Tuesday, December 5, 3:30 PM, BPB 130 Dr. Michael Church, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Stowers Institute for Medical Research Host: Stacey Hanlon Regulating metabolism through control of gene expression Summary: Protein complexes that affect DNA accessibility by sliding/evicting nucleosomes are conserved throughout Eukarya, and play an important role in gene regulation. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one […]

Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 3:30 PM, BPB 130 Dr. Shaun Brinsmade, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Georgetown University Host: Michel Giovani Santiago-Martinez Integrating metabolism and virulence in Staphylococcus aureus Summary: Metabolism fuels infection, and virulence can be thought of as a mechanism to maintain homeostasis. In my talk, I’ll discuss our current work to understand […]

James R. Cole, Ph.D., Professor of Structural Biology and Biophysics, retired in June 2023 after a 23-year career here in the MCB Department. Dr. Cole received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University before obtaining a PhD in Chemistry at the University of California at Berkley and carried out his postdoctoral work in Chemistry at Stanford […]

Dr. Victoria Jeffers, Assistant Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire Host: Aoife Heaslip Placing a BET on bromodomains in Toxoplasma gondii Summary: Epigenetic regulation of gene expression through acetylation of histones in Apicomplexan parasites is essential for parasite infection and transmission. The role of […]

Dr. Binyam Mogessie, Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale Wellcome Trust and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellow Host: Barbara Mellone “Emerging mechanisms of chromosome segregation in mammalian eggs” Summary: Meiotic chromosome segregation generates fertilizable eggs from immature oocytes. In this talk, I […]

Dr. Tara McAllister, Research Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand Host: Dr. Kat Milligan-McClellan Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 3:30 PM, BPB 130 “Formidable Phormidium: toxic cyanobacteria in New Zealand rivers” Summary: In this seminar, Dr McAllister will explore the physicochemical factors that lead to toxic benthic cyanobacterial blooms in New Zealand rivers. She […]

Dr. Janko Gospocic, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences, UT Southwestern Medical Center Host: Jelena Erceg “Hormones and High Society: Control of Caste Identity in Ants” Summary: Social insects are exceptional model organisms to study how epigenetic factors and gene regulation modulate neuronal circuitry resulting in specific social behaviors, in […]

The Annual MCB Department Retreat was held on 8/24/23. In the morning, Department Head Carol Teschke announced the 2023 Summer Fellowship Awards followed by Research Lightning Talks from MCB Assistant Professors Erceg, Hanlon, Heaslip, Milligan-McClellan and Santiago-Martinez. A poster session was held with 21 labs represented. Food trucks provided delicious lunch options and the day […]

Josette Nammour (Robinson Lab) won an award for her poster entitled Altered Guanine Nucleotide Binding by the Bacterial Translation Factor BipA Negates Actin Pedestal Formation by Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Corey Theodore (Campellone Lab) won an award for his poster entitled Cytoskeletal requirements for maintaining lysosomal integrity during autophagy. Both poster awards were sponsored by the […]