Ysabel Giraldo awarded Belamarich
Ysabel Giraldo of the James Traniello Lab was selected as the winner of the 2015 Belamarich Award for outstanding doctoral dissertation in Biology for her thesis “Neuroanatomical and Neurochemical Correlates of Senescene and Social Role in the Ant Pheidole Dentata"
Post-defense, Giraldo is currently working as a NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Prof. Michael Dickinson at the California Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the behavioral neurobiology of social interactions larval Drosophila melanogaster. In particular, she is examining the sensory regulation and neural control of competitive and cannibalistic behavior among larvae.
Congratulations, Ysabel. We wish you the best in your future endeavors!
Biology-Hosted SURF Students Give Annual Presentations
Students in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program at Boston University gave presentations in the program's annual event on Thursday, August 6, 2015.
The SURF Program is funded by a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduate (NSF-REU) with Dr. Tom Gilmore as lead Principal Investigator and Director of the Program. The SURF Program provides a research opportunity for undergraduates who are interested in conducting research in the Biological Sciences. The ten students who took part in this program were selected from over 800 applicants in a nationwide search. This year students conducted ten weeks of full-time research in a Department of Biology lab, mentored by a Biology faculty member. Students also participated in weekly enrichment activities and social events.
We wish the SURF students the best as they return to their undergraduate institutions!
Students spoke in the subjects of Molecular Biology of Disease, Plant Biology, and Insect Biology
Molecular Biology of Disease
Sultan Mussakhan (Nazarbayev Univ, Kazakhstan)
Research conducted in the Gilmore Lab
Talk title: "The Effect of Truncating Mutations on the Stability of the p300 Acetyltransferase Protein"
Suhaily Penix (MassBay Community College)
Research conducted in the Gilmore Lab
Talk title: "Characterization of the 'Intervening Domain' of NEMO, A Protein Involved in Human Immunodeficiency Diseases"
Dominique Thompson (Northwestern State University)
Research conducted in the Eldred Lab
Talk title: "The Modulation of GFAP in Response to Blast Traumatic Brain Injury"
Plant Biology
Christopher Thomas (Whitworth University)
Research conducted in the Talbot Lab
Talk title: "Effect of Climate Change on Wood-Rot Fungi"
Lidimarie Trujillo (University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez)
Research conducted in the Talbot Lab
Talk title: "Fungi Fight Club: Effects of Nitrogen Levels on Fungal Combat"
Nahomie Rodriguez (Universidad Metropolitana, Puerto Rico)
Research conducted in the Celenza Lab
Talk title: "Role of the alf3-I Mutant in the Systemic Acquired Resistance Signaling Pathway in Arabadopsis thaliana
Maroua Jabouri (Bunker Hill Community College)
Research conducted in the Templer Lab
Talk title: "Effects of Climate Change Across Seasons on Photosynthesis and Foliar Nitrogen of Maples"
Insect Biology
Kelsey Kenniel (Spelman College)
Research conducted in the Traniello Lab
Talk title: "How Sociality Influences Brain Evolution: Ants as a Model"
Anna Yeaton (University of Massachusetts Amherst )
Research conducted in the Frydman Lab
Talk title: "Dissecting the role of Armadillo in the Intracellular Accumulation of Wolbachia"
Anthony Ortega (Boston University)
Research conducted in the McCall Lab
Talk title: "Lysosome trafficking in a Novel Form of Cell Death in Drosophila melanogaster"
Primack Wins Humboldt Award
Professor Richard Primack, of EBE, has received an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Award, presented at the foundation’s annual meeting in Berlin June 11. Primack, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of biology, is one of 18 international researchers from a range of academic disciplines recognized by the foundation, which was established and is funded by the government of Germany.
“The award is granted in recognition of a researcher’s entire achievements to date to academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future,” according to the foundation. Award winners receive approximately $66,000 and are invited to spend up to a year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany. The award is named for Alexander von Humboldt, who was born in 1769 and whose work transformed western science in the 19th century. He was described by Charles Darwin as “the greatest scientific traveler who ever lived.” Read more
Congratulations, Richard!
