LSI adds top scientists to interdisciplinary faculty
April 18, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The Life Sciences Institute (LSI) today announced the hiring of six additional faculty members. The new LSI cohort, recruited from across the country, adds to the broad array of scientific approaches and disciplines that the Institute is assembling.
"This influx of highly talented scientists from multiple disciplines showcases Michigan 's approach to advancing science. This group is a dynamic microcosm of the key research areas in the LSI," said Alan Saltiel, LSI director. "They expand our universe of talent and will intensify our interactions and collaborations."
The new faculty in the LSI laboratory "without walls" work in fields such as evolutionary biology, cell biology, human genetics, oncology, pathology, and structural biology. Two of the six researchers are in computational biology, a new field of discovery at the interface of biology and information science.
"It's the opportunity to talk and work alongside colleagues in other disciplines who have other ways of thinking -- that's the catalyst for discovery and it's what top researchers like this want," Saltiel said.
The recruitments bring the LSI faculty total to 17, moving the LSI considerably closer toward a goal of a faculty of 25-30 scientists.
"This major recruiting announcement marks tremendous forward momentum in an endeavor that will enrich all life science activities at U-M," said President Mary Sue Coleman. "The Life Sciences Institute and its partner departments in academic units throughout the University are bridging key areas of discovery with an exceptional roster of new faculty. We are building a team of researchers who will not only advance scientific knowledge, but also contribute significantly to the economic development of the state."
The Institute serves as Michigan's hub for collaborative biomedical research on human health problems. Housed in a state-of-the-art building, the LSI is located between central campus and the medical complex in Ann Arbor. Currently 330 researchers work in the LSI on faculty-led teams, including more than 80 students.
New faculty are welcome additions to partner units
With the appointments of Alexey Kondrashov and Noah Rosenberg, LSI makes its first hires in the critical area of computational biology, which uses information technology and methodologies to examine the large amounts of data now being mined from genetic sequencing and large scale experiments. For example, Kondrashov, a top senior scientist at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, uses advanced mathematical and modeling techniques to compare genetic data across different mammals to understand to why certain genes are conserved through the generations and across species. Instead of working in a traditional lab with "in vitro" or test-tube experiments or "in vivo" with animal experiments, computational biologists generally work "in silico" with sophisticated computers.
"EEB is thrilled about the recruitment of Alexey Kondrashov. He is a brilliant evolutionary biologist who will bring a new dimension in evolutionary theory to our already very strong program,' said Deborah Goldberg, chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "As those who know him can attest, Alex is a wonderfully exciting collaborator and colleague. We are greatly looking forward to increased interactions with the LSI, as Alex brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on research on genetic mechanisms of biological phenomena."
Lois Weisman, a top senior researcher studying cell transportation systems at the University of Iowa, joins LSI faculty Daniel Klionsky and Anuj Kumar, in using yeast for "model" experimentation. Yeast is similar in structure and evolutionary origin to human cells and is easier and faster to analyze than higher life forms. Weisman studies how intra-cellular structures move within the cell to discover what underlies diseases like cancer and diabetes where broken cell transportation is implicated.
"Dr. Weisman is precisely the kind of spectacular senior leader that we hoped would be attracted to the Life Sciences Institute when it was first envisioned. She is an internationally renowned cell biologist; her work is at the cutting edge of the intersection between cell biology and genetics, and fits perfectly into the concept of merging disciplines to achieve new insights into fundamental biological problems," said Doug Engel, chair of Cell and Developmental Biology.
With John Tesmer, who completes the LSI "structural biology dream team", LSI is staking a place among the top structural biology centers in the world. Dr. Tesmer joins LSI structural biologists Gabrielle Rudenko, Janet Smith, Jeanne Stuckey, and Zhaohui Xu in the Center for Structural Biology on the 3rd floor of the LSI.
"John Tesmer is a spectacular recruit for the department of Pharmacology and we would not have been able to recruit him without the help of the LSI and its faculty. He will be a tremendous resource for a number of our faculty and students and will greatly enhance the research efforts of our department," said Paul F. Hollenberg, chair of Pharmacology.
Jason Gestwicki, who helped develop a potential new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease, is one of the Institute's first hires in chemical biology, working alongside LSI faculty member David Sherman on drug discovery with small molecule research.
"Jason Gestwicki is an extremely accomplished young scientist who has developed an exciting technology that may pave the way for novel strategies to deal with diseases of protein unfolding and aggregation (e.g. prion diseases, Alzheimer's disease, etc.). Jason was very competitively recruited by several prestigious universities. We feel fortunate to 'land' him," said Peter Ward, professor and chairman, department of Pathology.
