WELCOME TO THE SMITH LAB AT MCW
The laboratory of Dr. Brian C. Smith is located in the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Our research focuses on epigenetic signaling pathways and how these underlie fundamental biochemical processes important in inflammation-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Our lab group uses a wide variety of techniques in our research, from molecular and chemical biology to cell culture and in vivo models.
We welcome applications from motivated individuals at all scientific levels to join our research team. Please contact Dr. Smith directly by email at brismith@mcw.edu and include a CV or resume.
SMITH LAB NEWS
May 2023 - Graduate student Karina Bursch awarded a best poster award at the Cancer Center annual retreat. Great work Karina!
May 2023 - Postdoc Joshua Nord awarded a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) postdoctoral fellowship. Way to go Josh!
May 2023 - Isabel Szablewski joined the Smith Lab as a research technologist following completion of her B.S. degree from Carroll University. Welcome Isabel!
April 2023 - Graduate student Karina Bursch awarded a National Institutes of Health F30 fellowship to fund 5 years of her Ph.D. and M.D. research and training. Congratulations Karina!
March 2023 - Postdoc Joshua Nord awarded an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, congratulations Josh!
February 2023 - Paul Sidlowski joined the lab as a graduate student for his Ph.D. dissertation work. Welcome Paul!
February 2023 - Smith Lab publication Selective and Cell-Active PBRM1 Bromodomain Inhibitors Discovered through NMR Fragment Screening by Shishodia et al was highlighted on Practical Fragments, the top online commentary in fragment-based drug discovery!
October 2022 - New Smith Lab publication in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry from postdoc Shifali Shishodia, also including Ray Nunez, Karina Bursch, Chris Goetz, Mike Olp, and Brian Smith : Selective and Cell-Active PBRM1 Bromodomain Inhibitors Discovered through NMR Fragment Screening
September 2022 - Inaugural Smith Lab publication by first author postdoc Josh Nord, and other authors Rachel Jones Lipinski, Sarah Wynia-Smith, and Brian Smith: N-terminal BET Bromodomain Inhibitors Disrupt a BRD4-p65 Interaction and Reduce Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Transcription in Pancreatic β-Cells
June/July 2022 - Welcome summer research students Amir Bird, Nusha Mikolchak, Audrey Catlin! Also welcome to rotating MSTP student Maya Blau!
June 2022 - Congratulations to postdoc Rachel Jones Lipinski for receiving a pilot award from the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
January 2022 - Graduate student Ray Nunez awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association to fund his dissertation research. Congrats Ray!
November 2021 - Welcome to the lab rotating graduate student Akanksha Gurtu!
October 2021 - Welcome to the lab rotating graduate student Kyle Ross!
July 2021 - Karina Bursch officially joined the Smith Lab for the Ph.D. portion of her medical scientist training. Welcome Karina!
June 2021 - Christopher Goetz successfully defended his Ph.D.; we wish him all the best as he transitions to a job with Medtronic!
May 2021 - Welcome to the lab summer undergraduate research students Amir Bird and Isabel Szablewski!
May 2021 - Congratulations to postdoc Dan Sprague on receiving his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin!
September 2020 - New publication by graduate student Chris Goetz and postdoc Dan Sprague : Development of activity-based probes for the protein deacylase Sirt1 in Bioorganic Chemistry!
September 2020 - New publication by former postdoc Moua Yang and other Smith Lab members in Blood Advances : Cysteine Sulfenylation by CD36 signaling promotes arterial thrombosis in dyslipidemia. Full text here.
July 2020 - Principal Investigator Brian Smith was promoted to Associate Professor of Biochemistry!
June 2020 - The lab bids Steven Summers a fond farewell. We will miss him, but we are so happy for him as his journey takes him next to medical school at Wright State!
May 2020 - Congratulations to our newest PhD graduate! IDP student Kelsey Kalous successfully defended her dissertation!
May 2020 - New publication and freely-available tool for continuous enzyme kinetics authored by Mike Olp and others from the lab: "ICEKAT: an interactive online tool for calculating initial rates from continuous enzyme kinetic traces," published in BMC Bioinformatics. The tool and tutorial can also be found here.
May 2020 - New publication authored by Kelsey Kalous and others from the lab: "Human sirtuins are differentially sensitive to nitrosating agents and other cysteine oxidants, released in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
March 2020 - New publication authored by Mike Olp and others from the lab : "Covalent-Fragment Screening of BRD4 Identifies a Ligandable Site Orthogonal to the Acetyl-Lysine Binding Sites," released in ACS Chemical Biology.
March 2020 - A new publication in collaboration with the lab of Ravit Boger : "Validation and Characterization of Five Distinct Novel Inhibitors of Human Cytomegalovirus," published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
March 2020 - Bench work in the Smith Lab is hibernating due to COVID-19, but we are still hard at work on our computers from home.
