New Leadership in the Molecular and Cell Biology Department
Dr. Carolyn Teschke has accepted the role of MCB department head and will serve in that position for the next five years. She is joined in the new administrative structure by Dr. Victoria Robinson, who will serve as Associate head for Graduate Research and Education, and Dr. Daniel Gage, who will serve as Associate head for Undergraduate Research and Education.
New Department Hires
Michel Giovanni Santiago-Martinez (Geo) joined the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology in August '22 as an assistant professor. 
Santiago-Martinez is a microbiologist from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and The Pennsylvania State University. He is interested in the ecophysiology of archaea and anaerobic bacteria, and how energy status influences their ability to resist environmental stress conditions, such as exposure to oxygen and nutritional starvation. His research goal is to understand the function of anaerobic microorganisms in biogeochemical cycles and host-associated microbiomes. He is also interested in bringing up-to-date knowledge of archaea to the classrooms and outreach activities, as well as promoting more inclusive science through mentoring activities and service initiatives.
Also new to the department this year are Justin Kratovil, Visiting Assistant Professor; Chris Malinoski, Assistant Professor In-Residence; Ron Ortenberg, Assitant Professor In-Residence.
Dr. David Knecht Retires
Milligan-McClellan Earns the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award
Professors Lee, Nyholm and Zweifach Receive SFF Awards
The Office of the Vice President for Research provides financial support up to $2,000 to faculty across all disciplines, on a competitive basis, to promote, support, and enhance the research, scholarship and creative endeavors of faculty at UConn. The Scholarship Facilitation Fund (SFF) is designed to assist faculty in the initiation, completion, or advancement of research projects, scholarly activities, creative works, or interdisciplinary initiatives that are critical to advancing the faculty member’s scholarship and/or creative works.
Juliet Lee (The use of zebrafish transgenics to study how stretch-activated calcium channels regulate the molecular dynamics of adhesions in moving cells) and Spencer Nyholm (Developing new molecular and genetic tools for microbiome research in the Hawaiian bobtail squid) received Fall 2022 awards
Adam Zweifach received a Spring 2023 Award (Modeling compound activity to improve drug screening)
According to the Office of the Vice President for Research, these projects represent innovative work within their respective disciplines, as determined by a rigorous review process. They often include exciting interdisciplinary collaborations. And they all make valuable contributions to our shared mission of generating and disseminating knowledge, whether it is through groundbreaking scholarly publications; building important, externally-funded research programs; or great achievements in public engagement or creative endeavors.
We are grateful for the intellectual contributions these faculty members and teams have made through these projects and through the subsequent achievements that are unlocked these internal funding investments.
Spencer Nyholm Featured in 'The Scientist'
May and Alder Receive Collaborative NIH Grant with Johns Hopkins University
Nathan Alder and Eric May have been awarded an R01 grant from the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) as co-investigators on a project led by Steve Claypool at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The project, entitled “An intimate and multifaceted partnership: cardiolipin and the mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier” (R01HL165729), is a four-year award, with a total award amount exceeding $2 million. This project will use multidisciplinary approaches for understanding the functional interactions between the ADP/ATP carrier (AAC) of the mitochondrial inner membrane and cardiolipin, the signature phospholipid of the mitochondrion. Following up on recent research progress from the Claypool group, the work supported by this grant will elucidate how cardiolipin regulates AAC folding as well as higher-order assembly of AAC with the respiratory chain supercomplex, both of which are essential for mitochondrial energy metabolism. The labs at MCB will make complementary contributions to the work, using biophysical techniques with mitochondrial and reductionist model systems (Alder Lab) and computational approaches to address dynamic AAC-lipid interactions (May Lab). A key objective of this research is to elucidate the molecular basis of disease-associated defects in AAC-cardiolipin interactions that may arise from alterations in lipid metabolism and heritable mutations in the AAC transporter. These insights will inform current models of AAC regulation and the role of AAC-lipid interactions in mitochondrial diseases.
