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Vol. 20 / No. 5 / May 2021
FIRST CLASS
Meet the inaugural
ASBMB FELLOWS
Planning a scientific conference? The ASBMB is here to help. LEARN MORE: asbmb.org/meetings-events/propose-event
CONTENTS
NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES
2 32 44
EDITOR’S NOTE TARGETING 20,000 PROTEINS WINNERS OF THE ‘AHA MOMENTS’
‘Share your aha moments!’ BY 2035 ESSAY CONTEST
44 Finding a common ancestor
4 38 45 Dreaming of Western blots
MEMBER UPDATE EXPLORING UNDERAPPRECIATED 46 Beauty in brown
MOLECULES AND NEW CITIES 47 Fringe inspiration
8 47 A life filled with aha moments
IN MEMORIAM 48 The first to know
9 49 The right experiment
49 Prepared mind leads to life-saving
RETROSPECTIVE medical advice
Remembering Curtiss, former JLR
associate editor 50 Superhero science
51 Not quite out of the box
10 52
MEMBER NEWS
First class: Meet the inaugural FIVE QUESTIONS
ASBMB fellows Alanna Mitsopoulos: “I could be happy doing
other things”
20
LIPID NEWS
Ceramides’ role in liver disease
16
10
JOURNAL NEWS
21 JLR names new junior associate editors
23 Study reveals experimental targets
for lymphoma research
32 44
24 Researchers target cell membrane
for cancer research
25 Parasitic secretions create
microenvironment for survival
26 From the journals
20 38 52
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 1
EDITOR’S NOTE
Vol. 20 / No. 5 / May 2021
THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
‘Share your aha moments!’
OFFICERS ANDCOUNCIL
FOR BIOCHEMISTRY MOLECULAR MEMBERS
BIOLOGY
Toni M. Antalis
Suzanne Barbour
Joan Broderick
By Allison Frick
President
OFFICERS Charles COUNCIL
CraikMEMBERS
I
Gerald Hart Squire J. Booker
Gerald Hart Matt Gentry
Past President Victoria
President Susanna J. DeRose
Greer ’m not a scientist. My back- Fast-forward to January 2021,
Wei Yang Blake Hill
Jennifer DuBois
Secretary
Audrey Lamb
Audrey Lamb ground is in broadcast jour- when ASBMB’s journals made
Secretary James M.M.
James Ntambi
Ntambi nalism. When I came to the the transition to gold open access.
Joan Conaway Takita
CeliaFelder Sumter
A. Shiffer
Toni Treasurer
M. Antalis
Kelly Ten–Hagen
Takita Felder Sumter
American Society for Biochemistry Papers published in the Journal of
Treasurer
Kelly Ten-Hagen and Molecular Biology in 2015, Biological Chemistry, the Journal
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ASBMB
JoAnnTODAY
Trejo EDITORIAL it was from a local TV station, of Lipid Research, and Molecular
Robert S. Haltiwanger ADVISORY BOARD where I covered high school sports & Cellular Proteomics were going
Robert S. Haltiwanger
Carla Koehler ASBMB
Rajini Rao TODAY EDITORIAL
Carla Koehler online and worked with reporters to be published immediately and be
Co-chairs,Co-chairs,
2020/2021 Annual ADVISORY BOARD
Chair
2020 Annual
Meeting
MeetingProgram
ProgramCommittee
Committee AnaRajini
MariaRao
Barral and producers on related TV ele- permanently available for everyone
Chair
Natasha Brooks
Cheryl Bailey
Cheryl Bailey Floyd “Ski” Chilton ments. Biochemistry and molecular to read, download, copy, distribute
Chair, Education and Professional Kelly Chacón
Chair, Education and
Development Committee
Professional Development
Henrik Dohlman
Beronda Montgomery
biology were a far cry from Friday and reuse. In preparation for the
Peter J. Kennelly
DanielCommittee
Raben BillBeronda
SullivanMontgomery night lights. I was nervous to enter change, our marketing and com-
Chair, Meetings Committee
Daniel Raben Melissa VaughtRouhi
A. Maureen a new realm of content, but, more munications teams were tasked with
SoniaCommittee
Chair, Meetings Flores Binks Wattenberg
Melissa Vaught
Chair, Minority Affairs importantly, I was excited for a new coming up with a plan to share the
Sonia Flores Binks W. Wattenberg
Committee
Chair, Minority Affairs ASBMB TODAY challenge. news.
Nicole Woitowich
Committee ASBMB TODAY
Angela Hopp The thing that I absolutely love Last fall, Joanna Kotloski, then
Chair, Science Outreach and AngelaEditor
Hopp
Susannna
Communication Committee Greer Executive
Executive Editor
the most about working in commu- our digital and content marketing
Chair, Public Outreach ahopp@asbmb.org
Terri GossCommittee
Kinzy ahopp@asbmb.org nications is hearing people’s stories. manager; Anand Rao, our publica-
Chair, Public Affairs Comfort Dorn
Comfort Dorn I love learning about how they’ve tions department’s science com-
Matthew S. Gentry
Advisory Committee Managing Editor
Managing Editor
cdorn@asbmb.org
Chair, Public Affairs
Ed Eisenstein cdorn@asbmb.org navigated life. In fact, when I was municator; and I all hopped on
Advisory Committee
Chair, Membership Committee Laurel
JohnOldach
Arnst a kid, I really wanted to grow up Zoom one afternoon and started
Sandra Weller Science Writter
Science Writer
SusanPublications
Chair, Baserga loldach@asbmb.org
jarnst@asbmb.org to be an actress. My logic: I’d never brainstorming. We wanted to come
Chair, Women in Biochemistry
Committee
and Molecular Biology Ed Laurel
MarklinOldach have to choose just one job. I could up with a fun way to encourage
Lila Committee
M. Gierasch WebScience
EditorWritter
Editor-in-chief, JBC loldach@asbmb.org
emarklin@asbmb.org
try everything if I was an actress. scientists to share their discoveries in
Sandra Weller Ed Marklin It turns out performing is not my ASBMB journals. I love these brain-
A. L.Publications
Chair, Burlingame Allison Frick
Web Editor
Editor, MCP
Committee Multimedia and Social Media
emarklin@asbmb.org forte, but I never lost that passion storming sessions and admire Joan-
Nicholas
Lila M.O.Gierasch
Davidson Content Manager
Allison Frick for storytelling and learning about na and Anand for their creativity. As
Editor-in-chief, JBCJLR
Editor-in-chief, africk@asbmb.org
Media Specialist
africk@asbmb.org
the human experience. we talked about what motivates us
A. L.Kerry-Anne
BurlingameRye Stephen F. MIller
Editor, MCPJLR
Editor-in-chief, Barbara
Executive Gordon
Director Once I got to the ASBMB and to connect with organizations and
Executive Director
smiller@asbmb.org
Nicholas O. Davidson bgordon@asbmb.org
began working as a multimedia remember content, TikTok came
Editor-in-chief, JLR content specialist and sharing to mind. Then Joanna remembered
Kerry-Anne Rye
Editor-in-chief, JLR
articles from ASBMB Today on one of her favorite commercials
our social media channels, I started from Southwest Airlines, and as the
For
Forinformation
informationononadvertising,
advertising,contact
contactPharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical getting to know our members and ideas kept coming, we landed on the
Media Inc.
