Achievements 2015 - 2016

Grants, Fellowships, and Awards

Bridges, Rebecca (2015). Distinguished Service Award. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.

Chahales, Peter (2015). Outstanding Poster Award. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Chung, Lawton (2015). Grant-in-Aid of Research Award. Sigma Xi

Chung, Lawton (2015). Grant-in-Aid of Research Award. Sigma Xi

Espaillat, Mel Pilar (2015). Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31). National Institutes of Health.

Kopping, Erik (2015). Travel Award. American Society for Microbiology.

Kopping, Erik (2015). Travel Award. Tularemia International Society.

Kopping, Erik (2015). Outstanding Poster Presentation. Tularemia International Society.

Kopping, Erik (2016). Distinguished Travel Award, Graduate Student Organization, Stony Brook University.

Nomakuchi, Tomoki (2015). Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31). National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Nomakuchi, Tomoki (2015). Travel Award. Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society.

Werneberg, Glenn (2015). Outstanding Poster Award. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.

Zheng, Yueting (2015). Abrahams Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Graduate Student. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.


Jointly Authored Publications/Research Reports/Reviews

Bhagwat, A.S., and Vakoc, C.R. (2015). Targeting transcription factors in cancer. Trends in Cancer (1): 53-65.

Bhagwat, A.S., Roe, J.S., Mok, B.Y., Hohmann, A.F., Shi, J., and Vakoc, C.R. (2016). BET bromodomain inhibition releases the mediator complex from select cis-regulatory elements. Cell Reports 15(3): 519-530.

Bryan, A.M., Del Poeta, M., and Luberto, C. (2015). Sphingolipids as regulators of the phagocytic response to fungal infections. Mediators of Inflammation 2015: 640540.

Bridges, R.G., Sohn, S.Y., Wright, J., Leppard, K.N., and Hearing, P. (2016). The adenovirus E4-ORF3 protein stimulates SUMOylation of general transcription factor TFII-I to direct proteasomal degradation. MBio 7(1): e02184-15.

Chahales, P., and Thanassi, D.G. (2015). Structure, function, and assembly of adhesive organelles by uropathogenic bacteria. Microbiology Spectrum 3(5).

Chahales, P., Hoffman, P.S., and Thanassi, D.G. (2016). Nitazoxanide inhibits pilus biogenesis by interfering with folding of the usher protein in the outer membrane. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 60(4): 2028-2038.

Chung, L.K., and Bliska, J.B. (2016). Yersinia vs host immunity: how a pathogen evades or elicits protective responses. Current Opinion in Microbiology 29: 56-62.

Espaillat, M.P., Adada, M.M., Shamseddine, A.A., Hannun, Y.A., and Obeid, L.M. (2015).  Ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate in cancer, two faces of the sphinx. Translational Cancer Research. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2218-676X.2015.10.01

Ivanova, E., and Carpino, N. (2016). Negative regulation of TCR signaling by ubiquitination of Zap-70 Lys-217. Molecular Immunology 73: 19-28.

Jain, N., Bouklas, T., Gupta, A., Varshney, A.K., Orner, E.P., and Fries, B.C. (2015). ALL2, a homologue of ALL1, has a distinct role in regulating pH homeostasis in the pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Infection and Immunity 84(2): 439-451.

Medici, N.P., and Del Poeta, M. (2015). New insights on the development of fungal vaccines: from immunity to recent challenges. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 110: 1-8.

Mor, V., Rella, A., Farnoud, A.M., Singh, A., Munshi, M., Bryan, A., Naseem, S., Konopka, J.B., Ojima, I., Bullesbach, E., Ashbaugh, A., Linke, M.J., Cushion, M., Collins, M., Ananthula, H.K., Sallans, L., Desai, P.B., Widerhold, N.P., Fothergill, A.W., Kirkpatrick, W.R., Patterson, T., Wong, L.H., Sinha, S., Giaver, G., Nislow, C., Flaherty, P., Pan, X., Cesar, G.V., de Melo Tavares, P., Frases, S., Miranda, K., Rodrigues, M.L., Luberto, C., Nimricher, L., and Del Poeta, M. (2015). Identification of a new class of antifungals targeting the synthesis of fungal sphingolipids. MBio 6: e00647.

