Cell Article by ETOX Alumna Shuo Liu

ETOX alumna Shuo Liu (photo above) who graduated in 2015 from Yinsheng Wang's lab, has a new 1st author publication in the prestigious journal Cell.  Her research shows that cancers with Ras mutations increase protein synthesis by increasing the GTPase activity of a translation elongation factor through a mechanism involving eEF1A demethylation.  A graphic illustration of her research is below.  The article can be accessed here.  Our congratulations to Shuo for this nice recognition of her research. 

Ras-driven cancers ramp up protein

synthesis by increasing the GTPase

activity of a translation elongation factor

through a mechanism that involves

METTL13-catalyzed eEF1A dimethylation

Happy New Year 2019

Happy New Year!  I hope 2019 is a great year for all.  Below are some holiday photos from Riverside and Washington DC where I spent a few days during the Christmas holiday.  The first two are from Riverside and the remainder are from Washington, DC.

Postdoctoral Position in Human Health Risk Assessment

Postdoctoral Position in the University of Cincinnati, Risk Science Center

A postdoctoral position is available with Dr. Lynne Haber in the Risk Science Center of the Department of Environmental Health, College of Medicine. Dr. Haber’s career has focused on applied research in the area of human health risk assessment. In particular, her work focuses on improving risk assessment methods, including characterizing interspecies differences, and consideration of human variability. Other interests include use of mode of action data in risk assessment, use of biomarkers in risk assessment, mixtures assessment, and more recently hazard evaluation and dose response for exposure to nanomaterials.  We seek someone with strong critical thinking skills and strong writing skills, for work assessing the health effects of nanomaterials and other industrial chemicals. If interested, please contact Lynne (haberlt@ucmail.uc.edu).

My thanks to ETOX Alumna, Virunya Bhat for sending the announcement.   

Faculty position in Environmental Health Sciences at UC Santa Cruz

I received the following in an email from Chad Saltikov, the chair of the Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology at UC Santa Cruz.  He was seeking help in getting the word out for a tenure track faculty position at UC Santa Cruz in the area of Environmental Health Science. The application deadline is coming up, Nov 30, 2018.

Job Link: https://recruit.ucsc.edu/apply/JPF00654

-Assistant professor (tenure track) level position in the area of environmental health, emphasizing a mechanistic understanding of how organisms are affected by environmentally-derived stressors, such as chemical or biological agents.

-Research areas might include (but are not limited to) exposome/exposure biology, mechanisms of contaminant action and defense, gene-environment interactions, or microbiome-contaminant interactions that influence host susceptibility.

-Link to the Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology department: https://www.metx.ucsc.edu

-Other notes: UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic-Serving Institution with a high proportion of first-in-family undergraduate students.  We welcome candidates who understand the barriers facing women and minorities who are underrepresented in higher education careers (as evidenced by life experiences and educational background), and who have experience in equity and diversity with respect to teaching, mentoring, research, life experiences, or service towards building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment.

WHO Expert Group on Genotoxicity

 David Eastmond, ETOX faculty member and blog master, recently participated in a WHO Expert working group as part of a project to update the genotoxicity section in the WHO guidance for health effects.  Virunya Bhat, ETOX alumna who works for NSF International, is working with the WHO this year and one of her projects is to draft and compile the updated section.  The picture above was taken in front of NSF International at the expert group meeting earlier this week.  Virunya was the local host and did an excellent job. 

Toxicologist Position Available with the State of Michigan

The State of Michigan has a posting for a Masters-level toxicologist to work in Lansing, Michigan.  The listing is scheduled to close on Oct. 7, 2018.  For more information and to apply, please use this link.  My thanks for ETOX alumnus Efrem Neuwirth for forwarding the information.

SOT Provides Funding for Supplemental Training

The Society of Toxicology sponsors the Supplemental Training for Education Program which provides funding to doctoral students to support participation in a workshop, training course or event which will help the students achieve their future career goals. The proposed activity should be outside the scope of their graduate program and graduate research. The next deadline for applying for STEP funding is October 9. The next deadline is May 1.  Examples of successful, previously funded proposed ideas can be found on the SOT website. For more information, please click the following link: http://www.toxicology.org/education/st/step.asp.  Good luck