News
PRESS
Bangor Daily News, 5/22/09: "Grant looks to keep scientists in Maine"
Bar Harbor Times, 5/21/09: "Biomedical research group receives $18 million grant"
Ellsworth American, 5/21/09: "MDI Bio Lab Gets $18.7M Education Grant"
Maine INBRE Newsletters
November 2009 (PDF, 1000KB)
Past Newsletters
Three stimulus grants strengthen Maine INBRE with $2.6M
Maine INBRE has been awarded three supplement grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus package requested by President Obama and authorized by Congress earlier this year. The awards total $2.6 million in new research and development support for Maine. The funded initiatives create two new jobs and help retain 10 existing positions. In addition, new equipment purchases, career training and infrastructure investments will create ripple effects in other parts of the local economy.
Workforce development For more than five years, Maine INBRE has provided a breadth of laboratory training opportunities for undergraduate students, leading many to pursue higher education or careers in research. 33% of INBRE pa
rticipants who have graduated now work in a laboratory, while 48% have gone on to pursue higher education in biological or biomedical sciences. For many, their INBRE lab experience was the foundation that allowed and encouraged them to pursue a career in science. Now stimulus funding has allowed INBRE to hire its first Training Lab Manager. Angela Parton, M.S., will work with course leaders to plan, organize and implement the resources and equipment to meet course goals, and provide instruction. Ms. Parton has over two decades of experience in research and general laboratory techniques and is co-author of 25 research articles.
The lab she’ll manage is MDIBL’s first dedicated training laboratory, built as part of its new green building, dedicated in 2008. Now the INBRE grant and stimulus funding have poised the lab to take on an even greater role in training the next generation of scientists.
......(More)
New Training Lab Manager, Angela Parton, M.S.
Deadline for Applications, January 15, 2010: Visiting Research Fellowships, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory,
Salisbury Cove, Maine
Applications are invited for research fellowships at the Mount Desert Island
Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) for 2010. MDIBL is an
independent biomedical and marine-oriented research institution with expertise
in regenerative and developmental biology, cellular stress biology, membrane
physiology, toxicogenomics, neuroscience and marine ecology and conservation.
Fellowships cover lab rental, housing and user fees. Teams of scientists are
encouraged to propose collaborative research projects and apply as a group.
The length of fellowship appointments is flexible. Candidates must possess a
Ph.D. or M.D. degree and demonstrate a record of research productivity
consistent with their current academic rank. Application instructions and
forms, and details on MDIBL resources are available at http://www.mdibl.org/visiting_scientist_program.php. Applications are due
January 15, 2010. Applications from scientists from IDeA states are strongly
encouraged.
Written by Hand: Letter from the Principal Investigator
The first six months of our new INBRE program have flown by – as you’ll see from the enclosed stories, we’ve been busy!
We’re extraordinarily grateful to the National Center for Research Resources for its support which is enabling us to build upon the programs and accomplishments of Maine INBRE’s first five years. The supplemental funding we were awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will expand the resources we can provide to scientists and students around the state, and increase the outreach of our educational initiatives. The additional funding will create several new jobs, help us retain existing positions and provide training for the future biomedical and biotech workforce......(More)
"You made us feel like scientists, not students!"
Above: UMaine Fort Kent and UMaine Presque Isle course in Molecular Biology Research Techniques.
Eighteen students from the University of Maine-Fort Kent and University of Maine-Presque Isle spent their fall break at the MDI Biological Laboratory for a one-week lab training course Molecular Biology Research Techniques. Led by MDIBL regenerative biologist, Randall Dahn, PhD, the group learned gene expression analysis step-by-step, beginning with isolating RNA from embryonic cells and ending with determining DNA sequence. Along the way, students learned to generate cDNA to amplify with Polymerase Chain Reaction techniques, to clone the cDNA, grow a bacterial culture, and isolate plasmid DNA from that culture.....(More)
EAC member pens column for the Huffington Post
External Advisory Committee member James Gentile, PhD, has added a new hat to the many he already wears as a scientist and longtime proponent of research and education: columnist for The Huffington Post. Dr. Gentile, who is President of the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement – a leading advocate for the sciences and a major funder of scientific innovation and of research in America’s colleges and universities – shares his perspectives on current issues in science and education under the “Technology” section twice a month......(More)
2009 Annual Meeting
External Advisory Committee (EAC) Members came to Maine in September to meet with the new INBRE Investigators, their research mentors, and institutional representatives. The gathering took place at Southern Maine Community College’s stunning McKernan Center overlooking Casco Bay. Janet Sortor, Vice President & Dean of Academic Affairs, welcomed the participants, many of whom had never been to the SMCC campus before.
