The Culture

Now there's a CMB Newsletter

Welcome to the second newsletter from CMB, run out of the Ed Subcommittee. We anticipate this will be monthly, and any who want to be involved in its production, should reach out to the CMB Education committee (cmbed@uvm.edu). We've repeated some news items from July because not everybody received the email. It won't always show up in your Outlook 'focused email' inbox, something out of our control. There may of course be mistakes, but we'll fix them in an instant if you let us know.

CMB Education Committee

A new core curriculum arrives this fall

A new core curriculum is implemented this fall — a big change for the program. Course requirements now center on an integrated core curriculum (CLBI 7010/7020), an ethics course, and grantsmanship, with 15 credits dedicated to elective courses.

DQ

The qualifying exam gets a new format

The 2025 cohort will still complete the Phase 2 qualifying exam under the previous format in Spring/Summer 2027. The 2026 cohort will face a new qualifying exam — with both written and oral components — to be completed by June 30 of their second year (2028). Stay tuned for details.

DQ

Rotations shortened to 8 weeks

In order to maximize the number students who have successfully joined a lab within the first year of CMB, the CMB steering committee voted to shorten rotations to 8 weeks. Evaluations of these rotations will be in one of two formats -- the traditional rotation report or a new 12 minute seminar presented with other first years and mentors. Attached is the timing for the new rotation timeline. Details in 2026-2027 CMB handbook.

DM

Fall registration & add/drop deadlines

Fall classes begin Monday, August 31. Last day to add without instructor permission is Friday, September 4; the final add/drop, pass/no-pass, and audit deadline is Monday, September 14.

VI2D T32 renewed — congratulations to Dr. Gary Ward

Congratulations to Dr. Gary Ward, who has secured another five years of funding for the Vermont Immunology and Infectious Diseases (VI2D) T32 training grant. With this renewal, the program will have run continuously for 25 years — a quarter-century of federally funded graduate training in immunology and infectious disease at UVM. Our congratulations and thanks to Gary and everyone whose work keeps VI2D going strong.

Tyler Hogan awarded NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellowship to study a novel gene's role in sepsis

Tyler Hogan, a doctoral candidate in the Krementsov Lab, has been awarded a prestigious NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). This will support Tyler in his ongoing research on how a member of the "dark proteome," or microproteome (proteins <100 amino acids), influences disease severity and survival during sepsis.

Matthew Caporizzo awarded the Bloomfield Early Career Professorship

Matt was awarded the Bloomfield Early Career Professorship in Cardiovascular Research that is administered by the CVRI for $50,000/year for 2 years with a possible third year following administrative review. The award was endowed by Marty Bloomfield (just celebrated his 92nd birthday) and his wife Judy, both UVM alums. He is a retired cardiologist who has a passion for basic science, as evidenced by his endowment. Matt's project on Sex-Specific Regulation of Diastolic Dysfunction focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms associated with a woman's increased susceptibility to diastolic dysfunction in the heart. His innovative use of the heart tissue slice technology should provide a window into the modifications at the contractile and cytoskeletal modifications that arise from metabolic syndrome.

Courtney Waytashek receives NIH F31

Courtney Waytashek has been awarded an NIH NRSA F31 Individual Predoctoral Fellowship. This award recognizes both the scientific merit of the proposed research and the applicant's long-term potential for leadership and independence in the biomedical sciences. Her revised application (A1) scored in the 13th percentile, a substantial improvement from the 37th percentile received on the initial submission (A0). Courtney was previously supported by the VI2D T32 training grant.

Madeline McTigue

Study Reveals Dengue Virus Infects Immune Cells Meant to Fight Disease

In the new study, co-led by UVM cellular, molecular, and biomedical sciences graduate student Gaby Madrigal and SUNY Upstate staff scientist and recent Ph.D. graduate Chad Gebo, the team demonstrated for the first time that dengue-specific memory B cells can become infected by all four dengue virus types and produce infectious virus. Memory B cells are generated following an initial infection and persist for years, making them likely targets during subsequent exposure to a different dengue strain. The findings, published July 20 in the Journal of Virology, reveal a previously unrecognized way the virus may evade immune defenses and point toward new strategies for treating a disease that threatens 40 percent of the world’s population, including parts of the southern United States. The study was conducted by researchers in the laboratories of Sean Diehl, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at UVM, and Adam Waickman, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology at SUNY Upstate. Researchers say future strategies might also include therapies designed to selectively eliminate or modify high-risk memory B cells after an initial dengue infection, potentially reducing the risk of severe disease following later exposure. “This work challenges existing assumptions about how dengue interacts with the immune system,” said Diehl. “By revealing a previously unrecognized route of infection, it opens new avenues for understanding dengue disease and developing interventions to prevent or treat it.” Paper is at: https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.02216-25

Sean Diehl

Glutamine stress promotes metastatic potential via hexosamine biosynthetic pathway activity in KRAS/STK11-mutant lung adenocarcinoma

Shannon Prior, Cole Royer, Logan Sands, Sean Lenahan, Melissa Scheiber, Eyal Amiel, Allison Racela, David Seward, Paula Deming. Research Square — preprint (August 27, 2026). CMB student author(s): Allison Racela.

