Verna and Marrs McLean Lectures in Biochemistry
The Verna and Marrs McLean Lecture Series was inaugurated in 1972 by Salih J. Wakil, Distinguished Service Professor and Chairman Emeritus, in honor of an outstanding Texas family for their generous support of the department. Verna and Marrs McLean shared a philosophy of civic and humanitarian responsibility and a keen commitment to education. Although they were personally generous and supported many philanthropic causes, the McLeans believed that their greatest contribution was to set an example that encouraged others to make equally strong commitments. This tradition has been maintained by their children and grandchildren, as exemplified by the endowment of the Ruth McLean Bowman Bowers Professorship, which supports a faculty member in the department, as well as the establishment of the Ruth McLean Bowman Bowers “Excellence in Research” Award. This endowed lecture series was inaugurated in 1972 in honor of an outstanding Texas family for their generous support of the department.
During the academic year, the department hosts seminars relevant to modern pharmacology, chemical biology, drug discovery, and drug delivery. Unless otherwise noted, seminars are at noon in room N315.
| Date (Thursday) | Time | Speaker | Institution | Title of Talk | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 22 | 4 p.m. | Xiaoyu Zhang, Ph.D. | Northwestern University | "Targeted Protein Control: From Mechanistic Insights to Therapeutic Strategies" | In-Person |
| Jan. 29 | 4 p.m. | Tao Wang, Ph.D. | MD Anderson | "Profiling antigen-binding affinity of B cell repertoires in tumors by deep learning predicts immune-checkpoint inhibitor treatment outcomes" | In-Person |
| Feb. 12 | 4 p.m. | Qiangjun Zhou, Ph.D. | Vanderbilt Brain Institute | "A Distinct Outside-In Endocytosis Mechanism Driven by FezAB Assembly in Bacteria" | In-Person |
| March 12 | Noon | Bruno Correia, P.h.D. | EPFL. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | "Computational design of functional proteins in the age of AI" | Virtual |
| April 16 | Noon | Matteo Dal Peraro, Ph.D. | EPFL. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | "A Structure Transformer for Molecular Modeling and Design" | Virtual |
| April 30 | 2 - 4:35 p.m. | Thomas Muir, Ph.D. and Benjamin F. Cravatt, Ph.D. | Princeton University The Scripps Research Institute | 51st Annual Verna and Marrs McLean Lectures in Biochemistry | Cullen Auditorium |
| Sept. 3 | Noon | Julio Cordero-Morales, Ph.D. | McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center | “Functional and Structural Basis of TRPC3-Mediated Cerebellar Ataxia" | In-Person |
| Sept. 10 | Noon | Jed N. Lampe, Ph.D. | University of Colorado, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | “Drug Metabolism in the Pathobiome: How Expression of Cytochrome P450s in P. aeruginosa Leads to Antimicrobial Drug Resistance” | In-Person |
| Sept. 24 | Noon | S. Stephen Yi, Ph.D. | Baylor Research Institute and Baylor College of Medicine | “From Molecular Interactions to Therapeutic Response: AI-Driven Discovery Across Scales” | In-Person |
| Oct. 15 | 10:30 a.m. | Ning Zheng, Ph.D. | University of Washington | Schoolar Lecture | In-Person |
| Oct. 29 | Noon | Xiaochun Li, Ph.D. | UTSW | "Our Wnt Journey from Signal Transduction to Drug Development" | In-Person |
| Nov. 10 | Noon | Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D. | Duke University | "Breaching the Wall: Mechanisms of Fungal Polysaccharide Transport and Antifungal Action" | In-Person |
Research
Learn about our research within the Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.