January 25, 2007

Endowed professorships

David Bentrem
Harold L. and Margaret N. Method Research Professor in Surgery

David J. Bentrem has been named the Harold L. and Margaret N. Method Research Professor in Surgery at The Feinberg School of Medicine. He works in the division of surgical oncology.

Bentrem’s areas of interest are pancreatic, hepatobiliary, colon and rectal surgery. His aim is to develop an independent research program in pancreatic carcinogenesis.

While completing his general surgical residency at Northwestern, he was also a research fellow in the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

Bentrem has received many honors, including the Memorial Sloan Kettering Canter Center’s Chairman Award for Excellence in Clinical Research.

He is a member of a number of prominent professional societies, including the Endocrine Society, the Association of Academic Surgeons and the American Association for Cancer Research.

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Thomas V. O’Halloran
Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor in Chemistry

Thomas V. O’Halloran has been reappointed the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor in Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

O’Halloran’s research interests center on the regulatory biology and chemistry of transition metal receptors involved in signaling and trafficking pathways. His work reveals how cells use essential metal nutrients such as copper, zinc and iron at the molecular level and also provides insights into what happens when these same metals are mismanaged, as is the case in some cancers, in Malaria, in Menkes’ and Wilson Disease and neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS.

His research group has identified several novel metal receptors and focuses on characterization of their function, structure and mechanism.

O’Halloran’s many publications include “Metallochaperones: An intracellular shuttle service for metal ions”; “Molecular Basis of Selectivity and Zeptomolar Sensitivity by CueR”; “Post-translational Modifications in Cu, Zn-Superoxide Dismutase and Mutations Associated with Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis.”

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Joseph S. Takahashi
Walter and Mary Elizabeth Glass Professor in the Life Sciences

Joseph S. Takahashi has been reappointed the Walter and Mary Elizabeth Glass Professor in the Life Sciences at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

His research focuses on understanding the genetic and molecular basis of circadian rhythms as well as other behaviors such as learning and memory.

To understand the molecular mechanism of the circadian clock system, his laboratory has used genetic approaches to discover genes that regulate circadian behavior in mice.

Takahashi has received significant awards in recognition of his groundbreaking research, including the Alden Spencer Award, bestowed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in recognition of outstanding research contributions in neural science.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Takahashi is an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a nationwide group of about 300 biomedical researchers who spend at least three-fourths of their time in research. In 2003 Takahashi was elected into the National Academy of Sciences in the area of cellular and molecular neurosciences.

For the last five years, he has been the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Neurogenomics Project at Northwestern.

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Jonathon Widom
William Deering Professor in Biological Sciences

Jonathon Widom, professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed William Deering Professor in Biological Sciences.

His research interests focus on the structure and function of chromosomes and on the biophysical chemistry of proteins and nucleic acids. A new project attempts to answer fundamental questions about the physico-chemical basis of gene regulation through quantitative studies of single living cells.

Widom’s research has revealed unanticipated ways in which higher levels of information exist in the genetic code and influence how accessible the DNA is to the transcriptional machinery.

Honored for his scholarship, Widom received a Searle Scholars Award and a Presidential Young Investigator Award.