Widespread atypical UV-induced mutations form in single-stranded DNA

Cameron Cordero, Brittany N. Vandenberg, Isabelle Mittelstadt, Jordan Murch, Marian F. Laughery, Piotr A. Mieczkowski, John J. Wyrick, Steven A. Roberts. Science Advances (September 11, 2026). CMB student author(s): Isabelle Mittelstadt.

G-protein coupled receptor activity mediates detrusor smooth muscle phasic contractility through regulation of membrane potential

Rengo, J. L., Heppner, T. J., Hennig, G. W., Klug, N. R., Stamp, S., Nelson, M. T., Herrera, G. M.. biorxiv (August 14, 2026). CMB student author(s): Jason Rengo.

A phosphorylation switch governs KIF11's mechanical output during mitosis

Amila Šemić, Babu J N Reddy, Joseph M Muretta, Sarah E Vandal, Alex F Thompson, Cindy L Fonseca, Steven S Rosenfeld, Steven P Gross, Jason Stumpff. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (August 11, 2026). CMB student author(s): Amila Šemić.

Distinct repair processes produce APOBEC-induced deletions, tandem substitutions, and complex mutations in yeast and human cells

Alexandra Puzon, Atri Raval, Cameron Cordero, Daniel Schiefen, Piotr A Mieczkowski, Steven A Roberts, Tony M Mertz. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (July 28, 2026). CMB student author(s): Atri Raval.

A genome-wide screen in Pseudomonas aeruginosa identifies genes impacting production of the hemolytic phospholipase C/sphingomyelinase, PlcH

Kristin Schutz, Olivia F Evans, Jacob R Mackinder, Pauline DiGianivittorio, Aditya Patwardhan, Matthew J Wargo. Journal of bacteriology (July 27, 2026). CMB student author(s): Aditya Patwardhan, Olivia Evans.

Single-cell analysis of ovarian immune cells reveals dynamic changes in NK and B-cell populations after ovarian stimulation

*Tia Y Brodeur, Toby B Lanser, Lucy Salter, Katherine Sessions, Tyler Hogan, Elizabeth A Bonney, Elizabeth McGee, Seth Frietze, Dimitry N Krementsov. *Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) (July 17, 2026). CMB student author(s): Tyler Hogan.

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess environmental and lifestyle factors influencing infectious disease outcomes: application to SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals in Cuba

Waldemar Baldoquín-Rodríguez, Ana B Pérez, Lizette Gil, Rosario Gravier, Hector Granela, Odalys Orraca, Lillyam Betancourt-Peraza, Alejandro Almeida-Pons, Juan M Junco-Rodriguez, Pablo Sariol, et al.. Frontiers in public health (June 29, 2026). CMB student author(s): Hector Granela.

ABL kinase-dependent phosphorylation of SH proteins promotes their direct interaction with CRK family SH2 domains

Phoebe M Cousens, Brendan W Chandler, Anna M Schmoker, Jaye L Weinert, Charlotte A Kearns, Warren T Yacawych, Amila Šemić, Alicia M Ebert, Bryan A Ballif. FEBS letters (June 22, 2026). CMB student author(s): Amila Šemić.

Novel KIF22 Variants Disrupt Mitosis in Human Chondrocytes and Expand SEMDJL2 Mechanisms

Amila Šemić, Kazette Yuen Yu Chan, Pricila Bernardi, Karina C Silveira, Cynthia Silveira, Denise P Cavalcanti, Peter Kannu, Jason Stumpff. Molecular biology of the cell (June 17, 2026). CMB student author(s): Amila Šemić.

New cancer drug shows promise in mesothelioma trial

UVM researchers Brian Cunniff and Victoria Gibson led a Nature Communications study of the drug RSO-021, which controlled disease progression in 67% of mesothelioma patients. It kills cancer cells by blocking an antioxidant enzyme while sparing healthy tissue.

Intestinal cells found to starve Salmonella of essential nutrients

Leigh Knodler, John Salogiannis, and colleagues at the Larner College of Medicine found that intestinal cells block Salmonella growth by starving it of iron and manganese, published in PNAS. The mechanism points to new drug targets for food-borne infections.

Girard, J. P., Whitaker, E. E., Frandina, C., Veljkovic, P., Carr, M. K., Symeonides, M., Thali, M. (2026) HIV-1-induced small T cell syncytia: susceptibility to direct NK cell killing. Preprint. DOI: 10.64898/2026.06.14.732158 CMB student author(s): Jon Girard, Petra Veljkovic.

Waytashek, C. M., Nelson, E. A., Sessions, K. J., Dalhberg, K., Fondakowski, M., Bubier, J. A., Usherwood, E. J., Krementsov, D. N. (2026) A novel wild-derived MHC-linked locus regulates host immunity to gammaherpesvirus infection. Preprint. DOI: 10.64898/2026.06.23.733957

Enes, S. R., Hampton, T. H., Barua, J., Mui, Z., Tertel, T., Giebel, B., McKenna, D. H., Hu, P., Ashare, A., Stanton, B. A., Santos, C. C. D., Weiss, D. J. (2026) Human mesenchymal stromal cell extracellular vesicles maintain therapeutic miRNA cargo despite exposure to cystic fibrosis bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Cytotherapy. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2026.102937