The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology hosts several seminars each semester featuring on-campus faculty as well as prominent research scientists from other universities and institutions. These seminars are designed to broaden the knowledge of students, faculty and staff in the areas of current research and application of biochemistry and bio-technology.

Seminar in Action

Upcoming Seminars

May
10
Fri

Spring 2024 Seminar Schedule

DATE/TIME

SPEAKER

TITLE

HOST

Thurs, Feb 8th Swygert Lab RAC: Pictures at an Exhibition: A RAC suite in three movements
Swygert Lab
Thurs, Feb 15th Nishimura Lab RAC: Defining the regulatory interface of transcription in arbovirus-infected mosquitoes  Nishimura Lab
Thurs, March 21st Ho Lab RAC: Still crazy after all these [20] years:
Halogen Bonds in Biological Molecules 
Ho Lab
Thurs, March 28th Ross Lab RAC: Prion-like Domain March Madness! Who will be the champion phase separator? Ross Lab
Thurs, April 4th Yao Lab RAC:  BRCA1-BARD1 mediated H2A ubiquitylation in DNA repair Yao Lab
Thurs, April 11th Di Pietro Lab RAC  Di Pietro Lab
Mon, April 15th Michael Rosen Woody Lectureship Series: Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Biological Systems Department
Thurs, April 18th Stasevich Lab RAC: ai4mAb2scFv4unme2c!  Stasevich Lab
Thurs, April 25th Santangelo Lab RAC  Santangelo Lab
Thurs, May 2nd Schauer Lab RAC  Schauer Lab
Thurs, May 16th Peersen Lab RAC  Peersen Lab
Thurs, May 23rd Chanda Lab RAC  Chanda Lab
Thurs, May 30th Snow Lab RAC  Snow Lab
Thurs, June 6th Kuhn Lab RAC  Kuhn Lab

Fall 2023 Seminar Schedule

DATE/TIME

SPEAKER

TITLE

HOST

Fri, Aug 4 Juan Bonifacino Rocky Mountain Membrane Trafficking Meeting 2023 Wyatt Beyers
Randy Owen
Tues, Sep 5th Dr. Hiroshi Ochiai Revealing regulatory mechanisms of transcriptional dynamics by imaging techniques Dr. Tatsuya Morisaki
Mon, Sep 18th Dr. Loren D. William
RNA and Protein: A Match Made in the Hadean
Dr. Shing Ho
Mon, Sep 19th Dr. Michael Hughes Contribution of Water to Phase Separation in Cell Biology Dr. Santiago Di Pietro
Mon, Sep 25th Dr. Laurie Stargell, Chair BMB State of the Department Dr. Laurie Stargell
Mon, Oct 9th Professor Fawwaz M. Al-Abed Al-Haq Partnerships, Responsibilities, and Expectation
Dr. Laurie Stargell
Thurs, Oct 12th
Bree Wenck
Defense – Post-initiation Regulatory Mechanisms of Transcription in The Archaea
Dr. Tom Santangelo
Mon, Oct 30th Dr. Ying Lu Functions and mechanism of ubiquitin signal amplification by HUWE1 Dr. Tingting Yao
Mon, Nov 6th CSU Occupational Health and Safety Office Eye Protection PPE Show Case
Dr. Chaoping Chen
Mon, Dec 4th
Dr. Elise Fouquerel
Deciphering the dynamics of PARP1 binding to R-loops Dr. Grant Schauer