Media Inc. at
at 212-904-0374
212-904-0374 or or mperlowitz@pminy.com.
mperlowitz@pminy.com.
the scientific community. I quickly slogan “Share your aha moments!”
learned that scientists have fascinat- That was the beginning; we’d make
ing stories. From their personal a TikTok-inspired video with our
experiences to their research, they members passing papers to one
www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday
www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday are inspired to figure out how this another and a second video with
PRINT
PRINTISSN
ISSN2372-0409
2372-0409 world works. I knew I was going to words of encouragement about the
Articles
Articles published
published in ASBMB
in ASBMB TodayToday
reflectreflect
solelysolely the authors’
the authors’ viewsviews
and not
hear some amazing stories working opportunities offered by publishing
and not thepositions
the official official positions of the American
of the American Society forSociety for Biochemistry
Biochemistry and
and Molecular here, and I have. in an ASBMB journal.
Molecular
Biology or Biology or the institutions
the institutions with whichwith which the
the authors areauthors are Mentions
affiliated. affiliated. of
Mentions
products orofservices
productsareornot
services are not endorsements.
endorsements.
22 ASBMB
ASBMB TODAY
TODAY MAY 2021
ASBMB EDITOR’S NOTE
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journals’ associate editors and JBC’s the winning essays in this issue, start- ASBMB members to share their aha moments.
early-career reviewers. They showed ing on page 44. We hope you enjoy
up and went above and beyond to them as much as we did.
bring this to life. I have to thank When I reflect on my own career,
Ray Blind, Craig Cameron, George I realize my first few months at the
Carman, Courtney Chandler, Ngee ASBMB were huge for me. Before We’re publishing the winning
Kiat “Jake” Chua, Michel Geovanni starting here, I’d taken steps toward
Santiago–Martínez and Catherine changing fields. I wasn’t sure com- essays in this issue, starting on
Goodman for graciously appearing munications was right for me, but my page 44. We hope you enjoy them
in these videos. Their performances experience at the ASBMB reminded
were outstanding! You can see for me how much I love storytelling and as much as we did.
yourself on the ASBMB’s YouTube multimedia. It was career-changing.
channel. Working here was my aha moment,
From there, another element and to this day, not a month goes by
of the “Share your aha moments!” when I’m not reminded I’m in the
project came to life, and for this, right place. This month, that’s thanks
we have Angela Hopp to thank. She to these essays. Thank you for sharing
created an essay contest, asking our your stories and aha moments with us
members to reflect on their careers and reminding me just how grateful I
or those of scientists they respect am for mine.
and to write about the aha moment
that sparked a shift in their work.
It could be any kind of revelation Allison Frick (africk@
asbmb.org) is the ASBMB’s
that changed the trajectory of their multimedia and social media
research or life. We received dozens content manager. Follow her on
of submissions. Wow. Thank you to Twitter @allisonfrick.
all who contributed. It wasn’t easy to
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 3
MEMBER UPDATE
Hanawalt, Nagata and for cellular apoptosis.” Nagata and that university’s new Fisher Center
his lab described a membrane protein named professorship for neurode-
Regev named AACR fellows called the Fas receptor as a cell death generative disease research.
The American Association for receptor; after binding to its ligand, Strickland’s lab studies the con-
Cancer Research announced in March which Nagata’s lab also identified, tribution of vascular dysfunction to
the new class of Fas initiates an extrinsic cell death the development
fellows in its AACR pathway that is crucial for immune of Alzheimer’s dis-
Academy, which control of tumors. ease; they found
recognizes scientists Nagata is a member of the Japan that beta-amyloid
whose contribu- Academy and a foreign associate of protein can
tions have led to the U.S. National Academy of Sci- promote clotting
progress against ences. and inflammation
cancer. Three Aviv Regev has been the executive in the brain by in-
HANAWALT American Society vice president of Genentech Research STRICKLAND teracting with fi-
for Biochemistry and Early Development since 2020. brinogen and acti-
and Molecular Biology members — The AACR honors her for “devel- vating coagulation factor FXII. The
Philip Hanawalt, Shigekazu Nagata oping and applying sophisticated work has suggested new molecular
and Aviv Regev — are among the computational modeling techniques mechanisms for the widely studied
class of 25 fellows. and algorithms to understand mo- β-amyloid protein to contribute to
Philip Hanawalt is an emeritus lecular circuits and predict cellular Alzheimer’s pathogenesis and has
professor of biology at Stanford Uni- behavior.” While linked the disease to other common
versity. The AACR is honoring him a professor at the maladies of aging, such as hyperten-
for his contributions to DNA damage Broad Institute and sion and cardiovascular disease.
repair. He co-discovered the ubiqui- Massachusetts In- The position, funded by the Fish-
tous process of DNA excision repair stitute of Technol- er Center for Alzheimer’s Research
in 1964 and also discovered transcrip- ogy and a Howard Foundation, will support research
tion-coupled repair, which removes Hughes Medical into neurodegenerative diseases. It
transcription-blocking damage from Institute investiga- extends the Fisher Center’s partner-
the template strands of expressed REGEV tor, Regev led a ship with Rockefeller University;
genes. His work has furthered our un- lab that developed the university is also home to the
derstanding of the role of unrepaired high-throughput single-cell sequenc- foundation’s flagship lab of 40 scien-
DNA damage in ing technologies and conducted tists focused on Alzheimer’s disease.
oncogenesis. systems modeling to understand cells’ Strickland has been a member of
Hanawalt is a responses to varying stimuli. She co- the Fisher Center’s neuroscience
fellow of the Ameri- leads the Human Cell Atlas project, advisory committee since 2019.
can Academy of a multinational research consortium
Arts and Sciences, that aims to define each cell type in
a member of the the human body.
