Image: Graduate students in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology continue to excel in their academic and professional endeavors. From publishing innovative research findings and having work showcased on the cover of academic journals to ambitiously presenting research at conferences and celebrating new jobs in industry, there is no shortage of success among our graduate students—exemplifying The Franklin Spark wherever they go. Highlights include: Dong Eun Seo presented a poster at the 2025 International Society for Stem Cell Research in Athens, Greece Alyssa Guarino received an Honorable Mention in the competition for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award Nick Kegley (PhD Biochemistry & Molecular Biology ’25) recently started a position as a scientist at KBI Biopharma in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park Donovan Cantrell published a pioneering study on how two identical sequences can form a charge-based fuzzy interaction to promote homodimerization of a protein, in a manner that is inhibited by glycosylation Megna Tiwari developed, in collaboration with BMB and Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC) faculty colleague Ron Orlando, highly specific antibodies to track the dynamics of a novel form of nucleocytoplasmic glycosylation – O-fucose Senior Research Associate Elisabet Gas-Pascual contributed to the discovery of the genetic basis for the long-sought after side-arm glycan of a lipid anchor for virulence proteins exposed on the surface of a human pathogen Senior Research Associate Msano Mandalasi, together with Elisabet Gas-Pascual, published documentation that oxygen-dependent glycosylation of a protein acting in the ubiquitin-proteasome system controls protein degradation in a human pathogen Brady O’Boyle’s work on the microbial kinome highlighted on the cover of Science Signaling journal July 16 C.J. Zajic awarded top graduate student talk for “The Role of Social Capital in Accessing Undergraduate Research Experiences” at the national meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research