Spring 2023 Seminar Schedule

DATE/TIME

SPEAKER

TITLE

HOST

Thu, Jan 19 Cohen Lab Ubiquitin regulation of DNA damage bypass in space and time Cohen Lab
Thu, Jan 26 Hansen Lab What is “Open” vs “Closed” Chromatin? Hansen Lab
Thu, Feb 02 Stargell Lab Spn1 functions-from genetics to Cryo-EM Stargell Lab
Thu, Feb 09 Nishimura Lab Worms in Space Nishimura Lab
Thu, Feb 16 Bamburg Lab Saving cognition In multiple neuronal proteinopathies: Are chemokine antagonists the holy grail? Bamburg Lab
Thu, Mar 02 DeLuca Lab Dynein and The Corona DeLuca Lab
Thu, Mar 09 Ho Lab Halogen bond catalysis: fact or fiction? Ho Lab
Mon, March 20 Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz Woody Lectureship Series: Looking under the hood of cells: from single molecule dynamics to whole cell organelle reconstructions Department
Thu, Mar 23 Ross Lab Fantastic Low Complexity Domains and How to find them/Me, Myself, and I: Self-referencing rates in Biology/Biochemistry Ross Lab
Thu, Mar 30 Yao Lab Fast & Curious toward a universal design of live cell ubiquitination sensors Yao Lab
Thu, Apr 06 Di Pietro Lab The Other FoCo’s Capping Story – A tale of actin regulation in endocytosis Di Pietro Lab
Fri, Apr 07 Matt Saxton Defense Live-cell imaging uncovers the relationship between histone acetylation, transcription initiation, and nucleosome mobility Stasevich Lab
Mon, Apr 10th Dr. Meena Balgopal, CSU Learning Versus performance: How can science instructors help all students do both? BMB IDEA Committee
Thu, Apr 13 Dr. O’Neil Wiggan Found in Translation – Visualizing the central dogma of a cytoskeletal motor Stasevich Lab
Monday, Apr 17 Dr. Ann Palmenberg Rhinovirus receptor switching and the potential for new pandemics Dr. Olve Peersen
Thu, Apr 20 Santangelo Lab Origin vs Recombination Santangelo Lab
Thu, Apr 27 Schauer Lab MRC 1: Master of Replication Yao Lab
Monday, May 08 Dr. Derek Prosser Mind the GAP: Localized control of Rho GTPase signaling in clathrin-independent endocytosis Santiago Di Pietro
Wed, May 10 Peersen Lab Co-folding and RNA Activation of Picornaviral 3C Proteases Peersen Lab
Monday, May 15 Dr. Bjorn Willige Impact of Light on Chromatin Dynamics Erin Nishimura
Thu, May 18 Chanda Lab Self-organization and synaptic localization of GABAergic postsynaptic components in the absence of presynaptic GABA release Chanda Lab
Thu, May 25 Swygert Lab How is chromatin condensation regulated during quiescence entry and exit? Swygert Lab
Fri, June 9 Di Pietro Lab Analysis of the melanosome membrane proteome reveals novel players in the biogenesis of melanosomes Di Pietro Lab

 

Fall 2022 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date/Time Speaker Title Host
Fri, Aug 26 Lindsay Winkenbach
Translation-dependent mRNA localization in the C. elegans embryo Dr. Erin Nishimura
Mon, Aug 29 Dr. Laurie Stargell BMB Kickoff Department
Mon, Sep 12 Canceled – Dr. Dan Lark An Organ System Approach to Study Extracellular Vesicle Biology Department
Thur, Oct 13 Robert Thomas Patton William Defense -Genome-wide characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine transcriptome and GATA transcription factor ELT-2 Erin Nishimura
Mon, Oct 17 Allison M. Porman Swain, Postdoctoral Fellow, Regulation of cell states by the RNA modification m6A, from breast cancer to pathogenic yeast Hansen Lab
Mon, Oct 24 Dr. Allyson O’Donnell From Here to There: The Expanding Roles of Alpha-Arrestins in Protein Trafficking and Their Impact on Celluar Metaabolism Di Pietro Lab
Wed, Oct 26 Andrew Lamb Defense-“Regulation of Actin Capping Protein During Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis” Santiago Di Pietro
Mon, Nov 14 Kevin Flynn, PhD Beyond Basement Membranes: UltiMatrix and Other Matrices for Stem Cells and Organoids James Bamburg

