Timeline of events -March, 2019:Students Sammie Coffler, Kallie Liston, David Schiller, and Julia Buffalini made their way to the 63rd Biophysical Society meeting with Dr. M in San Baltimore, MD. Lots of great talks, including the groups attendance to one of Dr. M's favorite scientists in the field - Dr. Lewis Kay of University of Toronto. Group dinner was at a excellent restaurant in Little Italy - yum!
-July, 2018:Another summer of research is in the books! Matt Schwartz, Sammie Coffler, Kallie Liston, David Schiller, and Julia Buffalini worked hard on the various projects over the summer and wrapped up with presentations at the ACTC Chemistry Summer Research Symposium.
-May, 2018:Congrats to senior Andrew Hexum who successfully defended his Departmental Honor Project on his work with antimicrobial peptides! Also, student researchers Andrew Hexum and Parker Flanders graduated and are moving on from Hamline University! Best wishes!
-February, 2018:Students Matt Schwartz, Parker Flanders, Sam Ealy, and Lexus Tatge attend the 62nd Biophysical Society meeting with Dr. M in San Francisco, CA. Their posters were well attended and received. Of course, there were by great talks - including one by former colleague, Nate Traaseth at NYU on the characterization of a protein from multi-drug resistant bacteria, but we also stockpiled on the freebies from vendors, and networked with many people... the many rounds of sushi was the best!!!!
-October, 2017:The Masterson laboratory publishes a paper with four current or former undergraduate researchers: Sid Dicke, Lexus Tatge, Ela Engen, and Megan Culp. The paper entitled "Isothermal titration calorimetry and vesicle leakage assays highlight the differential behaviors of tau repeat segments upon interaction with anionic lipid membranes" was published in Biochemistry and Biophysics Research Communications.
-April, 2017:Sid Dicke successfully defended his Departmental Honors Projects in Chemistry for work done in the research lab. Departmental Honor projects at Hamline University are viewed as having similar weight and work as a Master's Thesis..... very, very nice work Sid! Good luck after graduation!
-February, 2017:Sid Dicke, Samantha Kennelly, and Ela Engen attend the 61st Biophysical Society meeting with Dr. M in New Orleans, LA. Their posters were well attended and received. Lots of networking occurred with these students as the met with scientists at all levels of their career (graduate students to post-docs and PIs). A number of new ideas for the ongoing research in the Masterson laboratory are also in the works.
-October, 2016:The Midwest Regional Biophysics Meeting is hosted at Hamline University and featured keynote speaker Dr. Hashim Al-Hashimi. Dr. M chaired the event which had just under 100 people in attendance and over 40 undergraduate students from UW-La Crosse, Augsburg College, St. Catherine University, University of St. Thomas, University of Minnesota, UW-Eau Claire, Minnesota State University at Mankato, Bethel University, and more. Undergraduate student, Sid Dicke, presented his research from the Masterson laboratory on his work with tau protein.
-August, 2016:Hamline University finishes updates to our instrumental laboratory and now has a modern 600 MHz NMR spectrometer on site. The field strength and sensitivity of this NMR spectrometer is unique to a primarily undergraduate institution such as Hamline University. The instrument will greatly enhance the ongoing work of faculty at here and at neighboring primarily undergraduate institutions. It's capabilities include triple axis gradients, 4 RF channels, and gradient shimming. The spectrometer came with biomolecular 1H/13C/15N and broadband probes. Installation pictures, along with the removal of the 25+ year old NMR spectrometer (Dr. M's spring break project in March, 2016!) can be seen under Photos.
-April, 2016:Senior students Jalen Hoehn and Meghan McCaskey successfully defended their Departmental Honors Projects in Chemistry for work done in the research lab. Departmental Honor projects at Hamline University are viewed as having similar weight and work as a Master's Thesis..... excellent job you two, awesome job committing to this process and seeing it through! Your work turned out awesome! Good luck after graduation!
