Biochemistry Seminars

Fall 2019

Biochemistry Seminars are held on Fridays in Room 147, Nanaline Duke Building at 12:00 noon. Our Memorial and Distinguished Lectures* are held at 103 Bryan Research Building at the indicated times, followed by an afternoon social hour. Coffee will be available 15 minutes before each event.

September 13, 2019
Tracy L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Professor, UCLA and HHMI, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

Dr. Johnson will present two seminars—​a research seminar and a Diversity and Inclusion Committee seminar, which will be followed by a reception on the Nanaline Duke Patio or in the lobby (weather dependent). Both seminars will be in Room 147, Nanaline Duke Building.  

12:00 PM
“Pre-mRNA splicing, chromatin modification, and the coordinated control of gene expression”
Hosted by Mike Boyce, Ph.D.

2:00 PM
“Diversity in Science: Why does it matter?”
Hosted by the Biochemistry Diversity & Inclusion Committee (Mike Boyce)
Reception Immediately Following the Seminar

September 20, 2019
Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor, Duke University School of Medicine
“How do we sense pungent and cool compounds? Structural insights from TRP channel studies.”
Hosted by the Department of Biochemistry

October 11, 2019         
Peter Kwong, Ph.D. 
Chief, Structural Biology Section, NIAID/NIH   
“Structures, vaccines, and an antibody-guided approach”
Hosted by Bruce Donald, Ph.D.

October 31, 2019, 2:00 PM        
Karla Neugebauer, Ph.D. 
Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and of Cell Biology, Yale School of Medicine  
“Eukaryotic RNA Synthesis and Processing in the Nuclear Landscape”                                   
Hosted by Kate Meyer, Ph.D.

November 1, 2019       
Baron Chanda, Ph.D.
Professor, Structural Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Ion channel mechanisms: From single molecule to rational design”
Hosted by Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D.

November 8, 2019
Kim Orth, Ph.D.
W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research; Earl A. Forsythe Chair in Biomedical Science, HHMI/UT Southwestern Medical Center  
“Black Spot, Black Death, Black Pearl: The Tales of Bacterial Effectors”                                            
Hosted by Meta Kuehn, Ph.D.

Nozaki Memorial Lecture - 103 Bryan Research Building
November 15, 2019, 12:00 PM 
Elaine Ostrander, Ph.D.
Chief & NIH Distinguished Investigator, NHGRI/NIH      
Title: "How to Build a Dog in 2,392,715,236 Simple Steps”
Hosted by the Biochemistry Graduate Students

November 22, 2019     
Chuan He, Ph.D.
John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago/HHMI      
“RNA Methylation in Gene Expression Regulation”                                    
Hosted by Hashim Al-Hashimi, Ph.D. and Kate Meyer, Ph.D.     

December 6, 2019
David Cortez
Professor of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University ​
“Maintaining Genome Integrity During DNA Replication”         
Hosted by Paul Modrich, Ph.D.                 

December 13, 2019      
Michael Rosen
Chair, Department of Biophysics, UT Southwestern Medical Center
“Cell Organization by Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation”        
Hosted by Van Bennett, MD, Ph.D.

About our Named Lectures

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 in to honor her husband using monies provided by the Henry and Dorothy Lingle Kamin Endowment Fund of Triangle Community Foundation.

The Hseih Memorial Lecture
Established in memory of Tao-Hseih, PhD, who was known as a highly regarded mentor and 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 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.