Blind recognized by GSA
National Academy Regev is a member of the National Raymond D. Blind, an assistant
NAGATA of Sciences, and a Academy of Sciences and the National professor at Vanderbilt Univer-
past member of the Academy of Medicine. sity, was named in early March a
AACR’s board of directors. He is a member of the inaugural cohort for
senior editor for the journal Cancer Strickland to hold the Genetics Society of America’s
Research. Presidential Membership Initiative.
Shigekazu Nagata is a distinguished
new professorship This competitive program aims
professor of biochemistry and immu- Sidney Strickland, a professor, to diversify the GSA membership
nology at the Immunology Frontier dean of graduate and postgraduate while providing professional-devel-
Research Center of Osaka University studies, and vice president for educa- opment programming and support
in Japan. He is honored by the AACR tional affairs at Rockefeller Univer- for early-career scientists.
for “categorizing crucial steps required sity, will be the first person to hold Blind’s lab studies how nuclear
4 ASBMB TODAY MAY 2021
MEMBER UPDATE
inositides and inositols regulate chro- in biology from Williams College, a metabolite converted into NADH
matin-bound proteins. He recently master’s degree in biology from Case during cellular respiration. NAD+
completed a two-year stint as a junior Western Reserve University and a declines with age in both mice and
associate editor for the Journal of Ph.D. in genetics from the University the roundworm Caenorhabditis el-
Lipid Research, an American Society of Wisconsin. egans. When it is
for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol- Research in the Hazelbauer lab missing, glycolysis
ogy publication. at the MU School of Medicine and can slow down.
Blind gave a talk the College of Agriculture, Food McReynolds’
titled “The acyl and Natural Resources focuses on research explores
chains of phos- elucidating molecular mechanisms of how the result-
phoinositides alter transmembrane receptors and sensory ing energy deficit
the structure and transduction in bacterial chemotaxis. might contribute
function of nuclear A number of recent projects have used MCREYNOLDS to cellular ageing
receptor steroido- the emerging technology of nanodiscs and whether it
BLIND genic factor-1” at a to manipulate membrane proteins in can be reversed. She also has pub-
special session on a water-soluble state. lished extensively on mentoring and
lipid diversity and disease at the 2021 Hazelbauer is making an initial improving the equity of scientific
ASBMB Annual Meeting. $20,000 donation to LTHS this year, training.
which will support creative projects of The move is a homecoming
Hazelbauer pledges several of the school’s science teach- of sorts: McReynolds earned her
ers. He has pledged to give at least the Ph.D. in biochemistry, molecular
$1 million to high school same amount each year while he and biology and microbiology at Penn
Gerald Hazelbauer, a curators’ his wife are alive, State in 2017. She served as the
distinguished professor emeritus of prior to the $1 mil- president of the Black Graduate
biochemistry at the University of lion posthumous Student Association during her
Missouri, plans to donate $1 million donation. time in State College. She arrived
to foster innovative science teaching A member of the at Penn State through a Bridges to
at Lyons Township High School in American Society the Doctorate program with Alcorn
Illinois. for Biochemistry State University in
Hazelbauer, a 1962 graduate of and Molecular Mississippi, where she earned her
the school, is making the bequest in HAZELBAUER Biology since 1984, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Her
honor of Ruth Wenner, his fresh- Hazelbauer is also awards as a graduate student in-
man biology teacher, according to a fellow of the American Association cluded an award from the Alfred P.
an article in the Riverside/Brookfield for the Advancement of Science Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D.
Landmark. and of the American Academy of Program; as a postdoc, she has
Wenner, described by Hazelbauer Microbiology. received a Howard Hughes Medical
as an innovative and challenging Institute Hanna Gray fellowship
teacher who treated her students McReynolds to join faculty and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund
like scientists, arranged for him to Postdoctoral Enrichment Program
accompany her to some laboratory at Penn State award.
sessions of a summer course for Melanie McReynolds, a postdoc- Department chair Wendy
teachers at the Illinois Institute of toral fellow at Princeton University, Hanna–Rose was McReynolds’
Technology after his freshman year. will join the faculty at Pennsylvania dissertation adviser. “Dr. McReyn-
The following year, she gave him the State University’s department of olds is a creative and collaborative
opportunity to be student leader of a biochemistry and molecular biology, researcher of exceptional promise,”
high school research project funded taking a named early-career chair, in she stated in a Penn State news
by the National Science Teachers’ January of next year. release. “As a graduate student, she
Association through the Future Sci- McReynolds studies the metabolic was well known and recognized
entists of America Foundation. He changes that occur during aging, across campus for her activism and
went on to earn a bachelor’s degree focusing on NAD+, the essential leadership.”
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 5
MEMBER UPDATE
Passano Foundation Goldberg’s wide-ranging work has Each year, the Alfred P. Sloan
had a major impact on many areas Foundation provides fellowships
honors Goldberg of biology, medicine and biotech- to promising scientific researchers
Alfred Goldberg, professor of nology. whose achievements and potential
cell biology at Harvard Medical place them among the next genera-
School, won the Derbyshire named tion of scientific leaders in the U.S.
2021 Passano and Canada. Winners each receive
Award, which Sloan fellow $75,000, which may be spent over
is presented Emily Derbyshire, an assistant a two-year term on any expense
by the Passano professor of chemistry at Duke supportive of their research.