-March, 2016:Senior students Jalen Hoehn, Tom Larson, and Meghan McCaskey attend the 60th Biophysical Society meeting with Dr. M in Los Angeles, CA. Their posters were well attended and received. Meghan also competed in the poster competition that was composed primarily of graduate students. She made it to the final three, woo-hoo! The meeting was highlighted by great talks, freebies from vendors, and meeting new people.
-October, 2015:Hamline University hosts the ACTC Biophysics Club meeting. Junior student Sid Dicke kicked off a discussion of literature and research on the folding-upon-binding mechanism that he is observing from ITC measurements. Senior student Meghan McCaskey wrapped up the night with a discussion about mechanistic studies of her antibacterial peptides using NMR, FTIR, and a variety fluorescence spectroscopies (steady-state, kinetics, and fluorescence anisotropy measurements). Way to represent the Masterson lab!
-July, 2015:Senior student, Meghan McCaskey gave the opening talk at the ACTC Summer Research Symposium on her biophysical characterization of an antimicrobial peptide. In addition, Ela Engen (sophomore, Chemistry), Matt Pratt (junior, Biochemistry), Sid Dicke (junior, Chemistry), Sina Golzarian (junior, Biochemistry), and Tom Larson (junior, Biochemistry) gave poster presentations.
-April/May 2015:Senior student, Megan Culp, is awarded 2nd place in the Lund Speaking Competition where she presented her work on peptide/membrane interactions. In addition, Megan Culp, and fellow senior Mark Volker, each successfully defended their Departmental Honors Projects in Chemistry for work done in the research lab. Departmental Honor projects at Hamline University are viewed as having similar weight and work as a Master's Thesis..... we did it guys, awesome job committing to this process and seeing it through! Your work turned out awesome! Good luck after graduation!
-February, 2015: Dr. M has a paper accepted in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on protein kinase A work done at the UofM and continued during his time at Hamline.
-December, 2014: Dr. M has a paper published in Structure on protein kinase A work done at the UofM and continued during his time at Hamline.
-November, 2014: Senior Biochemistry student Megan Culp is a runner-up for the McKnight Prize in Undergraduate Molecular Biophysics, a contest that involves students from across the country. Awesome job Megan! Congrats on the recognition!
-October 18, 2014: Dr. M and four students (Mark Volker, Tom Larson, Rachel Usgaard, and Lauren Sparks) attend and present at the Midwest Biophysical Networking Event. La Crosse is a beautiful place to be this time of year and Dr. M made sure to bring his students to see the sights at Grand Dad's Bluff on a brisk, but gorgeous, starry night!
-October 9, 2014: Our ACTC Biophysics Club is growing! Dr. M takes a group of seven students to Augsburg College (Minneapolis) where Professor Ben Stottrup and his students hosted the event. Over 35 students were in attendance (plus a host of faculty).... WOW, that's a nice size group!!! Thank you's go out to the Augsburg students that worked so hard to present some awesome science!
-September 11, 2014: The Masterson Laboratory was well represented at the Fall HHMI Research Symposium hosted by Hamline University. Megan Culp, Sina Golzarian, Jalen Hoehn, Tom Larson, Meghan McCaskey, Lauren Sparks, and Mark Volker all gave poster presentations. It was a great night of science and fun with colleagues!
-September 5, 2014: Dr. M is the first to present at the Chemistry and Biology joint seminar at Hamline University.
-July 27-30, 2014: Dr. M and three students (Mark Volker, Megan Culp, and Lauren Sparks) attend the Protein Society Meeting. Megan Culp secures the Best Undergraduate Poster Award, while Mark and Lauren secure travel awards!
-July 16, 2014: The Masterson Laboratory had a strong presence at the summer ACTC Chemistry Symposium at St. Catherine University. Mark Volker gave a well-received oral presentation on the Drug-Drug Interaction project, while Megan Culp, Sina Golzarian, Jalen Hoehn, Tom Larson, Meghan McCaskey, and Lauren Sparks gave poster presentations.
