The Department's monthly newsletter, bringing you the latest news and updates for the month! Make sure to wear your mask, wash your hands and keep your distance! |
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Arvin Dar and Colleagues Published in Nature!
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The paper focuses on the mechanism of action of clinical MEK inhibitors, in particular a drug called trametinib. Using a variety of chemical biology approaches we show that trametinib is unique among MEKi in directly binding at the interface of a complex formed between MEK and its scaffold KSR, unexpectedly revealing trametinib as an ‘interfacial binder’ and KSR as a co-receptor of the drug. Based on these insights, we created an improved analog, which we call trametiglue. This work was led by Associate Scientist Zaigham Khan, MD-PhD student Alex Real, and Postdoctoral Fellow William Marsiglia. |
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The Ma'ayan Lab Creates Shared Database to Help Scientists Find Drugs That Can Be Used to Treat COVID-19
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The Ma'ayan Laboratory recently published an article in the new Cell journal Patterns describing a database with a web interface that collects drug and gene sets from COVID-19 related research studies. The paper describes analysis from six in-vitro SARS-CoV-2 screens, including a Machine Learning model that prioritizes hits and predicts novel candidate compounds. The new database developed by the Ma'ayan Laboratory, called the "The COVID-19 Drug and Gene Set Library", provides the community with the latest information about pre-clinical development of small molecules and drugs as novel therapeutics for COVID-19.
The following lab members contributed to the project:
Maxim Kuleshov
Daniel Stein
Daniel Clarke
Eryk Kropiwnicki
Kathleen Jagodnik
Alon Bartal
John Evangelista
Jason Hom
Minxuan Cheng
Allison Bailey
Abigail Zhou
Alexander Lachmann
Avi Ma'ayan
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DPS Diversity Initiative Presented by the SPA Team |
The goal is to provide anti-racism education in our space of influence and the broader community, be of service to organizations that are continuing this work; and conduct yearly evaluations of anti-racism practices. This initial list of actions represents only a small part of the work that is necessary to move towards creating a more inclusive and equitable STEM field long-term. |
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Introducing the 2020 Krulwich Fellows! |
We are pleased to announce that Anthony Azzun and Jailene Paredes are the first recipients of the new Krulwich Fellows Award. They were chosen from an outstanding group of Mount Sinai PREP (Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program) scholars. Each will receive an award of $5,000.
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Anthony is from Bolivar, Missouri. He studied biochemistry at the University of Arkansas with minors in Spanish and French. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, playing piano, and listening to music. After graduating, he pursued a Fulbright grant to teach English in the country of Andorra. His primary research interests are nanomedicine and drug delivery. In the future, he hopes to pursue MD/PhD training to become a physician-scientist. |
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Jailene Paredes Casado was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a family of strong Dominican descent. She left Puerto Rico and moved to New York City when she was 15 years old to pursue a career in science and medicine. She received her Bachelor's degree in Biology, with a minor in Biochemistry, this past summer at Brooklyn College. During her 4 years of undergraduate, she engaged in various research areas, including marine biology, evolution, virology, genomics of mental illnesses, and epigenetics of neurodegenerative diseases. Presently, she is a first-year PREP scholar at Mount Sinai. She aspires to become a physician-scientist in the future maintaining an interest in pediatrics, cardiology and immunology/virology. When she is not studying or in the lab, Jailene likes to play volleyball, explore New York City, and watch movies with her family. |
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Congratulations to the following presenters
who won the top awards!
Jack P. Green Lab Presentations
Michael Capper (Wacker Lab)
Sherod Haynes (Han Lab)
Rachel-Ann Garibsingh (Schlessinger Lab)
Irving L. Schwartz Poster Presentations
Audrey Warren (Wacker Lab)
Kathleen Jagodnik (Ma'ayan Lab)
Nilesh Zaware & Claudia Kim (Schlessinger Lab)
Radhika Malik (Aggarwal Lab)
Shifan Yang & Alexander Stone (Wacker Lab)
Finally, we are happy to announce that next year's DPS Research Retreat will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday, September 10th, 2021. We look forward to hosting you all again.
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Works in Progress Presented by the DPS SPA |
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October 22nd, 2020 at 11AM
Wilnelly Martinez Ortiz and Keino Hutchinson
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November 5th, 2020 at 11AM
Agata Kurowski and Meera Varshneya
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November 12th, 2020 at 11AM
Ruoxi Wu and Sarah Montgomery
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Diversity Lecture Series
October 29th, 2020 at 11AM
Dr. Yasmin Hurd, Ph.D.
Director, Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai
Professor, Pharmacological Sciences
Professor, Neuroscience
Professor, Psychiatry
"Neurobiological pathways lead the development of novel treatments for opioid addiction"
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Following the lecture, at 4PM
"Open Conversations," hosted by the DPS SPA Team
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Annual Lab Safety Inspections
In September, EH&S started their Annual Lab Safety Inspections in the Annenberg Building and when all Annenberg labs are complete they will continue in the Icahn Building. The Admin Team DSOs have been working together with LSOs to prepare each lab for the inspection and would like to share a few things all labs should pay attention to.
Chemical Safety
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Flammables
Containers of flammable liquids should be stored in flammable storage cabinets whenever not in use, not left out on benches or shelves.
Store flammable liquids in approved safety containers or cabinets and away from other hazard classes:
- Acids
- Bases
- Oxidizers
- Poisons
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Corrosives
Segregate acids and bases and store them separate from Oxidizers and Flammables.
Always store inorganic acids separate from organic acids.
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Oxidizers
Keep oxidizers away from other chemicals, especially
flammables, combustibles, and toxic materials.
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Biological Waste
All full sharps bins pushed out of the lab will be picked up as follows:
- Icahn 16th FL - Mondays
- Anbg 19th FL - Tuesdays
All red bag waste that is biosafety level 2 or higher must be treated before disposal as follows:
- Put your non-sharps solid waste into an autoclave bag.
- Put the open autoclave bag in an autoclave tray.
- Put the sterilized waste in another red bag and tie it closed.
- Place it by the freight elevator.
Autoclave Instructions for the
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Flu Shots
EHS will be providing flu vaccines at local places of distribution (PODs) across Mount Sinai campuses and at local EHS offices. To ensure appropriate physical distancing, appointments are required at both the PODs and EHS. Upon receiving the vaccine, staff will receive a “21 FLU” sticker for their Mount Sinai ID badges.
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Administrative Support
All administrative requests may be sent to DPS@mssm.edu. Carmen, Oscar, and Emmanuel review this email constantly.
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