Mentor: Jim Bear, PhD
Research: Investigating actin network organization, dynamics, and regulation at sites of actin-endomembrane interaction, including how branched actin polymerization and its force production contribute to homeostatic balance during cellular membrane trafficking
Mentor: Sarah Cohen, PhD
Research: Investigating the function of apolipoprotein E on the regulation of lipid droplets in astrocytes and its implications in Alzheimer's disease.
Mentor: Stephanie Gupton, PhD
Research: Investigating the role of focal adhesion kinase and calcium dynamics in the regulation of exocytosis and plasma membrane expansion during neuronal morphogenesis.
Mentor: Brian Miller, PhD
Research: Exploration of the mechanistic link between folate-driven one-carbon metabolism and the immunosuppressive phenotype of tumor-associated macrophages with the ultimate goal of leveraging these findings to reverse macrophage-dependent resistance to traditional cancer immunotherapies in patients
Mentor: Sharon Campbell, PhD
Research: Investigate the coordination of vinculin and its splice isoform metavinculin in the regulation of cell morphology and force transmission at cellular adhesions of murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and the embryonic chick heart.
Co-mentors: Scott Magness, Ph.D. and Timothy Elston, Ph.D.
Research: Investigate the regulation of the cytoskeleton during the constant homeostatic renewal of the intestinal epithelium by intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and to understand how cytoskeletal remodeling in early differentiation influences biological processes, such as fate determination and cell cycle control, which are often dysregulated in disease.
Justin Milner Lab
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Mentor: Mohanish Deshmukh, PhD
Research: Screening for viable single-cell overexpression clones in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to identify differences in gene-specific responses to cytotoxic stressors as well as examining apoptotic and axonal pruning processes in knockout models of primary murine neurons cultured in microfluidic chambers.
Mentor: Scott Williams, PhD
Research: Investigating how cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion molecules regulate progenitor cell behavior in the developing murine epidermis and their broader impacts on epithelial form and function.
Mentor: Scott Randell, Ph.D.
Research: Evaluating chemotaxis of CXCR1-expressing human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) to IL-8 and engraftment of engineered HBECs to the stem cell niche of the airway, an important step toward increasing the safety and efficacy of Cystic Fibrosis cell therapy.
Mentor: Todd Cohen, Ph.D.
Research: The role of pathologic TDP-43 acetylation in neurodegeneration, particularly as it relates to frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Mentor: Kathleen Caron, Ph.D.
Research: Identify, classify, and determine the function of lymphatic-enriched G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) that have the potential to be manipulated by pharmacologic intervention.
Mentor: Frank Conlon, PhD
Research: Investigates sex differences in the role of GATA4, a core cardiac transcription factor required for cardiac development. When mutated, GATA4 causes human heart disease in adults and children.
Mentor: Amy Gladfelter, PhD
Research: Characterizing assembly of glycolytic condensates in placental syncytiotrophoblast, particularly as it relates to nutrient sensing at the maternal-fetal interface.
