1st Place for PostDoc/Research Associate
Raif-Musa Aziz – Evidence from surface-pH transients that AmtB and RhAG, expressed in Xenopus oocytes, have a substantially lower CO2/NH3 permeability ratio than AQP1.

2nd Place for PostDoc/Research Associate
Nilofar Khan - IONIC EFFECTS ON PERMEATION IN 1C (Cav 1.2) L-TYPE CALCIUM CHANNELS: Ca2+, Ba2+, AND Na+

1st Place for Graduate Student
Quentin Jamieson - Mn2+ PERMEATES AND AFFECTS GATING OF 1G T-TYPE CALCIUM CHANNELS

2nd Place for Graduate Student
Bryan Doreian - The Role of F-actin and Non-Muscle Myosin II in the Regulation of Transmitter Release From Chromaffin Cells

Salsa
1st place Jessica Berthiaume (Salsa Fresco)
2nd place Andy Resnick (TRPV1 Knockout Salsa)
3rd place Kate Trueblood Doreian (Poor Grad Student Salsa)

Baking
1st place Quentin Jamieson (Paradisiacal Cheesecake)
2nd place Lucila Licate (DNA Brownies)
3rd place Jessica Berthiaume (Chunky Chocolate Drop Cookies)

Please join the Department of Physiology & Biophysics for this special seminar on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 10:00 AM - School of Medicine, Room E531.

Dr. James Sabry is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Cytokinetics, a San Francisco Bay Area biotech company. Cytokinetics was founded in 1997 with the goal of focusing on development of novel small molecule drugs that target cytoskeletal proteins. The company has grown rapidly in the 9 years since its founding and now has several novel drugs in clinical trials, including mitosis-specific anticancer agents and drugs for cardiovascular failure that specifically target the cardiac myosin contractile machinery. In this seminar Dr. Sabry will describe the history of the creation and growth of this highly successful biotech company.

Cytokinetics, Inc.

The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Department of Physiology and Biophysics as the #2 ranked department nationally. The prestigious ranking recognizes extraordinary faculty accomplishments among all academic departments with PhD programs and the scoring is based on a combined set of quantifiable criteria.

The Symposium will be held in the Richard O. Rechnagel Room, SOM E531, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on September 14. A reception on the Bridge will immediately follow.

Rebecca Falin, a graduate student in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics, received the "Pfizer Predoctoral Excellence in Renal Research Award" given by the American Physiological Society Renal Section at the 2006 Experimental Biology Meeting.

Ms. Falin is doing her predoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Calvin Cotton.

Congratulations, Becky!

To celebrate the completion of the NMR facilities, an international NMR symposium will be held this spring. Eighteen distinguished speakers have accepted the invitation, including the Nobel Laureate, Kurt Wuethrich, as a keynote speaker.

The symposium will take place in the Wolstein building, May 12-14, 2006. For details and resgistration visit: http://pout.cwru.edu/NMRsymposium.html.

Today, the Bruker 900 MHz spectrometer was delivered to the West Quad facility on campus. This delivery concludes our NMR facility expansion that started in 2002 with the purchase of this and several other instruments. This magnet provides the strongest commercially available magnetic field strength, delivering superior resolution and sensitivity once the installation is completed. The instrument significantly enhances the infrastructure as it provides cutting-edge technology to the investigators of the Cleveland Center for Structural Biology, as well as the research community of Cleveland, Northern Ohio, and beyond.

Congratulations! to our 2005 Retreat Poster winners Rebecca Falin and Sunita Warrer (graduate students) and Tiberiu Fulop and Kathy Lee (postdocs). Join us at our weekly seminar on Monday, October 17, 2005 at 4 p.m. in E532 for their presentations.

Toni Scarpa, former Chair, is formally sworn in as Director, Center for Scientific Review at NIH