claiming that it protects employees. They don’t want an employee thinking about budget constraints or the stability of their position. In the lab, this is framed as allowing members to focus on the science. At other times, man- agers lack information or clarity and, worried that transparency will under- mine their authority, say something with certainty they cannot possibly have or say nothing at all. These situations readily can backfire: In the absence of a compel- ling narrative, people will create their own. Leaders recognize the impor- tance of transparency, especially in times of crisis. That’s not to say lead- ers disclose everything to everyone. No work ever would get done that way, and there’s some information

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Compassionate leaders can transform organizations for their employees. Kim Scott suggests, from her experience and review of research, that individuals and organizations excel when managers directly challenge their employees while also caring deeply — or practicing “radical candor.”

like any other skill, humility can be care in leadership. Now more than when you think of leaders. Yet these cultivated through honestly assessing ever, the folks we work with need elements represent grounding prin- what we don’t know, genuinely lis- compassion. Care does not dimin- ciples from which other powerful tening to weird ideas and nourishing ish the effectiveness of leadership. qualities flow — clarity, flexibility, our curiosity. Compassionate leaders can transform mindful presence, accountability and organizations for their employees. thoughtful delegation, among others. Compassion Kim Scott suggests, from her expe- Crisis shines a light on the difference Leadership requires connection, rience and review of research, that between management and leader- and we often turn to empathy to individuals and organizations excel ship, and it’s time to broaden our relate to others. But empathy has its when managers directly challenge vision of what leadership can be. limits. It is short-lived and exhaust- their employees while also caring ing and can even be paralyzing. deeply — or practicing “radical Melissa Vaught It can keep us from being honest candor.” Imagining how someone ([email protected]) with critical feedback (Kim Scott in must be feeling doesn’t spur action, is the director of research development for the “Radical Candor” refers to this as but compassionate leaders work to Institute of Translational “ruinous empathy”). Perhaps most remove barriers for their teams. They Health Science at the importantly, we tend to empathize make space for others and seek to University of Washington. (Views expressed here are most with those who look like us, lead through influence rather than her own.) In Seattle, you so empathy can disrupt equity and authority. might spot her running on the roads or the trails. You diversity. Maybe these aren’t the top can also find her on Twitter That doesn’t remove a place for characteristics that come to mind @biochembelle.

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My postdoc road was rocky — then the pandemic hit By April Rodd

his should have been a year of big scientist. early postdoc, I had to accept an transitions and exciting changes. Like all researchers, I hit stum- immovable truth: I needed to find TIt’s the final year of my three-year bling blocks along the way, and I new ways to do my work, or I could postdoc, and I planned carefully since worked hard to adapt and stay on not do it anymore. I was in denial the start. I took advantage of every track. The lab animals for one project until I found myself in the hospital, opportunity to expand my skills in took an unexpectedly long time to and then it was something I could no the lab and the classroom, and I even reach breeding size, so I pivoted to longer ignore. created some opportunities of my focus on another cell type while they In science, we often feel that own. caught up. When a large funding there is no such thing as good enough Stepping outside the lab, I de- application didn’t succeed, I worked — we can always do more work. My signed and taught two short pre-col- on expanding other projects for mental health crisis forced me to val- lege classes, I founded a monthly future opportunities. I tried to view ue my time and life outside of work. writing group to improve science these challenges as exercises in flex- I poured my efforts into building communication skills in depart- ibility and persistence, traits I knew new habits and managing my illness. mental trainees, and I attended local would help me succeed as a principal As the fall of 2019 came to a close, I scientific meetings to expand my investigator. was doing better than I had in a long understanding and network. I had Last fall I had my worst challenge time. With a new set of coping skills, projects in motion for publications yet when mental health issues I was my baseline health improved. In and future independent work, and struggling with hit the breaking addition to seeking help from doctors I was ready to jump into the next point. After years of pushing through and clinicians, I found success using phase of my career as an independent graduate school and my time as an a skills-based approach that taught MICHELLE KOSSACK

April Rodd teaches her one-week summer course “Factory to Faucet: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry” to precollege and high school students at Brown University last summer. In this lab activity, the students were learning how contaminants move in the environment.

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me how to cope with my feelings in ic year. However, with changes in about the direction my career takes, the moment and achieve healthier lab resources and the reduced time but it’s frustrating to feel my options behaviors. I focused on establishing post-quarantine to develop new shrink. I am grateful to have a job specific short-term goals and con- applications, the ideas generated and a paycheck when so many others necting them to realistic timelines. by these planning sessions became have lost theirs, and I am lucky to Perhaps most importantly, I accepted unrealistic. Now there will be a gap have a partner in a similar position. that I can’t control every aspect of between my postdoc and the start of But the path forward is murky, and a research project and that burning the next academic year, leaving me at my goals for 2020 seem unreachable. myself out trying only would make a disadvantage for the next applica- Instead of an exciting move to a new me less successful. tion cycle and out of the running for level of academic independence, this I felt more on top of my future funding applications. stage feels fragile and the obstacles than ever, and 2020 looked like a In a last unexpected wrin- insurmountable. bright new year to take the next big kle, right at the beginning of the I focus on what I can do today step forward. Then the pandemic hit, COVID-19 quarantine here in the and take the changes as they arrive. and suddenly my year looked very U.S., I found out I was pregnant af- Rather than dwell on what is de- different. ter years of trying to start my family. layed, I’ve used my time at home to I had planned to begin my job As is common, my pregnancy re- get through more data analysis and search this year, but that became quired changes to my mental health to begin writing manuscripts. The unexpectedly difficult. An applica- management tactics, and it has more flexible schedule has given me tion for a nonresearch university brought back challenges I previously the space to incorporate more mental job ended with a canceled search, had controlled. My medications had health skills and strategies into my and several others were canceled to be adjusted to stay at safe and daily routine, keeping me healthy while I was finalizing my application effective levels, and the physical and in a difficult time. As the university materials. Planning ahead for faculty emotional stress of pregnancy makes opens up, I focus on what I can do applications, I had a specific idea of it difficult to maintain a healthy day to day and week to week. how to present my research goals as mental state. The skills and tactics I Though it may not be what I a future principal investigator with developed for maintaining a healthy had planned, I hold on to hope for projects independent of my post- balance do not always succeed. On my next step forward, and I do what doctoral lab. My university began a top of that, because I am a toxicolo- I can each day to be as successful phased-in approach to research in gist, I will need to rely on others to as possible in this evolving envi- early summer, so I will be able to handle the dangerous materials that ronment. That hope inspires me to finish one publication, but I won’t are essential to my research, and the reevaluate why I have chosen to be have time to build more data toward timing of my due date will cost me a researcher and why I have these that independent research. To finish the last two months of this postdoc. career goals: my love of science. the publication in progress, I must I am facing a snarl of problems, Whatever I do next, whether devote my time to that and will have and I have no answers. Any one of it’s staying on the path of academic a weaker proposal for future funding these difficulties would be a chal- research or something else, if I stay opportunities and job applications. lenge — my mental health issues, focused on that love of science, I A year before my contract was the pandemic, my job transition, know I can achieve the goals that set to end in February 2021, I the pregnancy. Facing them all, I matter most to me. started discussing with my PI how feel overwhelmed as I try to navigate to move into applying for positions the crosscurrents and start the next April Rodd (april_rodd as an independent investigator and phase of my career. My transition @brown.edu) is an environmental toxicologist, what funding opportunities would to independence is looking more developmental biologist and allow me to do research through like another leak from the academic overall science enthusiast. She earned a Ph.D. in the summer until I could start at a pipeline. pathobiology from Brown new position in the 2021 academ- I always have kept an open mind University.

