Volume 8, Issue 1, January 2011

Break out the sparkling beverages! We are extremely excited to announce that Dr. Gregg Dean has accepted the offer to serve as Head of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, effective August 1, 2011.

On January 12th Dr. Perryman announced more good news that Dr. Sue VandeWoude accepted his offer to serve as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education for our college effective July 1, 2011. She brings a wealth of programmatic experience to the position and will serve as a key member of the college administrative team. Congrats Sue!

Last week the Department was given even more good news - Dr. Glenn Telling has accepted our offer to join our faculty as Professor and Director of a Prion Research Center at CSU that will be centered in MIP. Who was that sage who coined the cliché that good things come in threes!

Hi MIPeople - I am Sushan Han and I have recently joined the faculty at the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and MIP Department. I am a veterinary pathologist and did my residency training and graduate work in infectious diseases and immunology at Washington State University. I have special interests in wildlife diseases, zoonotic diseases, immunology, and teaching.

I am originally from Boise, Idaho, where my family still lives in the mountains. I love anything outdoors, especially hiking, backpacking, road biking, snowboarding, and gardening. Fort Collins already feels like home!

I am honored to be a part of MIP and the Dlab, and enthusiastic about the start of my appointment at CSU. I look forward to working with everyone and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to be a part of such an esteemed group of people.

Kyle Dascher was recognized at the CVMBS December undergraduate commencement ceremony as the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Microbiology. The recipient of this award is chosen by the departmental faculty for outstanding academic performance and service to the department or the community.

Kyle transferred to Colorado State from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and after one semester here changed his major from business administration to microbiology. This was certainly a drastic change in degree programs, but Kyle apparently knew what he was doing and found his niche in microbiology. He easily transitioned from courses in business computing and economics to those in physics, chemistry, and biology, and he did not falter even as the curriculum grew ever more demanding. Obviously, Kyle enjoys a challenge.

In addition to being a full-time student, Kyle also worked in the research laboratory of Dr. Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero for several years. Dr. Gonzalez-Juarrero is very complimentary about Kyle’s contribution to her lab. She states that he is quiet, industrious, conscientious, and very competent. He works very well independently and as a member of the lab team. She is also very impressed by Kyle’s calm demeanor, his ability to remain utterly unflappable at all times, and she appreciates that she can rely on Kyle to always be there to do the job and do it well. Kyle hopes to go on to graduate school and it seems highly likely that he will be successful in achieving that goal.

All of this may be news to many of Kyle’s peers, because he is very modest about his accomplishments and rarely speaks of them unless directly asked. In fact, Kyle himself may have been surprised to receive the award, not because he is not deserving (although he is so humble he may believe so), but because he did not think anyone noticed what a fine job he has done. But, the MIP faculty who know Kyle were paying attention and were quick to sing his praises. MIP is very pleased to recognize Kyle’s outstanding performance with this award.

Congratulations, Kyle!

Kyle Dascher
Meagan Dechen
Reece Christensen
Edward Lyon
Hannah Laurence
Anna Kellund
Rachel Zigterman
Tara Pianko
Ali Khavari
Caitlin Keller
Ryan Knodle
Madeline Breer
Yi Zhou
Laura Edwards
Paul Moresco
Ian Mcmillan
Rebecca Timmons
Amanda Dudek
Megan Vogt
Krista Lockwood
Christine O'Donnell
Ryan Goffredi
Erin Breland
Bret Abadie
Steven Bruckbauer
Daneil April
Courtney Hillard
Jessica Haugen
Laura Kinner
Tyler Harth
Alexander Emch
Adam Replogle
Milton Saffry

Congratulatons to the following undergraduate microbiology majors with a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA:

Steven Bruckbauer
Jeremiah Johnson
Caitlin Keller
Krista Lockwood
Christine O'Donnell
Tara Pianko
Matthew Pickett
Milton Saffrey
Megan Vogt
Yi Zhou
Rachel Zigterman

We have outstanding students in our program. Out of 206 students total, we have 61 (29.5%) at 3.5 or above (114, or 55.3%, are at 3.0 or above)! Given the rigor of our curriculum this is an outstanding accomplishment!

Congratulations to the following students who finished their Honors Theses last fall

Jennifer M. Sneden
Advisor: Randall Basaraba
Kali L. Fox
Advisor: Gerald Callahan
Samantha A. Murray
Advisor: Erica Suchman

Congratulations to Alexa Dickson from the Wilusz² lab for receiving a Myotonic Dystrophy Froundation $100,000 Postdoctoral Fellowship Research Grant.

Alexa's research is titled, "The role of mRNA stability in myotonic dystrophy."

