A hearty hello to the entire MIP team! My name is Becky Trentlage and I am very happy to be joining your team. CSU has been a driving force in my life since the summer of 1976 when I first attended summer school at Pingree Park and fell in love with backpacking, hiking, and the Poudre Canyon. I graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology in 1980. My husband, Patrick Plumley, also graduated from CSU with a B.S. in Geology. After living in Alaska, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Idaho (where Patrick received an M.S. in Geology) and Northern California, we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to return to Ft. Collins in 1993 with our two toddler children, Jacob (turns 23 in August) and Brooke (turns 21 in December). During our absence from Colorado, I began taking accounting course work and passed the CPA exam prior to returning to Ft. Collins. I started working at CSU in July 1995 and simultaneously began working on my M.S. in Business Administration with an Accounting Concentration. I called it my "gradual degree" and successfully completed my program in 2000. Both of our children are currently enrolled at CSU. Jacob is majoring in Political Science and considering a minor in Horticulture. Brooke is entering her junior year as a CSU Biology major. My career at CSU includes three years as the General Operations (22 Fund) Accountant, seven years as the Business Officer for the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), four years as the Chief Financial Officer for the College of Agricultural Sciences and the AES, and four years as the Director of Budgets. My diversified background has provided a solid foundation and prepared me well for my newest position as the Business Officer for MIP. I am very excited to learn about the MIP teaching and research programs and to meet the various team members across MIP. In my spare time, I enjoy music (Patrick is a drummer in his spare time), dancing, Zumba, Nia, gardening, hiking, biking, and spending time with my family, including two cats and a golden retriever. Thanks again for the opportunity to become a member of the MIP team. I look forward to getting to know the rest of the team.

New Teaching Faculty Appointment

Effective July 1, 2012, Pete Justice will hold a brand spanking new special ‘Senior Teaching Faculty’ appointment in MIP. The Senior Teaching Faculty Appointment is the newest of the seven types of basic faculty appointments used at Colorado State University. This appointment-type was recently created for non-regular faculty or Admin-Pro employees who are heavily involved in teaching for a long period of time here at CSU. Pete received this appointment due to his strong commitment to CSU and his significant role in the important teaching mission of the University. Congratulations Pete!

In the News...

Dr. Brian Geiss was highlighted in the June 7 Denver Post article, "Colorado researchers work on drug to make mosquito-borne viruses buzz off"

Congratulations to DVM/PhD student, Ashley Linton-McGrew, for receiving first place for her oral presentation, "Distribution of total mercury (THg) in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and their parasitic helminth fauna" at the 43rd Annual Conference of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine in May. Ashley received her PhD last fall and is finishing up the last year of her DVM degree next year.

Kudos to postdoc, Charles Halsey for having his student poster selected for special placement at the STP 31st Annual Symposium in Boston, MA 2012.

On Monday May 21, Kimberly White, BA, MS Candidate, defended her thesis entitled, "Mining the Francisella Tularensis Proteome for Vaccine Candidates". Her advisor is Dr. John Belisle.

On Monday June 4, Jack Muth, BS, PhD Candidate, defended his thesis entitled, "Viral Shedding and Antibody Response of Mallard Ducks to Avian Influenza Virus". His advisor is Dr. Richard Bowen.

On Tuesday June 5, Christine Graham, BA, MS Candidate, defended her thesis entitled, "A SYBR Green real-time PCR-based assay to identify blood meals in cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) from a plague-endemic region of Uganda". Her advisors are Dr. Bill Black & Dr. Rebecca Eisen (CDC)

On Thursday June 14, Kristy Pabilonia, DVM, PhD Candidate, defended her thesis entitled, "The role of domestic ducks in the spread and maintenance of avian influenza viruses in Indonesia". Her advisor is Dr. Richard Bowen.

Incunabular Immunological Events in Prion Trafficking

Brady Michel, Crystal Meyerett-Reid, Theodore Johnson, Adam Ferguson, Christy Wyckoff, Bruce Pulford, Heather Bender, Anne Avery, Glenn Telling, Steve Dow and Mark Zabel

Scientific Reports 2: 440 DOI:10.1038/srep00440 June 6, 2012

Starting a manuscript title with an eye-catching word that I bet the vast majority of readers would find challenging to define is probably apropos for a study prion-based diseases that are rather hard to define themselves based on conventional principles of infectious disease.  In this study, what Brady Michel et al (aka the Brady Bunch) did was brilliantly simple, highly informative and perhaps even in some ways transformative to our understanding of the early events that underlie the host cell’s response to an encounter with an infectious prion protein.  After all,  mechanisms of prion protein trafficking in the body undoubtedly play an important role in disease, as the protein can’t replicate itself unless it visits places in the body where it can find high levels of normal cellular PrP proteins and induce their conversion to a disease form. 

