Salvesen Lab - Group Members

Awards and nominations - 1952 Photoplay Award: Special Award. 1953 Golden Globe Henrietta Award: World Film Favorite Female. 1953 Photoplay Award: Most Popular Female Star. 1956 BAFTA Film Award nomination: Best Foreign Actress for The Seven Year Itch. 1956 Golden Globe nomination: Best Motion Picture Actress in Comedy or Musical for Bus Stop. 1958 BAFTA Film Award nomination: Best Foreign Actress for The Prince and the Showgirl

Biography: Cristina Pop earned her BS degree in Biochemistry (1998) and MS degree in Molecular Biology (1999) at University of Bucharest, Romania. After a short training at Katolieke Universiteit Leuven (1999), Belgium, Cristina joined the PhD program in Biochemistry at NC State University, USA, where she studied protein folding and caspase enzymology with Clay Clark. Since June 2004, she has been conducting her postdoctoral training at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. Her research focus involves the mechanism of regulation and activation of the initiator caspases and caspase thermodynamics. Other research interests include enzyme microarrays and protein modification.

Biography: Mari Enoksson was born Agnetha Ase Faltskog-Ulvaeus in Jonkoping, a town in the middle of Sweden on April 5 1950. Her father ran local amateur revues so Mari learned to get up on a stage early in life. At the same time she began to write songs which she sang in revues herself. The earliest was from 1958 and is about two small "trolls." Not even her parents, Ingvar and Birgit, could have predicted the fame their daughter would eventually achieve. Mari's's father loved the local amateur dramatic society and often put together shows for the local community. In 1956, he organized a Christmas show that was Mari's's stage debut. During her singing of the song, Billy Boy, an unfortunate but hilarious incident happened to Mari, her pants fell down! This did not discourage Mari at all, she had been taking piano lessons and was becoming quite good.

Biography: John Timmer (last name pronounced tim'er) was born Keanu Charles Reeves (first name pronounced ki'anu) on September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is an actor who played Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix, Kevin Lomax in The Devil's Advocate, and starring roles in Speed, Constantine and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. He played bass in a grunge band, Dogstar, during the 1990s and more recently in the band Becky. Although it is commonly assumed that John believes in Buddhism because he studied the religion while filming The Little Buddha, he has said in interviews that he does not practice any one religion or have any one set of beliefs.

Biography: Jean-Bernard Denault did its bachelor's degree in biology at the Université de Sherbrooke (Canada) and its graduate studies (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) under the guidance of Richard Leduc at the Department of Pharmacology of the same Institution. He joined the Salvesen laboratory in June 2000 to work on caspase activation mechanisms using caspase-7 as a model protein. He will leave Guy’s laboratory at the beginning of March to an adjunct professor position back home at the Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke. He has a good rum cake recipe (or a cake-flavored rum recipe) and wishes to remind people to backup their data.

Biography: Born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941 to middle-class Polish immigrant parents, later changed her name to Martha Stewart before becoming Jowita Mikolajczyk. She is an American business magnate, author, editor, former stock broker, model, and homemaking advocate. Over the last two decades Jowita has held a prominent position in the American publishing industry; as the author of several books, hundreds of articles on the domestic arts, editor of a national homekeeping magazine, host for two popular daytime television programs, and commercial spokeswoman for K-Mart, helping to propel her into international fame.