BU Biology Honors Professor Gloria Callard
Professor Gloria Callard was honored for her 30+ years of service to Boston University at a Faculty Luncheon on May 28, 2015.
Professor of Biology Gloria Callard is retiring after 33 years at BU. Callard earned her PhD in Physiology at Rutgers University in 1964, after which she spent time in research and teaching positions at Johnson & Johnson, the College of William and Mary, the University of Leeds in England and Harvard Medical School, where she was an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She moved to BU as an Associate Professor in 1982.
The author of some 160 scientific papers, Callard is a AAAS Fellow and has developed an international reputation as an expert in the field of estrogen synthesis and the effects of estrogen on the brain. Working primarily with fish models, Callard has been at the forefront of molecular research on estrogen-like substances (known as xenoestrogens) and their effects on the brain and neurodevelopment.
The mentor to dozens of students and post-doctoral researchers at BU, Callard is a past recipient of Boston University’s United Methodist Scholar/Teacher Award. As her swan song, Callard will travel to Stockholm this fall to present her research at a Wenner-Gren Symposium. Gloria and her husband Ian, a Professor Emeritus of Biology, are retiring to coastal Rhode Island where they anticipate lots of time for R and R with their 3 children and 7 grandchildren.
Thank you Gloria, we will miss you!
Gut Reactions
- Daniel Segrè, Photo by Cydney Scott
Professor Daniel Segre uses mathematical modeling to understand the biology behind the human microbiome.
In summer 2014, Segrè received a $1.4 million grant from the Department of Energy to model the ways communities of microbes could transform plant matter into a kind of oily biodiesel fuel.
Read more at the BU Research article, "Gut Reactions."
Ant expert James Traniello critiques the science of the summer blockbuster Ant-Man for BU Today
“It’s a turning point for ants in cinema,” says James Traniello, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of biology, who joined BU Today for a matinee viewing of the film. Traniello has spent his career studying the social behavior of ants, and is also—perhaps not surprisingly—a connoisseur of insect films. He gives Ant-Man an enthusiastic thumbs-up, though he had a few quibbles with the science.
Traniello interviews on social brain evolution on WHYY, NPR affiliate in Philadelphia.
James Traniello was interviewed on social brain evolution by WHYY, and NPR affiliate in Philadelphia. Traniello believes the idea of distributed intelligence in insects may help explain an aspect of the evolution of the human brain.
"Most people are aware that over the last 200,000 years, human brains have increased very dramatically," Traniello said.
What's less well-known, Traniello said, is that starting about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, around the time agricultural societies began to develop, human brains started to shrink. According to one estimate, they have lost about the size of a tennis ball so far.
"That is as fascinating as why human brains became large in the first place," Traniello said.
Traniello Lab Research Covered by Australian ABC
The research of the Traniello Lab and Australian collaborators was covered by Australian ABC, the article "Brain chemical turns tree ants into aggressive soldiers" discusses differences in the levels of the chemical octopamine in the brains of two types of worker ant correlates with the level of aggression they show. The US-Australian study is detailed in the publication in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.
Rama Simhadri’s Research Highlighted
Rama Simhadri's Research Highlighted
Rama Simhadri of the Dr. Horacio Frydman lab was one of 4 graduate students selected from a field of 110 to be highlighted at the Gordon Research Conference on Animal-Microbe Symbioses in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire from June 21-26. Rama's poster was titled "Wolbachia modulate Drosophila microbiome".
Undergraduate student, Akuah Kontor, awarded AHA fellowship
Ms. Akuah Kontor, a rising Senior in Professor Frank Naya’s lab, was recently awarded a summer research fellowship from the American Heart Association, Founders Affiliate. Ms. Kontor is majoring in Biology with Specialization in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology & Genetics. Competition for this research fellowship is stringent. In 2014, 10 students were selected for the summer fellowship program from eight states of the Founders Affiliate Region which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.