Biochemistry Seminars

All seminars are offered in-person and via Zoom and are on Friday at 12 PM unless otherwise noted. Unless noted, in-person seminars are located at 147 Nanaline Duke Building. Please contact Chelsey Gobert for the Zoom Link.

FALL 2022

PENG JIN, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Human Genetics 
Emory University
Date: September 9, 2022
Title: Molecular Basis of CGG Repeat Expansion Disorders
Host: Dr. Kate Meyer 

JEREMY WILUSZ, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
Date: September 30, 2022
Title: Harnessing RNA Endonucleases to Control Gene Outputs
Host: Dr. Kate Meyer

RUMA BANERJEE, PhD, Vincent Massey Collegiate Professor, Biological Chemistry
University of Michigan Medical School
Date: October 7, 2022
Title: A Mitochondrial Paradigm for H2S Signaling
Host: Dr. Kenichi Yokoyama

SETH RUBIN, PhD, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
UC Santa Cruz
Note Date & Time: Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 3:00 PM
Title: Noncanonical Activators and Pharmacological Inhibitors of Cyclin Dependent Kinases
Host: Dr. Seok-Yong Lee

SAMIRA MUSAH, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Duke University
Date: November 18, 2022
Title: 
Microfluidic Systems for Patterning Stem Cell Derivatives
Host: Dr. Mike Boyce

JUNGSAN "J." SOHN, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Date: December 2, 2022
Title: Signaling Mechanisms of the AIM2-ASC Inflammasome

Host: Pei Zhou

JENNIFER BRIDWELL-RABB, PhD, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
University of Michigan
Date: December 9, 2022
Title: Design Principles for Metalloprotein Chemistry
Host: Dr. Kenichi Yokoyama

**CANCELLED** MONICA DUS, PhD, Associate Professor, Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology 
University of Michigan
Date: New Date TBD
Title: Nutrigenomic Regulation of Physiology & Plasticity
Host: Dr. Kate Meyer

Spring 2023

JASON CRAWFORD, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Microbial Pathogenesis & Director of the Yale Institute of Biomolecular Design & Discovery
Yale University
Date: January 20, 2023
Title: Metabolism at the Host-Microbe Interface
Host: Dr. Ken Yokoyama

Kamin Memorial Lecture
ANGELA M. GRONENBORN, PhD, Chair & Distinguished Professor, Department of Structural Biology
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Date: February 3, 2023 
Title: The Awesome Power of Flourine NMR-From Drugs to Cells
Host: Dr. Dick Brennan

MARCY BALUNAS, PhD, Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology and Medicinal Chemistry
University of Michigan
Date: February 10, 2023
Title: Silent, Cryptic, or Orphan: Interrogating Specialized Metabolite Production in Host-Microbe Symbioses
Host: Dr. Shuo Han

JEDI Seminar
BALDOMERO M. OLIVERA, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Biology
University of Utah
Note Date & Time: Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 11:30 PM
Title: Investigating Cone Snail Venoms: The Advantage of Diverse Perspectives
Host: JEDI Committee
*The JEDI Seminar will be held at 143 JONES BUILDING

BALDOMERO M. OLIVERA, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Biology
University of Utah
Date: February 17, 2023
Title: The Venomous Fish-Hunting Cone Snails: From Evolution And Behaviour to Molecular Neuroscience and Drug Development
Host: JEDI Committee

Nozaki Memorial Lecture
WILLIAM G. KAELIN, Jr, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Note Date & Time: Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 12:30 PM
Title: Von Hippel-Lindau Disease: Insights into Oxygen Sensing and Cancer
Host: Biochemistry Graduate Students

**POSTPONED** DANIEL HERSCHLAG, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry
Stanford University
Date: New Date TBD
Title: Toward a Predictive Understanding of Protein Function: A Paradigm Shift from Structure-Function to Ensemble-Function Studies
Hosts: Drs. Paul Modrich and Dick Brennan

CHRISTOPHER BARNES, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology
Stanford University
Date: March 10, 2023
Title: Structural Insights into Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 and Beyond
Host: Dr. Priyamvada Acharya

JIN ZHANG, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology
UC San Diego
Date: March 17, 2023
Title: Illuminating the Biochemical Activity Architecture of the Cell
Host: Dr. Sudarshan Rajagopal

HENRY COLECRAFT, PhD, John C. Dalton Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics & Professor of Pharmacology
Columbia University Medical Center
Date: March 24, 2023
Title: Engineering Ion Channel Regulation: Mechanisms to Translation
Hosts: Drs. Seok-Yong Lee and Huanghe Yang

DEMET ARAC, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Chicago
Date: March 31, 2023
Title: Structural and Functional Basis of Adhesion GPCRs and Their Ligands
Host: Dr. Shuo Han
This seminar is Zoom only

The Paul L. Modrich, PhD, Distinguished Lecture
RANDY SCHEKMAN, PhD, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology

UC Berkeley
Date: 
April 7, 2023
Title: Extracellular Vesicles and Tubular Connections in Membrane Repair and Intercellular Traffic
Host: Dr. Dick Brennan

Hsieh Memorial Lecture
STEVE KOWALCZYKOWSKI, PhD, Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Date:
April 14, 2023
Title: Maintaining Chromosomal Integrity by Recombination: A Focus on Topoisomerase Function
Host: Dr. Dick Brennan

NANCY DAHMS, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry
Medical College of Wisconsin
Date: April 21, 2023
Title: TBD
Hosts: Drs. Mike Boyce and Bettie Sue Masters

SHARON CANTOR, PhD, Professor of Molecular, Cell & Cancer Biology
University of Massachusetts
Date: April 28, 2023
Title: Expanding the Gap Model to Identify Effective Chemotherapies
Host: Dr. Pei Zhou

JIM WELLS, PhD, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
UCSF
Date: May 19, 2023
Title: TBD
Host: Dr. Terry Oas
 


The Henry Kamin Memorial Lecture
Henry Kamin’s scientific prowess was recognized by two five-year appointments to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, membership on the National Science Foundation Panel on Metabolic Biology, and the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences. The Henry Kamin Memorial Lecture honors his 42-year career at Duke University, his steadfast integrity, and his many contributions to nutritional biochemistry.

In 1997 his wife, Mrs. Dottie Kamin, initiated the lecture to honor her husband using monies provided by the Henry and Dorothy Lingle Kamin Endowment Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation.

The Hsieh Memorial Lecture
Established in memory of Tao-Hsieh, PhD, who was known as a highly regarded mentor, teacher, and researcher with accolades including an American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Award. This lecture is made possible by a generous gift from his lifelong friends, Yan-Tsong Chen, MD, PhD and Mrs. Alice Chen through the Chenzyme Foundation.

The Modrich Distinguished Lecture
This lecture honors the myriad contributions Paul Modrich has made to the field of nucleic acid biochemistry during his illustrious career at Duke University. A number of generous gifts from former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and friends of Paul, as well as members of the Department of Biochemistry have made this lecture series possible.  

The Nozaki Memorial Lecture
Yas Nozaki spent four decades at Duke doing painstaking work in pure compounds and precise measurements as the basis of solid progress in scientific knowledge. He had a love of learning and science and was a great friend and approachable colleague. His daughter Yoko Nazaki Ax and her husband Emanual Ax (the noted concert pianist) have made this lecture possible through their generous donation.

The Philip Handler Lecture
This lecture is in remembrance of Philip Handler, who has been described as a legendary instructor, with a talent for taking the most difficult medical school subjects and turning them into unique learning experiences.