-May, 2014: Dr. M secures two avenues of internal funding to help defray costs related to his summer research program (Hanna Grant, Hamline University) and to help pay for upcoming travel to conferences (Dean's Development Grant).
-May, 2014: Dr. M gives a special seminar for Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry students at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. And he gets to catch up with his beloved undergraduate research advisors, Dr. Adrienne Loh and Dr. Ronald McKelvey! Dr. McKelvey hosted Dr. M for dinner at his beautiful house overlooking the bluffs of La Crescent. Thank you Ron!!!!
-April, 2014: Dr. M and a group of students attend the ACTC Biophysics Club which was hosted by St. Thomas University. Our group was inquisitive.... and Dr. M thinks he now has a nickname for these interested young scientists: the Hamlintonians.....
-April 11, 2014: Amani Lee (Senior, Biochemsitry) successfully defends his Departmental Honors thesis in Chemistry entitled "Development of an NMR Method to Determine the Activation Barrier of Chemical Exchange"! Departmental Honor projects at Hamline University are viewed as having similar weight and work as a Master's Thesis..... great work Amani, it was a lot of work but you learned a ton going through it!! Onward to graduation!
-March, 2014: Dr. M gives a seminar at St. Thomas University and catches up with colleague and collaborator Dr. Lisa Prevette.
-December, 2013: Dr. M has a paper published in Nature Chemical Biology on the directed protein evolution work done at the UofM and continued during his time at Hamline.
-November, 2013: Hamline University hosts the first ACTC Biophysics Club meeting, a result of ongoing discussions between Drs. Masterson, Prevette (St. Thomas University), and Ha (St. Catherine University). About 25 are in attendance and got some good eats. Also, Amani Lee and Lauren Sparks gave awesome presentations on both literature and research. The discussion was lively and we look forward to many more gatherings!
-October 19, 2013: Amani Lee, Mark Volker, and Dr. M present at the Midwest Biophysical Networking Event.
-September 11, 2013: Amani Lee, Lauren Sparks, and Mark Volker attend and present at the Fall HHMI Research Symposium. Dr. M's research projects have displayed some serious progress after a single summer research. Great job to this core group of students!
-September 6, 2013: Dr. M gives a seminar at University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire and catches up with colleagues and collaborators Drs. Warren Gallagher, Scott Hartsel, and Sanchit Hati.
-January, 2013: The Masterson laboratory acquires a M5e Multimode Microplate for research and course work. This instrument is capable of UV/Vis, but additionally time-resolved fluorescence, fluorescence polarization, and luminescence. This will be a work-horse for projects in the coming years! Thank you to Hamline University and endowed funds from to the Chemistry Department for supporting this purchase for our laboratory!
-May, 2013: Dr. M secures internal funding to help defray costs related to his summer research program (Hanna Grant, Hamline University). This money will be used to purchase supplies for Drug-Drug Interaction project.
-April, 2013: Khadija Kalif (Senior, Chemistry) successfully defends her Departmental Honors thesis in Chemistry. Departmental Honor projects at Hamline University are viewed as having similar weight and work as a Master's Thesis..... we did it, Khadija! Way to keep on it and work through those bumps!
-October, 2012: The Masterson laboratory acquires a Jasco J720 circular dichroism spectrometer with petlier temperature controller for research and course work. This instrument is capable of monitoring the changes in secondary structure of biomolecules. These will be pivotal measurements prior to NMR spectroscopic studies. Thank you to Hamline University and endowed funds from to the Chemistry Department for supporting this purchase for our laboratory!
-December, 2012: Dr. M has a paper accepted and published in near record time in Biochemistry! This was work he worked on at the UofM and wrapped up with writing during his first semester.
-August, 2012: Dr. M arrives to Hamline University and begins preparing his laboratory.... and getting ready for some serious teaching!