Foundation to a University, is one of 128 early-
researcher who career scholars who are winners Kornfeld and Dahms
has made an of the 2021 Sloan Research
GOLDBERG exceptional con- fellowships.
named to M6P board
tribution to the Derbyshire earned her Ph.D. The Missouri-based biotechnol-
advancement of medical science. from the University of California, ogy company M6P Therapeutics,
Goldberg was recognized for in- Berkeley, in which develops enzyme and gene
troducing the proteasome inhibitor 2008 and then therapies for lysosomal storage
MG132, now very widely used as held a National disorders, has appointed a scien-
a research tool, and initiating the Institutes of tific advisory board of geneticists
research that led to the develop- Health postdoc- and glycobiologists including two
ment of the inhibitor bortezomib, toral fellowship American Society for Biochemistry
which is used worldwide in the in biological and Molecular Biology members,
primary treatment of the blood chemistry and Stuart Kornfeld and Nancy
cancer multiple myeloma. DERBYSHIRE molecular Dahms.
Goldberg’s major discoveries pharmacology The company is named for
have concerned the biochemical at Harvard Medical School from the sugar mannose-6-phosphate,
mechanisms and physiological 2009 to 2014. She was a scholar in which acts as
regulation of protein breakdown residence in the chemistry depart- a signal flag to
in cells and the importance of this ment at Duke’s Trinity College of promote traffick-
process in human disease. Arts and Sciences before joining ing of enzymes
His laboratory first discovered the faculty. She is also an assistant destined for
the ATP-dependent system for professor in molecular genetics and the lysosome.
protein breakdown, now termed microbiology and an associate of Without the
the ubiquitin–proteasome path- the Duke Initiative for Science and sugar, enzymes
way. They first demonstrated the Society. KORNFELD don’t make it to
involvement of the proteasomes Derbyshire’s lab studies novel the lysosome —
in this process and discovered the aspects of malaria parasite biology and absence of certain enzymes can
ATP-dependent proteases respon- with the aim of identifying drug- cause lysosomal buildup of their
sible for protein degradation in gable targets. They develop pheno- substrates. Lysosomal storage disor-
bacteria and mitochondria. typic and target-based screens to ders are generally rare diseases but
Also of great impact have been discover small molecules that can can be very serious. The company
his findings about the mechanisms be leveraged to elucidate biological is developing a gene therapeutic
for the excessive protein degrada- pathways. Their efforts integrating approach that expresses both a
tion and muscle atrophy in many biochemistry, microbiology and missing lysosomal enzyme and a
disease states and their elucidation chemical biology have revealed phosphotransferase that enables
of the role of the proteasome and parasite and human proteins proper lysosomal targeting.
cellular peptidases in antigen pre- that are important for pathogen
sentation to the immune system. infection. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
6 ASBMB TODAY MAY 2021
MEMBER UPDATE
American Academy of Microbiology inducts fellows
T
he American Academy of Microbiology has elected 65 new fellows into its class of 2021. The academy, an
honorific leadership group of the American Society for Microbiology, elects microbiologists annually through peer
review. Five of this year’s AAM fellows are American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology members.
Julie Maupin–Furlow is a of Medicine. Her lab pursues broad-based research
professor of microbiology on inflammatory diseases, including studying the
and cell science of the Uni- contribution of epigenetic modifications and other
versity of Florida’s Institute regulatory genes in inflammation and seeking
of Food and Agricultural small-molecule treatments for several types of can-
Sciences. She is known cers and cancer immunotherapy. She is a fellow of
for her lab’s biochemical the American Association for the Advancement of
and proteomic character- Science and has received numerous research awards.
ization of archaeal protein turnover through the
proteasome–ubiquitin system. The work, which Mario Feldman is a profes-
uses extremophiles from environments like the sor of molecular micro-
hypersaline Dead Sea, is relevant to bioenergetic biology at Washington
research, aiming to generate renewable fuels, as well University in St. Louis,
as to astrobiological research. Maupin–Furlow is a where he studies patho-
member of the Archaeal Proteome Project, has or- genic Gram-negative
ganized Gordon Research Conferences and received bacteria, some of which
her university’s UF Research Foundation award in frequently cause hospital-
2010. acquired infections. Feldman’s lab works to develop
new antimicrobials by better understanding bacte-
Kenneth Marians is a profes- rial secretion systems, virulence factors and outer
sor at Memorial Sloan membrane vesicles. Feldman also co-founded a
Kettering Cancer Center in biotechnology startup called VaxNewMo in 2016
New York and a leader in and serves as chief scientific officer; the company
the field of DNA replica- aims to use glycoengineering to produce vaccines
tion. He served as chair that more closely resemble true bacterial antigens.
of the molecular biology
program for 25 years and Sarah Gaffen is the Gerald
was the founding dean of the Louis V. Gerstner Jr. P. Rodnan endowed
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He is now professor of rheumatology
back in the lab full time. and clinical immunol-
ogy at the University
Mitzi Nagarkatti is Carolina of Pittsburgh and the
distinguished professor director of the Pittsburgh
and SmartState endowed Autoimmunity Center of
chair of the Cancer Drug Excellence in Rheumatology. Her lab was among
Discovery SmartState Cen- the first to study interleukin-17 and continues to
ter as well as chair of the study the role of this cytokine, and the T cells that
department of pathology, produce it, in host defense from fungal infection
microbiology and immu- and also, when unchecked, autoimmune disorders
nology at the University of South Carolina School such as psoriasis.
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 7
MEMBER UPDATE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 served on numerous research review in Kornfeld’s lab at WashU in
boards for awards and granting the 1980s. As a postdoc, she
The scientific board’s chairman agencies. In 2012, characterized mannose-6-phosphate
is also the company’s co-founder, he received the receptors that govern lysosomal
glycobiologist Stuart Kornfeld, Herbert Tabor enzyme targeting. She has studied
a professor at Washington Research Award glycoproteins and their receptors
University Medical School in St from the ASBMB. ever since, becoming a leading
Louis. Kornfeld, who has taught Board member expert in Fabry disease, a lysosomal
at WashU since 1967, has a long Nancy Dahms, a storage disorder caused by buildup
history of service to the field. professor at the of a glycosphingolipid when a
He served several terms on the DAHMS Medical College certain lysosomal glycan-digesting
editorial board of the Journal of of Wisconsin, enzyme is mutated or absent. She
Biological Chemistry, including a has studied lysosomal storage is the 2021 president of the Society
term as an associate editor, and has diseases since she was a postdoc for Glycobiology.
