In the words of Nobel Laureate Sidney Brenner (2002), biochemistry "... provides the only experimental basis for causal understanding of biological mechanisms."
The Biochemistry of Health and Disease (BHAD) graduate program trains students to explore the biological mechanisms that control the functions of living organisms. Students in our program work at the interface between chemistry and biology to probe the interactions between biomolecules that direct cellular function. This work is generating fundamental new knowledge about disease pathogenesis and is informing the development of new therapies. Graduates of the program are working as educators and researchers in academia, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and governmental agencies.
Learn more about the curriculum for the Biochemistry of Health and Disease program
Research
The Biochemistry of Health and Disease graduate program offers a rigorous and broad-based curriculum of research and coursework leading to the MS or PhD degree. The program provides a communal and supportive environment that promotes the free exchange of ideas and methodologies, in which all of members of the community are invested in one another's success. A diverse and dynamic array of faculty mentors participate in the program, representing research areas that include protein structure/function analysis, drug discovery, mechanistic enzymology, cell signaling, virus-host interactions and cancer biology. The theme of molecular and structural mechanisms represents a common thread running through all research programs, regardless of the specific biological focus.
News & Announcements
American Institute of Physics
Congratulations to Dr. Pat Loll who has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Physics. Since 1931, AIP has engaged in research and analysis to empower positive change in the physical sciences.
Srinivas Somarowthu, PhD, Receives NIH R01 Grant
Dr. Somarowthu received a five-year R01 grant ($1,800,000) from NIH (NIGMS) to support his project: Structural and Functional Studies of lncRNAs in Gene Activation.
Elizabeth D’Lauro Receives 2024 Dean’s Travel Award
Congratulations to Elizabeth D’Lauro, recipient of the Dean’s Travel Award for the spring 2024 award cycle. D’Lauro is a PhD candidate in the Biochemistry of Health and Disease program. The Dean’s Travel Award is meant to partially defray the cost of attending a scientific meeting at which a graduate student is making a presentation, that is related to the student’s graduate study. In this cycle, each award was offered at the maximum of $750.00 per awardee.
Christian Sell, PhD, Receives NIH Institute of Aging grant
Dr. Sell received a five-year NIH National Institute of Aging R01 grant for $2,075,000 to support his project: Novel longevity enhancing pathways regulated by mTOR.
Eishi Noguchi, PhD, Receives the 2022 Elias Abrutyn Mentoring Award
The College of Medicine's Elias Abrutyn Mentoring Award is presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in mentoring colleagues, residents, or students, by creating a supportive, effective environment in research, clinical care, education or scholarship, while advocating for the advancement of their mentees, and serving as a trusted advisor and role model. Dr. Noguchi was honored along with other Faculty Award recipients, on June 9. Dr. Noguchi joins previous winners of the Elias Abrutyn Mentoring Award from our department including Dr. Michael Bouchard (2021) and Dr. Mauricio Reginato (2018).
Honors
Photis Rotsides, PhD candidate in the Biochemistry of Health and Disease program, gave an invited talk titled “Elucidating the antibiotic sensing mechanism of VanB vancomycin-resistant Enterococci” at Experimental Biology 2022, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Photis Rotsides (mentor: Patrick Loll, PhD) was awarded 3rd Place Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Poster at Discovery Day 2021.
Lina Maciunas, a Biochemistry graduate student, was one of five platform presenters to be highlighted in a news article about the College of Medicine's annual day of research, Discovery Day. Read the article.
Fellowships
Giang Le Minh (mentor: Mauricio Reginato, PhD) won the Bondi Fellowship 2024.
Photis Rotsides (mentor: Patrick Loll, PhD) won the Jane Clifford Best PHD Thesis Award 2024.
Ana Dumetriscu (mentor: Shae Padrick, PhD) won the Jane Clifford Best MS Thesis Award 2024.
Giang Le Minh (mentor: Mauricio Reginato, PhD) won the Dean’s Fellowship 2022.
Megan Meuser won the Bondi Fellowship 2020.
Selected Recent Publications
“Kruppel-like factor 8 regulates triple negative breast cancer stem cell-like activity”
Le Minh G, Esquea EM, Dhameliya TT, Merzy J, Lee MH, Ball LE, Reginato MJ
Front Oncol. 2023
“On a sugar high: Role of O-GlcNAcylation in cancer”
Le Minh G, Esquea EM, Young RG, Huang J, Reginato MJ
J Biol Chem. 2023
“Role of O-GlcNAcylation on cancer stem cells: Connecting nutrient sensing to cell plasticity”
Le Minh G, Reginato M
J. Adv Cancer Res. 2023;157:195-228
“Diazirine Photoprobes for the Identification of Vancomycin-Binding Proteins”
Rotsides P, Lee PJ, Webber N, Grasty KC, Beld J, Loll PJ
ACS Bio Med Chem Au. 2023
Graduate Placements
Megan Meuser, PhD '21, is now a postdoctoral associate at Yale University.
Kristie D. Cox, PhD '20, is now a postdoctoral associate at Medical University of South Carolina. Kristie did her thesis research work under the guidance of Dr. Marilyn Jorns.
Lina Maciunas, PhD '20, is now a bench scientist l3 at Glaxo Smith Kline. Lina did her thesis research work under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Loll.
Prajakta Mehetre, MS '20, is now a research associate II at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Prajakta did her thesis research work under the guidance of Dr. Shae Padrick.
Rebecca Rhodes, MS '20, is now a protein scientist at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies. Rebecca did her thesis research work under the guidance of Dr. Shae Padrick.
Courtney Fesko, MS '18, is now a group leader at Eurofins PSS Insourcing solutions. Courtney did her thesis research work under the guidance of Dr. Joris Beld.
Kristie Cox, PhD '20, is now a postdoctoral scholar at Medical University of South Carolina. Kristie did her dissertation work under the guidance of Dr. Marilyn Jorns.
Jennifer Koch, PhD '20, is now a postdoctoral fellow at Temple University. Jennifer did her dissertation work under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Osei-Owusu.
Neha Manjari Akella, PhD '19, is now a postdoctoral fellow at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Neha did her dissertation work under the guidance of Dr. Mauricio Reginato.
Elizabeth Upton, PhD, a recent graduate, has accepted the position of assistant medical director at MedEdNow, a health care communications company in New York City. Elizabeth did her dissertation work under the guidance of Dr. Pat Loll.
Kate Beishline, PhD, a recent graduate, has accepted the position of assistant professor of biology at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Kate did her dissertation work under the guidance of Dr. Jane Azizkhan-Clifford.
Emily Arturo, Biochemistry PhD candidate, co-chaired a session at the 2018 American Crystallographic Association Meeting in Toronto, Canada, entitled “Regulation of Protein Function by Shape-Shifting.”
Neha Manjari Akella, a PhD candidate in the Biochemistry program, was chosen for a short talk at the October 2017 Biology of Cancer: Microenvironment & Metastasis Conference in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, to present her thesis research "O-GlcNAc transferase regulates breast cancer tumor-initiating cells." She is doing thesis work in the laboratory of Mauricio Reginato, PhD, professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.