Biochemist Jin Named Pew Scholar

Dr. Jianping Jin, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been named a 2008 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Jin will receive $240,000 over four years to support his research into the molecular machinery responsible for protein degradation.

The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences is designed to support young investigators of outstanding promise in the basic and clinical sciences relevant to the advancement of human health. This year, 149 institutions were invited to nominate a candidate in basic biomedical research and 117 nominations were received. Only 20 scholars were selected.

“We are exceptionally proud and fortunate to have Dr. Jin as one of our faculty members,” said Dr. Rodney Kellems, professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Jin joined the department in 2007.

Jin said he believes a better understanding of the protein degradation process, which is called ubiquitination or ubiquitylation, could lead to treatments for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Defects in the degradation process can cause these and other conditions.

“When proteins are either damaged or no longer needed, cells will clean them up, because accumulating them can be toxic,” Jin said. “To determine which proteins need to be destroyed, cells label them with a ubiquitin tag. This process is controlled by the sequential actions of three enzymes, E1, E2, and E3.”

Jin rewrote the book on ubiquitin tags when as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School he discovered that there are actually two E1 enzymes instead of one. This second E1 enzyme is called Uba6 and it is an essential gene for mouse development. Little is known beyond that. “We have opened a door,” Jin said. “We’re not sure what is going on in that room, but we know that it is important.”

Jin’s discovery means a new signal cascade is involved in protein degradation. “To take it a step further, I also identified an E2 enzyme, Use1, whose activity is specifically regulated by Uba6, indicating that we missed a unique ubiquitin signaling pathway in cells for a long time. Currently, we are taking a multi-disciplinary research approach to fully characterize this newly discovered signaling pathway, including determining which E3s form part of its team and exploring its biological role,” he said.

Jin is particularly interested in developing treatments for cancer, which claimed the lives of his mother and an uncle. “The discovery of Uba6-dependent ubiquitin signaling pathway could lead to new drug development to treat human diseases that stem from the accumulation of unhealthy and unwanted proteins in our bodies,” he said.

Jin received his doctorate in biochemistry at Texas A&M University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Past Pew Scholars from the UT Medical School at Houston include: Dr. Hong Zhou, (1999) Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Dr. C. S. Raman, (2002) Department of Biochemistry; Dr. Ambro van Hoof, (2003) Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics; and Dr. Valentin Dragoi, (2004) Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy.

The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences is intended to support junior members of the faculty as they establish their laboratories.

-R. Cahill

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Butler named new member of UT Academy of Health Science Education

Dr. Patricia Butler is the latest Medical School faculty member to be named to the UT Academy of Health Science Education.

The academy, part of The University of Texas System, was formed in 2005 to recognize and reward outstanding educators in the UT System.

Butler, associate dean for educational programs, was one of 12 new members elected at the Academy's April 17 meeting in Austin.  Her membership will be formally recognized at the academy’s fifth annual Innovations in Health Science Education Conference in Austin in October.

Nominations for membership in the academy may come from the president, dean or vice-dean, and the faculty senate at each University of Texas health science campus. To be considered for admission, educators must exhibit outstanding performance in categories of excellence in teaching that include, but are not limited to: direct teaching; curriculum development, instructional design or re-design, and assessment of learner performance; counseling and mentorship; educational administration and leadership; and educational scholarship and research.

Butler joins fellow Medical School faculty in the academy -- Dr. Max Buja, Dr. Frank Arnett, Dr. Eugene Boisaubin, Dr. Margaret Uthman, Dr. Fabrizia Faustinella, Dr. Mark Farnie, Dr. Philip Orlander, and Dr. Gary Rosenfeld.

-D. Brown

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Dean Colasurdo receives UTMB award

Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo received the Distinguished Resident Alumnus Award from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Dean Colasurdo completed his residency training in pediatrics at UTMB in 1991. He graduated summa cum laude from “G. D’Annunzio” School of Medicine in Chieti, Italy, and completed a fellowship in pulmonary medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science Center and National Jewish Research and Medical Center. He was appointed dean Sept. 1, 2007.

He received the award June 7 at a UTMB Department of Pediatrics continuing medical education program.

“I am honored to receive this award and appreciate the great opportunities my training at UTMB has afforded me,” Dean Colasurdo said.

–D. Brown

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