Spring 2022 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date/Time Speaker Title Host
Thur, Jan 20 JEOL
Cryo-Electron Microscopy @ CSU Dr. Olve Peersen
Thur, Jan 27 ThermoFisher Scientific
Cryo-Electron Microscopy @ CSU Dr. Olve Peersen
Thur, Feb 3 Dr. Soham Chanda
RAC – Induction of synapse formation by De Novo neurotransmitter synthesis Chanda Lab
Thur, Feb 10 Dr. Chaoping Chen
RAC – Characterization and antiviral development targeting n-terminal autoprocessing of SARS-CoV2 main protease Chen Lab
Thur, Feb 17 Dr. Jessica Hill
RAC – Into the Microverse: A model for genetic interaction between the gut microbiota and intestinal cells Nishimura Lab
Thur, Feb 17 Dr. Tim Stasevich
RAC – Shadow Scopin’ w/ the Silhouettes: Digital Holography for 3D Tracking Stasevich Lab
Thur, Mar 10 Dr. Eric Ross RAC – From prions to Stress Granules:  What Drives Protein Phase Separation Upon Stress Ross Lab
Thur, Mar 24
4:00 pm
Dr. Sarah Swygert RAC – In the weeds with Micro-C Swygert Lab
Fri, Mar 25
1:00 pm
Maia Zoller
M.S. Defense – “INTERRUPTION OF NEURON-MICROGLIA BIDIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION TO MODULATE COFILIN:ACTIN ROD FORMATION” Dr. James Bamburg
Thur, Mar 31
4:00 pm
Dr. Shing Ho RAC – The cX-Zyme:  An X-Bond (Halogen Bond) Catalyzed DNA Nuclease/Ligase Ho Lab
Mon, April 4
10:00 am
Anna Detry
M.S. Defense – The Discovery of Novel Proteins Regulating Melanosome Biogenesis and Function Dr. Santiago Di Pietro
Thur, Apr 7
4:00 pm
Dr. Santangelo RAC – The Secrets of Thermophily Dr. Santangelo
Mon, Apr 11
10:00 am
Dr. Annette Angus Seminar – At the Intersection of Environmental Disinfection and Social Justice-from the lens of a Black Microbiologist BMB IDEA Committee
Thur, Apr 14
4:00 pm
Dr. Grant Schauer
RAC – Stress Management for Replicating Chromosomes Schauer Lab
Thur, Apr 21
4:00 pm
Dr. Olve Peersen RAC – Evolution of Large Genome RNA Viruses -Polymerase Adaptations to Outrun Innate Immunity Without Destroying the Genome Peersen Lab
Mon, Apr 25
10:00 am
Dr. Lisa Dysleski Seminar – Inclusive Syllabi BMB
Tues, Apr 26
2:00 pm
Aaron Escobedo & Alexis Gomez Seminar – Safe Zone Training BMB IDEA Committee
Thur, Apr 28
4:00 pm
Dr. Steven Markus RAC – Let It Go! Markus Lab
Mon, May 2
10:00 am
Dr. Erin Nishimura and Dr. Paul Laybourn Seminar – BMB Undergrad Survey BMB IDEA Committee
Thur, May 5
4:00 pm
Dr. Bob Cohen and Dr. Tingting Yao RAC – How to catch ubiquitinated nucleosomes for CUT&RUN
Cohen and Yao Labs
Thur, May 12
4:00 pm
Dr. Jim Bamburg RAC –  The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
Bamburg Lab
Mon, May 16
9:30 am
Meghan Stettler
Defense – The role of ferredoxin 3 in hydrogen metabolism in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis
Meaghan Stettler
Thur, May 19
4:00 pm
Dr. Graham Peers
RAC – Photosynthetic Acclimation:  Dark to Light is not Black and White
Hansen Lab
Thur, May 26
4:00 pm
Dr. Santiago Di Pietro RAC – RAC – Expanding The Pigmentation Palette
Di Pietro Lab
Tues, May 31
10:00 am
Dr. Magnus Johansson Seminar – Single-molecule tracking for kinetics measurements of protein synthesis and targeting inside living cells Stasevich Lab
Mon, June 6
10:00 am
Dr. Weihan Li Seminar – Spatial Coordination of Cytosolic and Mitochondrial Translations Stasevich Lab

