Beth Helmink

Professor Marge Jones congratulates Beth for earning
the Outstanding Chemistry Student Award.

Beth Ann Helmink graduated from Illinois State University, with Chemistry Department and Biochemistry / Molecular Biology Program Honors, in May 2004 with a double major in BMB and Chemistry as well as minors in Biological Sciences and Spanish. Notable among her accomplishments were the following: Beth maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA, was a Bone Scholar (ISU’s highest academic honor), received the Thomas N. Nielson-Kathryn S. Bohn Pre-professional Scholarship, a Honors Program Undergraduate Research Scholarship, and a Honors Program Summer Tuition Scholarship, was named as the American Chemical Society Outstanding Freshman chemistry student, Organic Chemistry student, and Inorganic Chemistry student as she advanced in her chemistry plan, as well as being presented the Kerry and Troii Hall Outstanding Biochemistry Student Award and the Outstanding Senior Biochemistry / Molecular Biology Award. Perhaps her greatest accolade was receiving a Goldwater Fellowship, a prestigious distinction granted by the United States Congress. Building on her success at ISU, Beth begins the next stage of her academic career in the fall of 2004 as a student in the combined M.D. / Ph.D. program at Washington University in St. Louis.

Beth and her parents at the Chemistry Department
Undergraduate Research Symposium

A native of Teutopolis, Illinois, Beth arrived at Illinois State University as a freshman Presidential Scholar, ISU’s highest academic scholarship for incoming students. Not only a fine student in the classroom, Beth also excelled in the research laboratory, spending three years conducting biochemical research in the laboratory of Dr. Jon Friesen(link website). The research topic pursued by Beth involved studying the function of the enzyme CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, which plays a role in phospholipid synthesis in cells. A testament to her research accomplishments, Beth was first author on two publications, listed below. In addition to spending countless hours in the classroom and laboratory at ISU, Beth was an undergraduate teaching assistant for the departmental General Chemistry course and worked for two years as a nursing technician in the emergency room at BroMenn Hospital.

Publications

Helmink, B. A., Braker, J. D., Kent, C. and Friesen, J. A. (2003) Identification of Lysine 122 and Arginine 196 as Important Functional Residues of Rat CTP:Phosphocholine Cytidylyltransferase Alpha. Biochemistry, 42, 5043-5051.

Helmink, B. A. and Friesen, J. A. (2004) Characterization of a lipid activated CTP:Phosphocholine Cytidylyltransferase from Drosophila melanogaster. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1683, 78-88.