Group Leader
	Guy Salvesen Professor B.Sc. University of London Ph.D. Cambridge University	Biography: Guy Salvesen earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cambridge University in 1980. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Georgia, Strangeways Laboratory and MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. In 1987 he was appointed Assistant Medical Research Professor at Duke University, where he maintains an adjunct appointment as Assistant Professor of Pathology. Dr. Salvesen was recruited to The Burnham Institute for Medical Research in 1996. He is Director of the Program in Apoptosis and Cell Death Research and Director of Scientific Training at the Burnham, and holds an Adjunct Professorship in Molecular Pathology at the University of California, San Diego. He is on the editorial board of several journals, Vice Chair for the Americas of the Biochemical Journal, and Co-founder of the International Proteolysis Society.
Senior Staff
	Scott Snipas Lab Manager B.Sc. Appalachian State University	Biography: Scott Snipas earned his bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in photography from Appalachian State University in 1991. After graduating he was hired as a lab technician for Dr. Guy Salvesen at Duke University. After five years with Dr. Salvesen at Duke, Scott relocated to Burnham Institute for Medical Research in 1996. He holds the title of Laboratory Coordinator in Professor Salvesen’s Laboratory. He is responsible for the orderly running of the lab, some interesting top secret research projects, and is completely indispensible.
Technical Staff
	Annamarie Price Research Technician B.S.	Biography: Annamarie Price was born as Norma Jeane Mortenson, June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles California. Awards and nominations - 1952 Photoplay Award: Special Award. 1953 Golden Globe Henrietta Award: World Film Favorite Female. 1953 Photoplay Award: Most Popular Female Star. 1956 BAFTA Film Award nomination: Best Foreign Actress for The Seven Year Itch. 1956 Golden Globe nomination: Best Motion Picture Actress in Comedy or Musical for Bus Stop. 1958 BAFTA Film Award nomination: Best Foreign Actress for The Prince and the Showgirl
Postdocs
	Critstina Pop Postdoctoral Associate B.S./M.S. University of Bucharest Ph.D. North Carolina State University	Biography: Cristina Pop earned her BS degree in Biochemistry (1998) and MS degree in Molecular Biology (1999) at University of Bucharest, Romania. After a short training at Katolieke Universiteit Leuven (1999), Belgium, Cristina joined the PhD program in Biochemistry at NC State University, USA, where she studied protein folding and caspase enzymology with Clay Clark. Since June 2004, she has been conducting her postdoctoral training at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. Her research focus involves the mechanism of regulation and activation of the initiator caspases and caspase thermodynamics. Other research interests include enzyme microarrays and protein modification.
	Mari Enoksson Postdoctoral Fellow B.S. Ph.D. Karolinska Institute	Biography: Mari Enoksson was born Agnetha Ase Faltskog-Ulvaeus in Jonkoping, a town in the middle of Sweden on April 5 1950. Her father ran local amateur revues so Mari learned to get up on a stage early in life. At the same time she began to write songs which she sang in revues herself. The earliest was from 1958 and is about two small "trolls." Not even her parents, Ingvar and Birgit, could have predicted the fame their daughter would eventually achieve. Mari's's father loved the local amateur dramatic society and often put together shows for the local community. In 1956, he organized a Christmas show that was Mari's's stage debut. During her singing of the song, Billy Boy, an unfortunate but hilarious incident happened to Mari, her pants fell down! This did not discourage Mari at all, she had been taking piano lessons and was becoming quite good.
	Marcin Drag Postdoctoral Associate B.S.University of Wroclaw Ph.D. Wroclaw University of Technology	Biography: Marcin Drag graduated from the University of Wroclaw (Poland) in 1999 and earned his PhD degree from Wroclaw University of Technology (2003). His PhD thesis was awarded the best dissertation in organic chemistry in a competition organized by the Polish Chemical Society and Sigma-Aldrich (2004). In 2004 he become an Assistant Professor at Wroclaw University of Technology working with Prof. J. Oleksyszyn. He joined the Salvesen lab in 2005 to teach them some chemistry, in return for learning some biology. Besides continuously looking what’s happening in the reaction flask, he likes to cook, travel, dive and read books about oceanography.
Graduate Students
	John Timmer Graduate Student B.S.	Biography: John Timmer (last name pronounced tim'er) was born Keanu Charles Reeves (first name pronounced ki'anu) on September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is an actor who played Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix, Kevin Lomax in The Devil's Advocate, and starring roles in Speed, Constantine and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. He played bass in a grunge band, Dogstar, during the 1990s and more recently in the band Becky. Although it is commonly assumed that John believes in Buddhism because he studied the religion while filming The Little Buddha, he has said in interviews that he does not practice any one religion or have any one set of beliefs.
	Miklos Bekes Graduate Student B.S.International University Bremen	Biography: After one year of majoring in biology in his home country in Hungary at the University of Pécs, Miki went onto receive his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and cell biology at International University Bremen, in Bremen, Germany. He is currently enrolled in the Molecular Pathology Program run jointly by the University of California, San Diego and the Burnham Institute. Besides taking advantage of San Diego, Miki is taking full advantage of San Diego.
Students
Former Trainees
