On August 17th, the Annual MIP Faculty Retreat took place to review the 'State of the Department' and identify key issues to be addressed this year. With a new research facility opening (and two more in the planning stages), a new state-of-the-art Diagnostic Lab breaking ground next month, the ID and Cancer Superclusters revving up, record indirect cost returns, the hitting of the 'century' mark in the number of MIP graduate students, achieving a likely 'CSU-best' level of >50% of our undergraduate majors with meaningful research experiences as part of their education, and two brand-spanking new senior faculty positions on the books, MIP is maintaining its outstanding performance at all levels. In addition to managing this explosive growth in department activities, action items that were generated at this retreat included:

• A thorough review of educational curricula, class scheduling and teaching assignments to ensure that we are fully meeting our students needs
• Development of a plan for classroom and teaching lab remodeling, along with the identification of potential sources of funding for projects
• The identification and prioritization of new MIP faculty position requests to address President Penley's stretch goal of hiring 400 new faculty over the next five years
• Development of an updated, prioritized list of major equipment and remodeling needs in the Department
• Development of a clear policy for departmental maintenance of major, multi-user equipment

Be sure to stay tuned to MIPnews for all of the scoop on this vibrant department.

Only in MIP would being called ‘Necropsy Head’ be considered a compliment! With Dan Gould and his storied career nearing retirement, Gary Mason has been offered and has accepted the position as Necropsy Section Head. Congratulations Gary!

As if one wasn't enough, we have a new "RCE" in town - Residency Coordinator Ehrhart, that is. EJ has accepted the important role of coordinator of the residency program, taking over from Dr. Mason who now serves as Necropsy Section Head. Congratulations EJ.

MIP's Bob Ellis, CSU's Biosafety Officer, has done something that Hillary and Obama can only dream about - he's been elected President! We are pleased to announced that Dr. Ellis has been voted 'President-Elect' of the American Biological Safety Association, an influential 1500+ member international organization devoted to Biosafety. Bob's term as president will begin October 2008. Congratulations Bob!

In the News...

Dr. Herbert Schweizer received a significant ‘shout out’ for his work on Burkholderia in a News Focus article in the August 24th edition of Science. Check out the article.

Histo, Histo Lab
I want to read (about the)
Histo Lab

(©DLab Village People
All Rights Reserved)

We're very pleased to have on board Todd Bass, our new Histology Lab Supervisor at the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who accepted the position on June 1st. He's been plenty busy all summer, hiring several new staff members to bring the lab up to full capacity. Histo Lab Staff includes Kathi Wilson, Larry Ludden, Grant Evans, Matt Garber, Ana Mario Benavides, Melissa North and Mike Tauchen. With a full staff they are now working at providing turnaround times quicker than a Tulowitzki-to-Matsui-to-Helton twin killing. Also on the horizon for the Dlab is a Histo Lab Equipment Automation initiative, which will allow them to further expand their service, particularly in the area of IHC services.

Angela Morrison presented her final defense on Friday, September 14 entitled, "The Role of a Unique Polyadenylation Element and Novel RNA-binding Proteins in the Post-Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression". Her advisors are Jeff and Carol Wilusz.

Dr. Luke Wittenburg, MIP Fellowship Grant Trainee, recently received the "Veterinarians in Biomedical Research: Building National Capacity 2007 Young Investigator Award". Luke was one of six presenting finalists at the national conference in Bethesda, MD to receive the award.  Congratulations!

