͵͵

Member News

De La Cruz appointed chair;
Walker receives honorary degree;
remembering Dabich

ASBMB Today Staff
Aug. 24, 2020

De La Cruz appointed chair at Yale

Enrique De La Cruz

Enrique M. De La Cruz became chair of the Department of ͵͵ Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University in July.

De La Cruz, an associate editor for the ͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology’s Journal of Biological Chemistry, the actin cytoskeleton, molecular motor proteins and nucleotide signaling enzymes.

Earlier this month, De La Cruz was appointed to the advisory board for the ASBMB Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers, or MOSAIC, program. He is a member of the society’s Minority Affairs Committee and Meetings Committee. He previously served on the Publications Committee.

De La Cruz was tapped to lead Yale’s Branford College in 2017 and won the Biophysical Society’s Emily Gray Award in Education in 2018.

Cambridge gives Walker honorary degree

John Walker

͵͵ biologist is one of eight individuals that Cambridge University has nominated for honorary degrees this year.

Walker, who shared the with Paul D. Boyer and Jens C. Skou for “elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate," was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science.

Walker has been emeritus director and professor at Cambridge’s MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit since 2015. His current work focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism of how ATP is made, specifically, how the rotation of ATP synthases is generated and how these synthases differ in humans and bacteria in their structure, function and regulation, with the goal of devising drugs that can kill pathogenic bacteria without harming humans.  

A fellow at Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge and an honorary fellow at Oxford’s St. Catherine’s College, Walker was knighted in 1999 for services to molecular biology. He is a f and a foreign associate of the . In 2012, he was awarded the .  

Developmental biologists Edith Heard and Elizabeth Robertson and mathematical physicist Roger Penrose were also nominated for honorary degrees in science this year. The 2020 awards ceremony was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

In memoriam: Danica Dabich

Danica Dabich

Danica Dabich, professor emeritus of biochemistry at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, died June 20. She was 89.

Born August 6, 1930 in Detroit, Dabich received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1952 and a master’s of science from Ohio State University in 1955. She earned a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Illinois in 1960.

Dabich began her career as an analytical chemist at Phillips Petroleum Co. in 1952, then worked as a research assistant at the E.B. Ford Research Institute for Medical Research. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Freiburg in Germany before taking a position as a research associate at Wayne State in 1961. She became an assistant professor in 1966 and was promoted to associate professor in 1970.

Throughout her research career, Dabich explored the biochemistry of early mammalian development, working primarily with pre-implanted mouse embryos.

Dabich was a member of the ͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology and the American Chemical Society. In her spare time, she enjoyed reading, gardening and music. 

She is survived by her sister, Lyubica Dabich, and brother, Sam Dabich.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.

Learn more
ASBMB Today Staff

This article was written by a member or members of the ASBMB Today staff.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in People

People highlights or most popular articles

Transforming learning through innovation and collaboration
Award

Transforming learning through innovation and collaboration

Nov. 22, 2024

Neena Grover will receive the William C. Rose Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education at the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

Guiding grocery carts to shape healthy habits
Award

Guiding grocery carts to shape healthy habits

Nov. 21, 2024

Robert “Nate” Helsley will receive the Walter A. Shaw Young Investigator in Lipid Research Award at the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

Leading the charge for gender equity
Award

Leading the charge for gender equity

Nov. 19, 2024

Nicole Woitowich will receive the ASBMB Emerging Leadership Award at the 2025 ASBMB Annual meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

Honors for de la Fuente, Mittag and De La Cruz
Member News

Honors for de la Fuente, Mittag and De La Cruz

Nov. 18, 2024

César de la Fuente receives the American Society of Microbiology’s Award for Early Career Basic Research. Tanja Mittag and Enrique M. De La Cruz are named fellows by the Biophysical Society.

In memoriam: Horst Schulz
In Memoriam

In memoriam: Horst Schulz

Nov. 18, 2024

He was a professor emeritus at City College of New York and at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan whose work concentrated on increasing our understanding of mitochondrial fatty acid metabolism and an ASBMB member since 1971.

Computational and biophysical approaches to disordered proteins
Award

Computational and biophysical approaches to disordered proteins

Nov. 14, 2024

Rohit Pappu will receive the 2025 DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences at the ASBMB Annual Meeting, April 12-15 in Chicago.