{"id":49464,"date":"2014-05-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/05\/19\/milestone-for-unmcs-biochemistry-molecular-biology\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T20:43:43","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T01:43:43","slug":"milestone-for-unmcs-biochemistry-molecular-biology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2014\/05\/19\/milestone-for-unmcs-biochemistry-molecular-biology\/","title":{"rendered":"Milestone for UNMC’s Biochemistry & Molecular Biology"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nIn 1914, a postage stamp cost 2 cents. The Panama Canal opened. And the UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (then known as medical chemistry) had its first three faculty members.<\/p>\n

\nA century later, a stamp is 49 cents. Upwards of 14,000 vessels annually use the Canal. And the department has 22 primary and 34 courtesy faculty members, 40 graduate students, 19 research associates and post-docs, 16 staff members and four emeritus faculty.<\/p>\n

\n“Our anniversary and today’s events are a celebration of the past and a springboard to the future success of our department,” said Professor Paul Sorgen, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

\nThe campus is invited to attend many of the activities, including a 9 a.m. keynote address by renowned basic scientist Vann Bennett, M.D., Ph.D., who discovered and developed the field of ankyrin science.<\/p>\n

\nA Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the James B. Duke Professor of Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Bennett first uncovered ankyrins, or anchor proteins, in human red blood cells.<\/p>\n

\nThe day also includes talks by such past faculty and graduate students as Terrence Donohue, Ph.D., Jamboor Vishwanatha, Ph.D., Dominic Cosgrove, Ph.D., and James Shull, Ph.D. See the full schedule<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

\nIn preparation for the anniversary, faculty members have combed the archives to better understand their department’s history. Said Richard MacDonald, Ph.D.: “From the late 1920s to the early 1970s, the history is pretty murky.”<\/p>\n

\nStill, information has emerged regarding:<\/p>\n