MIP Publications Late August-early September 2007

• Anderson J, Akkina R. Complete knockdown of CCR5 by lentiviral vector-expressed siRNAs and protection of transgenic macrophages against HIV-1 infection. Gene Ther. 2007 Sep;14(17):1287-97.
• Bergman N, Moraes KC, Anderson JR, Zaric B, Kambach C, Schneider RJ, Wilusz CJ, Wilusz J. Lsm proteins bind and stabilize RNAs containing 5' poly(A) tracts. Nature Struct Mol Biol. 2007 Sep;14(9):824-831.
• Calisher CH. Bioterrorism or natural disasters: what shall we worry about next? Croat Med J. 2007 Aug;48(4):574-8.
• Klein SL, Calisher CH. Emergence and persistence of hantaviruses. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2007;315:217-52.
• Eisen L, Meyer AM, Eisen RJ. Climate-based model predicting acarological risk of encountering the human-biting adult life stage of Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) in a key habitat type in Colorado. J Med Entomol. 2007 Jul;44(4):694-704.
• Kincaid EZ, Wolf AJ, Desvignes L, Mahapatra S, Crick DC, Brennan PJ, Pavelka MS Jr, Ernst JD. Codominance of TLR2-Dependent and TLR2-Independent Modulation of MHC Class II in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection In Vivo. J Immunol. 2007 Sep 1;179(5):3187-95.
• Kurosu M, Narayanasamy P, Biswas K, Dhiman R, Crick DC. Discovery of 1,4-Didydroxy-2-naphthoate Prenyltransferase Inhibitors: New Drug Leads for Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive Pathogens. J Med Chem. 2007 Aug 23;50(17):3973-5.
• Kurt TD, Perrott MR, Wilusz CJ, Wilusz J, Supattapone S, Telling GC, Zabel MD, Hoover EA. Efficient in vitro amplification of chronic wasting disease PrPRES. J Virol. 2007 Sep;81(17):9605-8.
• Guerin ME, Kordulakova J, Schaeffer F, Svetlikova Z, Buschiazzo A, Giganti D, Gicquel B, Mikusova K, Jackson M, Alzari PM. Molecular recognition and interfacial catalysis by the essential phosphatidylinositol mannosyltransferase PimA from mycobacteria. J Biol Chem. 2007 Jul 13;282(28):20705-14.
• Lasco TM, Gonzalez-Juarrero M, Saalmuller A, Lunney JK. Cross-reaction of anti-human CD monoclonal antibodies on guinea pig cells: A summary of the guinea pig section of the HLDA8 animal homologues data. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2007 Sep 15;119(1-2):131-6.
• Lenaerts AJ, Hoff D, Aly S, Ehlers S, Andries K, Cantarero L, Orme IM, Basaraba RJ. Location of persisting mycobacteria in a Guinea pig model of tuberculosis revealed by r207910. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2007 Sep;51(9):3338-45.
• Moore AS, Dernell WS, Ogilvie GK, Kristal O, Elmslie R, Kitchell B, Susaneck S, Rosenthal R, Klein MK, Obradovich J, Legendre A, Haddad T, Hahn K, Powers BE, Warren D. Doxorubicin and BAY 12-9566 for the treatment of osteosarcoma in dogs: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Vet Intern Med. 2007 Jul-Aug;21(4):783-90.
• Ordway D, Palanisamy G, Henao-Tamayo M, Smith EE, Shanley C, Orme IM, Basaraba RJ. The cellular immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in the guinea pig. J Immunol. 2007 Aug 15;179(4):2532-41.
• Rovnak J, Casey RN, Brewster CD, Casey JW, Quackenbush SL. Establishment of productively infected walleye dermal sarcoma explant cells. J Gen Virol. 2007 Sep;88(Pt 9):2583-9.
• Schultheiss PC, Van Campen H, Spraker TR, Bishop C, Wolfe L, Podell B. Malignant Catarrhal Fever Associated with Ovine Herpesvirus-2 in Free-ranging Mule Deer in Colorado. J Wildl Dis. 2007 Jul;43(3):533-7.
• Yoon SS, Karabulut AC, Lipscomb JD, Hennigan RF, Lymar SV, Groce SL, Herr AB, Howell ML, Kiley PJ, Schurr MJ, Gaston B, Choi KH, Schweizer HP, Hassett DJ. Two-pronged survival strategy for the major cystic fibrosis pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, lacking the capacity to degrade nitric oxide during anaerobic respiration. EMBO J. 2007 Aug 8;26(15):3662-72.

On the morning of October 2nd, Governor Ritter, other Colorado State Officials, NIH representatives and numerous University executives will gather on the Foothills Campus to participate in the ceremonial opening of the new Regional Biocontainment Laboratory. The Ribbon Cutting will be followed by an Infectious Disease Research Symposium in the afternoon sponsored by the ID Supercluster.

The Annual American College of Veterinary Pathologist (ACVP) Board Exam will be held September 25-27 on the campus of Iowa State University in scenic Ames, IA. Best of luck to Wendy Sprague and Matthew Williams, MIP Clinical Pathology Veterinary Residents!

Joint Meeting of the the Rocky Mountain Virology Club and the Rocky Mountain Branch of the ASM

Reminder: registration is closing fast for the Shouldn't-Be-Missed regional meeting of the year - The annual meeting of the RM ASV/ASM on Oct 5-7 at the Pingree Park Campus.

Register now at
( www.conferences.colostate.edu/register) or contact Charlie Calisher for more information (but not while the Yankees are playing the Red Sox this weekend. There's a pennant race afoot!)

Check out the most recent editions to the MIP Website:
The MoFlo Laboratory
The Typhoon Trio Imaging Facility

Do you ever feel like as a scientist that you cannot escape your job? Gels and microscope smears seem to follow you wherever you go, no matter how you try to evade them?

Well, that is exactly how MIP undergrads Jamie Everman and Nicci Carner felt as they spent their summer conducting research in Hannover, Germany. They traveled all over Germany as well as visiting Amsterdam, Prague and Denmark. They figured if they could not escape science, then they might as well have science take them somewhere amazing.

Click here to read the Fall 2007 Edition of Lablines!

It late August, CSU named it's second Supercluster, Cancer Research and Treatment. This CRT Supercluster, which already involves several MIP researchers (yes Virginia, there's more than ID research going on in our hallowed halls), will focus new and existing cancer research from across the university via a highly collaborative structure. Dr Steve Withrow and Bob Ullrich, recognized leaders in cancer research and treatment at CSU, will serve as chief scientific officer and chief research officer, respectively, of the CRT Supercluster. The goal of the Supercluster and its business arm - NeoTREX - is to develop effective treatments and products in the fight against cancer and quickly move these advances into the marketplace and to the people who need them.