Nomakuchi, T., Rigo, F., Aznarez, I., and Krainer, A.R. (2015). Antisense-oligonucleotide-directed inhibition of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Nature Biotechnology 34(2): 164-166.

Pham, T., Henderson, N.S., Werneburg, G.T., Thanassi, D.G., and Delcour, A.H. 2016. Electrostatic networks control plug stabilization in the PapC usher. Molecular Membrane Biology 16: 1-10.

Rella, A., Mor, V., Farnoud, A.M., Singh, A., Shamseddine, A.A., Ivanova, E., Carpino, N., Montagna, M.T., Luberto, C., and Del Poeta, M. (2015). role of sterylglucosidase 1 (Sgl1) on the pathogenicity of Cryptococcus neoformans: potential applications for vaccine development. Frontiers in Microbiology 6: 836.

Rubin, E.T., Werneberg, G.T., Pales Espinosa, E., Thanassi, D.G., and Allam, B. Identification and characterization of peptidases secreted by quahog parasite unknown (QPX), the protistan parasite of hard clams. Submitted.

Santana, A.L., Oldenburg, D.G., Kirillov, V., Malik, L., Dong, Q., Sinayev, R., Marcu, K.B., White, D.W., and Krug, L.T. (2017) RTA occupancy of the origin of lytic replication during murine gammaherpesvirs 68 reactivation from B cell latency. Pathogens 6(1): e9. PMID: 28212352.

Schoberle, T.J., Chung, L.K., McPhee, J.B., Bogin, B., and Bliska, J.B. (2016). Uncovering an important role for YopJ in the inhibition of caspase-1 in activated macrophages and promoting Yersinia pseudotuberculosis virulence. Infection and Immunity 84(4): 1062-1072.

Torres, A., Luke, J.D.. Kullas, A.L., Kapilashrami, K., botbol, Y., Koller, A., Tonge, P.J., Chen, E.I., Macian, F., and van der Velden, A.W. 2016. Asparagine deprivation mediated by Salmonella asparaginase cuases suppression of activation-induced T cell metabolic reprogramming. Journal of Leukocyte Biology 99(2); 387-398.

Zheng, Y., Stamminger, T., and Hearing, P. E2F/Rb family proteins mediate interferon induced repression of adenovirus immediate early transcription to promote persistent viral infection. PLoS Pathogens 12(1): e1005415.

Wang, E., Kawaoka, S., Roe, J.S., Shi, J., Hohmann, A.F., Xu, Y., Bhagwat, A.S., Suzuki, Y., Kinney, J.B., and Vakoc, C.R. (2015). The transcriptional cofactor TRIM33 prevents apoptosis in Blymphoblastic leukemia by deactivating a single enhancer. eLife e06377.

Werneburg, G.T., Henderson, N.S., Portnoy, E.B., Sarowar, S., Hultgren, S.J., Li, H., and Thanassi, D.G. (2015). The pilus usher controls protein interactions via domain masking and is functional as an oligomer. Nature Structure and Molecular Biology 22: 540-546.


Abstracts, Conferences/Colloquiums, Invited Talks, Presentations

Bridges, R.G., Sohn, S.-Y., Wright, J., Leppard, K.N., and Hearing, P. The Adenovirus E4-ORF3 Protein Stimulates SUMOylation of the General Transcription Factor TFII-I to Direct Proteasomal Degradation. DNA Tumor Virus Meeting 2016. July 18-23, Montreal, Canada.

Chung, L. Infection by Injection: How Pathogenic Yersinia Activate and Subvert Immune Responses. Provost’s Graduate Student Lecture Series. March 24, 2016, Stony Brook, NY.

Espaillat, M.P. The Lipids in Your Gut: Defining the Role of Sphingolipids in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Research Café Series, Center for Inclusive Education. March 21, 2016. Stony Brook, NY.

Fan, G., Bonham, C., Zhang, S., Haque, A., and Tonks, N.K. Interplay between PARP1 and PTP1B Modulates Signaling in Insulin-Resistant HepG2 Cells. The PARP Family and ADP-Ribosylation. April 13-16, 2016. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

Kopping, E.J., and Thanassi, D.B. TolC-Dependent Modulation of Host Cell Death by F. novicida. Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity. July 10-15, 2016. Waterville Valley, NH.