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How can labs reopen safely? Critical thinking and the courage to speak up are essential as we navigate this uncharted territory

By Elizabeth Stivison

abs are trying to reopen and get included questions to ask about your penalized for missing work. Sick days back to research while not spread- lab and institution. might be more flexible for students Ling COVID-19. Great goal, but Students, postdocs and techni- on stipend than technicians who are how do we do that? For this article, cians don’t set institutional policies, paid hourly, so you should talk to I’m taking a look at best practices but we can talk to our principal in- your PI about these rules or perhaps for reopening labs and what we who vestigators about how to work things contact the people in charge at your spend our days at the lab bench need in our own labs and advocate for pol- institution to get clarity. Advocate for to be asking ourselves as we move icies if we need to. I suggest talking leniency with sick time, especially for forward. to your PI first about any reopening hourly workers. Many universities and research questions; that way if any big issues institutes have published guidelines come up, you’re on the same page 2. Perform daily health checks. on their websites. When in doubt, and can work things out together. (This often ends up being follow your institution’s guidelines. Here are the three main points temperature checks.) Make sure the guidelines that from the CDC guidelines and what This one is tricky because it’s im- your lab or institution has decided on each might look like in lab. portant to maintain social distancing are communicated clearly and often. while doing these checks. It does It’s important that everyone is on the 1. Stay home if you are (at all) sick, less good, and possibly does harm, same page, and having the rules in or if someone you live with is sick. to funnel every employee into one writing will help achieve that. By now, everyone knows this. entrance and have them stand around However, this is uncharted terri- After staying home, follow CDC in a crowd waiting to be screened, tory, so we should all think critically guidelines for returning to work. and then have everyone take off their about what to do and work together These guidelines state that if some- masks and stand less than an arm’s (from a distance) to make sure we’re one had COVID-19, they should length from a person sticking a ther- doing what’s best. To this end, I stay home at least 10 days from first mometer in their mouth. looked at the Centers for Disease symptoms or three days from the last Another potential risky spot is Control and Prevention guide for day of fever, or, if testing is available, the case of labs that are associated reopening, which states, “All employ- they should get tested (again) and test with hospitals. It might seem to make ers should implement and update negative (though sometimes tests stay sense to set up one station to screen as necessary a plan that is specific to positive after the virus is gone). all employees in a hospital system, your workplace.” I then asked how What should you do if you’ve had but if this site is in the hospital, peo- this applies to labs. symptoms but couldn’t get tested and ple are forced to go into the hospital Just as labs are different from of- don’t think it was COVID 19? What when they might normally just go fices, every lab is different from every I’ve seen: People with mild symptoms to the lab and not see anyone. This other lab. Everything varies, from the stay home just in case, and, if it turns seems like a risk since a hospital is the number of people to the building’s out to be nothing, they stay home one place where people with corona- ventilation system. A lab with two another three days after recovering. virus are guaranteed to be. people is going to make different Since people likely will be staying If your institution seems to be decisions and rules than a lab with home more than usual, it is import- making risky choices about screen- 20 people, and a wet lab is going ant that employers are generous ing employees, it might be worth to make different decisions than a with sick leave. People who typically suggesting ways to do so more safely. dry lab, and so on. Because of this would come to work with a mild Infrared no-contact thermometers or variability, I’ve included guidelines cold now are staying home to protect sneeze guard–like barriers that people and lab-specific info, but I’ve also their co-workers and shouldn’t be can reach around without breathing

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Make sure the guidelines that your lab or institution has decided on are communicated clearly and often. It’s important that everyone is on the same page, and having the rules in writing will help achieve that.

on each other are potential 3. Think about how and where lines might turn out to be wrong; solutions. You might ask if multiple exposure can happen, identify more might be added. Some might screening locations can be set up hazards in your workplace, and become useless, while others become to reduce the chance of crowds. If reduce them. essential. As we go through the you’re at a hospital, ask if these could This can include wearing per- trial-and-error process of returning include sites outside the hospital. sonal protective equipment (PPE) to lab, making a list of questions and If you think screening processes and cloth masks, practicing social factors influencing your own lab’s could be safer, go to your PI first. distancing and making hygiene practices is helpful. You then can talk If your institution has a webpage central, including handwashing to your PI or lab mates about them dedicated to COVID-19 policies, and frequently cleaning high-touch and make plans together. you can look there for contact info surfaces like doorknobs. This last one for the people registering concerns is easy for labs. We wipe stuff down Questions to consider and answering questions. Consider with ethanol all the time. Masks: Should we be wearing getting in touch with the occupa- But this is also where the real masks everywhere? Are they provided tional health office, the dean, or even decision-making comes into play, or are employees bringing their own? the head of your program. All these and we have to decide what it looks Do any exceptions to mask-wearing people have more clout than a stu- like in the lab. First, find out if your make sense? Possibly at one’s person- dent or postdoc and are more likely institution has guidelines for labs. al desk (not bench)? to be able to effect changes. Research centers and universities Space: How spacious are the It’s possible, especially in big seem to vary widely. Some have every bays? How many people can work institutions, that the way it’s being detail covered on a website. Others in a bay while easily maintaining done is just the way it will continue just say to be careful. Some leave it distance? One person per kneehole? to be done. In that case, try to work up to departments or individual labs. One person per bay? One person out hours with your PI so you can Even those of us who have clear every other bay? Most of the labs I avoid rush times and crowds at the guidelines from the top are still know of have decided one person per screening sites. learning as we go. Some guide- bay makes the most sense.

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Staffing:How many people lab? While some people are coming What will your lab do if work in the lab space? Do we need back to work, many can’t because you can’t come back yet? staggered hours to allow for the dis- they are at high risk or because they What will happen to your tancing described above? Again, most are not allowed (including under- projects? Are there labs I know are staggering their hours grads). What will your lab do if you data that you can analyze so some people work in the morning can’t come back yet? What will hap- at home? Papers or grants and others in the afternoon. pen to your projects? Are there data you can help write? Gloves: Are typical lab rules, that you can analyze at home? Papers If not, will your salary such as no gloves on elevator buttons or grants you can help write? If not, and health insurance be or doorknobs, still in place? Can we will your salary and health insurance protected? For how long? allow people to wear gloves to open be protected? For how long? doors while still avoiding contamina- Lastly, where can we read rules? tion from dirty lab gloves? Help make sure the guidelines that Food: Where can people eat your lab or institution has decided on lunch? The bays might be spaced out are communicated clearly and often. nicely, but lab lunchrooms are often My PI sent out an email to all lab tiny. Where is food safe? In labs asso- members with the current schedule ciated with hospitals, is the hospital of who comes in during what hours, cafeteria safe? along with mask and distance rules. If your PI is more hands-off and doesn’t Meetings: Will lab meetings be by do that, you might consider sending Zoom? an email of your own with the rules Equipment: Will scheduling use and guidelines as you understand of shared equipment change? For them, even if it’s just, “I think these example, training on equipment use are the rules. Is this correct?” That might be canceled, or Zoom training way, it’s written down somewhere and may be possible. Facilities with mul- people can reference it if they need tiple pieces of equipment may have to. It’s important that everyone is on to block off time slots to minimize the same page, and having the rules crowding. in writing will help achieve that. Other tips and pointers such as making hallways one-way and con- Elizabeth Stivison sidering space around desks can be ([email protected]) is found on Labmanager.com. a postdoctoral researcher at Vanderbilt University studying inositol signaling Questions for your PI or and a careers columnist for ASBMB Today. Follow her department head on Twitter @E_Stivison. What if you can’t come back to

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A year of unrest and grace — reflections on my journey to tenure By Kelly N. Chacón

fter five years in my tenure-track Getting a negative tenure decision of my more privileged colleagues appointment, I am now pre- isn’t the end of the world — often, it seem to navigate intuitively. Aparing my tenure packet. What just means that a professor would be More than anything, I find does this entail? It is a synthesis of all happier at another institution, and myself making notes of what I would of my course teaching, a chronolog- it can open exciting new doors. But want to tell a new assistant professor ical account of my research program that doesn’t make the process any less starting on the tenure track — par- progress, and a recounting of my stressful, and of course, I would be ticularly a person from a marginal- service to college and community thrilled to get a positive decision. ized group. So I’ll take a moment into a very long document. So I am writing The Packet. But here to share some hard-earned tech- The readers of this document will aside from writing, and doing per- niques and tips that helped me find be colleagues, select former students sonal and activist work surrounding balance as a nontraditional person in and external reviewers, who I may or the Black Lives Matter movement, academia embarking on the tenure may not know personally, at other I have been a little … lazy. Bright journey. comparable academic institutions. summer days spent hitting the “next The broadest bit of advice for a Likely for the first time, my busy episode” button on my remote until new hire is to practice self-compas- peers will have a chance to not only the light wanes outside my window. sion. Would we talk to a dear friend in see what I have been up to as an Sleeping in late. Playing Candy the same way that we often negatively assistant professor at beautiful Reed Crush until my eyes hurt. Eating my talk to ourselves? No! Incorporating College but also, by way of letters of latchkey kid comfort foods like Spa- self-compassion into my day-to-day support or impartial reviews of the ghettiOs (with meatballs), barritas de life has dramatically reduced my tenure packet, to give their measured piña and Kraft Mac & Cheese. I am feelings of inadequacy and anxiety opinion as to whether I should be lucky that my wife has an under- and has allowed me to forgive myself granted tenure this fall. standing and loving nature. in deep ways. I have just divulged to I think this laziness is the entire ASBMB Today readership part of just letting go for a that I sometimes waste full days on minute. An unconscious Netflix and mega-refined carbohy- stepping away from the drates. Most of us would cheer on constant productivity, a generally hard-working friend for investment, planning and doing the same thing and would achieving that has been my encourage them in well-deserved life for the past 17 years, indulgence. Why are we not as kind since getting that GED and to ourselves? embarking on the academic The add-on to that is to consid- scientist track. As I write er employing vulnerability. When this painstakingly orga- I speak my weaknesses and fears These letters and reviews will be nized biography of my professional out loud to peers and students, the weighed carefully by a panel of Reed life, so many feelings bubble up and monster of self-doubt and fear is professors who were elected to our demand to be processed. It is hard often vanquished. I have also become institution’s Committee for Advance- to believe this moment has arrived. I comfortable with inducing slight ment and Tenure. Late this coming have felt joy, but also plenty of anxi- discomfort in more privileged col- fall, the committee will send a deci- ety and hurt as I struggled to under- leagues when I point out something sion to our college president and me. stand an academic world that many that I was not brought up with or a

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difference in how I see the academic stick to the main things you think click Buzzfeed open or watch a short world based on my ethnic, socioeco- a person taking your course should episode of your current favorite nomic and cultural differences. come away with and to believe in show. If the knocking of students or Many of my intelligent and tal- yourself. Trying to mimic a more-ex- colleagues persists, put a note on your ented colleagues attended prestigious perienced teacher will add hours to door, or you can escape to a less-used high schools and universities. Many your workweek and may not engage building or a pleasant spot outside. were automatically enrolled in college students in the way that your own vi- Finally, it is essential to have a preparation workshops and SAT sion will. That said, if someone shares constantly maintained, your-own- prep courses in high school and were their amazing materials and says eyes-only CV (academic resumé) that introduced to social networks that you can do whatever you want with documents every single little bit of helped guide them to success. This them? Save your energy and shame- outreach, service, informal talks, mi- was not my academic experience, lessly use those materials all you nor honors or awards, and in-person and I sometimes have to point that want. There is no reason to reinvent or virtual panels that you have done. out gently, because I can feel isolated an introductory chemistry or biology Look at it when you feel you aren’t when my colleagues are relating to course if you don’t want to. doing all that you could. You are do- one another in my presence. This is The above goes for establishing ing so much, and it adds up. And the uncomfortable to do, but as a light- your research lab. Keep things simple, magical part is that when it is finally skinned Mexican American, I can and do it your way. You are an exper- time to write up your tenure packet, and do use the problematic privilege imentalist, so use that same approach you have everything in one place, and of my lighter skin color to more in managing your lab members and you won’t forget anything of value. I easily and vulnerably speak truth to your projects. My only other sugges- am grateful that I started and kept up power. This allows folks that may tion is to walk through your lab once such a document not have that particular privilege to a day, even if only to water a plant or In this journey toward applying do more important things with their dust your own lab bench. Why? Be- for tenure, it became clear to me that time. It also allows me to feel truly cause it reminds you that even if you there is no one true way to accom- seen in the academy as an intersec- aren’t making all the research progress plish anything in this world. It’s not tional, multifaceted human. you’d like, you are still doing this. OK for anyone to make us feel weird The above suggestions are broad. You finally have your very own re- or wrong for doing what comes most But no one told me about the day-to- search lab. Be proud. Also, it doesn’t easily to us — being ourselves and day, often emotionally overwhelming hurt for your students to know you doing things in our own unique way. grind of being a new underrepresent- might pop in at any time. As underrepresented minorities, we ed minority assistant professor on the Next is the unspoken norm that can be all of the things, and we en- tenure track. you should always be available and al- rich our academic environment with When I began my profession- ways say “yes,” particularly if you are our unique lens and approach. al appointment, I was completely an underrepresented minority. Many I hope you will be faithful to your unprepared for teaching: how to of us have learned that the occasional own light — and in the meantime, structure a course; how to write tests “I regretfully decline” response is allow yourself a few lazy, snack-filled (it’s so hard); how to know if what important. So why don’t you reclaim days. I was doing engaged students and some of that “no” time just for you? worked as it should. It seemed like You deserve and have earned the right Kelly Chacón (kchacon everyone else had been a great teacher to have lunch or an afternoon cup @reed.edu) is an assistant professor in the chemistry since birth. What I’ve learned since is of coffee alone for 20 or 30 minutes department at Reed College just how personal teaching is and that in your office with the door closed. in Portland, Oregon, and a course doesn’t gel until around the Every single day. Do not apologize a member of the ASBMB Today editorial advisory third time you teach it. or explain. Just close the door, and board. Follow her on Twitter So my advice for beginners is to eat your reheated pasta. Maybe even @Kelly_N_Chacon.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 57 CAREERS

Think you’d like to move away from the bench? Consider jobs in medical affairs or medical writing

By Isha Dey

hile performing experiments and Rush University in Chicago, affairs team, Kundu trains her re- in the lab, have you ever respectively. gion’s MSLs and medical advisers on W thought, “I don’t see myself I talked to these three science a specific disease area. still doing this in five years”? But if professionals about what their job you don’t want to do bench work, titles mean and what skills and qual- What is medical writing? what steps can you take to move out ities are required for such roles. They Medical writers create various of the lab? Many graduate students also shared a few pearls of wisdom types of clinical content. They have this question. We know off- and advice. prepare regulatory and research- bench career options exist, but we related documents for drug don’t know how to prepare for them What does medical affairs mean? regulatory authorities and healthcare or what to expect. Why not learn A pharmaceutical company’s providers. They create disease- about beyond-the-bench options in medical affairs team serves as a buffer and drug-related educational and the life sciences from people who between external key opinion leaders promotional slide presentations, and have transitioned to such roles? (often called KOLs for short), such they write journal manuscripts and Subhashri Kundu has been the as healthcare professionals, and the abstracts for doctors and medical Asia Pacific lead for medical affairs at company’s research and development researchers. They also write content GlaxoSmithKline, or GSK, for a year division. Medical affairs professionals for healthcare websites or health- and a half. She earned her bachelor’s also work closely with the company’s related magazines or news articles to degree in microbiology from St. commercial team or business unit. share information about diseases and Xavier’s College and a master’s in They help healthcare providers learn medicines with the public. medical microbiology from Kasturba about drugs in a certain therapeutic Medical College, followed by Ph.D. area by sharing data from clinical What skills are important in molecular bacteriology from the trials, real-world evidence and me- for these jobs? National University of Singapore. ta-analysis. All three of these jobs require Jiaju Wang has been a medical Broadly, a medical affairs team two related skills: communication science liaison at Takeda Phar- consists of medical science liaisons, and presentation. maceutical Co. for almost a year. or MSLs, medical advisers, medical Wang said that a strong scientific After earning a bachelor’s degree in managers and medical directors. understanding of a therapy area, pharmaceutical sciences from China MSLs, such as Wang, have the most critical thinking, and the ability to Pharmaceutical University, he earned direct communication with the simplify complex scientific problems a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics KOLs. They need a sound scientific for better communication are skills at Rosalind Franklin University of understanding of the relevant disease that have helped him as an MSL. Medicine and Science in Illinois. and its therapeutics. They work Strong data-analysis skills are Arunava Ghosh has been the closely with medical advisers and extremely important in medical scientific writing manager at Cactus share the external KOLs’ feedback affairs, Kundu said. Both she Communications for three years. with their team and their partners and Ghosh said the ability to do He earned his bachelor’s degree in in the business unit so the company a thorough literature search and microbiology, then went on to earn can direct research to address unmet extract necessary information is a a master’s and a Ph.D. in biochem- patient needs. useful skill in their respective roles. istry from the University of Calcutta As a regional lead of a medical Ghosh said his adaptability to new

58 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS

Jiaju Wang Subhashri Kundu Arunava Ghosh

challenges helped him switch from involves a lot of communication. doing bench work to a desk job. What do they like about their jobs? How did they land the job? Office-based medical affairs and As a postdoctoral fellow and then medical writing jobs can involve a publication manager at Takeda, communication with clients around Wang collaborated with the com- the globe, and medical science pany’s MSL team on a few projects, liaisons usually travel extensively, so including training, resource develop- these are not 9-to-5 jobs. ment and covering talks and poster However, because these are not session at scientific conferences, on-bench, experiment-oriented jobs, which strengthened his résumé. He Kundu, Ghosh and Wang all said the was a strong internal candidate when work schedule is flexible, which re- happens through networking. “Make the MSL position opened. His will- duces stress and helps them maintain sure your LinkedIn profile is up to ingness to travel for work helped in a good work–life balance. date,” she added. his application; 40% to 50% of the “I tend to have a mental shut- Graduate students should work job involves traveling, he said. down from work in the evening,” on their presentation skills, Wang Ghosh was looking for nonac- Wang said. “I refrain from checking advised. “Embrace opportunities to ademic jobs on job portals during emails and prepare myself for a good help the community and get experi- the final year of his Ph.D. when he sleep to kick off another exciting day ence in soft skills,” he said. “The right came across the listing for a medical as an MSL.” opportunity only presents itself when writer at Cactus Communications. Kundu is an avid traveler. She you are ready.” He polished his résumé and applied plans her work so she can take breaks Ghosh advises job seekers to for the position. Six months later, the to travel and rejuvenate herself. As a tweak their résumés for each appli- company contacted him. He went new mother, she said, her job flexibil- cation to fit the role. “Use keywords through interviews and a few rounds ity makes parenting easier to handle. mentioned in the job requirements to of writing tests and was finally select- Ghosh said his job allows him to make it easy for the human resources ed. “I learned almost everything on be very creative; he caters to audi- department to screen,” he said. For the job,” he said. “It’s doable.” ences involved in different spheres of a writing job, “put more stress on Kundu said extensive networking activity and prepares scientific con- achievements on the writing front, landed her a job outside academia. tent accordingly. He also gets to learn such as publications, posters and She participated in career events about the latest research and clinical presentations. Also, make sure your hosted by her university. During trials in various disease areas. résumé is editorially correct.” one, she initiated a good scientific conversation with a representative Any advice for others aspiring Isha Dey (ishaadey@ from a pharmaceutical company who to such careers? gmail.com) is a scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific later directly referred her for an “Network, network, network,” in India. MSL position at the company. Kundu repeated. Now on the other She thinks her extroverted nature side of the transition, she said that has helped her adapt to a role that 90% of moving away from the bench

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 59 CAREERS

Supporting Ph.D. students in the time of COVID-19 By Marina K. Holz

n the best of times, pursuing a be aware that students are often the difficult circumstances and maintain Ph.D. in biomedical sciences takes main caregivers to sick and vulnera- the same level of productivity. Grad- Iincredible grit, as students are ble family members, responsible for uate students suffer from anxiety tested not only intellectually but also running errands, taking care of fam- and depression at higher rates than mentally, emotionally and some- ily businesses, looking after younger the general population, and those times physically as they spend long siblings and putting food on the challenges are amplified during the hours at the bench or computer. The table. These challenges and health pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic amplified all disparities are even more pronounced of the challenges and created new in the Black and Latino communi- Access to resources ones. ties, as they continue to struggle with Students may not have dedicated Mentors and advisers must discrimination and racism. home offices, reliable internet access be aware of the unique hardships or even updated laptops. Without imposed on graduate students by the Students with children the ability to work in libraries and pandemic and by the gradual return Staying productive while also coffee shops, some students are to campus and labs. taking care of children is a difficult confined to their homes, which may task for every working parent. While lack many amenities, such as air Separation from family some universities and research labs conditioning. Some live in unsafe Many graduate students attend are reopening, students are required homes and share apartments with institutions in locations away from to resume work. In the meantime, many roommates, making work their families and partners. Now, many summer camps are severely from home challenging. Living in with mandatory quarantines and restricted, and safe childcare options confined conditions during the self-isolation, even traveling short are scarce, making return to work pandemic has been shown to lead distances is risky. Visiting family difficult for parents. The challenges to increased instances of domestic abroad is in most cases impossible. are glaring for students who are violence, to which graduate students In addition to many state-mandated parents, especially women, who are not immune. quarantines, such as the one in the shoulder the majority of the domes- New York region, nations around the tic responsibilities. What can you do to support your world are barring entry, including graduate students? return of their own citizens. Mean- Students with health conditions Keep open lines of communica- while, visa restrictions by the U.S. Graduate students may suffer tion, but do not demand that stu- add to the confusion and uncertainty from physical and mental illnesses dents divulge specific information or about the feasibility of traveling that (due to privacy concerns) they details — they may not be ready to home. Experiencing this separation have not disclosed. It is vital for share the particulars of their personal without a clear end in sight is diffi- mentors and advisers to keep in struggles. cult and painful. mind that students may be affected Be flexible when it comes to by conditions that are exacerbated by scheduling, workload or the timeline Sick family members the pandemic or that make them feel for deliverables. Students’ priorities Some students have family mem- unsafe to come to campus. at this time may be different than your bers and friends sickened or even own. killed by COVID-19. Sadly, they’ve Mental exhaustion Be mindful about the ability of been unable to attend funerals or be Advisers need to realize that students to be productive at home, near family to grieve. We also must not everyone easily can cope with and be vigilant about signs of

