MCB Seminar Series:
Derrick Brazill, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology, Hunter College, CUNY
Hosted by Dr. David Knecht

"Insights into cell motility through combining modeling and experimentation"

Summary: Bleb-based motility, where the cell moves by detaching its membrane from the underlying cell cortex, is the major mode of motility in embryonic and metastatic cells. We use a combination of mathematical modeling and experimentation to identify the biophysical forces and proteins critical to this process.

Professor Brazill received his BS in Biology from Stanford and his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley. After a post-doctoral position at Rice University, he accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at Hunter College in 1999. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Hunter. In addition, he is the Director of the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program, which is designed to increase the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing PhD degrees in the biomedical sciences. During his time at Hunter, Dr. Brazill has received several honors including being the inaugural speaker for the “Lecture in Mentoring Excellence” at the National Institutes of Health, and the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, “the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers”.

To learn more about Dr. Brazill, view abstract at https://mcb.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2341/2019/11/Functional-interaction-of-PkcA-and-PldB-regulate-aggregation-and-develop....pdf

Dr. Brazill's website: http://biology.hunter.cuny.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=92

You are invited to our MCB 1200 Virus Hunters poster session. Please come see what our phabulous students did with phages this semester!

Wednesday, Dec 4, 2-4 pm, BPB lobby. Light refreshments will be served.

The students of “Microbe Hunting” (MCB 2612), a research course for underclassmen aimed at discovering antibiotics and other natural products from bacterial soil isolates, will be presenting the results of their research. Throughout the semester, the students learned fundamental biological concepts while isolating antibiotic-producing bacteria and elucidating the characteristics of the bacteria and the antibiotics they produce. Our students are extremely excited to share what they have discovered. Please come and find out more about our students and their work.
Refreshments and coffee will be served. All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Samantha Holmes (M.S. Applied Genomics), Regulatory Affairs Associate at Blueprint Medicines. Professional development seminar for students in the MCB Ph.D., M.S. Applied Genomics, M.S. Microbial Systems Analysis, and M.S. Applied Biochemistry and Cell Biology programs.

MCB Graduate Student Seminar Series:
Presenter will be Aaron Feinstein, May Lab
"The Mechanism Behind PKR Autophosphorylation -- A Computational Approach"

The monthly lunch reception will be held beforehand starting at 12:00 pm in the BPB lobby