UCLA Biological Chemistry

Congratulations to Dr. Weizhe Hong and his team for their latest discovery on the neural basis of parenting. They used optogenetics, in vivo imaging, and single cell transcriptomics and identified a sex-specific role of the medial amygdala in regulating parenting behavior. The paper was published in Cell https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)30057-1

Our first group of faculty candidates will be visiting next Tue Feb 5. We are excited to host them and learn about their discoveries. The talks are open to all. Please join us.

http://newsroom.ucla.edu//three-ucla-professors-elected-to

Warmest congratulations to Dr. Larry Zipursky for receiving the @UNC_SOM 19th Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize along with Dr. Sanes of Harvard for the discovery of cell-surface proteins that control circuit assembly in the visual system. This prestigious prize recognizes fundamental discoveries in neuroscience with six of its previous winners having gone on to win the Nobel Prize. https://news.unchealthcare.org//ucla2019s-zipursky-harvard

The Biological Chemistry Department came together to enjoy our annual holiday party.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Carey and colleagues for their new study published in Molecular Cell. The study shows how the genome is organized to insulate genes and their regulatory regions, and informs on how changes to DNA sequence outside of genes can be associated with cancer and a variety of other diseases. https://stemcell.ucla.edu//study-identifies-location-dna-g

Congratulations to Dr. Gonen and colleagues on their new publication in which they describe a new technique for routine structural analysis from seemingly amorphous powders. This new technique could prove to be transformative for drug discovery, and thus has been nominated for the 2018 Science Breakthrough of the Year! https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.8b00760?ref=hero

Last week the Biological Chemistry Department celebrated our annual In-N-Out Welcome Reception. We would like to welcome all new members to our department.

Congratulations to Dr. Reid Johnson and colleagues for their latest paper in eLife. They report mechanistic insights into the biology of DNA transposable elements, pieces of DNA that are important for a wide array of biological processes such as immunity in mammals and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. https://elifesciences.org/articles/39611

Congratulations to Dr. Weizhe Hong for receiving a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering. This fellowship is given to early-career scientists who are taking big risks to perform creative and pioneering research in all areas of science and engineering. Dr. Hong's research aims to understand the genetic basis of social behavior. More info about the 2018 Fellows can be found at https://www.packard.org//packard-fellowships-in-science-a/

The Biological Chemistry Department gathered in celebration of Professor Michael Grunstein receiving the 2018 Lasker Award.

We are pleased to see the wide coverage of the Lasker Award given to Dr. Grunstein. Here is an article form the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com//la-sci-sn-lasker-prize-grunstein-2

The official Lasker video on the 2018 Basic Science Awardees: Allis and Grunstein. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=i4GA5JHzu78

Congratulations to Michael Grunstein, a distinguished professor of biological chemistry, for receiving the 2018 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award! He shares the prize with C. David Allis of the Rockefeller University. Dr. Grunstein’s seminal discoveries in 1980s and 1990s transformed our understanding of chromatin biology, establishing histones and their posttranslational modifications as regulators of chromatin structure and function, especially of transcription. Hi...s remarkable contributions were pioneering, unmatched by anyone in the field, and laid the foundation for subsequent discoveries and blossoming of the field in the last two decades. As we learn how alterations in chromatin biology contribute to a range of pathologies, this Lasker Award is also a wonderful recognition of the importance of basic, curiosity-driven, fundamental research in model organisms in advancing our understanding of human disease. http://newsroom.ucla.edu//uclas-michael-grunstein-wins-201 See more