IN MEMORIAM
Robert Baldwin
Robert Lesh Baldwin, a founding member of Stanford who were moving to Stanford to
University’s biochemistry department and a member of the establish a biochemistry depart-
ASBMB since 1957, died March 6 at his home in Portola ment. Baldwin began his tenure at
Valley, California. He was 93. Stanford as an associate professor
“Baldwin devoted his career to studying how proteins, and was promoted to full professor
which begin life as linear chains of chemical building in 1964.
blocks, quickly assume their characteristic highly complex, In 1965, he married Anne Norris,
functional structures,” an article posted on the Stanford a postdoc in the lab of Paul Berg.
Medicine news website stated. “His research sped a shift (Another member of the Stanford biochemistry founding group,
in many biologists’ attention from organismic biology, the Berg went on to win the 1980 Nobel Prize in chemistry.) Norris
study of creatures great and small, to molecular biology, had been offered a faculty position at Harvard that year but
which focuses on the individual biochemical reactions that chose to stay in California.
underpin all living processes and on the molecules — usually Baldwin served as Stanford’s biochemistry department
proteins — responsible for catalyzing those reactions.” chair from 1989 through 1994. He was a member of the
Born Sept. 30, 1927, in Madison, Wisconsin, Baldwin National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy
was nicknamed “Buzz” by one of his sisters. He earned a of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the Biophysical Society. He
bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Wiscon- received the Stein and Moore Award of the Protein Society in
sin before attending the University of Oxford as a Rhodes 1992 and the Wheland Award in chemistry in 1995.
scholar, where he received his D.Phil. in biochemistry. He did He had been an emeritus professor since 1998 and, ac-
a postdoc in physical chemistry at the University of Wiscon- cording to Berg, continued to make major theoretical advances
sin and then joined that school’s faculty. until the last five years of his life.
In 1958, Arthur Kornberg invited Baldwin to join a group In addition to his wife, Baldwin is survived by two sons,
of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis David and Eric, and five grandchildren.
8 ASBMB TODAY MAY 2021RETROSPECTIVE
Remembering Curtiss, former JLR associate editor
By Angela Hopp
for Women in Science and, in the
L
inda Kay Curtiss, a professor 1980s, served on the board of the San
at Scripps Research in Califor- Diego chapter.
nia, died Feb. 23 of cancer. She For decades, Curtiss served as an
was 77. editorial board member and associate
Curtiss studied plasma lipopro- editor for the JLR.
teins, inflammation and innate im- Kerry-Anne Rye, who became
munity in atherosclerosis. She was a JLR’s co-editor-in-chief in 2020, is
former associate editor for the Ameri- a longtime friend and colleague of
can Society for Biochemistry and Curtiss. She said that Curtiss was a
Molecular Biology’s Journal of Lipid role model for her and other women
Research, a champion of women in they rolled the stairs out to meet you in their field.
science, and an advocate for robust — the sun hit my eyes, I smelled the “This is a huge loss. I’m going to
federal funding for research. ocean, and I immediately thought, miss her a lot, but I fortunately got
Curtiss was born in 1943 to Ruby ‘This is where I’m going to stay.’” to see her for the last time during my
and Glenn Curtiss in Seattle and Indeed, she did. She won a faculty final pre-COVID trip to the U.S. It
raised in Kirkland, Washington. She position at Scripps’ immunology and was just a few days before everything
attended and held leadership posi- microbiology department and started was locked down. Talk about impec-
tions and participated in sports at her own lab in 1978. cable timing,” Rye said.
Lake Washington High School, where Curtiss was a committed volun- She also said that Curtiss’ early love
her mother taught biology. She gradu- teer and leader for the American of athletics never faded.
ated in 1962. Heart Association, which ultimately “One of the first times I went to
Curtiss earned her bachelor’s made her an elected fellow and visit Linda in San Diego, she was
degree in zoology at the University of gave her three awards for her body in a great hurry to get to a baseball
Washington in 1966 and then earned of work and her service: the Dis- game, so we went straight there from
a master’s degree in biology at the tinguished Achievement Award in the airport. I thought we would be
University of Colorado Boulder in 2006, the Mentor of Women Award spectators. That was certainly the
1968. in 2004 and the Special Recognition case for me, but she was one of the
She spent six months in Europe Award in 2000. players!” Rye said. “Actually, her main
and another six in Africa before With the AHA, Curtiss on mul- sporting passion was golf, which she
returning to UW for her Ph.D. She tiple occasions visited Capitol Hill played with huge enthusiasm for
finished her thesis on immunochem- and talked to lawmakers about her many years.”
istry while doing a research fellowship work, federal spending priorities and Curtiss retired from Scripps in
at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in science policy. 2014 and remained in San Diego.
1974. For most of the 1990s, Curtiss She is survived by her wife of
For postdoctoral studies, she held leadership positions on the four decades, Jeanne Niosi, a sister
moved to Scripps to work on advisory board for the Deuel Confer- and a brother, and many nieces and
plasma lipoproteins in the lab of ence on Lipids. She also served on nephews.
Tom Edgington. numerous National Institutes of
“I left the Mayo Clinic in a bliz- Health study sections and review Angela Hopp (ahopp@
asbmb.org) is executive
zard in 1974,” she said in an interview committees. editor of ASBMB Today and
with Scripps’ online weekly back in Curtiss also was committed to communications director for
2007. “I stepped off the plane in San supporting other women in science. the ASBMB. Follow her on
Twitter @angelahopp.
Diego — those were the days when She was a member of the Association
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 9FIRST CLASS
Meet the inaugural
ASBMB FELLOWS
Introduction by Judith Bond & Edward Eisenstein
T
he title of fellow has a long history in academia and professional
societies and typically designates distinguished members or partners
who have contributed significantly to a field or endeavor. Over the past
year, the leadership of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology established a fellows program to recognize members of our society
who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the ASBMB and made
outstanding contributions to advance the molecular life sciences.
The Membership Committee took on the responsibility of implementing
the program by defining criteria and developing a process for selection of the
fellows. The committee decided that fellows should demonstrate exceptional
service through active participation and leadership in ASBMB programs
and should personify the core values of the ASBMB through scientific
achievements, educational endeavors, mentorship, commitment to diversity,
and/or service to the society and the scientific community. Our objective was
to select fellows who represent the breadth and diversity of the society’s
membership and all its missions.
