Undergraduate Researcher Anirudh placed in the top 3 of his division in the SEC PEER Poster Exhibition

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Anirudh is a third-year undergraduate working in Dr. John Blazeck’s team to engineer an enzyme for a cancer immunotherapy. He placed first among upperclassmen in the annual Student Engineering Council Poster Exhibition on Engineering Research. His poster, titled “Directed evolution of an enzyme to fight cancer immune suppression,” outlines the team’s protein engineering techniques to develop a protein to degrade kynurenine, an immunosuppressive molecule synthesized by 11+ types of cancer.

Congratulations, Anirudh!

Undergraduate Researcher Soumya Shekhar is awarded a 2017 Undergraduate Research Forum Award for Excellence in Cancer Research

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Every Spring, the college celebrates its student-scientists at this one-day event. More than 200 students present posters describing their research. The best and most innovative posters and presentations are recognized with awards judged and sponsored by the university, faculty, alumni and industry.

Congratulations, Soumya!

 

Graduate Researcher Matthew Bonem has been awarded the Helmsley Fellowship to attend the Cold Spring Harbor Metabolomics course this summer. Congratulations, Matthew!

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Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. Home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the private, not-for-profit Laboratory employs 1,100 people including 600 scientists, students and technicians. The Meetings & Courses Program hosts more than 12,000 scientists from around the world each year on its campuses in Long Island and in Suzhou, China. The Laboratory’s education arm also includes an academic publishing house, a graduate school and programs for middle and high school students and teachers.

Norah Ashoura Wins the Science in Plain English Contest! Congratulations, Norah!

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Graduate Researcher Norah Ashoura wins the Science in Plain English contest, sponsored by UT’s Science Communications Interest Group, by giving remarks comparing cancer to Darth Vader and the hapless immune system to Jedi Knights in the Star Wars universe. She won a trip to one of the largest gatherings of scientists, which is happening this week, the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
https://cns.utexas.edu/news/fight-cancer-she-must

Nature Medicine Focuses on Influenza

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The November Nature Medicine issue focused on recent progress in influenza vaccine research, and published two critical papers from our group highlighting how influenza vaccines may be improved.

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v22/n12/abs/nm.4224.html
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v22/n12/abs/nm.4223.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115145854.htm
http://che.utexas.edu/2016/11/15/flu-vaccines-effectiveness-can-be-improved/

Antibodies that could help develop a vaccine for HIV

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George Georgiou, a professor of engineering and molecular biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, and his colleagues have developed a hybrid antibody that neutralized 99 percent of HIV-1 strains tested. The antibody is based on so-called “broadly-neutralizing antibodies,” a group of antibodies from HIV-infected patients that are able to take down an array of rapidly mutating HIV-1 viruses.

The research was published last week in the journal Science Immunology.

https://cns.utexas.edu/news/hybrid-antibody-takes-down-hiv

https://news.utexas.edu/2016/11/15/new-findings-on-flu-vaccines-effectiveness

http://www.contagionlive.com/news/duke-may-have-developed-the-most-powerful-hiv-destroying-antibody-thus-far

Enzyme Safely Starves Cancer Cells in Preclinical Study

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A research team led by scientists at The University of Texas Austin has engineered an enzyme that safely treats prostate and breast cancer in animals and also lengthens the lifespan of models that develop chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The new treatment and results from preclinical trials are described in a paper published in the Nov. 21 issue of Nature Medicine.

https://news.utexas.edu/2016/12/09/enzyme-starves-cancer-cells

Dr. Scott Kerr Accepts Position at Biofire Diagnostics

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Congratulations to Dr. Scott Kerr who has accepted a position at BioFire Diagnostics!

Daechan Park Accepts Position at KIST

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Congratulations to Dr. Daechan Park who has accepted a position at KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology)!

Ki Jun Jeong Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure at Kaist

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Congratulations to alum Dr. Ki Jun Jeong on his promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure at KAIST! http://proteineng.cafe24.com/xe/