McArdle News Archive

2010

Paul Lambert receives Kellett Mid-Career Award. Read about it here...

Jing Zhang receives 2010 ASH Scholar Award. Read about it here...

2009

Janet E. Mertz Named the Elizabeth McCoy Professor of Oncology

Dr. Janet E. Mertz, Professor in the Department of Oncology, recently received a WARF Named Professorship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School.  This award is intended to honor UW faculty who have made “major contributions to the advancement of knowledge, primarily through their research endeavors, but also as a result of their teaching and service activities.”  Dr. Mertz’ numerous research accomplishments have included:  discovering mechanisms regulating transcription, RNA processing, and protein synthesis in mammalian cells; determining how gene expression is controlled in several viruses that contribute to some human cancers; and showing that estrogen-related receptor alpha likely plays roles in some hormone-independent breast cancers.  Recently, she documented that females with profound math ability exist, but are frequently inhibited by socio-cultural factors from developing their talents.  Dr. Mertz, a faculty member at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research since 1976, has served on numerous editorial boards and grant review panels and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  She has mentored numerous students and postdoctoral trainees and is an active participant in the virology community on the Madison campus.

Dr. Mertz chose to have her Professorship named in honor of Dr. Elizabeth McCoy.  Dr. McCoy received her Ph.D. in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin in 1929 under the mentorship of Dr. E.B. Fred.  After a year of postdoctoral studies in Europe, Dr. McCoy returned to UW-Madison as a faculty member in 1930, and eventually became the second woman outside of the Schools of Nursing and Home Economics to attain the rank of full Professor.  During her long scientific career until her retirement in 1973, Dr. McCoy studied essentially all areas of microbiology, from very basic to highly applied.  Her areas of research included: staphylococci and botulinum food poisoning; discovery, large-scale production, and the nature of resistance to antibiotics; bacteria involved in commercial fermentations; classification and characterization of viruses that infect bacteria; and the ecological roles of bacteria in fresh water lakes.  She co-taught in the first virology course offered on the Madison campus.  Dr. McCoy co-authored the definitive text on nitrogen fixation and was recognized throughout the world as a truly great microbiologist.  She was also granted numerous patents for her discoveries through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, including for a method to ferment molasses into the solvent butyl alcohol and for isolation of the antibiotic oligomycin.

James Shull named next Chair of Oncology. Read about it here...

Jing Zhang wins Shaw Award. Read about it here...

Professor Dove receives the 2009 Hilldale Award in the Biological Sciences for excellence in teaching, research and service Read more...

Other McArdle faculty who have received this honor include Drs. Henry Pitot, Waclaw Szybalski, and Howard Temin.

Professor Burgess retires after 37 years at McArdle. A Symposium honoring Dr. Burgess was held in August 2009. Click here for pictures

Alex Shoemaker Awarded Abbott’s Outstanding Research Team Award

Dr. Alexander R. Shoemaker recently received Abbott’s prestigious Outstanding Research Team Award “for achievements in the pursuit of scientific excellence”.  The Abbott Fund donated $5,000 to the McArdle Laboratory Endowment Fund in honor of Dr. Shoemaker’s Award.  Dr. Shoemaker received his Ph.D. in Genetics under the direction of Dr. William F. Dove at the McArdle Laboratory.  He carried out postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego prior to joining Abbott Laboratories in Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

2008

Burgess and Szybalski Named AAAS Fellows

McArdle faculty members Richard Burgess and Waclaw Szybalski are among seven UW-Madison faculty members elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2008. Selection as an AAAS Fellow is a high honor conferred by peers in recognition of distinguished efforts to advance science and its applications. The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society. The society's mission is "to advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people."

Richard R. Burgess, UW-Madison professor of oncology, was selected for his contributions to the biochemistry of gene regulation and promoting technology transfer and the commercialization of research as the founding director of the UW-Madison Biotechnology Center.

Waclaw Szybalski, UW-Madison professor emeritus of oncology, was selected for multiple and diverse contributions to the field of molecular genetics and chemical mutagenesis and in particular for his formation of hypoxanthine-aminopterine-thymidine medium, a selection medium for mammalian cell culture.

The new Fellows will be recognized for their contributions to science and technology at the Fellows Forum to be held on February 14, 2009 during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Wei Xu receives Shaw Scholar Award
Read more...

The year 2008 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Harold Rusch (1908-1988), the founder of the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.

Wegner Receives 2008 Robert C. Mierendorf Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Natalie Wegner has been awarded the 2008 Robert C. Mierendorf, Jr. Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. This Fellowship was established in 2006 by Dr. Mierendorf’s colleagues at Novagen (now called EMD Biosciences, Inc.), Madison, WI, in appreciation of Dr. Mierendorf’s outstanding leadership throughout his career there. Natalie, a senior majoring in Medical Microbiology and Immunology, will carry out her research in Dr. Paul Lambert’s laboratory. Natalie’s project will focus on DNA Damage Responses and Papillomaviral DNA Replication.

