Recent BMB Accomplishments

Faculty Achievements | Student Awards | Presentations

Faculty Achievements

Erika Geisbrecht received an RO1 renewal award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) entitled 'Mechanisms Underlying Muscle Development and Maintenance in Drosophila.'
Shijiao Huang was one of four awarded an ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture through KAWSE, the K-State Office for the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering. The purpose of this series is to encourage tenure-track faculty members in STEM departments to make new professional connections. Up to $1,200 will be provided by the KAWSE office to support each speaker. K-State Today
Timothy Durrett received a promotion to full professor.
Om Prakash served as an international advisory committee member for the International Symposium on Global Trends in Health, Technology and Management (GTHTM-2024), Dehradun, India, March 15- 17, 2024.
K-State's Seek Research Magazine co-features Erika Geisbrecht in the article "Anatomy of a breakthrough" under subtitle 'Small specimen, big possibilities'
Erika Geisbrecht awarded National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Supplement to Advance Research (STAR) from projects to programs. She leads an NIAMS-supported research project using the Drosophila model to determine mechanisms that prevent protein aggregation, and ultimately cellular degeneration, in muscle.
Anna Zolkiewska received an R21 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases entitled "Mechanistic links between mutations in the CLPB gene and congenital neutropenia".
Phillip E. Klebba, Salete M. Newton, Brittany L. Nairn*, and Mathew Hansen* received a patent for "High-Throughput Fluorescent Screening Assay for Inhibitors of Gram-Negative Bacterial Iron Uptake"
* No longer at K-State.

Student Awards

Graduate student Ziwei Zhao (Erika Geisbrecht lab) received the University Distinguished Professors Excellence in Doctoral Studies Award. This award recognizes exceptional achievement in doctoral studies. Ziwei talks about her research (video).
Graduate student Ziwei Zhao (Erika Geisbrecht lab) was selected to give an oral presentation at the 2025 Myogenesis Gordon Research Seminar near Lucca, Italy on June 7-8 where she won an award for best talk. She also presented a poster at the 2025 Myogenesis Gordon Research Conference held June 8-13. The title of her talk and poster were 'Pathogenic CryAB Mutations in Muscle Suggest a Novel Mechanism for Amyloid Secretion via Extracellular Vesicles.'
Soheila Fatehi (advisor: Brian Geisbrecht) was awarded the 2025 Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Charlie Hedgcoth, Jr. and Phillip Nordin Graduate Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Huiquan Duan received the Alvin & RosaLee Saracheck Predoctoral Honors Fellowship in Molecular Biology. The purpose of this prestigious award is to facilitate his transition to a postdoctoral position. He has accepted a postdoctral position at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Brian Geisbrcecht is Duan's major professor.
Lauren Apprill (BS/MS) received a Cancer Research Award from the Johnson Cancer Research Center. The award is designed to support graduate students conducting cancer-related research. Lauren's mentor is Kathrin Schrick (Biology). K-State Today
Two Biochemistry students received a College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Award for Spring 2025. K-State Today
- Andrea Miller - Mentor: David Meekins
- Alyssa Probst - Mentor: Patricia Calvo (Chemistry)
Lola Edwards was selected for Quest Freshman Honorary, a program facilitated by Blue Key Senior Honorary. K-State News
Four Biochemistry students received a College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Award for Fall 2024. K-State Today
- Prabhleen Kaur - Mentor: Dan Higgins (Chemistry)
- Alyssa Probst - Mentor: Patricia Calvo (Chemistry)
- Jillian Rockley - Mentor: Kathrin Schrick (Biology)
- Jonathan Ulmer - Mentor: Katsura Asano (Chemistry)
Maggie Banhart was selected for Mortar Board Senior Honor Society. K-State Today

M.S. and Ph.D. Defenses

Ying Zhang successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, "A Structural Basis for Bacterial Evasion of Antibody Responses Through Inhibitory Receptor Targeting" on October 23, 2025. Ying completed her degree under the mentorship of Dr. Brian Geisbrecht.
Ziwei Zhao successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, "Kinase-mediated regulation of CryAB in muscle: from NUAK-dependent signaling to extracellular vesicle-driven amyloid secretion" on October 7, 2025. Ziwei completed her degree under the mentorship of Dr. Erika Geisbrecht.
Dexter White successfully defended his master's thesis, "Engineering platform crop lines for specialty oil production" on May 29, 2025. Dexter completed his degree under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Durrett.
Fnu Alisha successfully defended her master's thesis, "Identifying the bottlenecks limiting medium chain fatty acid accumulation in transgenic pennycress seeds" on May 5, 2025. Alisha completed her dergree under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Durrett.
Tessa Van Buren successfully defended her master's thesis, "Investigation of the anti-apoptotic role of mammalian CLPB protein in neutrophil precursors" on April 7, 2025. Tessa completed her degree under the mentorship of Dr. Anna Zolkiewska.
Huiquan Duan successfully defended his doctoral disssertaion, "Mechanistic Insights into Complement Inhibition" on March 4, 2025. Duan completed his degree under the mentorship of Dr. Brian Geisbrecht.

Research Presentations

Huiquan Duan (grad, Brian Geisbrecht) presented a poster, "Blocking Activation of the Clr Zymogen Defines a Novel Mode of Complement Inhibition," at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Biochemsitry and Molecular Biology in Chicago, IL on April 13, 2025.
Timothy Durrett presented a talk, "Designer Oilseeds: Harnessing Synthetic Biology for Sustainable Biofuels and Bioproducts," at the 2025 Department of Energy (DOE) Biological System Science Division (BSSD) Annual Principal Investigator meeting in Washington, D.C. during March 31 - April 2, 2025.
Timothy Durrett presented a poster, "Synthetic Biology Tool Development for Precision Engineering of Oilseed Crops" at the 2025 Department of Energy (DOE) Biological System Science Division (BSSD) Annual Principal Investigator meeting in Washington D.C. on March 31 - April 2, 2025.
Six Biochemistry students presented posters in the Undergraduate Research Forum on April 15, 2025, at Kansas State University.
- Lauren Bishop presented "Chitin - Binding ability and Structure of an Insect Cuticular Protein at pH 5 and 7" - Mentor: Michael Kanost
- Evan Dickson presented "Identification of Interneurons Involved in Aging in C. elegans Nervous System" - Mentor: Shijiao Huang
- Jane Oltjen presented "Role of Antipsychotic Drugs in Enhancing Lifespan and Healthspan in Wildtype and Neurodegenerative Disease Strain C. Elegans" - Mentor: Shijiao Huang
- Marilyn Reese presented "The Effects of Dietary Iron Supplementation on Larval Weight, Growth Rate and Mortality in the tobacco hornworm." - Mentor: Maureen Gorman
- Mia Thompson presented "The Function of Human CLPB in Apoptosis of Breast Cancer Cells" - Mentor: Anna Zolkiewska
- Lexi Ziolo presented "Role of Mitochondrial Protein CLPB in Apoptosis of Breast Cancer Cell Lines" - Mentor: Anna Zolkiewska
Ziwei Zhao (graduate, Erika Geisbrecht) presented a talk, "Pathogenic CryAB mutations in muscle suggest a novel mechanism for amyloid secretion via extracellular vesicles," at the 66th Annual Drosophila Meeting in San Diego, CA on March 19-23, 2025.
Lauren Apprill (BS/MS, Kathrin Schrick - Biology) presented a poster, "Developing the next superfoods: protein interactions in vegetables leading to increased cancer prevention for Kansans" at Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol on February 26, 2025, in Topeka, KS. K-State News