Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Source: Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

Dara W. Frank, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Director of the Medical College's Center for Biopreparedness and Infectious Diseases, has been elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. Seventy-eight microbiologists nationwide received this honor.

Fellows of the academy are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

Source: 3/3/2010 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter

The Medical College of Wisconsin ranks 20th overall and 4th among universities and medical schools in the United States for postdoctoral training, according to The Scientist’s 2010 Best Places to Work for Postdocs survey.

The top five ranked universities and medical schools in the survey are:

- University of Colorado, Denver
- Mayo Clinic
- Princeton University
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- Emory University

The Medical College of Wisconsin and affiliated institutions – including the Blood Research Institute and Children’s Research Institute – have approximately 200 postdoctoral fellows conducting research in the life sciences.

The Office of Postdoctoral Education was created several years ago to be an advocate and resource for the College’s postdoctoral fellows. The activities of the office are carried out by Philip S. Clifford, PhD, Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Education, and Catie Bauer, Administrative Assistant, in consultation with the Postdoctoral Advisory Committee.

Full survey results appear in the March 2010 issue of The Scientist.

Source: 2009 Medical College of Wisconsin Annual Report

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in adults, underscoring the need for improved methods for early diagnosis and treatment. The ability to use human tumors for research is critical to better understand the biology of cancers and translate advances to patient care. Toward this goal, a pancreatic cancer tissue bank is being developed at The Medical College of Wisconsin under the direction of Douglas Evans, MD.

The Medical College’s pancreatic cancer tissue bank is modeled after and expands on the highly regarded pancreatic tissue bank that Dr. Evans developed and directed at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Small portions of pancreatic cancer tumors removed during surgery will be submitted to the tissue bank to be preserved for genetic studies. A corresponding database will record relevant medical history anonymously for each tissue sample. The integration of the clinical data with the biological findings from the tissue samples is critical for translating findings from the laboratory to clinical use.

The pancreatic cancer tissue bank will be housed in the lab of Michael Dwinell, PhD, who will manage the bank and the use of the tissue samples by Medical College basic science researchers.

The pancreatic tissue bank will serve as the pilot for a Medical College-wide human tissue bank, directed by Saul Suster, MD, comprising many tissue types, such as cardiac, kidney and brain tissue. The College-wide central human tissue bank is an important platform for a strong translational research enterprise. Dr. Evans and Dr. Suster are working with a multidisciplinary tissue bank development team to establish standardized protocols for tissue collection, processing, distribution and data recording, which are the essential foundation for ensuring the integrity and reliability of the research.

Source: 6/17/2009 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter

Researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin published the first initial paper describing the Milwaukee prevalence of the largest outbreak of novel swine origin influenza virus (S-OIV) in America in the June 11, 2009, online issue of Viruses. This corresponded to the announcement by World Health Organization of the first influenza pandemic in 41 years.

Beginning April 17, 2009, increased numbers of novel swine origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) cases began appearing in the United States. As part of a rapid clinical and public health response, the Medical College and its two affiliated teaching hospitals – Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin (CHW) and Froedtert Hospital – established full genetic subtyping of all influenza A viruses identified in patient samples sent to the respective clinical laboratories. Froedtert Hospital’s testing is performed by Dynacare Laboratories.

The Medical College’s Midwest Respiratory Virus Program (MRVP) used its newly developed multiplex, rapid diagnostic testing for influenza, to subtype all influenza A samples obtained during the 16-week period prior to April 28 and the first four weeks of the subsequent pandemic.

“Continued rapid local surveillance in Milwaukee should help define important epidemiologic and virologic characteristics during the early phase of this pandemic to help facilitate current and future public health responses,” said Kelly J. Henrickson, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

During the first four weeks of the epidemic, 679 of 3,726 (18.2 percent) adults and children tested for influenza A were identified with S-OIV infection. S-OIV was confirmed on day two of instituting subtype testing and within four days of reports of national cases of S-OIV. Of the 2,678 children and adolescents from whom respiratory specimens were obtained, 598, or 22.3 percent, were positive for influenza A. Of these 598 children and adolescents, 589 or 98.5 percent, identified as S-OIV. During the same four week period, 94 of 1,048 adults, or 8.9 percent, tested positive for influenza A, with 90, or 95.7 percent, having S-OIV.

Dr. Henrickson, who directs the MRVP and practices at Children’s Hospital, and other researchers at other institutions have developed a number of multiplex, rapid, diagnostic tests for respiratory viruses and pneumonia agents including complete influenza subtyping assays. The genetic tests can identify the majority of human and animal influenza strains and can distinguish between sub types such as H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, H7N2, and H9N2.