Lynes, Graf, Maltz-Matyschysk, Receive NIH Award
Michael Lynes, Joerg Graf, and Michele Maltz-Matyschsyk, an NIH award to support their work to define biomarker signatures of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C, an adverse effect of SARS-CoV2 infection). They will be working together with a consortium of other universities and research institutes in Connecticut and New York. Their work will measure multiple protein biomarkers using a grating-coupled fluorescent plasmon microarray, and will combine those measurements with analysis of the oral microbiome, and a large number of clinical phenotypes, and will use machine learning/AI approaches to define diagnostic patterns that may help identify at-risk children, and may also suggest potential new therapeutic interventions.
Nathan Alder Awarded Reinhard-Frank Foundation Grant
Nathan Alder, along with collaborator Doron Rapaport from the University of Tübingen (Germany), has received an award from the Reinhard-Frank Foundation for research on mitochondria-targeted bioactive compounds. Support from this foundation is designed to advance novel research that builds upon existing research strengths and promotes sustained partnership between participating institutions. The supported research will explore how some small molecules with strong therapeutic potential for treating mitochondrial disorders may function at the outer membrane of the mitochondrion, combining Alder’s expertise in the analysis of mitochondria-targeted compounds with Rapaport’s expertise in the biogenesis of mitochondrial proteins. This funding will support joint research activities in the Alder and Rapaport labs as well as reciprocal institutional visits and training opportunities for lab personnel.
2023 Khairallah Symposium
The 2023 Khairallah Symposium was held on Tuesday, April 18th, 2023
This year's speaker was Thales Y. Papagiannakopoulos, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, NYU Langone Health
"Uncovering Vulnerabilities in Genetic Subtypes of Lung Cancer"
KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinoma is the most lethal type of lung cancer and is associated with high degree of genetic heterogeneity. KRAS co-mutations can promote tumorigenesis and therapy resistance. Using KRAS-driven genetically engineered lung cancer mouse models and patient samples we have identified mechanisms by which LKB1 and KEAP1 mutations accelerate tumor growth by rewiring cancer cell metabolism and reshaping the immune microenvironment. We have identified novel therapeutic approaches to both suppress the tumor metabolism and reverse the immunosuppressive microenvironment these genetic subsets of KRAS-driven lung cancer.
About Dr. Papagiannakopoulos:
Thales Papagiannakopoulos obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology in Dr. Ken Kosik’s lab at UC Santa Barbara (2005-2010). His research focused on uncovering the role of microRNAs in regulating embryonic stem cell pluripotency and cancer. In 2010, he started his postdoctoral studies in Dr. Tyler Jacks’ laboratory at MIT where he studied the molecular mechanisms that contribute to cancer at an organismal level, using autochthonous mouse models of cancer. He pioneered the use of novel CRISPR/Cas9-based somatic genome engineering in lung cancer genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs). In 2015, Thales joined NYU School of Medicine as an assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology. Using CRISPR/Cas9-based genome engineering in both mouse and human pre-clinical models, his lab has developed a platform to rapidly characterize the function of clinically relevant lung cancer mutations, elucidate their mechanism of action and identify novel targeted therapies against complex genetic subtypes of lung cancer. Thales’ group has made significant progress in characterizing a major genetic subset of lung adenocarcinoma with KEAP1 and/or LKB1 mutations. Patients with these mutations have the worst prognosis of all lung cancer patients and do not respond well to standard of care chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy.
The symposium is named in honor of late UConn faculty members Ed and Lamia Khairallah and funded by the Dr. Edward A. Khairallah and Dr. Lamia H. Khairallah Fund for Scholarship. This fund is dedicated to the financial support of graduate students who are pursuing a degree with a concentration in Biochemistry, Cell Biology or Toxicology, and the continuing education of faculty and student colleagues via the ongoing “Khairallah Seminar Series.”
To learn more about Dr. Papagiannakopoulos, visit his website at http://thalesplab.com