A call for nominations for fellows was announced electronically to
members in society publications (including ASBMB Today) and on our
website. Nominations were accepted from regular, industry and emeritus
ASBMB members in good standing. There was an immediate and robust
response. It became obvious that our society has a very large number of
accomplished members who have served the ASBMB and advanced the life
sciences in many ways. A subgroup of the Membership Committee screened
and assessed the candidates, the assessments were then discussed with
the whole committee, and finally a list of 30 candidates (out of about 100
nominees) was submitted to and approved by the ASBMB Council. The list
was announced during the 2021 ASBMB annual meeting in late April.
The 2021 fellows are indeed a distinguished group of scientists who have
contributed to multiple missions of our society over a sustained period of
time and enriched our world through their efforts and accomplishments.
It was an honor to be part of the process to recognize this group, and their
contributions make us proud to be members of the ASBMB.
10 ASBMB TODAY MAY 2021ASBMB FELLOWS
Natalie Ahn, University of Colorado Boulder Teaster Baird Jr., San Francisco State University
Natalie Ahn is a distinguished Teaster Baird Jr. is a professor
professor of biochemistry at the Uni- and chair of the department of
versity of Colorado Boulder. Her lab chemistry and biochemistry at San
merges proteomics, cell biology and Francisco State University. A dedi-
biophysical approaches to investigate cated educator who has led many
signal-transduction mechanisms, par- initiatives within and beyond his
ticularly those implicated in cancer. university to improve science educa-
Ahn served as president of the American Society tion, Baird also maintains a research program in serine
for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 2016 protease enzymology, examining and engineering the
to 2018. Before that she was a member of the society’s enzymes to modify their catalytic activity, substrate speci-
Council. She was nominated to be an ASBMB fellow by ficity and interactions with macromolecular inhibitors.
Ruma Banerjee, who wrote: “Natalie worked tirelessly to Baird has served the ASBMB as the Southwest regional
enhance the status of the national meeting and selected a director of Student Chapters for at least six years and
new editor-in-chief for (the ASBMB’s) flagship journal, remains the faculty adviser for his university’s Student
JBC, which ushered in sweeping and positive changes. Chapter. For 10 years, he served on the steering commit-
… Natalie’s scientific record is stellar. … She is most tee that developed concept-driven teaching strategies in
deserving of the recognition that would be conferred as biochemistry and molecular biology.
an ASBMB fellow.” He was nominated to be an ASBMB fellow by a panel
She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Califor- of seven colleagues from SFSU and the ASBMB Student
nia, Berkeley, and did postdoctoral work at the University Chapters program, who wrote that “he sees potential,
of Washington. provides opportunities, and gives a voice to students and
faculty who often are forgotten or overlooked … (and)
Karen Allen, Boston University is constantly pushing the boundaries of the way students
Karen Allen is a professor and are educated.”
chair of the chemistry department Baird earned his Ph.D. from Duke University and was
at Boston University. Her lab uses a postdoctoral fellow both at Duke and at the University
structural biology techniques to of California, San Francisco.
study enzyme evolution and sub-
strate specificity, with a longstanding Ruma Banerjee, University of Michigan
focus on the haloalkanoate dehaloge- Ruma Banerjee is a professor of
nase superfamily. Her lab also has designed inhibitors for biological chemistry at the Univer-
several enzymes from pathogens that cause understudied sity of Michigan whose lab studies
diseases such as elephantiasis. the enzymes that metabolize and
Allen is a former member of the ASBMB Council transform sulfur-containing com-
and secretary of the society and a founding member of pounds. Her work focuses especially
the Women in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology on coenzymes, notably vitamin
Committee. B12, or cobalamin.
She was nominated to be an ASBMB fellow by Ann Banerjee was nominated to be an ASBMB fellow by
Stock and Tina Iverson, who wrote that Allen “is a superb Tina Iverson, who wrote, “Ruma is a mover and shaker in
scientist who has made fundamental contributions to the enzymology … (who) has maintained this field-leading
field of enzymology … has her pulse on the leading ques- research program in the context of extensive service to
tions of the field and is an investigator with the highest her home institutions and the world at large.”
integrity and values.” Among her many service projects, Banerjee has served
Allen earned her Ph.D. at Brandeis University and did on the ASBMB Council and Minority Affairs Commit-
postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of tee; is the founding co-PI of the society’s Maximizing
Technology. Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 11ASBMB FELLOWS
Careers, or MOSAIC, program; and is an associate editor biology, and he also played a key role in developing the
of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. She has been the ASBMB accreditation program.
recipient of numerous awards, including, in 2019, the Bell was nominated as an ASBMB fellow by Marilee
ASBMB–Merck Award, which recognizes outstanding Benore, who wrote, “Ellis’ gift is his ability to step back
contributions to research in biochemistry and molecular and allow faculty to work within the strategic outline to
biology. create change, develop professionally and then step into
Banerjee earned her Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic their own leadership roles.”
Institute and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University Bell earned his doctorate at Oxford University and did
of Michigan. postdoctoral research at Duke University.
Suzanne Barbour, University of North Carolina Squire Booker, Pennsylvania State University
at Chapel Hill Squire Booker is a professor and
Suzanne Barbour is the dean of distinguished chair at Pennsylvania
the graduate school and a professor State University, where his lab studies
at the University of North Carolina the catalytic mechanisms of redox
at Chapel Hill. enzymes involved in natural product
Barbour served on the ASBMB biosynthesis and human health. He
Education and Professional Devel- is also a Howard Hughes Medical
opment Committee for 12 years. Institute investigator.
She is now a member of the Minority Affairs Committee Booker has chaired the ASBMB’s Minority Affairs
and the Council. Barbour serves on the Annual Meeting Committee and was the founding principal investiga-
Program Planning Committee and organized scientific tor on the ASBMB Interactive Mentoring Activities for
sessions for the 2020 annual meeting. She has been on the Grantsmanship Enhancement grant writing workshop.
Journal of Lipid Research editorial board for almost 14 He also co-organized the 2016 ASBMB annual
years. meeting. He now serves on the Finance and Nominating
She was nominated to be an ASBMB fellow by Sterling committees.