Kopping, E.J., and Thanassi, D.G. TolC-dependent Modulation of Host Cell Death by F. novicida. 8th International Conference on Tularemia. September 28 - October 1, 2015.

Kopping, E.J., and Thanassi, D.G. Contributions of TolC-dependent Export Pathways to Francisella novidica Drug Sensitivity and Host Cell Death Modulation. 115th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. May 30 - June 2, 2015, New Orleans, LA.

Minkah, N.K., Van Skike, N., Oldenburg, D.G., White, D.W., and Krug, L.T. Loss of the Gammaherpesvirus vFGAM ORF75A Tegument Protein Reduces Replication in Macrophages and is Deleterious to Latency Establishment In Vivo. 40th International Herpesvirus Workshop, Gammaherpesvirus Satellite Workshop. July 25 - 29, 2015. Boise, ID.

Minkah, N.K., Van Skike, N., Oldenburg, D.G., White, D.W., and Krug, L.T. Loss of the Gammaherpesvirus vFGAM ORF75A Tegument Protein Reduces Replication in Macrophages and is Deleterious to Latency Establishment In Vivo. 40th International Herpesvirus Workshop, Gammaherpesvirus Satellite Workshop. July 25 - 29, 2015. Boise, ID.

Nomakuchi, T., Rigo, R., Aznarez, I., and Krainer, A.R. Antisense-oligonucleotide-directed inhibition of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. RNA and Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Meeting. April 10 - 13, 2015. Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

Nomakuchi, T., Rigo, R., Aznarez, I., and Krainer, A.R. Antisense-oligonucleotide-directed inhibition of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. 20th Annual RNA Society Meeting. May 26 - 31, 2015. Madison, WI.

Nomakuchi, T., Rigo, R., Aznarez, I., and Krainer, A.R. Antisense-oligonucleotide-directed inhibition of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Eukaryotic mRNA Processing Meeting. August 18 - 22, 2015. Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

Nomakuchi, T., Rigo, R., Aznarez, I., and Krainer, A.R. Antisense-oligonucleotide-directed inhibition of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. 11th Annual Meeting of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. October 11 - 14, 2015. Leiden, The Netherlands.

Werneberg, G. Dissection of Usher-Chaperone-Subunit Interactions during Pilus Biogenesis in Escherichia coli. Provost’s Graduate Student Lecture Series. March 24, 2016, Stony Brook, NY.

Werneberg, G.T., Henderson, N.S., and Thanassi, D.G. 2015. Dissecting the Usher-Chaperone-Subunit Interactions during Pilus Biogenesis in Esherichia coli. 23rd Congress of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil.

Werneberg, G.T., and Thanassi, D.G. 2015. The Uropathogenic Esherichia coli Pilus Usher Controls Protein Interactions via Domain Masking and is Functional as an Oligomer. Western Section of the American Urological Association 91st Annual Meeting. Indian Wells, CA.

Zhang, S., Hao, Y., Hammell, M., Wilkinson, J.E., and Tonks, N.K. A Functional Study in Animal Models Identifies PTPN23 as a Tumor Suppressor in Breast Tumorigenesis through Modulation of FYN Activity. 81st Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Symposium on Quantitative Biology. June 1-5, 2016. Cold Spring Harbor, NY.


Post-doctorates Obtained and Professional Appointments

Bhagwat, A. 2016. Medical student, Medical Scientist Training Program, Stony Brook University.

Chahales, P. 2015. Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University.

Chung, L. 2016. Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California at Irvine.

Ivanova, E. 2016. Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Molecular Genetic and Microbiology, Stony Brook University.

Minkah, N. 2015. Postdoctoral fellow, Center for Infectious Disease Research, Seattle, WA.

Nomakuchi, T. 2016. Medical student, Medical Scientist Training Program, Stony Brook University.

Patel, H. 2016. Medical student, Medical Scientist Training Program, Stony Brook University.

Santana, A. 2015. Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Dermatology, NYU.

Werneberg, G. 2016. Medical student, Medical Scientist Training Program, Stony Brook University.

Zheng, Y. 2016. Postdoctoral fellow, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine.