Michael W. Beck, PhD

An advertisement for the Beck Research Group at the 2025 Midwest Regional ACS Meeting. On Monday, October 13, from 3:00-4:45 PM, Morgan F. Drozs will present a poster titled "Structure-activity relationship studies of human carboxylesterases using a fluorogenic ester library," and Jemma Booth will present a poster on "Improving fluorescein-based fluorogenic carbonates as chemical tools to study human carboxylesterase 1 (CES1)...". On Tuesday, October 14, at 1:20 PM, Dr. Michael W. Beck will give a talk on "Activity-based fluorogenic chemical tools to annotate variability in carboxylesterase-mediated drug metabolism." The ad also notes that the group is accepting MS students and that undergraduate students are seeking positions starting in Summer 2026. Disclaimer: This alt text was generated by an AI and may contain inaccuracies.

The Beck Research Group is heading to the 2025 ACS Midwest Regional Meeting! Check out our presentations this week! #MWRM2025 #ACSMWRM

This work was carried out by 6
@weareeiu.bsky.social students including @emmanuel-adusah.bsky.social #PUI #proudPI

Our work serves as a crucial reminder to always thoroughly validate your #chemicaltools within each specific experimental context. Assuming specificity, as often happens with FDA for CES2 can lead to misinterpretations. Read the paper at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We also demonstrate that FDA may be suitable for studying CES2 when CES2 is the primary hydrolase, such as overexpression models.

Many researchers currently use FDA to study CES2, without the necessary validation. Our work shows that while FDA prefers CES2 over CES1 in vitro, it doesn't specifically report on CES2 in complex biological systems like HepG2 cells, where other #hydrolases can interfere.

Thrilled to share our new research in a special issue of Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters honoring
@chembiobryan.bsky.social's 2025 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award! We focused on fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and its use for studying human carboxylesterase 2 (#CES2).

Interview with the 2025 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award for Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry

Check out our interview with winner of 2025 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award for Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, Professor Bryan Dickinson (@chembiobryan.bsky.social)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Congrats Beck Research Group @EIU graduates! Yesterday our group graduated 1 MS student and 4 undergraduates. Proud of all of their hard work in the lab and in their courses.

I am happy to announce that @weareeiu.bsky.social 's Board of Trustees voted to approve my tenure and promotion to associate professor. Weird to think that I am no longer a #NewPI. Thank you to everyone who offered advice and helped in various ways! www.eiu.edu/media/viewst...

Check out our four posters today as we wrap up #ASBMB25 !

Check out three posters today on our #NIH R15-funded work on carboxylesterases in drug metabolism at #ASBMB25

Check out our first three poster presentations today at #ASBMB25 !

The Beck Group has arrived in Chicago for #ASBMB25 and kicking off the trip with our tradition of my State of The Lab address.

My Department is hiring a visiting assistant professor to primarily teach general and organic chemistry. Please see www.eiu.edu/eiuchem/docs... for more information! #Chemistryjobs

List of presentations by Beck Research Group

The Beck Research Group will be at #ASBMB25 in Chicago next week! Come check out our posters!

🚨 Chemical Biology & Probes study section (formerly SBCB, one of two NIH panels that reviews chemistry #chemsky 🧪) was abruptly POSTPONED w/no specific plans for rescheduling, less than 24h before start.

If this affects you call your reps & senators, talk to local news, make your voice heard 📢 👩‍🔬

NSF addresses this in the broader impacts evaluation of grant applications. Adapting the proposed work/a portion of the work to an outreach project is a common approach to demonstrate broader impacts and can have a portion of the budget associated with it.

The Hidden Backbone of Research: How a 15% Cap on Indirect Costs Will Devastate Universities So, if we’re serious about keeping research alive, it’s time to push back. Because 15% isn’t just a cut—it’s a death sentence for academic institutions as we know them.

Spending my Friday night writing up explainers for how research grants work is becoming normal now, I guess.

My attempt at explaining indirect research costs and why it should matter to EVERYONE that our federal research funds are being decimated.

www.kateringland.com/the-hidden-b...

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs Explainer YouTube video by Association of American Universities

A good overview of what indirect costs are and why they are important. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxTD...

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A Primer on Indirect Cost Rates

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White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion The Trump administration has put a hold on all federal financial grants and loans, affecting tens of billions of dollars in payments.

I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service.

“Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.

**screams in early career scientist**

I may have some interested students

Application for Tenure and Promotion submitted! A full week before the deadline too.

Congrats to Sam Knebel (MS '23) and undergraduate Makenzie Walk! Sam received the 2024 EIU College Thesis Award of Excellence for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences while Makenzie received an outstanding poster presentation award at the ECI ACS Undergraduate Research Conference. #ProudPI #PUI

Check out the Beck Research Group at MWGLRM2023 next week! Looking forward to talking about what we have been working on!

Congratulations on Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman on the Nobel Prize. Your work has contributed to saving millions of lives.