Nobel laureate Dr. Gerald Edelman (right), keynote speaker at the Vincent du Vigneaud Memorial Research Symposum, is introduced by graduate student Robert Debellis.
The 21st annual Vincent du Vigneaud Memorial Research Symposium was presented by students of the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences on May 8 at the Rockefeller Research Laboratories of the Sloan-Kettering Institute.
The program included 55 oral and poster presentations by graduate students.
Nobel laureate Dr. Gerald Edelman, chairman of the Department of Neurobiology at the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, Calif.), presented the keynote lecture on the topic "From Brain Dynamics to Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination."
The following prizes were awarded for student presentations.
2001 Vincent du Vigneaud Prizes ($1,000)
John Biggins: "Laboratory for Biosynthetic Chemistry, Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics Program." (Professor Jon Thorson)
Robert Johnson: "Transcriptional Repression by P53 Through Direct Binding to a Novel DNA Element." (Professor Kathleen Scotto)
William Lowry: "G Protein Beta-Gamma Subunit Signaling That Directly Depends on Csk." (Professor Xin-Yun Huang)
Rana Sawaya: "Mutational Analysis of Mammalian Capping Enzyme." (Professor Stewart Shuman)
Graduate student Matthew Gamble (center) discusses his poster exhibit with Dr. Daniel Gardner, professor of physiology and biophysics. (Exhibit title: "The Role of the DRIP Complex and the p160/p300 Complex in Nuclear Receptor-Mediated Transcription on Chromatin Templates.")
2001 Vincent du Vigneaud Awards of Excellence ($750)
Simi Ahmed: "Inhibition of IL-6 Signaling and Stat Activation by Inflammatory and Stress Pathways." (Professor Lionel Ivashkiv)
Tsion Bililign: "Understanding Calicheamicin Aryltetrasaccharide Biosynthesis: Characterization of the Critical CalQ-Encoded UDP-Alpha-D-Glucuronic Acid Synthase." (Professor Jon Thorson)
Eva Chmielnicki: "Adenoviral Transduction of the Ventricular Wall with Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Induces Neuronal Recruitment From Endogenous Progenitor Cells." (Professor Steven Goldman)
Anita Hsieh: "Ubc9p, the s-E2 for Smt3p/SUMO-1 Conjugation, Is Itself Covalently Modified by Smt3p." (Professor Pamela Meluh)
Kristine Kelly: "How to Make a Midline: Programmed Cell Death in the Primitive Streak." (Professor Takashi Mikawa)
Brian Turner: "TRKB Signaling Is Required for the Cell-Fate Decisions of Chick Retinal Progenitor Cells." (Professor Barbara Hempstead)
2001 Vincent du Vigneaud First-Year Awards ($500)
Karen Beckett: "Teashirt: A Novel Integration Point for Wingless and Notch Signaling During Muscle Development." (Professor Mary Baylies)
Daisy Leung: "Destabilization of the Autoinhibitory Domain of WASP." (Professor Michael Rosen)