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Welcome to the first issue of explore LSI. As you're probably already aware, the Life Sciences
Institute (LSI) is a unique and interesting place: a hub for biomedical research
at the  University of Michigan. Our scientists come together under the umbrella
of the LSI to work in collaboration with other basic science researchers in
order to foster innovative scientific discoveries.
Chemists work with biologists, stem cell scientists work
with geneticists, molecular medicine researchers work with pharmacological
experts, and the combinations go on and on. And, all of these researchers
collaborate with other world-class researchers, doctors, and scientists across
the U-M campus with the following mission in mind: to improve human health through collaborative scientific discovery.
With explore LSI
you'll get up-to-date information on LSI science news, initiatives, disease
research, and faculty. Please forward this newsletter to others who you think
would be interested, check out the LSI website at www.lsi.umich.edu, and stay tuned for more
news from
the LSI.
We'd like your feedback on what information you would most
like to hear about; tell us what you'd like to see in upcoming issues of explore LSI. Send us an e-mail with your
ideas at: lifesciencesinstitute@umich.edu.
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Shedding Light on Alzheimer's Disease
Chemist meets donor
LSI research assistant professor Mi Hee Lim and
her lab recently had a visit from a local donor, the Alzheimer's Art Quilt
Initiative (AAQI). AAQI founder Ami Simms wanted to hand deliver a $30,000
check to Dr. Lim and her team to help support their research into th
e role of
metal ions in Alzheimer's disease. Ami read about Dr. Lim's work during an
online search and contacted her through the LSI website about applying for an
AAQI grant.
During her visit, Ami shared her story of
serving as caregiver to her mother who died of the disease. She also brought a
selection of quilts made by volunteers to spread awareness and raise money to
fund research. An emotional connection was made between the lab members and Ami
as she described the insidious nature of Alzheimer's, which robs families of
their loved ones long before their death. This unique connection between donor
and research team will resonate as they build a molecule that could someday
make all the difference in so many people's lives.
To read the full story and view a slideshow of
the visit,
click here.
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The Elegance of a Tunicate
With a new $4.3 million, five-year grant award,
David Sherman and his lab aim to create
new ways to develop cancer-fighting
drugs using natural products
It wouldn't be much of a stretch to call LSI research
professor David Sherman the "Indiana J ones of the Sea" - just check the fedora
for scuba gear. A mild-mannered Midwesterner, he is an explorer at heart. A
chemistry professor like his mother, he teaches at the University of Michigan,
but every few years he can be found diving into the waters of the south
Pacific, of which few have broken the surface. Sherman is in
search of sponges, tunicates, and sediments to take back to his lab at the LSI
to synthesize into new antibiotics and drugs to fight cancer and other
diseases.
Sherman alone holds formal, legal permissions to dive in and collect samples
from sites off of Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, areas that contain coral
reef habitats that provide the most concentrated form of marine invertebrate
biodiversity. These environments also hold tremendous promise for drug
development.
To read the full story and view a slideshow of Dr. Sherman's dives, click here.
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Outsmarting Bacteria
Recently published: Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova's Lab is working to develop a new, faster method for generating novel, more effective antibiotics
It's in the news on a regular basis: antibiotics are
losing their efficacy against bacteria that have built up resistance to them.
Decades of clinical use (and over-use) have made bacteria smarter and trickier
to subvert.
"There's currently a huge problem associated with
bacterial resistance to antibiotics-so, all the drugs that people discover,
bacteria comes up with tricks to become resistant to those drugs," says Sylvie
Garneau-Tsodikova, assistant professor
of medicinal chemistry and research assistant professor in the Life
Sciences Institute.
Read more
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New Light on Evolutionary Theory
Alexey Kondrashov publishes article in Nature
Collaborating with his son Fyodor Kondrashov, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain, and other colleagues, LSI Research Professor Alexey Kondrashov published a paper earlier this year in Nature.
Their study sheds a different light on previous notions about the nature of Darwinian evolution-being that evolution is a gradual process consisting of a consecutive accumulation of mutations of small effects and such accumulation of consecutive mutational steps gives rise to complex organs and explains the diversity of species.
Read more
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About University of Michigan
Life Sciences Institute
At the
University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute (LSI) a team of more than 400
professionals, including world-class faculty in chemistry, cell and
developmental biology, physiology, human genetics, bioinformatics, hematology
and oncology works together to solve fundamental problems in human health. Founded
in 2002, the LSI serves as an intellectual and biomedical technology hub for
the entire University of Michigan system.
University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute
210 Washtenaw
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
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