60 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS FLICKER.COM/PHOTOS/THISISENGINEERING

domestic abuse. Provide support, but be prepared Marina K. Holz (mholz to take a step back, and don’t be in- @nymc.edu) is the dean of the Graduate School of Basic trusive. Your well-intentioned offer of Medical Sciences and professor help may be more of a burden than a of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College solution at this time. and a member of the Women Most importantly, remember that in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Committee of the American Society this crisis will end, but your students for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. always will remember your kindness Follow her on Twitter @Holz_lab. and support during this time.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 61 CAREERS

In my first real U.S. winter, I got snow; in my second, I got a pandemic By René Fuanta

grew up in the tropical climate provost saying the university would not their only new challenge. Many of Cameroon and later moved close and all classes would go online had to bear extra responsibilities in Ito Auburn, Alabama, which has after the break. their households. Some had to take similar weather patterns. I never I had to adjust posthaste to a a job (or two) to help support their dealt with feet of snow until the new mode of course content delivery, families after their parents or spon- winter of 2018–2019, which I joked something I did not want to be sors lost their jobs or had to stop was my first real winter in the U.S.; doing at a point in my career after working because underlying health 2019–2020 was my second. having taught the course only once. I conditions put them at high risk. Heading into the spring 2020 had to convert all my quizzes and ex- Other students became teachers and semester at East Stroudsburg Uni- ams for online delivery by changing caregivers to their younger siblings versity of Pennsylvania, I anticipated the format and style of the questions. and other children at home. With snow days with canceled classes and I took into account that students these added duties, most had little makeup lectures. As a second-year who suddenly found themselves time to attend an online class or even tenure-track assistant professor, I am stuck at home might not have the study. I addressed this by sending still adjusting to this. To my surprise, appropriate tools to draw or answer them links to my prerecorded videos. the winter was relatively warm, with some questions online. In the late They could watch these at any time very little snow. Nearing the end hours of the night, I made lecture of the day and email me questions or of February, the university had not videos. Sometimes I failed to hit the meet me during online office hours. canceled any classes. I thought this record button and had to start all This improved student performance semester was going to give me an over. I was thankful that the univer- as it helped them to attain more opportunity to reevaluate my course sity gave us an extra week to convert work–life balance. content and delivery and make some our course material to a suitable Teaching from home was also needed changes and updates. The online format. The ESU information a challenge. As a faculty member, I threat of COVID-19 appeared dis- technology and communications am far more productive when I am tant, with about 60 cases in the U.S. team offered training on online tools on campus. Sitting at home in front and none in Cameroon. I hoped like Zoom and D2L, making for of a computer all day for lectures, this coronavirus would be contained a relatively smooth transition and research and office hours is not before long. navigation. what I envisioned for my second Pennsylvania confirmed its first This well-managed move to on- year. I had to make several cushion case of COVID-19 on March 6, a line classes, though the safest option, adjustments to stay comfortable few days before our students went was a bitter pill. My students felt in my home office setup. I take on spring break. Given that part of that they had lost their connections occasional walks around the living my educational background is in with the faculty. They were not used room and do stretches, pushups and microbiology and infectious disease, to learning from home. Immedi- other exercises between lectures and I should have anticipated an unusual ately, as we transitioned to distance meetings to keep my mind sharp and semester — but I was adamantly learning, grades dropped. I shared a improve blood circulation. That has optimistic. I was certain that, given few tips to help them adjust or avoid become my new normal, but I miss the relatively low number of cases at distractions; I suggested they try to the aroma of coffee in the university the time, they could be traced and study late at night when their homes building and the hum of students quarantined and normalcy hopeful- would be quiet and calm. chatting about how they’re looking ly restored. A few days into spring As I talked with my students, I forward to graduation or panicking break, I received an email from our realized that learning from home was about their next exam or experiment.

62 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS COURTESY OF RENÉ FUANTA

Left: A native of Cameroon, René Fuanta is more accustomed to warm weather than Pennsylvania’s snowy winters. This year, instead of snow, he experienced a pandemic. Below: A building on the campus of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania where Fuanta is a second- year assistant professor.

My family has always been a great call. Thankfully, my dad (Pa Steve) is such as Zoom and WebEx, though I support. With about 15,000 con- always there to calm her down. Being quickly “zoom out” from attending firmed cases of COVID-19 as of early so far but yet feeling so close to them, so many virtual meetings. This has July (in a population of close to 27 and knowing they are all doing their been a period of many unexpected million), Cameroon is also on lock- very best to stay healthy, is to me a adjustments, but each one has shown down. My family calls me every sin- great blessing. me how much I value my interactions gle day to make sure I am doing OK. COVID-19 has given me a new with my students and family. With four brothers and a sister, four perspective on all my interactions. It nephews, and two nieces, my ears is a challenge to know the difficult are buzzing every day. They all want situations my students find them- to talk to me, yelling and screaming selves in during this period and to René Fuanta ([email protected]) is at the same time. My mom (aka the be of so little help to them. I have an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at East Stroudsburg General) gets especially frantic if I a deeper appreciation for online University of Pennsylvania. Follow him don’t respond immediately to her teaching and communication tools on Twitter @Fuanta_Lab.