It'll be a busy month for Kevin Sokoloski (grad student in the Wilusz² lab): He's taking his prelims on the 9/19 and getting married to and Erica Smith on Oct 13th. Congratulations and best of luck K-sok!

The 2007 Fall Picnic was a great success. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, the karaoke was (?), and MIP'ers had a good time getting to know coworkers and their families. Check out the Photo Gallery.

If you are wondering (more than you normally do) why MIP faculty and students were wandering aimlessly around campus last month with a puzzled look on their faces, don't fear - it wasn't an outbreak of WNV (WhereiNtheheckarewe Virus). It was our annual Rootles® hunt to help welcome our new graduate students to the department and orient them around campus. Check out the intense look on some MIP faces as they try to make sense of the mysterious clues in the attached photos.

MIP has faculty representatives serving on the following College and University Committees:

Biomedical Curriculum Committee
• RoxAnn Karkhoff-Schweizer
• Sandra Quackenbush
Commencement Committee
• Ralph Smith
Research Council
• Brian Foy
• Doreene Hyatt
Scholarship and Award Committee
• Susan Deines
• Gary Mason
Scholastic Standards Committee
• Gerald Callahan
• Karamjeet Pandher
Veterinary Admissions Committee
• Karamjett Pandher
• Andrea Bohn
Veterinary Curriculum Committee
• Pat Schultheiss
• Christine Olver
• Randy Basaraba
Conflict of Commitment/Conflict of Interest Review Committee
• Randy Basaraba
Foothills Research Advisory Committee
• Ken Olson
DVM/PhD Committee
• Anne Avery
• Jeffrey Wilusz

"If everything is under control, you're going too slow" ~Mario Andretti

"MIP ID researchers John Belisle and Barry Beaty appeared on a recently aired CSU-TV interview"

Top Ten Alternative Captions
1. "But Mum, all they're doing is talking. Can't we watch the Simpsons?"
2. "We're down to our final 3 contestants - Dr. Beaty, can you tell me in 30 seconds why you believe recent polls have shown that one out of five Americans can't identify the US on a map?"
3. "Ms. Walters is on the phone and wants to book the dapper one who worked on MTV for ‘The View’. Do you want me to tell her its MTb, not v?"
4. Move over Simon, Paula and Randy (Jackson, not Basaraba). Meet the new celebrity judges for ‘American ID-OLd Scientists
5. Now some of us can stop wondering what John and Barry would look like on 1080p Hi Def Plasma
6. Never thought that a show on infection would be less stressful than watching CSU football on a Saturday afternoon, eh?
7. Lucky NIH grant scores don't take into account the Nielson Ratings
8. But can they make the jump to the big screen?
9. Proof that you can't really make it into Big Time ID Research if you don't wear Khaki pants
10. Submit Your Own

Click Here for the questions to MIPuzzle #22
Click Here for the answers to MIPuzzle #22

MIPnews has received an excellent additional guess from a dedicated reader for what the mystery sculpture currently being carved in Old Town depicts...

• Timing Corrections For Your Electronic Application: If you plan to submit a corrected electronic application, beware. Read the Article.

• New Funding Opportunity: RFP-BAA-NIH-NIAID-DMID-08-22 A Systems Biology Approach To Infectious Diseases Research

As some of you know, MIP is now five years old! But we aren't the only organization with the acronym "MIP", you know. Here are some others:

1. The Latin phrase "Multum in Parvo" - which means "much in a small space", is abbreviated MIP (quite a coincidence, eh?)
2. There's actually an MIP TV
3. Museum Informatics Project (UC Berkeley undertaking)
4. Metals In Paper (a UK-based organization)
5. Managing Intellectual Property (magazine)
6. Management Institute of Paris (a business school totally unrelated, we understand, to training the folks to try to manage the affairs of Ms. Hilton)

If you think of anything else that MIP (or its arms like the PDM Core (aka the Party Department of MIP)) may stand for, send in your Ideas!

Claudia Gentry-Weeks, "Development of Rapid Biodetection Methods Using Bacteriophage Amplification", Colorado School of Mines
Michael McNeil, "HTS Screen of TB RmlC and RmlD dTDP-Phamnose Formation Enzymes", NIH
Sue VandeWoude, "The Effects of Urban Fragmentation and Landscape Connectivity on Disease Prevalence and Transmission in North American...", NSF

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri
1	2 Graduate Seminar RBL Ribbon Cutting and ID Symposium	3 Faculty Seminar at 10am "Clickers in Science Teaching" 12pm, C116 Micro. Microscopy Seminar	4	5 RM Virology Club Mtg begins
8 Faculty Seminar	9 Graduate Seminar	10 Faculty Seminar at 11am Microscopy Seminar	11	12
15 Tenured Faculty Mtg 1pm Faculty Seminar	16	17 Microscopy Seminar	18	19
22 Faculty Seminar	23 Graduate Seminar	24 Microscopy Seminar	25 Faculty Seminar at 4pm	26
29 Faculty Mtg 11am Faculty Seminar	30 Graduate Seminar	31 Microscopy Seminar

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