Applied Biosciences - PSM, The University of Arizona

ABS's IMB Director of Graduate Studies Awarded Second Year as BIO5 Distinguished Professor! Last year, Michael D.L. Johnson was the inaugural recipient of the Keating Family Endowed Professor for Interdisciplinary Research at the BIO5 Institute. Because of his interdisciplinary biosciences research excellence, collegiality, spirit of mentorship and engagement, and strong communication skills, BIO5 Institute director Jennifer Kehlet Barton renewed his distinguished professorship for an additional year, from July 2024 – July 2025.

To read more, click here:

Michael D.L. Johnson awarded second year as BIO5 distinguished professor An associate professor in immunobiology, Johnson continues his interdisciplinary research, collaboration and mentorship as the Keating Family BIO5 professor for a second year.

Priya Zukosky is an ABS graduate from Spring 2021. Learning that she loved the legal aspects of science through the program, she continued her education at the UA in the J.D. program at James E Rogers College of Law in the following fall, and graduated in Spring 2024. To celebrate her success, Priya has agreed to a Q&A of her experience with the ABS program and law school. Click here: https://abs.arizona.edu/news/stem-law-abs-alumnus-graduates-law-school

The National Academy of Inventors has named five University of Arizona faculty members as Class of 2024 Senior Members. To be selected as a Senior Member, academic inventors must demonstrate their rising leadership within their fields and show success in the patenting, licensing, and commercialization of innovations stemming from their work. According to the NAI, they must have produced “technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society.”

This cohort of UArizona honorees have innovated in areas from Alzheimer’s disease to antimicrobials to advances in quantum communications, and hail from across the academic and research spectrum, including medicine, chemistry and biochemistry, agriculture, and optical sciences.

“Every year, more UArizona faculty are recognized with this honor,” said Doug Hockstad, associate vice president of Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the office of the university that works with researchers to protect and commercialize inventions stemming from innovation. “The number and diversity of researchers honored is a clear indicator that not only are we a leader in cutting-edge research, but that we have a growing institutional focus on generating impact from and recognizing those discoveries and achievements.”

Sadhana Ravishankar, Professor, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences,College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences, BIO5 Institute:

As chair of the University’s Applied Biosciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and the Food Safety Consortium, Ravishankar’s research focuses on applied food safety. She works to solve problems around foodborne bacteria in food production and processing environments, while controlling these bacteria using naturally occurring substances and sustainable, ecologically sound principles. She has received research funding from the USDA-NIFA, the Arizona Department of Agriculture, and the International Life Sciences Institute. A dedicated inventor, Ravishankar has published 74 peer-reviewed manuscripts and filed 18 invention disclosures, which have resulted in six provisional patent applications and three U.S. utility patent applications. As of today, she has two issued patents, including “Synergy of plant antimicrobials with silver” ( #9,661,856), and “Plant antimicrobial compositions including an emulsifier and/or ozone and methods of use” ( #11,191,275), the latter of which has been licensed to her startup, PhytoCentric Solutions LLC.

“I am extremely delighted to be named as a Senior Member of the NAI; professionally this motivates me to pursue my passion for additional discoveries in food safety for public health protection; and personally this encourages me to give back to society by educating the younger generation especially female and minority students to become inventors and achieve high,” she wrote in an email. “I am very thankful to TLA for teaching me everything regarding intellectual property protection, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and without their support, I could not have reached this far!”

Most recently, Ravishankar was selected to serve as a TLA Faculty Innovation Ambassador. Through this new program, she will serve as a resource for information about intellectual property protection, licensing, startups, and details about commercialization for her colleagues throughout the College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences.

Read more: https://techlaunch.arizona.edu/news/five-uarizona-innovators-named-national-academy-inventors

ABS-SBB student, Jordan Collins, has been busy since he joined the program in Fall 2022.He's been highlighted in three (3) news articles and was awarded to be part of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship iVenture internship! You can view the following information regarding the articles and his internship:

- https://news.asu.edu/20230331-solutions-meet-asu-alum-botanist-jordan-collins-okra-scholar-innovator-ambassador
About the Oil Jordan is bringing to the market. Also, there is a video highlight for this.

- https://civileats.com/2023/04/18/a-radical-seed-breeding-project-could-help-southern-farmers-adapt-to-climate-change/
Jordan is not directly mentioned in the article, but this is his ongoing work with Chris Smith. He is mentioned in the photo.

- https://www.kold.com/2022/11/15/shipping-container-green-machine-uas-biosphere-2-finds-new-ways-grow-food/
This is about the work Jordan is a part of at Biosphere 2.

​​​​​​​The iVenture Internship is a fast track to selling your first product online. You'll learn the theory behind launching a successful online store. Then, you'll put it into practice by ideating, sourcing, branding, marketing and selling your own products through your own store.

https://www.mcguirecenter.org/internship

I’m excited to announce that we have a new Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) for the Molecular & Cellular Biology track of the Applied Biosciences, PSM GIDP, Dr. Ingmar H. Riedel-Kruese! Dr. Riedel-Kruse is an Associate Professor in the Department of MCB, and his lab focuses on multicellularity. You can read more about his research and publications here: https://riedel-kruse.arizona.edu/.

The convocation ceremony by the College of Medicine and GIDP went off without a hitch on Wednesday, May 10 at 7:00 PM at the Health Sciences Innovation Building, HSIB Forum. Here are the following ABS graduates for 2022-2023:

Lindsey Taylor Brown, P.M.S., Fall 2022
“Genomic & Biochemical Analysis of DNA Binding Sites in the ØX174 Coat Protein”
Mentor: Bentley Fane, Ph.D.