February 2020 - We officially welcome Ray Nunez to the Smith Lab team for his graduate research!
January 2020 - Smith lab is profiled in MCW stories for commitment to diversity and inclusion.
November 2019 - Welcome to rotating IDP graduate student Patrick Brennan!
September 2019 - We are happy to welcome two new postdocs (Rachel Jones Lipinski and Shifali Shishodia) and three rotating graduate students (Demetra Korkos, Laura Danner, and Ray Nunez) to our lab!
July 2019 - Josh Nord has joined the Smith Lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Welcome Josh!
May 2019 - Welcome to our summer crew: Guadalupe Valdivia Espzarza (AHA fellow/DSHREP/Step-Up), Isabel Szablewski (CTSI 500 stars), Mitch Van Kalsbeek (SPUR), and Nnenna Nwaelugo (incoming MCW M1 student)!
May 2019 - The Smith Lab is so happy graduate student Alyssa Fernandez (IDP program) chose us for her PhD studies. Welcome Alyssa!
May 2019 - Graduate student Kelsey Kalous won the top poster award at the 14th annual Chicago Diabetes Day symposium.
April 2019 - MSTP Student Mike Olp successfully defended his PhD thesis. Congratulations Mike!
March 2019 - Congratulations to our medical student researcher Tom Hirsch on his match into general surgery residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA.
January 2019 - We welcome Research Technologist Malia Schram and high school research intern Isabel Szablewski to the Smith Lab!
October 2018 - Kelsey Kalous gave an invited oral presentation at the Midwest Enzyme Chemistry Conference.
September 2018 - The Smith lab was awarded an R01 grant from the National National Institute of Diabetes Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH NIDDK): Biochemical mechanisms of beta cell protection through bromodomain inhibition.
August 2018 - The Smith lab was awarded an R35 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH NIGMS): Discovering and Exploiting Selectivity within Tandem Bromodomains.
August 2018 - The Smith Lab welcomes Research Technologist Steven Summers and rotating IDP graduate student Alyssa Fernandez!
July 2018 - Welcome to postdoc Moua Yang, joining the Smith Lab following completion of his PhD in Roy Silverstein's lab. He will be supported by an NIH T32 training grant through the MCW cardiovascular center.
June 2018 - Kelsey Kalous was awarded a F31 fellowship from the National Institute of Diabetes Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH NIDDK): Sirt6 NAD+-Dependent Protein Deacetylase Inhibition by Cysteine S-nitrosation.
June 2018 - Graduate student Kelsey Kalous gave an invited oral presentation at the Midwest Chromatin and Epigenetics Meeting.
June 2018 - Welcome to summer students Brad Julga (MSSRP), Nnenna Nwaelugo (SPUR), and Guadalupe Valdivia Esparza (DSHREP)!
April 2018 - IDP graduate student Kelsey Kalous won the Young Investigator Award at the MCW Redox Biology Symposium.
January 2018 - Welcome to visiting postdoc Zuzana Gulasova from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Kosice, Slovakia.
February 2017 - Sarah and Brian published a new literature review article: "Nitrosothiol formation and S-nitrosation signaling through nitric oxide synthases" Nitric Oxide. 2017 Feb 28;63:52-60
December 2017 - The Smith lab was awarded a grant from the American Diabetes Association (ADA): Protection of islet function through bromodomain inhibition in type I diabetes.
October 2017 - New publication from Brian and Mike of the Smith Lab: "Metabolically Derived Lysine Acylations and Neighboring Modifications Tune the Binding of the BET Bromodomains to Histone H4" Biochemistry, 2017, 56 (41), pp 5485–5495
July 2017 - Along with collaborators at Northwestern College and University of Kansas, the Smith lab was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF): Mapping and Tracking Conformational Control of Nitric Oxide Synthase Activation.
June 2017 - Graduate student Mike Olp won the MCW Mass Spectrometry Symposium poster award.
December 2016 - New publication from Kelsey, Sarah, Mike, and Brian of the Smith Lab: "Mechanism of Sirt1 NAD+-dependent Protein Deacetylase Inhibition by Cysteine S-Nitrosation"J Biol Chem. 2016 Dec 2;291(49):25398-25410
November 2016 - Medical student Tom Hirsch won an MCW medical student research day poster award.
October 2016 - Graduate student Mike Olp won the MCW graduate student poster award.
June 2015 - The Smith lab was awarded a Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association (AHA): Direct and Epigenetic Control of Metabolism through Protein S-nitrosation.
March 2015 - New publication from Sarah and Brian: "Truncating mutation in the nitric oxide synthase 1 gene is associated with infantile achalasia" Gastroenterology. 2015 Mar;148(3):533-536.e4