The MDF, a patient advocacy organization, created this program to encourage and support postdoctoral researchers and to stimulate basic research in the management, treatment and cure of myotonic dystrophy (DM). This multi-systemic disease is considered the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy, affecting approximately 1:8000 people worldwide.

Erin Breland, micro major and undergraduate researcher with Dr. RoxAnn Karkhoff-Schweizer, has an article in the inaugural issue of the new CSU Journal of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Excellence. Erin's article is entitled, "Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of the Opportunistic Pathogens Burkholderia oklahomensis, Burkholderia ubonensis and Burkholderia vietnamensis" and is (based on page numbers) the first research article to ever appear in the journal (Pages 8-11). Check our her paper and the rest of this interesting new CSU publication. Congratulations Erin!

Jeffrey Chandler, BS defended his PhD thesis entitled, "The Surface Proteome of Francisella tularensis" on Monday, December 20.
Dr. John Belisle is his advisor

Steven Erb, MS will defend his PhD thesis entitled, "The contributions of the envelope glycoprotein to dengue virus infectivity of cultured cells and live mosquitoes" on Tuesday, January 18.
Dr. Carol Blair is his advisor.

In the News...

On January 8th, Hadeel Esmat, daughter of MIP alumnus Hend Ibrahim (former postdoc, Wilusz lab), had her essay on human rights published in the Coloradoan. Her essay was one of the winning entries in Poudre School District's MLK Day Essay and Poetry Contest. Hadeel will also be reading her winning submission live on the air of KRFC 88.9 radio on Sunday, January 16, 2011 between 4 and 5 pm. She will be also be reading her winning entry at the CSU Book Store in the LSC at 9:30 am. on January 17th.

Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis by Anti-Retrovirals Raltegravir and Maraviroc Protects against HIV-1 Vaginal Transmission in a Humanized Mouse Model

C. Preston Neff, Thomas Ndolo, Apurva Tandon, Yuichiro Habu and Ramesh Akkina

PLoS ONE, Vol 5, Issue 12, e15257 December 2010

Number one on list of New Year’s resolutions for most infectious disease professionals is to develop new ways to stop the HIV epidemic. Without an effective vaccine, the only weapon we have in the battle against the spread of viral public enemy #1 is behavior modification. However there may be a very useful new weapon on the horizon – why not give anti-HIV drugs as prophylaxis prior to exposure to reduce the chance of HIV replication/infection in folks who are exposed? At the moment we are waiting with baited breath for the results of ~6 major clinical trials currently underway involving >20,000 people to assess the efficacy of two HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors, TDF and FTC, for HIV prophylaxis.

So the Akinna lab asked the question ‘why stand around with baited breath (whatever the heck baited breath is) waiting while we can help with this effort?’ In a study performed by Preston, Tom, Apurva and Yuichiro, Ramesh and colleagues used their Rag-hu mice, critters with a humanized immune system that are susceptible to HIV through standard routes of infection, to assess the efficacy disease prophylaxis of two other proven HIV inhibitors. Maraviroc (which is a CCR5 co-receptor antagonist) and raltegravir (an HIV integrase inhibitor) were given to mice orally on a daily basis and then the mice were tested for their susceptibility to HIV introduced vaginally. In what has got to be among the cleanest, most convincing data ever to come out of the department (seriously – check out figures 1-3), Preston et al showed convincingly that these two drugs effectively prevented HIV infection out to 12 weeks post exposure (the last time point tested) and maintained normal CD4 T cell levels in these exposed animals.

So why did we pick this article for our first MIPublication of the Month® for 2011? Two simple reasons my good reader. The study identified two more drugs as candidates for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis as well as established another humanized mouse model for pre-clinical assessment of such compounds. Prophylactic use of HIV drugs may very well promote the development of viral drug resistance, so an arsenal of compounds will likely be needed to make this strategy worthwhile. Finally, we thought this would be a nice plug for the seminar that Ramesh Akinna will be giving in the department on January 19th.

MIP Publications Late Dec 2010 - Early Jan 2011

Neff CP, Ndolo T, Tandon A, Habu Y, Akkina R.  Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis by Anti-Retrovirals Raltegravir and Maraviroc Protects against HIV-1 Vaginal Transmission in a Humanized Mouse Model. PLoS One. 2010 Dec 21;5(12):e15257.

Webb TL, Burnett RC, Avery AC, Olver CS.  Cloning and tissue expression of the equine transferrin receptor.  Vet Clin Pathol. 2010 Dec;39(4):424-32.

Seelig DM, Perry JA, Avery AC, Avery PR.  Monoclonal gammopathy without hyperglobulinemia in 2 dogs with IgA secretory neoplasms.  Vet Clin Pathol. 2010 Dec;39(4):447-53.

Sutherland IW, Mori A, Montgomery J, Fleming KL, Anderson JM, Valenzuela JG, Severson DW, Black WC 4th.  A linkage map of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) based on cDNA markers.  J Hered. 2011 Jan-Feb;102(1):102-12.

Calvert AE, Kalantarov GF, Chang GJ, Trakht I, Blair CD, Roehrig JT.  Human monoclonal antibodies to West Nile virus identify epitopes on the prM protein.  Virology. 2011 Feb 5;410(1):30-7.

Peltier P, Beláňová M, Dianišková P, Zhou R, Zheng RB, Pearcey JA, Joe M, Brennan PJ, Nugier-Chauvin C, Ferrières V, Lowary TL, Daniellou R, Mikušová K.  Synthetic UDP-furanoses as potent inhibitors of mycobacterial galactan biogenesis.  Chem Biol. 2010 Dec 22;17(12):1356-66.

Skovierová H, Larrouy-Maumus G, Pham H, Belanová M, Barilone N, Dasgupta A, Mikusová K, Gicquel B, Gilleron M, Brennan PJ, Puzo G, Nigou J, Jackson M.  Biosynthetic Origin of the Galactosamine Substituent of Arabinogalactan in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  J Biol Chem. 2010 Dec 31;285(53):41348-55.

Jani C, Eoh H, Lee JJ, Hamasha K, Sahana MB, Han JS, Nyayapathy S, Lee JY, Suh JW, Lee SH, Rehse SJ, Crick DC, Kang CM.  Regulation of Polar Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis by Wag31 Phosphorylation in Mycobacteria.  BMC Microbiol. 2010 Dec 29;10(1):327.

Clements KM, Shipley CF, Coleman DA, Ehrhart EJ, Haschek WM, Clark SG.  Azoospermia in an 8-month-old boar due to bilateral obstruction at the testis/epididymis interface.  Can Vet J. 2010 Oct;51(10):1130-4.

Sylla M, Kobylinski KC, Gray M, Chapman PL, Sarr MD, Rasgon JL, Foy BD.  Mass drug administration of ivermectin in south-eastern Senegal reduces the survivorship of wild-caught, blood fed malaria vectors.  Malar J. 2010 Dec 20;9:365.

Morley PS, Dargatz DA, Hyatt DR, Dewell GA, Patterson JG, Burgess BA, Wittum TE.  Effects of Restricted Antimicrobial Exposure on Antimicrobial Resistance in Fecal Escherichia coli from Feedlot Cattle.  Foodborne Pathog Dis. 2011 Jan;8(1):87-98.

Shang S, Shanley CA, Caraway ML, Orme EA, Henao-Tamayo M, Hascall-Dove L, Ackart D, Lenaerts AJ, Basaraba RJ, Orme IM, Ordway DJ.  Activities of TMC207, rifampin, and pyrazinamide against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in guinea pigs.  Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2011 Jan;55(1):124-31.

Brewster CD, Birkenheuer CH, Vogt MB, Quackenbush SL, Rovnak J.  The retroviral cyclin of walleye dermal sarcoma virus binds cyclin-dependent kinases 3 and 8.  Virology. 2011 Jan 20;409(2):299-307.

Mima T, Schweizer HP, Xu ZQ.  In vitro activity of cethromycin against Burkholderia pseudomallei and investigation of mechanism of resistance. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2011 Jan;66(1):73-8.

Soi RK, Rurangirwa FR, McGuire TC, Rwambo PM, DeMartini JC, Crawford TB. Protection of sheep against Rift Valley fever virus and sheep poxvirus with a recombinant capripoxvirus vaccine. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2010 Dec;17(12):1842-9.

Ligios C, M.G.Cancedda, A. Carta, C. Santucciu, C. Maestrale, F. Demontis, M. Saba, C. Patta, J.C. DeMartini, A. Aguzzi, and C.J. Sigurdson. 2011. Sheep with scrapie and mastitis transmit infectious prions through the milk. J Virol. 85: 1136-9.

Hudachek S.F., S. L. Kraft, D. H. Thamm, H. Bielefeldt-Ohmann, J. C. DeMartini, A.D. Miller, and W. S. Dernell WS. 2010. Lung tumor development and spontaneous regression in lambs coinfected with jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus and ovine lentivirus. Vet Pathol. 47: 148-62.

Richard was born in the hometown of the Iowa caucuses (Des Moines) and majored in Microbiology at Northern Arizona University. He obtained his MS and PhD from the University of Washington in Seattle while studying immune reactions in experimental models of syphilis. He published his first paper on this topic 31 years ago last month in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Richard honed his skills in postdoctoral stints at National Jewish in Denver and the WHO Immunology Research and Training Center in Switzerland. His first faculty appointment was at Harvard Medical School where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Tropical Public Health. Richard left the land of the Red Sox in 1994 to join the faculty of the CSU MIP Department as a full Professor.

Richard’s passion in the department was truly his research. He focused on understanding immune reactions to the Leishmania parasite and addressed two key questions. First, what were the factors that determined a Th1 (cell mediated) versus Th2 (antibody-mediated) immune response to this intracellular pathogen. Second, what was the role of immunosuppressive proteins in the saliva of the sandfly and other insect vectors in promoting infection and their potential utility as a vaccine target. It was this latter work that gave Richard his most cited publication (~250 hits) – a March 1988 article in Science he co-authored with Jose Ribeiro. Throughout his career, Richard authored 110 articles (and counting). His body of work has received ~4300 citations – and interestingly has consistently received over 150 citations per year since 1993. Heck, his latest paper on the BluePort platform for studying immune responses was even chosen as the MIPublication of the Month in November last year. Talk about going out when you’re on top! In addition to making a strong impact in research, Richard has also left an indelible mark in the field by training 20 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows over the years.

In closing, MIP collectively thanks Richard for 16 wonderfully productive years of research, service and teaching at our university. His novel scientific ideas, witty perspectives and the sight of him coming in many mornings in those bicycle shorts will surely be missed. Best of luck in your retirement!

Spring Faculty Seminars

MIP is kicking off the new year with an exciting array of internal and external speakers in our Wednesday afternoon seminar program. Check it out at the Faculty Seminar Webpage.

Think MIPers don’t know what to do with a few days off? Well think again. Here’s a small sampling of how MIPers spent their winter vacation:

On Jan 16th Ashley Linton McGrew ran the Disney World Marathon in Orlando Florida with her Mom, Dad and husband. It was Ashley's second marathon and she would highly recommend the Disney race (entertainment, scenery, ITS AT SEA LEVEL, etc, etc).

Linton/McGrew Team

Mark Zabel conducted field work with Glenn Telling and Terry Nett tracking/culling deer for a combined fertility/CWD prevalence study in Rocky Mountain National Park. They went out before dawn (4:30 AM) on a cold January morning....

The beautiful elk of Rocky Mountain National Park

Mark Zabel and Glenn Telling

Mark Zabel

Glenn Telling

While visiting family in Wisconsin over Winter Break, Jerome Lee stopped at one of future father-in-law's favorite bakeries to buy some goodies to take to their house. Left alone in the car with the goodies while he went to buy cheese curds, Jerome's dog Nokhu (named after the Crags northwest of RMNP) decided to eat an entire 2 lb loaf of cinnamon bread. Below is a picture of the pooch relaxing while digesting later that afternoon.

Jeff Wilusz visited the land of Snooki et al at the Jersey Shore and earned a t-shirt by eating a whole large pizza.

Typical ‘Winter Adventure’ for students/postdocs working in the Wilusz² labs......

Mark your calendars! The Spring meeting of the Rocky Mtn Branch of the American Society for Microbiology will take place on the CU-Boulder campus on April 1-2. We need a strong CSU contingent to attend this meeting - in addition to the excellent science, the ASM Branch Regional Coordinator (who provides a good chunk of the funding for our organization) will be at the meeting.

A plenary talk is planned for Friday evening (April 1st) followed by a social/networking activity. The Saturday session will be a ‘9AM-5PM’ affair containing talks and posters from students (undergrad & grad), postdocs and faculty. In addition, Dr. Ken Noll from the Univ of Connecticut will present our ASM Branch Lecture on "Challenges and Opportunities for Microbes Living at High Temperatures"

This meeting is a terrific place for networking with other microbiologists throughout the region as well as for students and postdocs to hone their presentation skills.

My name is Donna D Willard. I am the new accounting technician working at the Foothills campus. I received my accounting degree from CSU some time ago. I have spent the last 16 years working for a bank here in Fort Collins. I grew up in Wray, CO, which is where I first met my husband, Mike. We have two children, Michelle, 3 years, and Christopher, 1 year. My hobbies include, but are not limited to, reading, games (both board and computer), puzzles, and pets (we have two black labs and two cats).

The College Research Council (CRC) 2011 Call for Proposals information is now available on the web at the College Employee Resources Webpage. The deadline for proposal submission is 5:00pm on Monday, March 21st.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) 12th Annual CVMBS Research Day will be held on March 5, 2011.

If you have questions contact Dr. James Graham at jkgraham@colostate.edu

The ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) is aimed at highly competitive students who wish to pursue graduate careers (Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D) in microbiology. Students will have the opportunity to conduct full time research at their home institutions with an ASM member and present research results at the ASM General Meeting the following year.

The deadline to apply is February 1st! More details and application information can be found on the ASM Website.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

This year's Celebrate Undergraduate Research and Creativity event will be held on April 19 in the Main Ballroom of the Lory Student Center. Registration will open in January 2011 at the CURC website. Presenting at CURC is a great resume builder and awards will be given for most outstanding poster presentations.

Goodluck Michio!

Dr. Michio Kurosu's last day with MIP was December 31, 2010. He has left CSU to join the faculty in the Department of Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Tennessee in Memphis as an Associate Professor. Best wishes in your new position!

The Bill Black Lab will occupy the former Dow lab at IDA with the addition of space remodeled for a gel lab. This will facilitate the collaboration currently ongoing between Dr. Black, Dr. Beaty and the rest of the Arbovirus group.

"I seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions"

1. After not shaving for two weeks following final exam week, MIP collaborators Randy Basaraba and Ian Orme spend a night out on the town.
2. Enormous and (not-so) ianorme-ous
3. Ian Orme learning the Jedi Mind trick to use on the members of his grant’s study section
4. Ian goes out on the town looking for a little ‘wookie’.
5. "Hey Chewy – use the force and get me another beer, would ya?"
6. Submit your own

Dr. Colleen Duncan hosts the final necropsy rounds for 2010 in a very festive manner...

• Faculty and Students adorn their heads with antlers and Santa hats
• Cases are wrapped in decorative boxes
• "Naughty" and "Nice" lists are posted
• A unique to MIP necropsy rendition of "The 12 days of Christmas" is sang by the faculty and students at the end of the rounds complete with Gary Mason type moustache props for the ‘5th day of Christmas’ verse

Be sure to check out the photos from this very festive event!

Other places to find 11111:

1. Preliminary score given by reviewers in the five categories of a typical Basaraba R01 application
2. Number of times some MIP faculty members check their email in a single day
3. Projected ranking of the Duke basketball team each year 2011 through 2015
4. Ask Charlie Calisher for change for a $5
5. Submit your own

Graduate School: $293,437
Books: $6,285
Pizza deliver for those late study nights: $8,492.58
University Distinguished Professor Ian Orme leading the processional carrying his scepter: PRICELESS

Questions for MIPuzzle #61
MIPuzzle #61 Answers

• Four Sample ‘Exceptional’ NIH Applications Available for your Perusal

  Ever wonder what an NIH R01 application that is scored ‘exceptionally high’ looks like? Well NIAID has made available four model applications to help give you some hints in how to package your latest ideas. Check them out at the NIH Funding Webpage.

• Four New Grant Policy Changes went into effect this January

  Check these out to make sure you’re not left out in the cold:

  • End of the error correction window. You will no longer have 2 days to fix errors and warnings resulting from eRA Commons validation after the submission deadline. Read more in the August 16, 2010, Guide notice.
  • Updated application forms. For fellowships, career development awards, and training grants, use forms labeled "ADOBE-FORMS-B1" starting January 25, 2011. See the September 29, 2010, Guide notice for more info.
  • Time limit for resubmitting. You have 37 months to resubmit a new, renewal, or revision application. Rules are more complex for continuous submission and late applications -- get the full details in the October 1, 2010, Guide notice.
  • No more second resubmissions. NIH won't accept a second resubmission, except for applicants eligible for continuous submission and resubmitting an AIDS-related application originally reviewed for August 2009 Council or earlier -- those applications are due by February 7, 2011. See the April 15, 2010, Guide notice for more information.

• NIAID Science Education Awards (R25 Grant Program)

  Have an idea for (a) K-12 curriculum that will increase scientific literacy; (b) professional scientific development for K-12 teachers; or (c) public outreach activities to increase allergy/infectious disease understanding and want to pitch it on a national scale with up to $175K annual direct costs? NIAID may have just the grant program for you. Check it out at the NIH Grant Website

• Need a piece of shared equipment that costs $100-$600K?

  NRCC’s annual call for Shared Instrumentation Grant proposals is right around the corner. Check it out at the NIH Grant Website. The deadline for proposals is March 23, 2011

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri
3	4	5	6	7
10	11	12	13	14
17 Univ Offices Closed	18 Classes Begin Grad Seminar Faculty Mtg 4PM	19 Faculty Seminar 4pm, Path 103	20	21
24	25 Grad Seminar	26 Faculty Seminar 4pm, Path 103	27	28

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