A Milwaukee, WI native, Bob Mierendorf received a B.S. degree in Molecular Biology from UW-Madison in 1974.  Fascinated by all aspects of science, Bob began his research career at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.  He completed a PhD in Oncology under the direction of Dr. Gerald C. Mueller with his dissertation work on “Glucocorticoid Hormone Action in Friend Erythroleukemia Cells”.  Bob then assumed the position of Director of Research and Development at Promega Corporation.  In 1989, Bob founded, with Warren Kroeker and David Dubbell, a small biotechnology start-up company called Novagen, Inc., and served as Vice President and General Manager.  Novagen was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pel-Freez, Inc., and specialized in the production of custom gene libraries and specialty reagents.  Novagen was the first company to commercialize the pET System (developed by Dr. F. William Studier and his colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory), and over the next several years became a leader in protein expression systems.  In January 1998 Novagen was acquired by CN Biosciences (CNBI), and Bob was named President of Novagen.  The following year CNBI was acquired by Merck KGaA, and in 2003 the company officially changed its name to EMD Biosciences, Inc.  Bob served as Chief Technology Officer of CNBI and EMD Biosciences.  Through these many transitions, Bob was instrumental in the growth and the success of the company and the people who work there.

Thanks to Dr. Mierendorf’s colleagues at EMD Biosciences, this Fellowship will be awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student who is carrying out research at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.

2007

Wagner Receives the First Ilse L. Riegel Travel Award

Caroline Wagner, a 4th-year graduate student in Dr. Caroline Alexander’s laboratory, has received the first Ilse L. Riegel Travel Award.  Caroline, who studies breast cancer, will present her work at a Gordon Conference in California in March 2007.  This award is named in honor of Dr. Ilse Riegel and was made possible through donations made in her memory.  Ilse made enormous contributions to the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research for over 50 years, first as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Gerry Mueller’s laboratory (1952-1954) and then (1954-2004) providing administrative support to the McArdle faculty and caring for thousands of graduate students, postdocs, staff, and visitors.

Kenealy Receives First Robert C. Mierendorf Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Brian Kenealy has been awarded the first Robert C. Mierendorf, Jr. Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.  This Fellowship was established in 2006 by Dr. Mierendorf’s colleagues at Novagen (now called EMD Biosciences, Inc.), Madison, WI, in appreciation of Dr. Mierendorf’s outstanding leadership throughout his career there.  Brian, a junior majoring in Molecular Biology, will carry out his research in Dr. Elaine Alarid’s laboratory.  Brian’s project will focus on the role of DNA binding in the control of estrogen receptor protein stability in breast cancer.

A Milwaukee, WI native, Bob Mierendorf received a B.S. degree in Molecular Biology from UW-Madison in 1974.  Fascinated by all aspects of science, Bob began his research career at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.  He completed a PhD in Oncology under the direction of Dr. Gerald C. Mueller with his dissertation work on “Glucocorticoid Hormone Action in Friend Erythroleukemia Cells”.  Bob then assumed the position of Director of Research and Development at Promega Corporation.  In 1989, Bob founded, with Warren Kroeker and David Dubbell, a small biotechnology start-up company called Novagen, Inc., and served as Vice President and General Manager.  Novagen was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pel-Freez, Inc., and specialized in the production of custom gene libraries and specialty reagents.  Novagen was the first company to commercialize the pET System (developed by Dr. F. William Studier and his colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory), and over the next several years became a leader in protein expression systems.  In January 1998 Novagen was acquired by CN Biosciences (CNBI), and Bob was named President of Novagen.  The following year CNBI was acquired by Merck KGaA, and in 2003 the company officially changed its name to EMD Biosciences, Inc.  Bob served as Chief Technology Officer of CNBI and EMD Biosciences.  Through these many transitions, Bob was instrumental in the growth and the success of the company and the people who work there.

Thanks to Dr. Mierendorf’s colleagues at EMD Biosciences, this Fellowship will be awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student who is carrying out research at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.

2002

McArdle Welcomes New Students

Nine graduate students joined the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research beginning with the Spring 2002 semester. They are: Cellular and Molecular Biology majors Luis Acevedo (Farnham laboratory), Scott Balsitis (Lambert laboratory), Adam Feire (Compton laboratory), Sigrid Holmgren (Lambert laboratory), Larry Kwong (Dove laboratory), Heather Scobie (Young laboratory), and Sara Speros (Alexander laboratory), and Genetics majors Jennifer Dingwall (Burgess laboratory) and Stephanie Nelson (Gould laboratory). They join Oncology students Young-chul Kim (Alexander laboratory), Sang Kyun Lim (Hoffmann laboratory), Scott Lindner (Sugden laboratory), and Linh Nguyen (Bradfield laboratory) to make up the 1st -year McArdle graduate student class. Steve Knight and Bryan Zhao, both in the Hoffmann laboratory, recently transferred to McArdle from other laboratories. Please welcome these new students.

