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OyaGen, a small medical research firm off Jefferson Road in Henrietta, has used federal grants for its HIV drug discovery programs with the goal of finding a cure. Dr. Harold Smith, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of Rochester, and the company's founder, president and CEO got his start as a molecular biologist studying heart disease.

"It became clear to me that the things we were doing to study heart disease and find out why things were happening translated directly into the HIV research arena," Smith said.

By 2010, things kicked into high gear. Advanced robotics were added allowing scientists to work with advanced chemistries. They've now identified a weak point in the HIV virus that's never been exploited before. Vif is a viral defense HIV releases into cells it infects. It destroys the body's natural defense against infections. OyaGen discovered a way to defeat HIV by disabling Vif.

"If we can proceed along track, we will be looking at entering clinical trials within a completely different way of approaching the virus and the disease within three years," Smith said.

Former Biochemistry graduate student and current Chair of Biology, Dr. Gloria Culver, will be formally installed as dean of the School of Arts & Sciences during an investiture ceremony at 4 p.m. today in the Interfaith Chapel on the River Campus.

University Trustee Ani Gabrellian ’84 will provide opening remarks, followed by words from Provost Peter Lennie, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering. Mariette Westermann, vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Jon Lorsch, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, will serve as guest speakers. Following the ceremony, a reception will be held in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library.

On October 29, Dr. Lynne E. Maquat received a 2015 Canada Gairdner International Award, for her work discovering and elucidating the mechanism of mRNA decay pathways. Dr. Maquat was accompanied during presentation of the award by University of Rochester President Joel Seligman, Dean Mark Taubman, and the US Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman (see photo). The sold out annual black tie gala took place at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada and was attended by members of the health care, academic, private and public sectors. Among the attendees were Nobel Laureate Dr. Phillip Sharp, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and the Swiss and Japanese Ambassadors to Canada, who accompanied recipients of the Canada Gairdner International Award from those countries.

Leading up to this event, Dr. Maquat visited four local universities where she spoke to high school students about her personal story of how she became interested in research and what she hopes to achieve through her work. She also met with post-docs and graduate students at each university as well as speaking to faculty members about their research. Following the gala, Dr. Maquat attended and spoke at a 2015 Gairdner Symposium RNA and The New Genetics at the University of Toronto, which she helped coordinate. Her last event occurred at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton where she once again spoke to high school students On being a Scientist: Uncovering the mysteries of life and met with post-docs and graduate students about their research. Dr. Maquat took every opportunity to be part of the National Program, where the goal of these programs is to contribute to Canadian science culture and innovation, and to be part of the Student Outreach Programs where she helped realize one of the Gairdner Foundation's missions to inspire young people to consider a career in science, and to increase their awareness of the value of scientific research.

A local reception was also held to honor Dr. Maquat; pictures available here.

Lynne Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Distinguished Service Alumni Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Research Assistant Professor, Tatsuaki Kurosaki, Ph.D. have been awarded FRAXA Postdoctoral Fellowship for their application entitled, Re-purposing clinically approved drugs to dampen hyperactive nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in fragile X syndrome.

The FRAXA Research Foundation was extremely impressed with their proposed research, and delighted to support this exciting work. Funding of 45,000 has been authorized for the period from May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016.

Congrats to both Lynne and Tatsuaki!

Gloria Culver, former Biochemistry graduate student in the Phizicky Lab, has been appointed dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, effective immediately. Culver is currently a professor of Biology and Biochemistry & Biophysics. Peter Lennie, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering, made the announcement following a yearlong national search. Culver has been serving as interim dean since July 1, 2014.

Biochemistry & Biophysics Professor, Harold Smith, PhD has been awarded a Drug Development Pilot Award for his project, Development of an Assay for High Throughput Screening for Antagonists of the Ebola VP40 Protein Function. The project was externally reviewed by leading drug development researchers and received a meritorious score. To learn about Dr. Smith's research please visit the Smith lab site.

Congrats Harold!

A University of Rochester team found a way to make chemotherapy more effective, by stopping a cellular quality-control mechanism, according to a study published today in Nature Communications.

The mechanism is known as NMD (nonsense-mediated mRNA decay), and scientists found that exposing breast cancer cells to a molecule that inhibits NMD prior to treatment with doxorubicin, a drug used to treat leukemia, breast, bone, lung and other cancers, hastens cell death.

The research team, led by Lynne E. Maquat, Ph.D., director of the Center for RNA Biology at the University of Rochester, acknowledges that the work is in the early stages and a long way from being applied in humans. But, they believe their data provide insights that could lead to new treatment strategies for cancer patients in the future.