Very proud of UGs Sydney and Jocelyn. Sydney was awarded a GRFP and Jocelyn received an honorable mention! Both are off to Princeton for grad school this fall!
Posts by Sarah Keane
Greatest inspirational quote of all time by Mookie Wilson.
As baseball season ramps up, it is time to re-post my favorite inspirational quote of all time from the great Mets left fielder and philosopher, Mookie Wilson.
Mine in this week’s @newyorker.com
If you’re around @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social 2026 and looking for some cool RNA-protein work related to microRNA biogenesis, stop by my poster today at 1:45 and I’ll tell you about some of my near-complete work with @keanelab.bsky.social! #BPS2026
New press about my mom, Prof. Susan Keane @uncg.edu and the impact of her work with Dream Camp, Right Track, and other mentoring in the Psychology Department. Very proud of the work she has done and luck to have her as a role model!
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Color photograph of Joan Steitz (Joan Argetsinger Steitz), the distinguished American molecular biologist and biochemist renowned for her groundbreaking discoveries in RNA biology, including the identification of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) essential to RNA splicing. She is pictured in a close-up portrait within a laboratory or research setting, smiling warmly and directly at the camera with an engaging, approachable expression that conveys enthusiasm and expertise. Steitz has gray hair pulled back, striking blue eyes, and is wearing large, elaborate dangling earrings adorned with purple gemstones and metallic accents. She is dressed in a rich purple blouse. The softly blurred background includes scientific elements such as lab benches, equipment, monitors, charts, and partial signage, evoking the environment of her long career at Yale University where she served as Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. #JoanSteitz #MolecularBiology #WomenInScience #Biochemistry #RNA
Biochemist/molecular biologist Joan Steitz was born #OTD in 1941.
She (& team) figured out how our cells read/use genetic instructions to make proteins. A key person who helped crack the code on RNA—the molecule that acts like a messenger between DNA & and the proteins our bodies need. #WomenInSTEM
See you soon!
I'm also late in posting this work, but really proud of Megan @mnwestwood.bsky.social, Sydney, and Jocelyn for their contributions to making RNA NMR spectroscopy more accessible for novice learners! Check out their preprint here: chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
Congratulations are in order!! Cade @chembiocade.bsky.social received the Sokol, Margaret and Herman, Fellowship in the Chemical Sciences and Antigone was selected as a departmental nominee for the Rackham-wide outstanding GSI award!
Congratulations to postbac Sydney Steele for receiving a poster award at the Rustbelt RNA meeting last weekend!
🔓Explore recent #OpenAccess work by @keanelab.bsky.social and colleagues where they describe a virtual screening approach to explore the druggability of the precursor structure of microRNA-31👀
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/md/d5md00553a
📍 @umich.edu 🧪
Wonderful news!! Congratulations!!
Congratulations to the lab for placing 1st for the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts unit in the 2025 Freezer Challenge! A big thanks to Antigone and @chembiocade.bsky.social for leading the lab in sustainable practices.
Grace then applied this virtual screening pipeline to pre-miR-31. Here, she screened an NCI database and experimentally validated in silico hits. She then conducted a structure similarity search on the validated hits and found a more potent binder!
Grace developed a virtual screening approach focused on cavities identified in the (NPSL2) RNA structure. She then validated screening "hits" experimentally.
Importantly, this approach is broadly applicable to any RNA with a known 3D structure.
Two papers from Grace's thesis have been published! Our journey into the world of small molecule RNA targeting.
And another poster award! This one to Antigone, who presented at the Karle Symposium today!!
Congratulations are in order! Two members of the lab, Moriah (a @NSF funded D-RISE high school student) and Diane (a UM undergrad) were awarded poster prizes at the URAN|UM symposium today!
I am (optimistically) looking for a postdoc with solution state biomolecular NMR expertise to join our group. I can provide access to high-end instrumentation and technical assistance via our membership at the New York Structural Biology Center. #nmr #academicsky #postdoc
Glad to see this work out in its final form! Congrats to the team!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Learn more about how Eterna puzzles are being used for RNA education and outreach at the middle school, high school, and college level in the latest RCSB PDB newsletter. 🧬 🧪
cdn.rcsb.org/rcsb-pdb/gen...
Congrats Qi!!
Grace's manuscript describing a combined virtual/experimental screening approach for identifying small molecule ligands that bind pre-miR-31 is online!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
2nd defense of the summer! Congratulations to Dr. Aldrex Munsayac! It has been a pleasure to work with and learn from you!
ACS Bio & Med Chem Au (open) Consolidated 3-Fold Isotopic Lens for Probing RNAs, Solomon K. Attionu, Lukasz T. Olenginski, Frances P. Stump, Theodore K. Dayie* pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... #NMRchat 🧲