The Life Sciences Institute (LSI) today announced the hiring of six additional faculty members. The new LSI cohort, recruited from across the country, adds to the broad array of scientific approaches and disciplines being assembled by the Institute.

?This influx of highly talented scientists from multiple disciplines showcases Michigan’s approach to advancing science,” said LSI Director Alan R. Saltiel. ?This group is a dynamic microcosm of the key research areas in the LSI. They expand our universe of talent and will intensify our interactions and collaborations.” The new faculty in the LSI laboratory ?without walls” work in fields such as evolutionary biology, cell biology, human genetics, oncology, pathology and structural biology. Two of the six researchers are in computational biology, a new field of discovery at the interface of biology and information science.

?It’s the opportunity to talk and work alongside colleagues in other disciplines who have other ways of thinking?that’s the catalyst for discovery and it’s what top researchers like this want,” Saltiel said.

The recruitments bring the number of LSI faculty to 17 out of an expected total of 25-30 scientists.

?This major recruiting announcement marks tremendous forward momentum in an endeavor that will enrich all life science activities at U-M,” said President Mary Sue Coleman. ?The Life Sciences Institute and its partner departments in academic units throughout the University are bridging key areas of discovery with an exceptional roster of new faculty. We are building a team of researchers who will not only advance scientific knowledge, but also contribute significantly to the economic development of the state.”

The Institute serves as U-M’s hub for collaborative biomedical research on human health problems. Housed in a state-of-the-art building, the LSI is located between central campus and the medical complex in Ann Arbor. Currently 330 researchers, including more than 80 students, work in the LSI on faculty-led teams.

The new LSI faculty are:

Jason E. Gestwicki, Ph.D. will add to the Institute’s efforts in small molecule research and drug discovery with his investigations of molecules that inhibit protein-protein interactions. A study he published last year that used small molecules to block the formation of the amyloid plaques (clumps of protein) that characterize Alzheimer’s disease was named one of the Chemistry Highlights of 2004 by the Chemical and Engineering News. Gestwicki is also developing chemical tools for altering and stopping pathogenic interactions, such as the binding between a cell and a virus.

Gestwicki will become an LSI assistant research professor and assistant professor of pathology in the Medical School in July, after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and was an undergraduate double major in chemistry and recombinant gene technology at the State University of New York-Fredonia.

Patrick J. Hu, M.D., Ph.D. is investigating the genes involved in cancer primarily by using a model organism, the 1 mm nematode worm, C. elegans. Many of the genes that are implicated in the development of cancer have been retained throughout evolution and appear in this worm. By looking at some of the genes and proteins that govern cell-to-cell communication in the worm, Dr. Hu plans to generate new ideas about cancer gene function and then test these hypotheses in mouse models of cancer. The ultimate goal would be to identify novel targets for anticancer drugs.

Dr. Hu joins LSI in July 2005 after completing a Howard Hughes Medical Institute post-doctoral research fellowship at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He will be an LSI assistant research professor and assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Medical School. He completed his M.D. at New York University School of Medicine, performed a residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed a fellowship in adult oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Hu has also studied classical piano performance at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in D