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 63 CAREERS

There and back again 5 questions with Grant Blouse of Catalyst Biosciences

By Laurel Oldach

rotease expert Grant Blouse The conversation has been edited for has spent two separate stints length and clarity. Pworking at Catalyst Biosciences. When the protease-engineering firm As senior vice president of first launched, Blouse worked there 1translational research at Catalyst, as a senior scientist. Today, he’s the what does your day-to-day look senior vice president of research and like? development. I wear many hats because we’re “They went through the standard a small company now. I mix my day biotech wind-down of research and between interacting with my team ramping up of development,” Blouse and the projects they’re running and said. He took a job at the large phar- interacting with all the other func- maceutical company Novo Nordisk. tional areas. Six years later, Nassim Usman, the I wear the hat of a project lead CEO of Catalyst, offered him a role on one of our clinical programs. I company. How do those compare? as vice president of research. keep up to date with what every- I went from working with “It was an opportunity to come body’s doing in nonclinical develop- 65 people at Catalyst to 40,000 back as part of the executive team ment and toxicology. My team and worldwide at Novo Nordisk. It was and rebuild the science aspect of I interact with the consultants and definitely an eye-opener. Catalyst,” Blouse said. contract research organizations that Many of the roles I took on in While he was gone, one of Cata- run these studies for us. We don’t the larger company were as a project lyst’s drug candidates had hit a snag have any research labs in house, so a leader, making sure that all the scien- in development: Patients in a clinical fair amount of time is working with tists were cohesive about the project. trial developed antibodies that contract research organizations and In the big company — we call it a threatened to reduce its effect. The building relationships with academic mixed matrix organization — there company paused clinical trials while groups. was a protein sciences team, a biol- determining what this meant for the ogy team, an in vivo pharmacology molecule’s future. After returning, What skills do you need that you team. I had to make sure everybody Blouse led follow-up analyses show- 2 didn’t learn in graduate school? was on the same page. Communica- ing that the compound in question These days, I’m starting to give tions are very important in that role. was no more immunogenic than presentations to investors. When It’s been fun to come back to a competing treatments, and the mol- you’re giving a great scientific talk, small company. I can have a broad ecule is now ready to enter late-stage that’s one thing, but it’s different to view over all the programs and clinical trials. Blouse and his team present that same exciting work to players. And coming in as part of the also have worked on targeting other the investor community. I’m learning executive team was a great oppor- proteases, such as the immune-sig- how to have business development tunity — the kind you don’t turn naling complement system. interactions and how to move a com- down. ASBMB Today spoke to Blouse, pany’s different programs forward Smaller companies offer more who is now Catalyst’s senior vice strategically. growth potential, especially if you’ve president of translational research, just started out; they give you oppor- after he presented at last year’s You’ve worked at Catalyst and tunity to do different things, which Membrane Serine Proteases meeting.3 also a big multinational pharma gives you more options when you

64 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 CAREERS

“One bit of advice about networking: Sometimes when you’re at a table talking with a bunch of PIs, you’re excited and you want to tell your own story about everything you’re doing. But sometimes it’s good just to listen, to hear what everybody else is doing.” ­—Grant Blouse

want to make a move. Big companies Catalyst the first time because, from GRANT BLOUSE are, typically, more stable, but you’re my academic work, I knew the chief not guaranteed to have no volatility science officer. CURRENT POSITION in big pharma. I tell students they When I go to conferences, I Senior vice president of translational have a runway of a few years about catch up with everybody I’ve known research, Catalyst Biosciences anywhere they go, and beyond that, throughout my journey to see how CAREER PATH (job security) can never be guaran- they’re doing and how their research Ph.D., Wayne State University School teed. is going. Things seem to grow or- of Medicine, 2003 ganically out of those relationships. POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH Any other advice for students You just say, “Let’s touch base and Adjunct assistant professor, Aarhus 4 who’d like to do what you’re doing connect at the conference.” Some- University in Denmark someday? times people bring out opportunities FIRST INDUSTRY JOB One bit of advice about network- and say, “Hey, we’re looking for Catalyst Biosciences ing: Sometimes when you’re at a table somebody.” talking with a bunch of PIs, you’re I’ve been a strong proponent of FAVORITE MOLECULE: “Obviously a protease — they are the excited and you want to tell your own networking all through my career. I quintessential signaling molecules story about everything you’re doing. think it’s important. And it’s good to and necessary for all walks of life.” But sometimes it’s good just to listen, make sure you leave each job on good to hear what everybody else is doing. terms with everyone and keep those You learn a lot that way. relationships strong.

How important has networking been for your career? 5 Laurel Oldach (loldach@ Everything has come through asbmb.org) is a science writer for the ASBMB. relationships I’ve built in the field. Follow her on Twitter I went to do a postdoc in Denmark @LaurelOld. because of an academic collabora- tion during my Ph.D. I ended up at

AUGUST 2020 ASBMB TODAY 65 PERSPECTIVES

After the longest March, science marches on By Emilia (Emily) Arturo

arch 2020 was the longest drug discovery, immune therapies of paramount importance. Whatever March. It started for me with and vaccines, however, the call to we manage to do now in the lab or Mthe sweetness of budding trees action now is as tremendous and via telework will affect how the world and a trip to an excellent five-day conflicting as the call to stay home. fares in coming years. workshop on cryo-electron micros- Fortunately, many of us are copy in New York City. I was aware A structural virologist at home armed at home with piles of litera- of concerns about aged people in I am a mathematician turned ture and piles of cryo-EM data that faraway Italy and nagging reminders structural biologist who didn’t take a can all be analyzed remotely, though that coronaviruses don’t just cause straightforward path to becoming a sometimes only with considerable colds, but I still juggled an impossible scientist. I am a postdoctoral research effort. The literature we’re finally get- number of deadlines, travel plans associate and structural virologist ting around to reading provides new with family, travel plans for work and in the Ollmann Saphire lab at the insight into some of our experimental the usual failed experiments, along La Jolla Institute for Immunology rationale, while the data analysis is with occasional musings on carbon Division of Structural Biology and critical to designing and improving footprints, political candidates and Infectious Diseases. My children are therapies that target viral infectious how I should read more about every- in my living room, isolated from diseases, COVID-19 included. thing — ordinary chronic stuff for their school and friends, and from any scientist. the same living room I continue my Distance learning In its second week, March research into structural features of As social and physical distancing roared to a time-warping bang — a immunogenic viral glycoproteins. restraints have shut down in-per- worldwide sonic boom of industry As virologists, my colleagues son workshops and meetings, data shutdowns, social isolation, school and I in the Saphire lab now enjoy processing now means learning at a closures and pending personal and an uncommon job security. For distance from experts and colleagues global economic collapse. We’d more than 15 years, our lab has and teaching ourselves. Teaching known that a pandemic of a virus been rooted in the structural biology ourselves is not atypical in a field novel to all humans was possible, but and design of immunotherapeutics that’s evolving as rapidly as EM, but we hadn’t fathomed that it literally against some of the world’s most now the urgency to learn and apply is would play out as it does in all the deadly viruses, including Ebola, Lassa unprecedented. bad pandemic movies. and rabies. We are home to the Viral Cryo-EM data analysis is a trying A few months later, if you still Hemorrhagic Fever Immunother- process for beginners and intermedi- receive a salary, you probably are still apeutic Consortium, or VIC, and ate users alike. The researcher must working, even if you suddenly have now also to the Bill & Melinda Gates navigate a multitude of possible cats and kids and enduring dead- Foundation–sponsored CoVIC — processing workflows. The process lines in an enormous makeshift pile the Coronavirus Immunotherapeutics requires remote data connections, a of priorities in the middle of your Consortium. lot of data storage and a dozen differ- living room with no practical way of And many of us are just ... home. ent file extensions, and the researcher sorting them all out. If you don’t still The irony of virologists sheltering must be at ease with mathematical receive a salary, and some scientists in place during a viral pandemic is concepts (or with the fact that they now don’t, the optimism is wearing unsettling. While we knew it before, don’t know them), individual soft- thin. The prospects of recovering lost we own it now: Our work on under- ware peculiarities, and the potential research prowess are scary. standing viruses, viral proteins and to introduce bias at multiple steps. For anyone working on viruses, immune responses that tackle them is Making the protein sample may have

