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by Cindy Abole
Pubilc Relations
Understanding the
complexities of HIV and the AIDS virus and
sharing her team's translational research
progress was the goal of visiting
biochemist and scientist Pamela Bjorkman,
Ph.D. Bjorkman visited MUSC on Oct. 25 as
a speaker and Women's Scholars
Initiative's (WSI) 2012 Eminent Scholar
Award recipient.
 Dr. Pamela
Bjorkman, left, accepts the 2012 Eminent
Scholar Award from Dr. Suzanne Thomas
with the Women's Scholars Initiative.
"It's a real honor to
be here and accept this award. Charleston
is a beautiful city, and I'm very happy to
be able to see it for the first time," she
said.
Bjorkman, who is known
for her pioneering work in structural
studies of biological macromolecules, is
the Max Delbruck professor of biology at
the California Institute of Technology
(Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif. She is a
member of the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences, American Philosophical Society
and an investigator of the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute. Her research looks at
the structure and function of proteins in
the immune system and interactions with
immune recognition using X-ray
crystallography, and confocal and electron
microscopy.
As part of her visit,
Bjorkman met with research faculty,
graduate and postdoctoral students and
other basic scientists to discuss their
research progress, offer career advice and
share her insight on topics. She praised
the institution for providing a good
foundation of medical science and basic
research to have the best of both worlds –
clinical people interested in basic
mechanisms and investigators who can look
at basic mechanisms and apply it to
something clinical.
"Teaching institutions
need to be prepared to train students
throughout their career and in other
up-and-coming jobs and specialties such as
jobs in biotech, science policy, patent
applications, public health and other
areas of need," she said.
Bjorkman also spent
time with WSI members to discuss faculty
development, mentorship activities and
gender issues in science-related careers.
The culmination of her visit featured her
presentation at the Gazes Building
Auditorium and award presentation by
Suzanne Thomas, Ph.D., associate
professor, Department of Psychiatry &
Behavioral Sciences. Bjorkman's talk was
titled, "Overcoming HIV Pathways for
Escape Using Rationally-Designated
Anti-HIV Antibodies."
Bjorkman spoke about
how HIV/AIDS continues to be a global
health problem especially in
underdeveloped countries. It's been
estimated that there are 34 million AIDS
cases worldwide without a curable vaccine.
According to Bjorkman,
the virus mutates much faster than the flu
virus, making it difficult for researchers
to develop effective vaccines that can
work with the body's immune cells. She
also spoke about current progress made
with anti-retroviral drugs, but she said
most are in the early stages of
development.
Bjorkman received her
Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from
the University of Oregon and her doctorate
in biochemistry from Harvard University.
She conducted her postdoctoral research at
both Harvard and Stanford University
before joining Caltech in 1989. In
addition to research and scientific
awards, Bjorkman was elected a fellow of
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, given the National
Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer
Award and named in 2011 one of the Most
Powerful Moms in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math) in
Working Mother magazine.
Friday, Dec.
14, 2012
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