Bradley, who wrote that Barbour “is a recognized national Booker was nominated to be an ASBMB fellow by
advocate for many aspects of career development and Ruma Banerjee, who wrote, “Squire’s work is character-
the challenge facing working scientists and the coming ized by its elegance and rigor. … His research productivity
generation of scientists.” is all the more impressive given his heavy teaching load
Barbour earned her Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University and service commitments both at Penn State and
and did postdoctoral training at the University of Cali- nationally.”
fornia, San Diego. She has been a program director at the Booker earned his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Insti-
National Science Foundation and a dean at the University tute of Technology and did postdoctoral research at the
of Georgia. Université René Descartes in Paris and the University of
Wisconsin. He is an elected member of the American
J. Ellis Bell, University of San Diego Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy
J. Ellis Bell is a lecturer at the of Sciences.
University of San Diego. A dedi-
cated educator, Bell has published George Carman, Rutgers University
extensive pedagogical research and George Carman is a professor at
also pursues structural biology stud- Rutgers University and director of the
ies in a lab jointly run with his wife, university’s Center for Lipid Research.
USD professor Jessica Bell. He has made seminal contributions
Ellis Bell won the 2015 ASBMB Award for Exemplary to the understanding of the regula-
Contributions to Education. That award recognized his tion of phospholipid synthesis using
service to biochemistry education as a long-serving mem- the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
ber of the Education and Professional Development Com- His group identified the molecular function of the yeast
mittee; he led the committee that developed concept- version of mammalian lipins, phosphatidic acid phospha-
driven teaching strategies in biochemistry and molecular tase enzymes that are crucial regulators of fat metabolism.
12 ASBMB TODAY MAY 2021ASBMB FELLOWS
Carman is a repeat associate editor for the society’s Enrique M. De La Cruz, Yale University
Journal of Lipid Research and is a former associate edi- Enrique M. De La Cruz is a
tor for its Journal of Biological Chemistry. He won the professor at Yale University, where
society’s 2012 Avanti Award in Lipids, which recognizes he leads the molecular biophysics
outstanding research contributions in the area of lipids. and biochemistry department and
He also has served on and as chair of the society’s Branford College. His lab studies the
Meetings Committee and Annual Meeting Program actin cytoskeleton, molecular motor
Planning Committee. He also has been a member of the proteins and nucleotide signaling
ASBMB Council and Awards Committee and co-orga- enzymes.
nized numerous society events. De La Cruz is an associate editor for the Journal of
Alfred H. Merrill Jr. at Georgia Tech University Biological Chemistry and an advisory board member for
nominated Carman to be an ASBMB fellow. “George the society’s Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and
has made impressive contributions to science through Academic Independent Careers, or MOSAIC, program.
both the discoveries of his laboratory and his assistance He previously served on and chaired the society’s Publica-
to others through these activities,” he wrote. tions Committee, served on the Meetings Committee,
Carman earned his master’s degree from Seton Hall co-organized a 2013 annual meeting thematic session and
University before going on to complete his Ph.D. at the co-organized the 2014 annual meeting.
University of Massachusetts. He did postdoctoral work Mark Hochstrasser at Yale nominated De La Cruz to
at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. be an ASBMB fellow. “Enrique is an active member of
the ASBMB and is an exemplary scientist in his research,
Michael Cox, University of Wisconsin–Madison teaching and training, particularly of underrepresented
Michael Cox is an endowed scientists. … He has done an enormous amount of
professor in the University of work in helping to build diversity both here at Yale and
Wisconsin–Madison department elsewhere.”
of biochemistry. His lab studies De La Cruz earned his Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins
DNA replication and repair and University School of Medicine and completed postdoc-
is best known for contributions to toral training at the University of Pennsylvania.
understanding the RecA and Flp
recombinases, which have become widely used tools Edward Dennis, University of California, San Diego
for biotechnology and developing transgenic model Edward Dennis is a distinguished
organisms. professor at the University of
Cox served as a member of the ASBMB Council and California, San Diego. He has made
an associate editor of the Journal of Biological Chem- important contributions to the study
istry; he was a member of the steering committee that of lipid metabolism and cell signaling
developed concept-driven teaching strategies in bio- through his research on phospholi-
chemistry and molecular biology and continues to advise pase A2 enzymes. Importantly, he
his university’s ASBMB Student Chapter. He has served pioneered the lipidomics movement.
for many years as a judge in the undergraduate research Dennis has been a member of the ASBMB Council
poster competition at the ASBMB annual meeting. and served as the first chair of the ASBMB Annual Meet-
UW–Madison colleague Aaron Hoskins, who ing Program Planning Committee, program chair of the
nominated Cox as an ASBMB fellow, wrote, “Mike is a 1996 annual meeting, and on the society’s Membership
remarkable scientist. … From writing a grant to writing Committee, Education and Professional Development
an exam, Mike has been an exceptional scientific role Committee, and Finance Committee. He was a mem-
model in every way.” ber of the Publications Committee when the society
Cox earned his Ph.D. at Brandeis University and was started the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics and
a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University School acquired the Journal of Lipid Research, and he went on
of Medicine. to serve as editor-in-chief of the JLR for 15 years. He also
served on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological
Chemistry. He won the society’s 2000 Avanti Award in
Lipids and its 2020/2021 Bert and Natalie Vallee Award
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 13ASBMB FELLOWS
in Biomedical Science. Dohlman has been an ASBMB member for more than
George Carman nominated Dennis to be an ASBMB three decades. He served multiple terms on the editorial
fellow. “Numerous investigators have entered the field board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and today is
of phospholipases and signal transduction as well as an associate editor.
lipidomics because of the contributions of Dr. Dennis,” Jeremy Thorner, who nominated Dohlman as an
Carman wrote. “These investigators do not even include ASBMB fellow, wrote, “Henrik has made numerous
the many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows that path-finding contributions about what are now known as
Dr. Dennis has mentored at the University of California G-protein coupled receptors. … Moreover, in the process,
at San Diego. The fact that many of his past students are he has trained legions of his own Ph.D. students and
now leaders in the field in their own right is testimony of postdoctoral trainees.”
his outstanding ability to train and motivate people.” He earned his Ph.D. at Duke University and complet-
Dennis earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. from ed postdoctoral training at the University of California,
Harvard University and completed postdoctoral training Berkeley.
at Harvard Medical School.