The experimental design was to purify prion protein, label it with a fluorochrome, introduce it back into animals by various routes of administration and follow the labeled prion protein by whole mouse imaging and flow cytometry to assess its interaction with individual populations of cells of the innate immune response.  What they found was that the labeled protein passively localized to lymph nodes as anticipated where it associated with macrophages (78.6%), dendritic cells (16.9%), monocytes (3.4%), B cells (0.6%) and neutrophils (0.4%).  Aspects of the Complement system influenced the uptake of the labeled protein, as mice deficient in the C1q or C3 Complement components showed significantly less labeled protein association with dendritic cells.  Once inside the lymph node, the data presented also suggest an interesting cell-associated intranodal exchange of prion proteins that remains to be further investigated.

So why did we pick this paper as our coveted MIPublication of the Month® for June?  First, the article likely provides insights into the very early events of an acquired prion infection – thus suggesting potential points of therapeutic intervention.  Second, we think this is the first MIP paper to appear in Scientific Reports, the relatively new on line, open access, rapid-review journal by the Nature publishing group.  This forum nicely illustrates the changing models of scientific publishing that are being taken advantage of by Dept researchers.  Finally, we just loved the repeated use of the novel/rare words like incunabular and prionophils in the publication.  That observation, paired of course with the antepenultimate point, reverses our minimifidian view that the authors might simply be a band of logomaniacal labeorphilists.

MIP Publications Late May / early June 2012

Driver ER, Ryan GJ, Hoff DR, Irwin SM, Basaraba RJ, Kramnik I, Lenaerts AJ.  Evaluation of a Mouse Model of Necrotic Granuloma Formation Using C3HeB/FeJ Mice for Testing of Drugs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Jun;56(6):3181-95.

Kumar A, Henderson A, Forster GM, Goodyear AW, Weir TL, Leach JE, Dow SW, Ryan EP. Dietary rice bran promotes resistance to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium colonization in mice. BMC Microbiol. 2012 May 14;12(1):71.

Brennan MJ, Clagett B, Fitzgerald H, Chen V, Williams A, Izzo AA, Barker LF. Preclinical evidence for implementing a prime-boost vaccine strategy for tuberculosis. Vaccine. 2012 Apr 16;30(18):2811-23.

Scherman MS, North EJ, Jones V, Hess TN, Grzegorzewicz AE, Kasagami T, Kim IH, Merzlikin O, Lenaerts AJ, Lee RE, Jackson M, Morisseau C, McNeil MR. Screening a library of 1600 adamantyl ureas for anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis activity in vitro and for better physical chemical properties for bioavailability. Bioorg Med Chem. 2012 May 15;20(10):3255-62.

Haley NJ, Mathiason CK, Carver S, Zabel M, Telling GC, Hoover EA. Detection of chronic wasting disease prions in salivary, urinary, and intestinal tissues of deer: potential mechanisms of prion shedding and transmission. J Virol. 2011 Jul;85(13):6309-18.

O'Rourke KI, Schneider DA, Spraker TR, Dassanayake RP, Highland MA, Zhuang D, Truscott TC. Transmissibility of caprine scrapie in ovine transgenic mice. BMC Vet Res. 2012 Apr 2;8(1):42.

Geluk A, Bobosha K, van der Ploeg-van Schip JJ, Spencer JS, Banu S, V S B Martins M, Cho SN, Franken KL, Kim HJ, Bekele Y, Uddin MK, Abdul Hadi S, Aseffa A, Pessolani MC, Pereira GM, Dockrell HM, Ottenhoff TH. New biomarkers with relevance to leprosy diagnosis applicable in areas hyperendemic for leprosy. J Immunol. 2012 May 15;188(10):4782-91.

Michel B, Meyerett-Reid C, Johnson T, Ferguson A, Wyckoff C, Pulford B, Bender H, Avery A, Telling G, Dow S, Zabel MD. Incunabular immunological events in prion trafficking. Sci Rep. 2012;2:440.

Schutz JS, Carroll JA, Gasbarre LC, Shelton TA, Nordstrom ST, Hutcheson JP, Van Campen H, Engle TE. Effects of gastrointestinal parasites on parasite burden, rectal temperature, and antibody titer responses to vaccination and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus challenge. J Anim Sci. 2012 Jun;90(6):1948-54.

MIP ROADTRIP to see the Rockies

On June 8, several members of the MIP Family braved Friday afternoon Denver metro rush hour traffic, in 95 degree heat, to enjoy a Rockies vs. Angels baseball game at Coors Field. Even though the Rockies lost the game 7 to 2, ice cold beer, superdogs, participating in ‘the wave', and hanging out with coworkers made the event a success. Thanks for another fun MIP Rockies outing Jeff! We missed seeing you there!

Check out the Photos from the Game

Bebell Reception

On May 16, faculty, students and staff from around the college gathered in the Pathology Glover Gallery to collectively thank Janet Bebell for her many contributions as former Business Officer of MIP. Attendees enjoyed delicious food while visiting with colleagues and wishing Janet well in her future endeavors.

Check out all the photos from the reception

Parking Permits will expire on July 31st.