In response to the federal government's high priority for accelerated research to combat bird flu and bioterrorism, the Medical College and Dr. Henrickson have been awarded five grants and subcontracts totaling more than $12 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop rapid diagnostic devices to test for avian flu and the majority of potential bioterrorism agents.

The Medical College and Children's Research Institute participated in carrying out the work of these grants.

The test being offered by the MRVP has been approved by the Clinical Laboratory Improvements Act and awaits FDA approval.

Source:  6/1/2009 Chemistry World

In the Chemistry World article entitled "Wider therapeutic possibilities for botulinum toxin" Dr. Joe Barbieri comments on the results of a study he led. 

Read the full article

Source:  5/14/2009 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a $777,000, five-year training grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a highly interdisciplinary, translational postdoctoral training program focused on inflammation and infection in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease.

Available to PhDs and MDs, this innovative fellowship program is housed in the Medical College’s Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center because of its central focus on the translation of basic science discoveries and technological innovations to disease and clinical medicine. Andrew S. Greene, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Director of the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center, is principal investigator for the grant. Michael Kron, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine in the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center, is clinical co-director of the grant.

The training combines an individualized mentoring program via mentoring teams with an individual professional development plan for each trainee. Mentors include outstanding basic scientists from traditional and non-traditional areas, clinical scientists focused on infection and inflammation in cardiovascular disease, and representatives from industry.

“Our training team members are unified in their belief that contemporary fellowship programs must not only give young scientists an outstanding experience at the bench, but must also provide intensive exposure to a variety of technologies and approaches,” Dr. Greene said. “Most importantly, young scientists need mentoring that extends beyond the traditional postdoc-mentor relationship.”

Mentors from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics department contributing to the success of this program are:

- Joseph T. Barbieri, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- Jennifer Coburn, PhD, Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
- Michael B. Dwinell, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- Dara W. Frank, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- Scott Terhune, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center
- Paula Traktman, PhD, the Walter Schroeder Professor in Microbiology and Chairman of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Source: 4/27/2009 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center researchers have learned that a protein, CXCL12, that normally controls intestinal cell movement, has the potential to halt colorectal cancer spreading. These studies represent a potential mechanism by which CXL12 may slow cancer spreading. Controlling this process could lead to new biological therapies for colorectal cancers.

“Colorectal cancer ranked third in cancer-related deaths in the United States in 2008,” said principal investigator Michael Dwinell, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. “Finding therapies to prevent its spread to secondary organs would increase patient prognosis considerably.”

Luke Drury, a graduate student in the interdisciplinary program for biomedical research at the Medical College, was his research associate. Their abstract was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Denver on April 21.

Normal intestinal cells stick to underlying proteins, which provide survival signals to maintain cell health. If they become unstuck, the floating cells undergo a programmed cell death.

In cancer, cells have acquired genetic changes that allow them to survive during loss of attachment. Previously, the researchers found that colorectal cancer cells lacked CXCL12 expression. In these studies, they re-introduced CXCL12 expression in colorectal cancer cells which prevented their ability to adhere to underlying proteins. Plus, the floating cells underwent programmed cell death.

This research was done in the Medical College’s Bobbie Nick Voss Laboratory of Colon Cancer Research with funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the MCW Cancer Center, and the Bobbie Nick Voss Foundation.

Source: 3/11/2009 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two faculty from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics department were featured in an article by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  Both Dr. Dara Frank and Dr. Li Wu discuss applications for NIH funding made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Dr. Frank's proposal is for a cell sorting machine, and Dr. Wu is seeking grants to further his lab's HIV research.

Read the full article

Source:  3/6/2009 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

March 6, 2009 College News - The Medical College of Wisconsin is the 9th best university or medical school for postdoctoral fellows to work in the United States, according to The Scientist’s 2009 “Best Places to Work for Postdocs” survey.

The top ten academic institutions ranked in the survey are:
1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
2. Vanderbilt University, Nashville
3. University of Iowa, Iowa City
4. University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
5. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
6. Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
7. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
8. Emory University, Atlanta
9. Medical College of Wisconsin
10. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

The magazine received 3,438 responses from postdoctoral researchers at institutions around the world.

Respondents rated a valuable training experience, access to research equipment and library services, and a good mentoring relationship as the ingredients that make for a good workplace.

The Medical College of Wisconsin has approximately 200 postdoctoral fellows conducting research in the life sciences. The Office of Postdoctoral Education was created several years ago to be an advocate and resource for the College’s postdoctoral fellows. The activities of the office are carried out by Philip S. Clifford, PhD, Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Education, and Catie Bauer, Administrative Assistant, in consultation with the Postdoctoral Advisory Committee.

Full survey results appear in the March 2009 issue of The Scientist.
 

Source: GMToday.com

High school senior participates in two-year research program guided by Dr. Joseph Barbieri after being inspired to medical field by her mother’s battle with cancer.

Entire Article

Source: 12/24/2007 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a two-year, $165,970 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study botulism, a disease that can weaken or paralyze skeletal muscle. The disease is caused by intoxication with botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), one of the most poisonous substances in the world.

Michael R. Baldwin, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, is principal investigator for the grant.

Dr. Baldwin will identify and characterize the BoNT nerve cell receptor proteins to understand how BoNTs bind and enter into nerve cells. Using molecular modeling and bioinformatics to identify the receptors will provide opportunities for the development of therapies to fight against BoNT intoxication as well as improved clinical therapeutic methods that use BoNTs.

Source: 12/24/2007 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

Scott Terhune, PhD, has been appointed Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. His research interests include identifying how viral proteins from the cytomegalovirus manipulate human cells during infection. 

Cytomegalovirus infects and lies dormant in most people, but can emerge as a serious illness in people with weakened immune systems, such as transplant patients, AIDS patients and some newborns. The only treatment doctors currently have for the virus is an antiviral drug called gancyclovir.

Further understanding of the virus is important because approximately half of all organ or bone marrow transplant patients experience some complication with cytomegalovirus. Women who experience a reactivation of cytomegalovirus or become infected with it during pregnancy risk passing it on to the fetus. This can lead to birth defects, including deafness and mental retardation.

Dr. Terhune comes to the Medical College from Princeton University in New Jersey, where he recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship. While at Princeton, he was also an instructor of molecular biology.

He has authored or co-authored eight journal articles. He received his PhD in biological sciences from the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago in 2000.  He received his bachelor of arts from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., in 1991.

Source: 10/1/2007 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the injection of toxins into epithelial cells by a bacterial pathogen. These studies may ultimately provide opportunities to develop therapeutics that prevent damage to tissues and limit bacterial growth. The grant is from the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dara W. Frank, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, is principal investigator for the grant. Dr. Frank is also director of the Medical College's Center for Biopreparedness and Infectious Diseases.

She believes that the localization of a cofactor for membrane integrity may govern the toxin's biologic activities and promote either colonization or spreading at certain stages of bacterial invasion. Understanding how eukaryotic elements critical to bacterial toxin activity work together will allow the development of inhibitors that interrupt the natural progression to serious infections. This may result in a combination of therapies that could help patients who are critically ill or in the early stages of chronic infection.
 

Source: 1/22/2007 Medical College of Wisconsin World Newsletter article

 In response to the federal government's high priority for accelerated research to combat bird flu and bioterrorism, the Medical College of Wisconsin has been awarded a five-year, $8.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop a rapid, miniaturized, automated diagnostic device to test for avian flu and the majority of potential bioterrorism agents. The device would be used in an outpatient setting.

The new integrated device the researchers are developing may allow cost effective, point-of-care diagnosis of these agents within one to two hours, according to principal investigator Kelly Henrickson, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the College. Dr. Henrickson is also a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

Dr. Henrickson previously developed the Hexaplex diagnostic test, using specialized reagents and genetic data for rapid, accurate simultaneous detection of the seven most common lower respiratory viruses, including several varieties of influenza.  This technology is the basis for an array of products for physicians worldwide to rapidly detect the microbes responsible for a variety of illnesses such as aseptic meningitis, chicken pox, chronic cough syndrome, encephalitis, herpes, influenza, pneumonia, SARS, shingles, and West Nile virus.

"Our laboratory has pioneered a flexible, rapid, sensitive and specific method of simultaneously detecting multiple pathogens," said Dr. Henrickson. "We have recently developed two BioTplex assays that detect many (15) category 'A' bioterrorism agents. However, new amplified DNA detection and nucleic acid purification methods beyond those used in the Hexaplex diagnostic test allow for the development of a single 'point-of-care' device that may enhance the speed, flexibility, throughput, and cost effectiveness of multiplex assays."

Infectious agents identified to pose the greatest potential threat (Category "A" agents) include Variola major (smallpox), Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plague), Clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism), Francisella tularensis (tularaemia), and a group of RNA viruses that cause hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs).

Another agent of grave concern is avian flu. Additional concern exists over bird-to-human spread of avian flu and the potential adaptation for human-to-human spread. Terrorists could take advantage of avian flu's flexibility and engineer more virulent strains capable of causing worldwide pandemics. Current diagnostic assays are directed to the common human isolates of influenza A, but no assay is available to detect all of the avian varieties of influenza A, according to Dr. Henrickson. 

The Medical College of Wisconsin, Children's Hospital, Children's Research Institute and Nanogen Inc. will participate in carrying out the work of the grant.