66 ASBMB TODAY AUGUST 2020 PERSPECTIVES EMILIA ARTURO

The author denoises her EM particle data at home with Fred, her irreverent cat, in March.

taken months, but getting the density YouTube, Twitter and online bulletin traits, and also because virtual meet- map from the data and making the boards in a valiant effort to be self- ings and workshops are increasingly map into a model takes the average taught or to preserve confidentiality. available. EM scientist anywhere from a few And if our Google-fu failed us or no One particular cryo-EM cen- weeks to many, many months. The one had posted a solution, we re- ter, perhaps realizing that scientists same can be said for any structural turned to wallowing in the inefficien- don’t always reach out for the help biology data, including that from cy of self-teaching. There is no time they need, has been especially X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry for that now; in our lab, we need to forward-thinking about distance and nuclear magnetic resonance. see these viral proteins and the anti- learning. The National Center for Before COVID-19, junior bodies that bind and lock them, and CryoEM Access and Training, or scientists learning to process data we need to do it ASAP. So now we NCCAT, in New York City is one often hesitated to interrupt their Zoom, Slack and dial with abandon. of the National Institutes of Health more experienced colleagues with Ordinarily introverted and Common Fund’s three cryo-EM questions. We wouldn’t dare contact self-isolating, many scientists are national centers. These centers train the software or EM experts to ask changing our behavior, perhaps in us in the technical aspects of EM for one-on-one help by email, Zoom part because our passion to help one and give us access to the pinnacle of or phone. We turned to Google, another now trumps these personality equipment. Now that the centers’

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scientists are themselves at home shel- Future Marches feats of accommodation and caring tering in place, many of their micro- A sign from the first organized go on and on. scopes are warmed, and their electron March for Science on April 22, 2017, What March 2021 will look like detectors are off. In addition to mak- stated what scientists are now expe- is anyone’s guess. From my cluttered ing past workshop course material riencing: “The oceans are rising and living room corner to yours, I wish freely available online, NCCAT now so are we.” In one form or another, you well. I hope you can learn more offers virtual office hours and virtual the viral pandemic caused by SARS- broadly and more deeply. Most live roundtable discussions related to CoV-2 has swamped our psyches, our importantly, I hope you will, when sample preparation, data collection, labs and our time. you can, reach out to give and to ask data processing and model building. We are seeing versions of scien- for help. Our field of structural virology tists we never noticed before. Experts using cryo-EM is so small and so share their time and knowledge. Prin- rapidly growing that this opportunity cipal investigators allot portions of bears repeating: We are being offered their own salaries to support research Emilia (Emily) Arturo free time to discuss difficult data with associates who otherwise would be ([email protected]) is a world-renowned experts one-on-one. furloughed. More researchers use and postdoctoral research associate and structural This creative generosity is available cite preprint servers to share infor- virologist in the Ollmann because we need the knowledge and mation and credit rather than shield Saphire lab at the La Jolla they have it — as simple as that. I it. We are taking time to expand our Institute for Immunology Division of Structural Biology hope these connections will continue understanding by reading outside and Infectious Diseases. and other institutions will emulate of our fields, and we all recognize She earned her Ph.D. at Drexel University College them, even when a pandemic no and tolerate personal struggles better of Medicine. Follow her on longer drives us. because we feel them collectively. The Twitter @moonlightterturo. EMILIA ARTURO

The author computes at home in April with her son, who is in the fourth grade.

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Being Black in the ivory tower My journey through the criminal justice system and academia

By Kayunta Johnson–Winters

hen the video of George not trespassing and had done nothing judge would know that we took the Floyd’s killing first surfaced, wrong, and when they heard the situation seriously and that the moth- W my heart sank, and I imme- shots, they ran. The woman moved er of the other child and I wanted diately tuned out. As the mother of from behind the fence, walked into justice for our children. We attended an African American male, I simply the middle of the street and contin- every pre-trial court date; my son and could not watch because it was too ued to shoot at them. I had to travel frequently from Texas emotional. Every time a Black male After my mother called me, I to Wisconsin, using personal funds, dies at the hands of a police officer or went to teach my biochemistry class, while my son missed about 20 days vigilante, a wound opens, and it feels because I was committed and didn’t of school over several months. like it is happening directly to me. want to let my students down. How- I mailed several letters to the There is a part of me that has not ever, I struggled to teach effectively. judge, which the district attorney’s recovered from my own trauma two My mind was in turmoil because I office added to my son’s case file years ago, when my 14-year-old son because I wanted to be sure the judge was the victim of a shooting incident. “The only thing would read them. The judge did Whenever a child utters “Mom,” necessary for the not respond to my letters. To our every mother within earshot turns triumph of evil is surprise, when we attended court, toward that voice. A mother knows the judge didn’t even look in our the cry of her child, especially when for good men to do direction, never acknowledging our that child is in distress. When I was nothing.” presence. When the district attorney finally able to watch the video, I saw — Edmund Burke argued his case, my Ph.D. in chemis- that George Floyd in his last mo- try, my position as a professor, all the ments cried for his mother, and I had papers that I have published and the an anxiety attack. In that moment, could do nothing to help my son. I grants that I received were irrelevant. I understood those words, “I can’t needed to see with my own eyes that The same applied to my son, who is breathe.” Kailand and his friend were OK. I a role model for many STEM-orient- I was able to relate to George told my students what had happened ed students. While I recognize that Floyd because, like him, my son, to my son and immediately booked our status should not matter, highly Kailand, is also a gentle giant. For- a flight, not bothering to inform my educated white people often receive tunately for me, my son survived his department, until I was settled, that I disproportionate sympathy. The sys- attacker’s pursuit, and I was able to was on my way to Wisconsin. tem does see color (and money), and hug him again. However, that doesn’t After my son and his friend that matters more than anything else. take away the trauma that my son and endured the trauma of having bullets The shooter was a convicted felon I experienced. The events that fol- fired at them, the police doubted with a long history of breaking the lowed the shooting involving my son their account of what had happened law, but the judge granted her an taught us many lessons about who we despite multiple witnesses, bullet cas- obtainable bail amount. The district were and how the justice system views ings and an immediate 911 call from attorney pleaded unsuccessfully that Black males. a passerby. Ultimately, the police ar- the bail needed to be higher because Kailand was spending the summer rested the woman who shot at them. the shooter had the resources to make of 2018 with my mother in Wiscon- My son and his friend identified her the bail. To add insult to injury, the sin. He and a 12-year-old friend were in a lineup, and she was jailed for judge returned a portion of the bail out taking a walk when a woman four months, pending trial. money to the shooter, because she fired her gun at them from the other I went through the proper chan- wanted to have a nice Christmas with side of her fence. The children were nels so the district attorney and the her children. My son and I were not

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to live? When do our children start looking like suspects, compelled to prove that they did nothing wrong, rather than being innocent until proven guilty?