Erin Chapman, P.M.S., Spring 2023
“Measuring Clonality in the Adaptive Immune Response to Stroke”
Mentor: Kristian Doyle, Ph.D

Hala Gabir, P.M.S., Fall 2022
“Antibiotic Sensitivities of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Clinical Isolates”
Mentor: Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D.
Hooding: Sadhana Ravishankar, Ph.D.

Taylor E. Gill, P.M.S., Summer 2023
“Effect of anti-CD4 Monoclonal Antibody on Fungal Burden in Mice Infected with Coccidioides Posadasii”
Mentor: Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D.
Hooding: John Galgiani, M.D.

Chantel Marie Harrison, P.M.S., Summer 2023
Mentor: Murat Kacira, Ph.D.

Annalisa Olivares Medina, P.M.S., Spring 2023
“Safety characterization of MyCardia™, a Therapeutic Cardiac Tissue”
Mentor/Hooding: Ryan Gutenkunst, Ph.D.

Quinn Reilly, P.M.S, Fall 2022
“The Development of Trainings to Bolster Chemical Hygiene and Practical Microbiology Skills in Academic Research Laboratories”
Mentor/Hooding: Luisa Ikner, Ph.D.

Valeria Maleny Moreno Rodriguez, P.M.S., Spring 2023
“Neuronal Death After Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion on Rat Brains: A Model for Ischemic Stroke”
Mentors: Jeffrey Lochhead, Ph.D., & Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D.
Hooding: Daryn Stover, Ph.D.

Elizabeth J. Sargent, P.M.S., Summer 2023
“Generating a Hypoimmunogenic Pluripotent Stem Cell Line Derived from B Cells”
Mentor: Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D.
Hooding: Sadhana Ravishankar, Ph.D.

Max Smith, P.M.S., Spring 2023
“Effects of VPD Control on Tomato Plant Growth in a Saltwater Greenhouse System”
Mentor/Hooding: Gene Giacomelli, Ph.D.

Alhan Mehrabi Yazdi, P.M.S., Spring 2023
“Targeting MKK3 can be an Effective Strategy for Attenuating Right Ventricular Hypertrophy”
Progression in Hemolysis Induced Pulmonary Hypertension”
Mentor/Hooding: Ryan Gutenkunst, Ph.D.

The UA Food Safety Consortium and the Applied Biosciences, PSM-GIDP hosted a seminar on paid internship opportunities at Shamrock Foods. If you haven't seen their name/logo across the US, Shamrock Foods distributes fresh and frozen foods, specialty items and gourmet foods to food service customers. It also distributes dairy products to supermarkets and convenience stores in the southwestern states. In 1922, W.T. McClelland started Shamrock Farms with 20 cows and a Model T truck. The company is now the largest family owned dairy in the Southwest, with over 20,000 head of cattle and has a full line of organic, conventional and extended shelf life dairy products. The company is the 5th largest foodservice distributor in the country and the largest independent distributor in the West, and Shamrock Farms is one of the largest privately held milk companies in the U.S.

Hilary Cobb, a Talent Acquisition Recruiter at SF, gave a presentation on their Shamrock Student Internship Program, a paid 13-week program for students to experience what it would be like to work at SF across different disciplines and departments. To review the recording of the seminar, please click the following link: https://youtu.be/kUYgD-H6fm0

If you have any questions regarding this opportunity, please contact the recruiters below:

Please join the public portion of the following graduating ABS students who will be presenting their defense of their Master's Report:

- Annalisa Medina
- Erin Chapmans
- Valeria Rodriguez

For information on their final presentation dates, times, and locations, please click here:

Events | Applied Biosciences Apr 25 Final Oral Masters Report Presentation: Annalisa Medina 11 a.m. to noon, April 25, 2023 May 04 Final Oral Masters Report Presentation: Erin Chapman 11 a.m. to noon, May 4, 2023 May 05 Final Oral Masters Report Presentation: Valeria Rodriguez 9 to 10 a.m., May 5, 2023

The 2022 GIDP Student Showcase on December 8 was a success! Every program with a poster presenter, the ABS program had three student presenters at the event: Hala Gabir (MMI), Elizabeth Sargent (MMI) and Annalisa Medina (MCB). Hala presented her research on antibiotic sensitivities of pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates, Elizabeth presented on the comparison of the total native microbiota versus lactic acid bacteria in field grown and controlled environmental agriculture grown leafy greens, and Annalisa presented on the safety characterization of MyCardia™, a therapeutic cardiac tissue graft.

The event kicked off with a mixer for the presenters and their advisors at 2 PM and the presentations kicked off at 3, ending with an award ceremony at 4:30 for Program Coordinators, Executive Committee and others.

Welcome our new Industry Partner to our ABS Industry Advisory Board, Krista Jacobson! As an ABS graduate herself (DLS track, 2017), Krista is giving back after spending some time in the industry. Along with her ABS-PSM degree, she has a background in Veterinary Science. During the ABS program, she did her internships at MSDx, Inc. (now known as ZelosDx, Inc.) and Roche, a Swiss company based in Tucson. After graduation, she became a Senior Scientist at Elanco and now is a Director at HTG Molecular Diagnostics.

Industry Partners of the ABS program advise the Program Chair and Executive Committee about curriculum, community needs, and new issues/innovations in the private sector. They advocate for the ABS program to government and companies and assist students in securing internships/job placements.

The ABS-PSM program has a new website! The new url is abs.arizona.edu. Please take a gander at our new space when you get the chance:

https://abs.arizona.edu/

Home | Arizona Site Applied Biosiences, PSM WELCOME to the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Biosciences (ABS) The Applied Biosciences (ABS-PSM) program is an interdisciplinary studies program, allowing students to customize their own coursework and research to suit their needs and goals. It is designed to....