For the 2012-2013 adademic year, the fee increase originally planned for 2 years ago will be going into effect! Go to the Parking Services Website to review the new categories and associated fees.

May 9-12 members of the Hoover, Telling, Zabel, Mathiason Labs and Richard Bessen headed to Amsterdam to attend the 2012 Prion Conference.

Crystal Meyerett giving her presentation at the 2012 Prion Conference

Mike Scherman (20 years of Service to CSU) and Mike McNeil (retirement appreciation) attended the CSU Celebrate MIlestones reception on May 3, at 3 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Main Ballroom.

Mike McNeil and Tony Frank

Mike and Mam Scherman

Congratulations to the following newly-elected members to the MIP, CVMBS and University Committees

Advisory Committee

Greg Ebel
Mary Jackson

Graduate Education Committee

Brian Geiss

Promotion and Tenure Committee

Hana Van Campen
Bill Black

Undergraduate Education Committee

Brad Borlee

University Safety Committee

Donald Klein

Faculty Council

Gary Mason
Alan Schenkel

Committee on Scholarship, Research and Graduate Education

Mark Zabel

Committee on Strategic and Financial Planning

Jeffrey Wilusz (Chair)

The MRL was heavily represented at the TB Vaccines for the World International Conference in Orlando [May 23-25], with Ian Orme, Randy Basaraba, Diane Ordway, Marcela Henao-Tamayo, Ajay Grover, Angelo Izzo, and Delphi Chatterjee all presenting papers. Ian and Helen McShane from the University of Oxford co-organized the conference.

Congratulations to Andrea Guillory and Russell Franson on their recent marriage which took place on June 15, 2012. We wish them a long and happy life together!

Congratulations to Jordan Steel and his wife on the birth of their baby boy twins, Jaxen and Brycen, on May 23rd!

The Steel Family

Jordan says: "Yes, we have a 14 month old little girl named Eliza, and yes it is crazy at our house. A graduate student with transgenic mosquito lines to maintain and 3 kids under 14 months old = no sleep. Already looking forward to ASV for a break and the ability to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time!"

"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you."
~ Bob Proctor, Author

Thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted by the devastating High Park Fire that began on June 9.

A burst steam pipe in the BRB set off a fire alarm in Mid June

Alternative captions
1. Due to the proposed month-long shutdown of the BRB facility, we have decided to perform all BSL-3 work  outside.
2. With smoke from the High Park Fire blanketing the city this summer, residents have started to dress appropriately
3. 7 costumed folks who can’t wait for the New Spiderman movie to open next week.
4. Notice how no one wants to get too close to the guy/gal wearing the hot pink crocs…
5. Submit your own

Have you been curious to know what Ralph Smith has been doing lately? An MIP News correspondent submitted this photo from the 4th Annual NBL-RBL Network Meeting held in Boston, MA April 29-May 1, 2012. Could that be Dr. Smith?

Click on image to see larger size

Questions for MIPuzzle #77
MIPuzzle #77 Answers

More Captions...

1. 83.7% of MIPnews readers surveyed think the ball hit him square in the forehead rather than going into his glove.
2. Motivated by Jamie Moyer and the faltering youth movement, anybody thinks they can play for the Rockies these days….
3. Yearning for simpler times when the bases were 1st, 2nd, 3rd and home rather than A, G, C and U.
4. Submit your own

• Support for Meetings and Conferences from NIH

  If you're planning a meeting in the not too distant future, check out this funding opportunity announcement.

• New rules for acknowledging NIH funding in your publications released:

  Each publication, press release, or other document about research supported by an NIH award must include an acknowledgment of NIH award support and a disclaimer such as “Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01GM085232. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.” Prior to issuing a press release concerning the outcome of this research, please notify the NIH awarding IC in advance to allow for coordination.

• Nominations being accepted for the NIH Foundation’s new Lurie Award for ‘young’ scientists

  The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health has established a new $100,000 achievement award for one outstanding biomedical scientist younger than age 52.  Aside from the sure to be welcomed affirmation that 52 is still considered ‘young, you can nominate whomever you'd like with few exceptions (e.g., you can't nominate yourself). The nomination deadline is August 15th.  Check it out at The Lurie Prize in the Biomedical Sciences

Ramesh Akkina, "Modeling Next Generation HIV PrEP in Humanized Mice", NIAID

Barry Beaty, "Mebabolomics-based Discovery of Small Molecule Biomarkers for Noninvasive Dengue Diagnosis and Prognosis", NIAID

John Belisle, "7th International Conference on Tularemia 2012", NIAID

John Belisle, "Metabolic Biomarkers and Biosignatures for Improved Diagnosis of Lyme Disease", NIAID

Mercedes Gonzalez-Juarrero, "Host Targeted Immunotherapy for TB Treatment", NIAID

Chester Moore, "Testing of Mosquito Pools for West Nile Virus, City of Fort Collins, 2012", City of Fort Collins

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