Fall 2021 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Fri, Aug 6 Ryan Czarny
Site-Specific Function of Endonuclease G and CPS6 to enable Vertebrate function in an Invertebrate model Dr. Shing Ho
Mon, Aug 30 Dr. Laurie Stargell
2021-2022 Academic Year Kick-off Department
Mon, Sep 20 Dr. Tom Santangelo
Promotion Seminar – Vignettes with King Phillip Dr. Shing Ho
Mon, Sep 27 Dr. Erin Nishimura
Promotion and Tenure Seminar – How mRNA transcripts are spatially patterned to direct developmental outcomes Dr. Tom Santangelo
Mon, Oct 4 Dr. Tingting Yao
Promotion Seminar – Sensing and making sense of ubiquitin signals Dr. Olve Peersen
Tue, Oct 26 Dr. Rachel Green
Woody Lectureship Series – Ribosome collisions trigger cell fate signaling pathways Dr. Santiago Di Pietro
Thur, Nov 4 Matt Baer Characterizing Unique Features of Prion-like Domains Recruited to Stress Granules  Dr. Eric Ross
Thur, Nov 8 Dr. Soham Ghosh Emerging roles of nuclear mechanobiology: in development, homeostasis, and degeneration  Dr. Jeffrey Hansen
Mon, Nov 15 Dr. Marco Mangone miRNAs and Alternative Polyadenylation Dr. Erin Nishimura
Mon, Dec 13 Craig Marshall Mechanisms of transcription termination and polarity in hyperthermophilic Archaea Dr. Tom Santangelo

Spring 2021 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Thur, Jan 28 Laurie Stargell Dancing with the Histones: Histone chaperone functions Stargell Lab
Thur, Feb 4 Soham Chanda Glutamate/Gaba Synapse/Off Chanda Lab
Thur, Feb 11 Lubna Tahtamouni Androgen receptor modulation in controlling metastasis of triple negative breast cancer Bamburg Lab
Thur, Feb 18 Chaoping Chen Allosteric Modulations of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Precursor Autoprocessing Chen Lab
Mon, Feb 22 Sarah G. Swygert Unraveling repressive three-dimensional chromatin structure in quiescence Jeffrey Hansen
Wed, Feb 24 Sara Young-Baird Unravelling the Role of Translation Dysregulation and the Integrated Stress Response in Human Disease Jeffrey Hansen
Thur, Feb 28 Meghan Costello Optimizing the MS2/MCP system in C. elegans to visualize single transcript localization and dynamics in live embryos Nishimura Lab
Mon, March 1 Erik E. Griffin Patterning the cytoplam of the C. elegans embryo Jeffrey Hansen
Wed, March 3 Lisa Boxer Chromatin regulation in neuronal development and disease Jeffrey Hansen
Thur, Mar 4 Tim Stasevich imaging w/ the Stasevich Lab (some assembly required) Stasevich Lab
Thur, Mar 11 Tingting Yao and Bob Cohen Reading chromatin ubiquitination Yao/Cohen Labs
Thur, Mar 18 Eric Ross Different phases of prions: From homopolymeric solids to complex liquids Ross Lab
Thur, Mar 25 Jake DeLuca Drafting a recombinant antibody palette DeLuca Lab
Thur, Apr 1 Shing Ho M.(ickey) elegans: Introducing mouse functionality into a worm enzyme Ho Lab
Thur, Apr 8 Tom Santangelo Transcription detour ahead Santangelo Lab
Mon, Apr 19 Derek Applewhite The role of Drosophila Split Discs in the regulation of non-muscle myosin II BMB IDEA Committee
Thur, Apr 22 Tom Kuhn Attacking a Pathogen And Improving Vaccine Development Hansen Lab
Mon, Apr 26 Needhi Bhalla A Tale of Two Checkpoints BMB IDEA Committee
Thur, Apr 29 Grant Schauer DNA Damage Tolerance in S-Phase Schauer Lab
Thur, May 6 Olve Peersen The Making of a Warm Speed Viral Replicase – our Trek with SARS-CoV-2 nsp12 Peersen Lab
Thur, May 13 Steven Markus True Grit Markus Lab
Thur, May 20 Santiago Di Pietro In-N-Out Cargo: Studying the endosomal entry and exit of α-granule proteins… Animal Style® Di Pietro Lab
Tue, May 25 Amanda Koch Strange Translation – Investigating IRES-mediated and codon non-optimal translation dynamics at the single mRNA level in living cells Dr. Tim Stasevich
Thur, May 27 Charlotte Cialek Examining translation control from a new perspective Dr. Tim Stasevich
Tues, Jun 8 Dylan Parker mRNA localization in Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis Dr. Erin Nishimura
Thurs, Jun 10 Gaia Bublitz Characterization of Interactions of Lipoquinone Derivatives Within Model Membrane Systems Dr. Debbie Crans