William Dowhan, University of Texas Health Science
John Denu, University of Wisconsin–Madison Center at Houston McGovern Medical School
John Denu is a professor at the William Dowhan is an endowed
University of Wisconsin‒Madison, professor in biochemistry and
where his lab studies enzymes re- molecular biology at the University
sponsible for adding and removing of Texas Health Sciences Center
post-translational modifications. McGovern Medical School, where
Recently, his team revealed new his lab studies lipid‒protein interac-
regulatory mechanisms that link tions. His lab found that lipids are
metabolism and chromatin function, opening up new involved in proper folding of membrane proteins and that
insights into diet, gut microbiota and the epigenome. changes to the lipid environment can alter membrane
Denu has served as an editorial board member and protein activity.
now is an associate editor of the Journal of Biological Dowhan won the ASBMB’s 2005 Avanti Award in Lip-
Chemistry. He also serves on the ASBMB Nominating ids, which recognizes outstanding research contributions.
Committee. He has organized both scientific sessions and He has served on the society’s Meetings Committee and
professional-development events for the ASBMB annual organized a scientific symposium for the annual meeting.
meeting. He is a past editorial board member for the Journal of
Sharon Dent, who nominated Denu as an ASBMB Biological Chemistry.
fellow, wrote, “John’s research is consistently trailblazing. “Dr. Dowhan’s success lies in successfully challenging
… John is a highly productive scientist … (who) is also dogma … use of evolving technology and approaches …
highly committed to teaching and mentoring.” and generating new concepts,” wrote George Carman,
Denu earned his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University who nominated Dowhan as an ASBMB fellow.
and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Dowhan earned his Ph.D. at the University of Califor-
Michigan. nia, Berkeley, and did postdoctoral research at Harvard
Medical School.
Henrik Dohlman, University of North Carolina
Henrik Dohlman is a professor Catherine Drennan, Massachusetts Institute
at the University of North Caro- of Technology
lina, Chapel Hill, where he chairs Catherine Drennan is a profes-
the pharmacology department and sor at the Massachusetts Institute of
studies G protein–coupled recep- Technology and a Howard Hughes
tor signaling and desensitization Medical Institute investigator. She
in yeast. His lab was the first to studies the structural biology of
demonstrate G protein regulation by GTPase-activating metalloenzymes. Her lab’s targets
RGS proteins, mono- and poly-ubiquitination, and pro- have included multiple enzymes that
ton second messengers. depend on metal cofactors, such as ribonucleotide reduc-
14 ASBMB TODAY MAY 2021ASBMB FELLOWS
tase, an early enzyme in DNA biosynthesis. Drennan service to ASBMB and the scientific community. …
was once a high school science and drama teacher, and Overall, the products of Dr. Sumter’s mentorship skills
she has remained committed to developing teaching have established broad contributions and her widespread
best practices and research-based modules for students impacts will continue to influence the next generation
ever since. of science education and production of scientists.”
As a postdoctoral fellow in 1997, Drennan started Sumter earned her Ph.D. at the University of South
the undergraduate poster competition at the ASBMB Carolina and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the
annual meeting. She ran it for the next five years. She Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
also served on the ASBMB Education and Professional
Development Committee during the period when Karen Fleming, Johns Hopkins University
the society developed its undergraduate biochemistry Karen Fleming is a professor at
curriculum recommendations. She later served on the Johns Hopkins University and a
Publications Committee. In 2013, she co-organized pioneer in the study of membrane-
a themed session on catalytic mechanisms for the protein folding. Her lab focuses on
ASBMB annual meeting, and she is organizing one on beta-barrel proteins of the bacterial
enzymology for the 2022 meeting. outer membrane and investigates
In her nomination letter, Tina Iverson at Vander- the structural basis of chaperone
bilt University noted Drennan’s “deep commitment interactions with unfolded membrane proteins.
to education and inclusivity” and her “long service to Fleming is an associate editor of the Journal of Bio-
ASBMB, her contributions to training, and her stature logical Chemistry and a past member of the Council.
as a world leader in the field.” She has organized multiple meetings in protein biophys-
Drennan earned her Ph.D. from the University of ics, including events for the ASBMB, and she has been a
Michigan and completed her postdoctoral research at vocal advocate for equity in scientific careers.
the California Institute of Technology. Cynthia Wolberger, who nominated Fleming as an
ASBMB fellow, wrote, “She has worked extensively
Takita Felder Sumter, Winthrop University on issues facing women in STEM … and has recently
Takita Felder Sumter is the expanded her efforts to confront issues that face both
dean of the College of Arts & Sci- women and men of color.”
ences and a professor at Winthrop Fleming earned her Ph.D. at Georgetown University
University. and did postdoctoral training at Yale University.
She has been deputy chair and
later chair of the ASBMB Minor- Lila M. Gierasch, University of Massachusetts Amherst
ity Affairs Committee. She was Lila M. Gierasch is a distin-
instrumental in creating the society’s Marion B. Sewer guished professor and former
Distinguished Scholarship for Undergraduates and department head at the University
co-led the Interactive Mentoring Activities for Grants- of Massachusetts Amherst. Her lab
manship Enhancement program. She helped organize studies protein folding, investigat-
regional workshops and other activities that ultimately ing the mechanisms of molecular
led to the creation of two new mechanisms to evalu- chaperones and the effects of
ate student learning: the ASBMB degree-accreditation misfolded protein aggregates.
program and the ASBMB certification exam. She has been the editor-in-chief of the Journal of
She has been a regional director for the society’s Stu- Biological Chemistry since 2016. She was the 2014
dent Chapters program, and she has served for the past recipient of the ASBMB’s Mildred Cohn Award, which
decade and a half as a judge for the annual undergradu- honors scientists who have made substantial advances
ate poster competition. Sumter is now on the ASBMB in understanding biological chemistry using innovative
Council. physical approaches.
Heather J. Evans Anderson at Stetson University, Daniel Hebert, who nominated Gierasch as a fellow,
who nominated Sumter to be an ASBMB fellow, wrote: wrote that, beyond her many accolades, “What is most
“Taken together these efforts exemplify Dr. Sumter’s special about Lila are the so many things she does that
exemplary mentorship skills and her commitment to do not show up on a resume. Beyond serving as an
MAY 2021 ASBMB TODAY 15You can also read