The investigators each made a 30-minute research presentation, followed by lively discussions and individual meetings with EAC members. The session gave the EAC an opportunity to learn about the investigators’ research, help them assess challenges to their work, and make recommendations for tools and approaches as they move forward.
Throughout the day Investigators and research mentors had the opportunity to meet informally and brainstorm about such issues as how to balance their teaching and research commitments, and how to manage a large lab group.
EAC member Chrispher Bayne, PhD, reiterated how pleased he was to participate, saying “I find it refreshing to interact in such an affirmative enterprise with lively minds who share high aspirations. The individuals comprising the new INBRE team are, without exception, bright and energetic. I believe that this INBRE program will be as successful (or more) than the previous one.”
. Honors and Awards
Former INBRE External Advisory Committee member Kerri-Ann Jones, PhD, was sworn-in as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the State Department on August 20, 2009. Dr. Jones earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and a B.A. in Chemistry from Barnard College. Dr. Jones began her government career as a Science, Engineering, and Diplomacy fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As the biotechnology advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1989 to 1995, Dr. Jones worked on science and technology development in New Delhi, India.
During the Clinton Administration, she was Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OTSP). After leaving the White House, Dr. Jones became Director of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) for the State of Maine. Most recently, Dr. Jones was Director of International Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation.
Alumni Write
Name: Innocent Ndzana, University of Maine-Machias ‘08
INBRE Summer Fellow 2005-2007
Mentors: Dr. Patricio Silva, Dr. Franklin Epstein, Dr. Gregory Cox, Dr. Terry Maddatu
Employment: University of Connecticut Health Center
Position: Research Assistant
"I have been working as a research assistant at the Craniofacial Sciences Department at University of Connecticut Health Center for more than a year now. It is undeniable that the research experience acquired at both the Jackson Laboratory and MDIBL, through the INBRE program, was the main reason I was hired at UCHC. We are currently investigating the role of C/EBP beta, a transcription factor, in odontogenesis. My past research experience at both The Jackson Laboratory and MDIBL absolutely gives me an edge over my fellow researchers here at UConn.
I am currently in the process of applying to medical schools for the year 2010.
I will never be grateful enough to the INBRE program for providing me with so many opportunities."
2009 Summer Student Symposium
INBRE students presented their research to each other and the community on July 28 at the MDI Biological Laboratory. Mentors, parents, and friends gathered to learn about the work students had done during their summer research experiences.
Between morning and afternoon sessions of platform presentations, participants had a chance to mingle and ask students questions about their research during a lunchtime poster session outside the MDI Biological Laboratory’s dining hall.
Newly appointed MDIBL Director Kevin Strange applauded the students’ work and their interest in science. He urged them to take their love of science and use it to encourage others to become scientifically-literate, broadening awareness of the importance of research to improving our lives.
Recent Publications
INBRE Investigator Jack Bateman, PhD, Bowdoin College, and a team of collaborators published a paper entitled “The Twin Spot Generator For Differential Drosophila Lineage Analysis” in Nature Methods 6: 600-602.
The Colby College lab of INBRE Investigator, Kevin P. Rice, PhD, published “Inhibition of human DNA polymerase ß activity by the anticancer prodrug Cloretazine” in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications v378: 419-423.
INBRE Alumnae Abbie M. Frederick '09 and Marguerite L. Davis '07 were first and second authors on the paper.
Students from the Bowdoin College 2009 INBRE Short Course, “Molecular Biology of Crustacean Neuropeptides” have just learned that the paper resulting from their laboratory training research has been accepted by the Journal of Experimental Biology. “Identification of a calcitonin-like diuretic hormone that functions as an intrinsic modulator of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, cardiac neuromuscular system,” will be published in an upcoming issue. Course instructors Andrew Christie, MDIBL, and Patsy Dickinson, Bowdoin College, INBRE Pre-Doctoral Fellow Jake Stevens and 8 undergraduates – including Matthew R. Bowers, Jeanette Goldwaser*, Molly A. Kwiatkowski*, Terrence K. Pleasant Jr.*, Liza Shoenfeld*, Lynne K. Tempest*, Claire R. Williams*, Teerawat Wiwatpanit* – are co-authors on the paper, along with MDIBL collaborators Christine M. Smith, Kristin M. Beale, and David W. Towle; and University of Nevada collaborators David A. Schooley Derek A. Jensen and Kathleen M. Schegg.
Congratulations to all!