Patrick Hu studies cancer and joins LSI faculty Shawn Xu using the model system C. elegans, a primitive worm that shares many of the basic biological characteristics of humans.
"We are thrilled by the opportunity to recruit this gifted young biomedical scientist to the LSI and the department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Patrick Hu comes with an outstanding record of training and accomplishments from NYU and Harvard," said chair of Hematology/Oncology Robert Todd. "His recruitment was the culmination of a highly competitive national search to bring the best young minds to Michigan."
Brief biographies of new recruits
Jason E. Gestwicki, Ph.D. will add to the Institute's efforts in small molecule research and drug discovery with his investigations of small molecules that inhibit protein-protein interactions. A study he published last year that used small molecules to block the formation of the amyloid plaques (clumps of protein) that characterize Alzheimer's disease was named one of the Chemistry Highlights of 2004 by the Chemical and Engineering News. Gestwicki is also developing chemical tools for altering and stopping pathogenic interactions, such as the binding between a cell and a virus.
Gestwicki will become an LSI assistant research professor and assistant professor of Pathology in the Medical School in July 2005, after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and was an undergraduate double major in Chemistry and Recombinant Gene Technology at the State University of New York - Fredonia.
Patrick J. Hu, M.D., Ph.D. is investigating the genes involved in cancer primarily by using a model organism, the 1 mm nematode worm, C. elegans. Many of the genes that are implicated in cancer have been retained throughout evolution and appear in this worm. By looking at some of the genes and proteins that govern cell-to-cell communication in the worm, Dr. Hu plans to generate new ideas about cancer gene function and then test these hypotheses in mouse models of cancer. The ultimate goal would be to identify novel targets for anticancer drugs.
Dr. Hu joins LSI in July 2005 after completing a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral research fellowship at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He will be an LSI assistant research professor and assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Medical School. He completed his MD at New York University School of Medicine, performed a residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed a fellowship in adult oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Hu has also studied classical piano performance at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Alexey Kondrashov, Ph.D. is using computing power to investigate some of the most difficult questions of evolutionary biology, such as how natural selection works at the level of individual proteins and amino acids, and why so many species rely on sexual reproduction. Using computers to compare large bodies of raw biological data from many species, Kondrashov is able to see evolutionary differences through long stretches of biological history. Some of this work relates to human mutations and comparisons between our species and other mammals.
Kondrashov will become an LSI research professor and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) in summer 2006. He is currently at the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the National Institutes of Health. He previously was an associate professor of Ecology & Systematics at Cornell University. Kondrashov earned his Ph.D. in evolutionary genetics at Pushchino Research Center of the Russia Academy of Science and came to the U.S. in 1990 as a visiting scientist.
Noah Rosenberg, Ph.D. is using powerful computers and software to explore the roots and branches of the human family tree. His research is sifting through key landmarks in the human genome and helping to sort out how these markers relate to one another between individuals, across continents and through time. Some of this information can, in turn, be used to develop better epidemiology to prevent human health problems. He is also interested in developing mathematical models and statistical tools for application in population genetics.
Rosenberg will join LSI in July as an assistant research professor with appointments in the Bioinformatics Program in the Rackham School of Graduate Studies and the Department of Human Genetics in the Medical School. He holds a prestigious Burroughs Wellcome Fellowship, which is a five-year award for promising researchers in the biomedical sciences. Rosenberg earned a Ph.D. from Stanford in Biological Sciences and is completing a post-doctoral fellowship in Molecular and Computational Biology at the University of Southern California.
John Tesmer, Ph.D. investigates a particular class of protein molecules that carry signals across the membranes of cells. This cell-to-cell communication is significant in sensations of sight and smell, for regulation of blood pressure and heart rate, and for many other physiological events. He also studies the structure and function of enzymes that have been associated with leukemia. Tesmer, who is primarily an x-ray crystallographer, joins LSI's "dream team" of structural biologists in the Center for Structural Biology that is determining the three-dimensional shapes of important biomolecules.
Tesmer joins LSI in July 2005 as an associate research professor, and will be an associate professor in Pharmacology in the Medical School. He is currently on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin and received his Ph.D. from Purdue University.
Lois Weisman, Ph.D. studies how components within a cell are moved to the right place at the right time. This process is a key feature of ordinary cell division and embryonic development and plays a role in many diseases including cancer and diabetes. Her research relies on the model organism baker's yeast (S. cerevisiae).
Weisman joins LSI in summer 2005 as an LSI research professor and professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Medical School. She is currently on the faculty at the University of Iowa, and earned her Ph.D., from the University of California, Berkeley.
