Pipettes and Politics

*The award lecture and its accompanying slides are also available to watch here: https://youtu.be/XmjU5aXYtjU.

The Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award honors an outstanding scientist who has shown a sustained commitment to breaking down local and/or systemic barriers against scientists and students from historically marginalized or excluded groups. Shana Stoddard is an associate professor of chemistry, the founding director for the STEM Cohort Mentoring Program, and in 2021 was the inaugural director for student mentoring at Rhodes College. Stoddard’s lab, which hosts about 10 undergraduates each year, does protein structure modeling and analysis, structural biology and drug design. Learn more: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/081623/asbmb-names-2024-award-winners.

The ASBMB Mildred Cohn Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding research contributions to biochemistry and molecular biology. Nozomi Ando is an associate professor at Cornell University’s chemistry and chemical biology department. Her lab works on new structural biology methods, such as diffuse scattering analysis of X-ray diffraction images of protein crystals to obtain information about movement within proteins. Learn more: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/081623/asbmb-names-2024-award-winners.

*The award lecture and its accompanying slides are also available to watch here: https://youtu.be/-SEHPd6UwCE.

The DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences is given to a scientist for the most accessible and innovative development or application of computer technology to enhance research in the life sciences at the molecular level. Ruppin is a computational biologist and chief of the Cancer and Data Science Laboratory in the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute. His lab develops computational approaches for the integration of multiomics data to understand better the pathogenesis and treatment of cancer. Ruppin won the 2023 DeLano award and presented his lecture at the 2024 annual meeting in San Antonio. Learn more: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/062122/2023-award-winners.

*The award lecture and its accompanying slides are also available to watch here: https://youtu.be/fM6aPNO8MxY.

The Herbert Tabor Research Award is given for outstanding, innovative accomplishments in biological chemistry and molecular biology and contributions to the community of scientists. Margaret Phillips is chair of the biochemistry department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where her research focuses on metabolism in protozoan parasites. Her lab studies essential enzymes controlling pyrimidine biosynthesis in the parasite that causes malaria and polyamine synthesis in the trypanosome that causes sleeping sickness. Her lab has used structural-guided drug design to optimize and develop pyrimidine synthesis inhibitors with potential to become antimalarial drugs. Learn more: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/081623/asbmb-names-2024-award-winners.

*The award lecture and its accompanying slides are also available to watch here: https://youtu.be/brIHwjoGqRc.

The Bert & Natalie Vallee Award in Biomedical Science is awarded to an established scientist for outstanding accomplishments in basic biomedical research. Hao Wu is a professor at Harvard Medical School. Wu’s lab uses cryo-electron microscopy and other biophysical methods to understand molecular complexes involved in innate immunity, including signalosomes and pore-forming complexes like gasdermin D. Learn more: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/081623/asbmb-names-2024-award-winners.

The ASBMB Sustained Leadership Award recognizes individuals with a strong commitment to advancing the careers of women in biochemistry and molecular biology along with demonstrated excellence in research and/or service. Learn more: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/opinions/050924/learning-to-listen.

John Boothroyd, a professor and administrator at Stanford University, won the 2022 Alice and C. C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology, which recognizes established investigators who are making seminal contributions to the field of molecular parasitology. Boothroyd leads a lab that studies the pathogenesis of parasitic infections, in particular Toxoplasma gondii.

He presented his award lecture, "How one eukaryote invades and co-opts the cells of another: The story of the truly audacious Toxoplasma gondii" on Monday, April 4, at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology, in Philadelphia. Learn more about his work: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/122421/boothroyd-honored-for-toxoplasma-gondii-research.

Tatyana Sharpee, a professor and chair at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, won the 2022 DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences, which recognizes the most accessible and innovative development or application of computer technology to enhance research in the life sciences at the molecular level. Sharpee’s lab studies how the brain and other biological systems work while their components are developing and aging. Her team uses information theory to quantify the activity of neurons.

She presented her award lecture, "Hyperbolic geometry in biological systems," on Monday, April 4, at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology, in Philadelphia. Learn more about her work: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/120821/sharpee-sees-many-ways-of-looking-at-a-tree.

Susan S. Taylor, a distinguished professor at the University of California, San Diego, won the 2022 Herbert Tabor Research Award, which is given for excellence in biological chemistry and molecular biology and contributions to the community of scientists. Taylor has done pioneering structural studies of protein kinase A, revealing fundamental themes for all protein kinases. She presented her award lecture, "My journey with cAMP-dependent protein kinase," on Sunday, April 3, at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology, in Philadelphia. Learn more about her work: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/122321/taylor-s-career-began-as-a-med-school-detour.

Tracy Johnson, dean of life sciences and a professor at UCLA and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor, won the 2022 Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award, which the ASBMB Minority Affairs Committee gives to an outstanding scientist who has shown a strong commitment to the encouragement of underrepresented minorities to enter the scientific enterprise and/or to the effective mentorship of those within it. Her lab studies the mechanisms of co-transcriptional pre-mRNA splicing in yeast. She presented her award lecture, "Beyond diversity: Building a culture of inclusion in science," on Tuesday, April 5, at the 2022 ASBMB Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology, in Philadelphia. Learn more about her work: https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/120921/johnson-wants-every-student-to-feel-they-belong.