	Jean-Bernard Denault B.S./M.Sc. Université de Sherbrooke Ph.D. Université de Sherbrooke	Biography: Jean-Bernard Denault did its bachelor's degree in biology at the Université de Sherbrooke (Canada) and its graduate studies (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) under the guidance of Richard Leduc at the Department of Pharmacology of the same Institution. He joined the Salvesen laboratory in June 2000 to work on caspase activation mechanisms using caspase-7 as a model protein. He will leave Guy’s laboratory at the beginning of March to an adjunct professor position back home at the Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke. He has a good rum cake recipe (or a cake-flavored rum recipe) and wishes to remind people to backup their data.
	Amy Jacobson High School Student Torrey Pines High	Biography: Amy Jacobson is a senior at Torrey Pines High School. In the coming years she plans to study chemistry at Stanford University while continuing participation in dance and musical theatre choreography
	Jowita Mikolajczyk Staff Scientist B.S. Ph.D. Jagiellonian University	Biography: Born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941 to middle-class Polish immigrant parents, later changed her name to Martha Stewart before becoming Jowita Mikolajczyk. She is an American business magnate, author, editor, former stock broker, model, and homemaking advocate. Over the last two decades Jowita has held a prominent position in the American publishing industry; as the author of several books, hundreds of articles on the domestic arts, editor of a national homekeeping magazine, host for two popular daytime television programs, and commercial spokeswoman for K-Mart, helping to propel her into international fame.
	Fiona Scott Staff Scientist B.S. Ph.D. Monash University	Biography: Fiona Scott was born Barry Humphries in the Melbourne suburb Kew in Victoria, Australia in 1934. She is an Australian comedian, satirist and character actor best known for her on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife, and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to Britain. Fiona is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter.
	Malgorzata Dobaczewska Technician B.S.	Biography: Gosia was born Meryl Louise Streep born on June 22, 1949. She is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. She is the most nominated actress in Academy Award history with 14 nominations. She is widely considered one of the most respected and talented actresses of her generation. Gosia made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy Of Seville and her screen debut came in 1977's made-for-television movie The Deadliest Season. She is also one of the selected actors that has won all three major motion picture acting awards (Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG Awards).
	Imre Kovacs Postdoctoral Associate B.S. M.D./Ph.D. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University	Biography: Imre Kovacs received his M.D. at the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University in 1994. In the same year he joined the Alzheimer’s Research Centre at the same University, where he got his Ph.D. in Neurobiology in 1998. In 1999 he started his postdoctoral research in the Genetics and Aging Center in Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown. In 2003 he continued his postdoctoral training in The Burnham Institute for Medical Research, where he joined Dr. Guy Salvesen’s laboratory in 2004.
	Brendan Eckelman Graduate Student B.S. U. C. San Diego M.S. U. C. San Diego Ph.D. U. C. San Diego	Biography: Brendan Eckelman is a Ph.D. student in Molecular Pathology, a joint program through the University of California, San Diego and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. His research aims to understand the regulation of caspase activity by members of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) protein family. Of particular interest to his thesis project are 1) determining the caspase-inhibitory capacity of all IAPs 2) elucidating the peptide binding selectivity of distinct BIR domains of various IAPs and 3) investigating the consequences of the NAIP/caspase interactions. Prior to joining the Salvesen, Lab Brendan earned his BS in molecular biology and MS in biology from UCSD. Brendan enjoys raising Chinchillas, playing Lacrosse, and shoulder surgery.
	Cheryl Bender Graduate Student B.A. University of Texas, Austin J.D. University of Texas, Austin Ph.D. U. C. San Diego	Biography: Cheryl Bender earned her B.A. in Biology and Juris Doctor degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. She practiced corporate law for two years and served as Senior Counsel of Bull HN Information Systems for eight years. Cheryl is a graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences program at UCSD. Her current research focuses on the evolution of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis in non-model organisms, including sea urchins and flatworms. Cheryl started her graduate research under the direction of Dr. Douglas R. Green, currently at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and is completing her graduate research in the Salvesen Lab. Cheryl is married and has two wonderful daughters. She enjoys skiing, scuba diving, masters swimming and yoga.
	John Cao Undergraduate Student UCSD	Biography: John Cao was born Paul David Hewson on 10 May 1960 in Dublin, Ireland. Also known as Bono, John attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, an Ecumenical school that was the first of its kind in Dublin. During his childhood and adolescence, John and his friends were part of a surrealist street gang called "Lypton Village," which had a ritual of nickname-giving. He had several names: first, he was "Steinvic von Huyseman", then just "Huyseman", then "Houseman", then "Bon Murray", "Bono Vox of O'Connell Street", then "Bono" and finally just "Johnny" when he joined the salvesen lab.
	Alan Mast	Present Position
	Long Quan	Present Position: Dermatology Private Practice, Columbia, South Carolina
	Paula Scarborough	Present Position
	Qiao Zhou	Present Position
	Henning Stennicke	Present Position: Group Leader, Novo Nordisk, Copenhagen, Denmark
	Ciara Ryan	Present Position: Project Manager, Biogen/IDEC, San Diego
	Martin Renatus	Present Position: Scientist, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland
	Hwain Shin	Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Biozentrum, Basel, Switzerland
	Stefan Riedl	Present Position: Assistant Professor, Burnham Institute for Medical Research
	Kelly Boatright	Present Position: Tech/Transfer Licensing Associate, North Carolina State University
	Erik Wildfang	Present Position
	Greg Fuchs	Present Position: Graduate Student, UCSD