TROY GARDNER/TGTROY PHOTOGRAPHY In 2020, Black Americans contin- ue to live in fear. Every time a death occurs at the hands of a police officer, we are reminded that our lives do not count. I am a proud American citi- zen. I am a scientist. I take pride in my research and in championing underrepresented students through my work on the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Minority Affairs Committee, as di- rector of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate program, and as organizer of the College of Science Black Grad- Kayunta Johnson–Winters and her son, Kailand, celebrate his high school graduation earlier this year. uate Student Association through my home institution. However, despite my doctoral degree, my credentials able to spend the holidays with our was of him. The entire experience, and my status as a tenured professor, family, because we had spent our from being shot at to his treatment by I am still an African American wom- resources traveling to court. the police and the judge, taught him an with a Black son, and neither of The woman who shot at my son that his Black life did not matter. us is given the benefit of the doubt at died before the case went to trial, the The story of George Floyd is all school, at work or within the justice victim of a terrible act of domestic too familiar — we have seen these system. violence. I was devastated for her stories play out time and time again Just last year, when I tried to en- family but still outraged at the dispar- in this country. Trayvon Martin was ter our new state-of-the-art research ities in the way the police and court a 17-year-old boy who was mur- building with several students from treated my son and his friend. dered when he went to the store for my large biochemistry course, a In the eyes of the judicial system, Skittles and a drink; Tamir Rice was university police officer stopped me my son — this sweet honor roll a 12-year-old boy who was killed by and would not allow me to access student who attended an elite STEM police while playing with an Air- my office and laboratory until I academy at his school, who had never soft gun but viewed as a threat. The provided credentials that showed that been in trouble — was still a Black Central Park Five were innocent boys I belonged there. After I produced boy who didn’t deserve justice. The framed for a rape and denied access my identification and swiped myself systemic racism that has plagued this to proper counsel, which sealed their and students in, the officer proceeded country from its inception made us fate for many years. These are only a to lecture me in order to justify his feel invisible. This is the message that few of the many stories. actions. My response to him was, “I our country sends to Black America In conversations with Black have students who need my assis- all too often. We felt tired and defeat- friends and relatives, we all wonder tance. Now that you have done your ed. As his mother, I could do nothing the same thing: At what point did our job, I need to do mine. Please excuse to comfort Kailand, and he lost some Black children lose their humanity, me.” I simply walked away. I didn’t of his innocence in the harsh reality their right to justice and their right want to engage. Initially, I didn’t of how dismissive the legal system

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say anything to my students about am never surprised at the institu- or marginalization, because a lifetime what they had witnessed. However, tional bias that rears its ugly head in of productivity, scholarly contribu- I noticed that the Black students the treatment of underrepresented tions, discoveries and student mento- treated the incident as normal and students, staff and colleagues. When ring is lost when that individual exits. had no reaction. Other students were we experience the isolation, dismis- Our country is at a crossroad. emotional and needed a moment to sive tones, microaggressions, and We must reckon with inequalities discuss what had happened. They implicit and explicit biases, it is akin that exist in the justice system, health were shocked and appalled. Although to a thousand cuts that slowly lead to care and education. We need to have the experience was demeaning and our demise. a conversation about the fact that diminished my authority in front of Women of color are often not all of us are afforded the same my students, my goal was to be dip- undervalued, subjected to negative privilege. lomatic and comfort them with my evaluations, overlooked for promo- Although I give back and raise words. Here is the message I shared tions, overmentored in the most my son to be a good and productive with them: ineffective way, undersponsored and citizen, I constantly fear for his safety One of the things I love most rarely given opportunities to have a because of how other people may about being a university STEM seat at the table, because our voices perceive him. I have to tell him that professor is that I don’t fit the typical do not count. if he is making someone feel uncom- profile. I am always happy to teach These are only a few of the ways fortable, he needs to go the other way the larger undergraduate classes, that the higher education system has or fall back. It isn’t fair that he has to because I get to break the perceived failed us. apologize through his body language stereotypes. However, this doesn’t I have seen countless examples or his mere presence because of some- change how I am viewed by peo- of women of color who have left one else’s bias. ple who don’t know me. That’s the academia due to the inequalities that We all need to reflect on what downside. disproportionally affect us. Everyone is happening in our country and As an African American professor suffers when a person of color leaves determine our individual roles, and in STEM and higher education, I academia due to racism, inequalities then we need to act to combat injus- tices and inequality. We must have a conversation about being white and white privilege. We must understand the toxic world that Blacks, especially Black men, live in every day. White people must use their privilege to ex- pose the gross disparities that exist in the education system, health care and criminal justice.

COURTESY OF KAYUNTA JOHNSON–WINTERS COURTESY OF KAYUNTA We need a major paradigm shift to heal the racial divide in this coun- try. We must all vow to be change agents, even when we recognize that doing so involves risk. Silence is not an option. We need your voice.

Kayunta Johnson–Winters ([email protected]) is an associate professor at the University of Texas at The author’s son, Kailand, at the time just 14 years old, attends a court hearing. The pair traveled Arlington and a member of the ASBMB Minority Affairs frequently, and at great expense, between their home state of Texas and Wisconsin for hearings over Committee. Follow her on many months. Twitter @KayuntaJ.

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Molecular Biologist Postdoctoral Fellow Biotech.WS Brigham and Women’s Hospital Peoria, Illinois, United States Boston, Massachusetts, United States

WS BioTech is accelerating commercial production of A postdoctoral position is available for a highly motivated nonpolluting, environmentally sustainable practices. We are individual to study the molecular genetics of skeletal physiology seeking highly talented and motivated staff to join our cause and at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. solve environmental crises. Research in the laboratory is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying muscle As a Molecular Biologist, you’ll support a developing physiological growth and functionality, and how dysregulation of interdisciplinary team to understand plant nutrition and these processes may lead to a diseased state. Current research metabolism by adding your own expertise. You’ll design projects within the lab investigate 1) the mechanistic role of and carry out studies to characterize plant interactions and lncRNAs on skeletal muscle transcriptional regulation, and 2) leveraging those findings in practice using our bench-to- the role of alternative splicing in modulating skeletal muscle industry platform. metabolism, regeneration, and paracrine signaling. https://careers.asbmb.org/job/molecular-biologist/54358982/ Highly motivated PhD and/or MD applicants are encouraged to apply. https://careers.asbmb.org/job/postdoctoral-fellow/54364955/

Postdoctoral Associate Lecturer Boston University University of Washington Boston, Massachusetts, United States Seattle, Washington, United States

We are recruiting a post-doctoral associate to work on NIH The Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington supported projects in the Zaia group at Boston University. School of Medicine in Seattle invites applications for a faculty position at the rank of lecturer, to serve as course director and The project will involve quantitative glycoproteomics of influenza instructor for Honors Biochemistry 451, a small (~25 students) and coronavirus proteins for studies on viral evolution. We have undergraduate biochemistry course presented in winter quarter. recently received funding for a Waters Cyclic IMS instrument that The course emphasizes conceptual concepts in biochemistry, will be dedicated for this work. The postdoctoral scientist will active learning, and is open to Honors students and others who conduct viral protein sample preparation and glycoproteomics meet eligibility criteria. LC-MS experiments. S/He will work within a collaborative team including biochemists, analytical chemists and bioinformaticians This recruitment is for two positions. The anticipated start date is to develop and validate a statistically rigorous method for December 16, 2020. This position has an annual service period of determining the changes to viral protein glycosylation that occur (3) months and is non-tenure eligible. during viral evolution and that inform understanding of viral https://careers.asbmb.org/job/lecturer/54393964/ antigenicity and immunogenicity. The candidate should have Ph.D degree in biochemistry or a related field and a strong background in proteomics and/or glycoproteomics. https://careers.asbmb.org/jobs/view/postdoctoral- associate/54168278/

To see a full list of jobs, please visit asbmb.org/careers

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