2001

Chen Awarded CRFA Fellowship

Dr. Xiaodi Chen, a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Dr. William F. Dove, has been awarded a fellowship from the Cancer Research Foundation of America (CRFA). The 2-year fellowship will help to support Dr. Chen's research efforts to identify biomarkers for human colorectal cancer and to develop effective methods to detect the early tumors. Dr. Chen's research involves an active collaboration between Dr. Dove's cancer genetics laboratory and the virology laboratory of Dr. John A.T. Young in the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and causes the second most cancer deaths in the United States. This cancer can be completely cured by surgery if it is discovered in its early stages. Therefore, early detection is critical for the reduction of colorectal cancer death. Currently in advanced parts of the world, people with a high risk of colorectal cancer are recommended to have regular tests to detect early colorectal cancers. However, the current tests for early detection are inaccurate, expensive or unacceptable by the general public. With several new approaches using mutant mice that develop intestinal tumors, Dr. Chen aims to find genes that produce tumor-associated products. These genes and their products will be explored as "biomarkers" for the detection of early tumors. Sensitive methods to detect these tumor biomarkers in serum and stool samples will first be explored in mice. The biomarkers that can be sensitively detected in the mouse will be used to investigate the corresponding human biomarkers. This project, if successful, aims to develop prompt and economical methods broadly acceptable by the public, to accurately screen for early colorectal tumors in the high-risk population and, eventually, the general population.

Dr. Chen, who began his work at the McArdle Laboratory last year, received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The CRFA is a non-profit health foundation, located in Alexandria, VA, whose mission is "the prevention of cancer through scientific research and education".

Nobel Laureate Günter Blobel Visits UW-Madison

by Jennifer Michalowski

Dr. Günter Blobel, 1999 Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine, visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus recently to speak about his research on protein targeting.

Dr. Blobel, professor at Rockefeller University, was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery that "proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell."  In addition to identifying these signals, he has characterized the mechanisms whereby they direct a cell's proteins to the correct compartments and enable their transport across membranes.

Building on his studies on the localization of proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum, Blobel found in 1980 that basic principles governed the trafficking of proteins to other organelles as well.  Newly synthesized proteins are equipped with short sequences of amino acids that act as "address tags".  These signal sequences direct proteins to the correct compartment, where they are recognized by binding proteins that facilitate passage through a channel in the organelle's membrane.

Dr. Blobel earned a Ph.D. in Oncology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, where he worked with Professor Van R. Potter on the distribution of ribosomes within cells.  Professor Potter remembers Blobel as an independent student who required little guidance.  He described Dr. Blobel's approach to scientific questions as beginning with "a speculative metaphor in advance of any experimental evidence."  Indeed, Dr. Blobel described the 1971 model in which he first postulated that signal sequences directed proteins to their appropriate destinations as "a wild scheme for which there was absolutely no evidence."

"The genius of the man," Potter commented, "is to say 'how can I test this?'  He is just about without equal on that end."

Despite the tremendous strides Dr. Blobel has made in uncovering the mysteries of protein targeting, he remains humbled by how little we know.  "I think most of the questions are left," he said.  "What is left to be done is humongous."

While visiting the Madison campus, Dr. Blobel also presented a talk on reconstruction efforts in Dresden, Germany, a once-prominent cultural center destroyed during World War II.  Fifty years after witnessing its bombing, Dr. Blobel founded the Friends of Dresden organization to support Dresden's restoration.  He has donated most of his Nobel Prize money to that cause.

2000

Ahlquist and Gould awarded WARF Named Professorships

Drs. Paul Ahlquist and Michael N. Gould have been selected to receive WARF Named Professorships in honor of their significant research contributions, as well as their contributions to teaching and service. Effective July 1, 2000, Dr. Ahlquist will be the Paul J. Kaesberg Professor of Plant Pathology, Molecular Virology, and Oncology, and Dr. Gould will be the Kelly H. Clifton Professor. Both Drs. Kaesberg and Clifton are professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and were leaders in their fields.

Bradfield receives the SOT Achievement Award

Dr. Christopher A. Bradfield recently received the 2000 Achievement Award from the Society of Toxicology. The Achievement Award is given to an investigator who is within 15 years of receiving the doctorate degree and who has made ground-breaking research contributions in the area of toxicology.

Dove elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Dr. William F. Dove has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy "honors leading intellectuals from both this country and abroad in every field and profession." Dr. Dove's election to the Academy recognizes his distinguished contributions to his profession. Newly elected members will be formally inducted into the Academy at a ceremony to be held at the House of the Academy in Cambridge, MA, in October 2000.

Four receive Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Awards

Heather Barnes (Lambert laboratory), Angela Speer (Hoffmann laboratory), Jesse Waggoner (Dove laboratory), and Kathleen Worringer (Sugden laboratory) have been selected to receive 2000-2001 Wisconsin/Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Awards to carry out research projects at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. The students were judged on the basis of the originality and intellectual significance of their research proposals. The Awards provide a grant to the student and funds to the faculty supervisor to help defray the costs of research.