Fall 2020 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Mon, Aug 31 Dr. Laurie Stargell
2020-2021 Academic Year Kick-off Department
Mon, Sep 14 Prof. Gerald Schatten LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: Career Planning Now And the Future of Assisted Reproduction” Dr. Lubna Tahtamouni
Mon, Sep 28 Dr. Thomas Boothby TBA Dr. Erin Nishimura
Mon, Nov 2 Harshad Ghodke Molecular Mechanisms of transcription and repair coupling Dr. Grant Schauer
Tues, Nov 3 Zachary Hazlett Characterization of the Selective Hydrolysis of Branched Ubiquitin Chains by UCH37 and its Activator RPN13 Dr. Tingting Yao
Wed, Nov 4 Kari Ecklund SHE1 Regulates Dynein-Mediated Spindle Positioning in Budding Yeast Dr. Steven Markus
Thurs, Nov 5 Robert Wimbish Make or break: molecular requirements for kinetochore-microtubule attachment regulation Dr. Jennifer G. DeLuca
Thurs, Nov 5 Travis Sanders Post-Initiation Activities of the Archaeal RNA Polymerase in a Chromatin Landscape Dr. Tom Santangelo
Mon, Nov 30 Sangjin Kim TBA Dr. Tim Stasevich
Mon, Dec 7 Maria Vera Ugalde Imaging single mRNA molecules to investigate the regulation of the stress response Dr. Tim Stasevich

Spring 2020 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Mon, Jan 27 Zvi Murry Zebrafish Eye Development: Rac and the Creepy Crawlers of the Eye Dylan Parker, Erin Nishimura, Ph.D.
Mon, Feb 10 Dr. Lisa Petrella Regulating chromatin compaction during development at the right and place Erin Nishimura, Ph.D.
Mon, Feb 24 Dr. Andrew Carter A CryoEM perspective on transport by the microtubule motor dynein Steven Markus, Ph.D.
Thurs, Feb 27 Matthew Marzo Budding yeast dynein: lessons for human neurological disease Steven Markus, Ph.D.
Mon, Mar 9 Aubrey Ibele TBA Laurie Stargell, Ph.D.
Mon, Mar 30 Amanda Broad A New Dawn for Aurora B Regulation: Shining Light on Multiple Discrete Populations of Aurora B Kinase at Centromeres and Kinetochores Jennifer DeLuca, Ph.D.
Mon, Apr 6 Hazheen Shirnekhi Investigating mitotic vulnerabilities that arise upon oncogenic cell transformation
Jennifer DeLuca, Ph.D.
Mon, May 11 Luisa Prada Ubiquitin homeostasis and it’s regulation by DUB and conjugating enzyme interactions Robert Cohen, Ph.D.
Thurs, Jun 11 Colleen Watkins Long Range Interaction Networks within 3DPOL and the Roles They Play in Picornavirus Genome Replication and Recombination Olve Peersen, Ph.D.
Fri, July 3 Isaac Babcock A Common Molecular Pathway Leading to Cofilin-Actin Rods in Rodent Models of Major Human Dementias  James Bamburg, Ph.D.

