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College of Medicine: Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer

John Marecki

The CMIC Hosts the Second Advisory Committee Meeting at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain

AC Meeting members gather at Petit Jean mountain for the 2025 Fall meeting.
CMIC members and the Advisory Committee gather at the Rockefeller Institute.

September 18, 2025 – The members of the Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC, Award P20 GM152281 ), joined by the advisory committee members gathered at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain for the second Advisory Committee (AC) meeting on September 18-120, 2025. New pilot project awardees and current COBRE-funded Research Project Leaders shared the podium with CMIC Research Core Directors and staff, presenting updates on research progress and plans for the upcoming year. The AC, including our three external members Drs. Brandt Eichman, Maria Spies and Anne West along with our two UAMS members Drs. Dan Voth and Alan Tackett, provided feedback and guidance for the Center, as we enter the third year of NIH support.

Dr. Eoff at the podium presenting.
Dr. Robert Eoff provides an overview of the CMIC activities to the Advisory Committee and COBRE members.

The CMIC was established in 2024 upon receipt of the NIH COBRE Phase 1 award (1P20GM152281-01). The main goal of the CMIC is to advance research focused on understanding the molecular basis of cancer and cancer therapies. Advances in the instrumentation and techniques used to determine the three-dimensional properties of biomolecules have enabled researchers in a variety of disciplines to investigate complexes and interactions that were previously intractable. Structural biology and complementary biophysical approaches have the potential to advance many aspects of biomedical research. A key theme of research in the CMIC is the use of structural biology and biophysics to study the biology underlying different cancers and to promote development of new therapeutics.

CMIC and INBRE Host Training Workshop for Cryo-SPARCS Live

Group picture of Workshop participants in front of screens
Participants in the Cryo-SPARCS workshop. Not shown, Dr. Rahul Jaiswal.

July 18, 2025 – The Structural Biology Core of the Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC, Award P20 GM152281) headed by Dr. Eric Enemark and Dr. Rahul Jaiswal hosted a day-long training session in the use of the Cryo-SPARCS software package for analyzing and refining cryo-EM data. In conjunction with the Arkansas INBRE high speed computing center, investigators and students from across UAMS were provided with a hands-on introduction to refining real-world cryo-EM data.

Dr. Eric Enemark and Dr. Rahul Jaiswal assist participants with cryo-EM data refinement.

Attendees brought laptops to the training and connected to the UAMS/INBRE data center servers hosting a cryo-EM dataset collected at the Pacific Northwest Cryo-EM Center (PNCC) as part of a CMIC project. Drs. Enemark and Jaiswal guided everyone through the steps of curating and refining cryo-EM images and data, while providing tips and tricks for good data practices. The workshop was designed to benefit all attendees a diverse range of cryo-EM skill levels and backgrounds. Novice attendees gained insight in the start-to-finish process of cryo-EM structure determination, potentially sparking an interest to use cryo-EM in their own research projects and to collaborate with the CMIC Structural Biology core. Seasoned attendees gained practical experience in using the same cryo-EM software that will be employed with the Glacios cryo-EM instrument at UAMS.

Monitor images of cryo-EM data during workshop.
Cryo-SPARCS data sets under analysis.

CMIC Hosts Virtual Spring AC Meeting

March 26, 2025 – The Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC) COBRE, (Award P20 GM152281) hosted its spring advisory council meeting via Zoom. The COBRE, Pi, Dr. Robert Eoff started the meeting with an update of recent activities of the Center, followed by presentations from the research project leaders. The CMIC Core directors concluded the meeting with updates to Core usage, developments with metrics and plans for future instrument capacity. The CMIC faculty and staff are grateful for the support from the AC members for their insights and suggestions, and to the Research Program Director Veronica Overton for making the online event such a great success.

CMIC Hosts First Advisory Committee Meeting at UAMS

September 25, 2024 – The Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC) COBRE, (Award P20 GM152281) hosted the first full-day advisory committee (AC) meeting in the Betsy Blass Board Room on September 25, 2024. The COBRE PI, Dr. Robert Eoff kicked off the meeting with an update of recent CMIC activities, followed by research presentations from Project Leaders Dr. Mohammad Rahman, Dr. Joonas Jamsen, Dr. Sayem Miah and Dr. Katie Ryan. The CMIC Core Directors, Dr. Eric Enemark (Structural Biology) and Dr. Kevin Raney (Biomolecular Interactions) also provided updates for core facilities, instrumentation and ongoing projects. The CMIC faculty and staff are grateful for the support from the AC members for their insights and suggestions, and to the Research Program Director Veronica Overton for making the gathering such a great success.

CMIC Represented at the National IDeA Symposium

Drs. Eoff, Ryan and Enemark posing in front of a scientific poster.

June 16, 2024: The Arkansas IDeA programs, including the CMIC, were well represented at the 9th Biennial National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE). The national conference was held in Washington, DC on June 16-19 and included researchers from across the nation. Drs. Enemark, Eoff, and Raney attended and had a great time interacting with other IDeA scientists and NIH staff. CMIC RPL, Dr. Katie Ryan also attended and presented a poster detailing her latest findings detailing the involvement of the Rnd3 GTPase in lung cancer.

Recent Publication for the CMIC

May 15, 2024: Congratulations to Dr. Katie Ryan on her recent publication in Biorganic & Medicinal Chemistry entitled “Discovery of 9H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indole derivatives as dual RET/TRKA inhibitors” . In this study, Dr. Ryan and her collaborator, Dr. Brendan Frett (an RPL on Dr. Boerma’s COBRE), developed dual RET/TRK inhibitors with potential applications targeting aberrant signaling mechanisms of multiple, treatment resistant cancers. This was the first publication to cite the CMIC award P20 GM152281. So, a big “THANK YOU!!!” to Dr. Ryan and her team for citing our COBRE.