Holden Lab Members
Nate Bruender
Nate Bruender
I graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a Bachelors of Science in Cell Biology, in addition to a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular biology. While at Duluth, I did research under Dr. Joseph L. Johnson studying β-site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE). There are four isoforms of BACE found in humans and they vary only by the deletion of segments. My project was to synthesize the DNA for these four isoforms using various molecular biology techniques and express these proteins in insect cells to kinetically characterize them. While on this project I was awared two Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) awards and a Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) award, through the University of Minnesota, to perform this research. I have presented my work twice at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. First I presented the work done during my SURP award at a poster session on camups and I also gave a talk my last semester at Duluth on my research project. I won the Casmir Ilenda award for outstanding undergraduate research based on the talk that I gave. Also at Duluth, I was an undergraduate teaching assistant of various chemistry courses for 3 semesters.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have been working in Hazel M. Holden’s lab since 2008. My work here focuses on the structural and functional characterization of various enzymes involved in unusual sugar biosynthesis. Two specific enzymes include a putative nitrososynthase, KijD3, and a 3-C-methyltransferase, TcaB9. I have solved the structures of both enzymes and have two separate publications in Biochemistry of the work. In January 2009, I presented a poster at the Enzyme Mechanisms Conference on my work. In addition to my research, I was the teaching assistant for the biochemistry techniques lab, offered to junior and senior undergraduates, for two semesters. I have also given lectures in Dr.’s Holden and Rayment protein structure and function course in the fall of 2010. Lastly, I am one of the two graduate student original instructors in Project CRYSTAL since its inception in 2008.
Rachel Kubiak
Rachel Kubiak
I graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology. During my time in my undergraduate studies, I wrote a competitive proposal for an undergraduate biochemistry research project through Grand Valley’s Student Summer Scholars (S3) Program. I was one of 20 students to receive the S3 grant and was funded for a summer research position. For my research I worked Dr. Rachel Powers studying the active site architecture of the enzyme AmpC beta-lactamase using boronic acid probes, and continued my work with her for a total of two years. Between 2007 and 2008, I presented my research at multiple national and regional professional meetings including the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Boston, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) meeting in San Diego where I was awarded an Honorable Mention for my presentation in the undergraduate poster competition, and the undergraduate research symposium at Argonne National Labs where I gave an oral presentation.
I am currently in my fourth year of graduate studies in the Integrated Program in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I am a member of Dr. Hazel Holden’s laboratory and study enzymes involved in unusual sugar biosynthesis. After joining the Holden lab in January 2009, we began planning the details of a pilot program called Project CRYSTAL (Crystallographers Researching with Young Scientists: Teaching And Learning) which is aimed at introducing middle school students to scientific research. In April of 2009 I was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) which allows me to continue pursuing my thesis work while also dedicating several hours a week to the middle school students. We’re already a few years in to Project CRYSTAL now, and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the future!
Apart from my work with Project CRYSTAL, I have been a teaching assistant for both an undergraduate level biochemistry course and a graduate level protein structure course, along with running a biochemistry seminar course for senior-level students. Recently, I volunteered as a mentor in a program run by the Milwaukee School of Engineering called Students Modeling A Research Topic (SMART). This program brings together high school students, a teacher from that school, and a mentor involved in research science. As a mentor, I was responsible for choosing an enzyme of interest and working together with the high school teacher and students to research, write an abstract about, and make a poster explaining the structure, function, and key features of the enzyme. Additionally, I have helped with other local outreach events including Biochemistry in the Kitchen, a science day where UW graduate school students help 24 girl scouts learn about science and run experiments in order to earn their science badges, and have helped lead ‘science day’ activities at local summer camps.
Jim Thoden
High School Interns
In 2010, Kelsey, MacKenzy, and Rebecca volunteered in the Holden Lab. The three are students from Edgewood High School. In 2011, Kelsey and MacKenzy volunteered again!
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