Fall 2019 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Mon, Aug 26 Dr. Laurie Stargell    Academic Kick Off 2019 Dr. Laurie Stargell
Mon, Sep 16 Francesco Scavone  Ph.D. Defense Dr. Bob Cohen
Mon,  Sep 23 Dr. Santiago Di Pietro Promotion Seminar Dr. Eric Ross
Mon, Oct 7 Dr. Tim Stasevich P & T Seminar Dr. Jeff Hansen
Mon, Oct 14 Dr. Chaoping Chen Promotion Seminar Dr. Jennifer Nyborg
Tues, Oct 15

3:00 PM

Kim Orth. Ph.D.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical

Woody Lectureship Series

Black Spot, Black Death, Black Pearl: The Tales of Bacterial Effectors

Dr. Santiago Di Pietro
Mon, Oct 21 Dr. Steven Markus P & T Seminar Dr. Jake DeLuca
Mon, Nov 18 Dr. Scott Horowitz
University of Denver
The Chaperone Activity of Nucleic Acids Dr. Eric Ross
Mon, Dec 2 Ben Prytherch – Colorado State University The Case Against Statistical Significance Dr. David King
Mon, Dec 9 Dr. Oliver Zill TBD Dr. Erin Nishimura

Spring 2019 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Mon, Jan 28 Dr. Louise Cramer      University College London, UK Attractive and Repellent Chemotaxis start with distinct Actin-based Mechanisms James Bamburg, Ph.D.
Mon, Feb 25 Dr. Ramanujan Hegde Cambridge, United Kingdom Molecular basis of membrane protein biogenesis Kenneth Lyon
Mon,  Mar 11 Dr. Alexey Merz  University of Washington How to get into and out of the Golgi Santiago Di Pietro, Ph.D.
Mon, Mar 25 Dr. Ahmet Yildiz
UC Berkeley
The Mechanism and Regulation of the Dynein/Dynactin Machinery Steven Markus, Ph.D.
Mon, Apr 8 Dr. Christian Kaiser
John Hopkins University
The ribosome cooperates with a chaperone to guide multi-domain protein folding Tim Stasevich, Ph.D.
CANCELED Mon, Apr 22 Dr. Daniela Cimini
Virginia Tech
Aneuploidy, tetraploidy, and centrosomes: a numbers game Jake DeLuca, Ph.D.
Mon, Apr 29 Dr. Tom Muir
Princeton University
Painting Chromatin with Synthetic Protein Chemistry Jeffrey Hansen, Ph.D.

Fall 2018 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Date Speaker Title Host
Mon, Aug 20 Reserved for Chair – Laurie Stargell, Ph.D.
Mon, Aug 27 Kelly C. Wrighton, Ph.D.
CSU Department of Soil and Crop Science–
From the deep biosphere to the human gut: tracking microbial methylamine metabolism across ecosystem Laurie Stargell, Ph.D.
Mon, Sep 3 University Holiday
Mon, Sep 10 Katya Grishchuk, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Chromosomes on the edge: coupling kinetochores to dynamic microtubule ends Jennifer DeLuca, Ph.D.
Mon, Sep 17 Kassandra  Ori-McKenney, Ph.D.
UC Davis
Microtubule Cartography: The Role of Microtubule-Associated Proteins in Lattice Gating Steven Markus, Ph.D.
Mon, Sep 24 Matthew Taliaferro from University of Denver mRNA Localization: Delivering the Message
Mon, Oct 15 Dr. Dileep Varma
Northwestern University
Mechanisms controlling formation and stabilization of kinetochore-microtubule attachments during mitosis Jennifer DeLuca, Ph.D.
Mon, Oct 22 Dr. Srinivas Ramachandran
CU Anschutz Medical Campus
Caught in the act: Mapping   chromatin dynamics during transcription and replication Tinting Yao, Ph.D.
Mon, Oct 29 Steve Foster
Director, Licensing & Business Development
CSU Ventures
Google, Gatorade, and GPS-
A world transformed by university ideas
Matthew Saxton
Mon, Nov 5 Greg Hermann, Ph.D from Lewis and Clark College Santiago Di Pietro, Ph.D.
Mon, Nov 19 Fall Break
Mon, Nov 26 Karine Gousset, Ph.D.
California State University -Fresno
Microproteonomics and Transcriptomics analyses of laser capture microdissected cell protrusions Erin Nishimura, Ph.D.
Mon, Dec 3 Dr. Edouard Bertrand – The Institute of Molecular Genetics at Montpellier Imaging single mRNPs reveals new insights into RNA localization and translation Tim Stasevich, Ph.D.
Mon, Dec 10 Finals Week