News
Deans Award for Exceptional Achievement in Graduate Studies
Aug. 8, 2018—Megan Rasmussen (Gama Lab), Natalya Ortolano (Gama Lab), Claire Strothman (Zanic Lab) and Chloe Snyder (Gould Lab) are recipients of the 2018 inagural Deans Award for Exceptional Achievement in Graduate Studies. The award honors outstanding graduate students in the School of Medicine who are entering their 4th year of study. The award provides each student $5,000/year of stipend support for two...
Dynamics of Basement Membrane Repair
Aug. 8, 2018—The basement membrane (BM) is an ancient, highly conserved structure that lies under the basal surface of epithelial cells and wraps around organs such as muscles and nerves. It provides mechanical stiffness and modulates cellular communication by interacting with signaling molecules. Although much is known about BM structure, its dynamic aspects – the ability to...
Organizing Microtubule Asters
Aug. 8, 2018—Microtubules (MTs) are a critical component of the cytoskeleton, playing a role in a range of processes from cell polarization to division. MTs are polymers of αβ-tubulin that grow and shrink from a rapidly changing plus-end and a more slowly changing minus-end to form two primary architectures – linear bundles and radial asters. In most in vitrostudies,...
Andrea Page-McCaw explores the dynamics of basement membrane protein deposition during wound repair
Jul. 10, 2018—Research from Andrea Page-McCaw and her lab explores the dynamics of basement membrane protein deposition during wound repair. read more
Dissertation Defense – Heather McCartney
Jul. 5, 2018—Heather McCartney, Macara Lab, will defend on Friday, July 13, 2018, at 11:00 am in 3131 MRB III. The title of her dissertation is: "SAN1 – a novel nuclease involved in DNA interstrand crosslink repair"
Alex Andrews Dissertation Defense
Jun. 7, 2018—Alex Andrews' dissertation defense takes place on Thursday, June 21, 2018 at 2:00 pm in 3131 MRB III. The title of his dissertation is, "SAN1- A Novel Nuclease Involved in Interstrand Cross-Link Repair"
Kathleen Gould wins SEC Faculty Achievement Award
Apr. 2, 2018—Kathleen Gould, Louise B. McGavock Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Medicine, is Vanderbilt’s winner of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. The awards, now in their seventh year, are an initiative of SECU, the academic arm of the Southeastern Conference, and recognize senior faculty at SEC institutions with outstanding records in teaching,...
Study tracks protein’s role in stem cell function
Mar. 22, 2018—Reporting last month in the journal Stem Cell Reports, Vanderbilt University researchers found that a form of MCL-1 maintains stem cell pluripotency through its role in the inner matrix of mitochondria, the cell’s energy producing “power plants.” When this MCL-1 is depleted by an inhibitor, stem cells differentiate. MCL-1 depletion also changes the shape of mitochondria, which are very dynamic...
Meredith Weck Dissertation Defense
Feb. 6, 2018—Meredith Weck's (Tyska Lab) dissertation defense is Tuesday, February 20th, 10:00 a.m. ~ 11:00 a.m., 3131 MRB III, "Mechanisms of myosin-7b function in brush border assembly" Flyer
Zachary Elmore Dissertation Defense
Feb. 6, 2018—Zachary Elmore's (Gould Lab) dissertation defense is Friday, February 23rd, 12:00 p.m. ~ 1:00 p.m., 3131 MRB III, "Stay on target: The kinase domain of CK1 enzymes contains the localization information, essential for Dma1-mediated mitotic checkpoint signaling"
Cell skeleton and the brush border
Feb. 1, 2018—Irina Kaverina, PhD, Matthew Tyska, PhD, and colleagues in Argentina explored the role of microtubules — part of the cellular “skeleton” — in building the border, which is critical for healthy organ function. The investigators used a cell model of individual intestinal cell polarization (the establishment of “sidedness”) and found that disruption of microtubules prevented brush border...
Macara named ‘Pink Tie Guy’ for Komen breast cancer research
Jan. 12, 2018—Ian Macara, PhD, Louise B. McGavock Professor and Chair of Cell and Developmental Biology and co-leader of the Signal Transduction and Chemical Biology Research Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), has been named one of the Pink Tie Guys for the Susan G. Komen Central Tennessee organization. The Pink Tie Guys are an exclusive group of...
Alissa Weaver & Matt Tyska Honored With Endowed Chairs
Dec. 20, 2017—Eleven Vanderbilt University faculty members, including Alissa Weaver and Matt Tyska, were named to endowed chairs in recognition for their outstanding scholarship and research during a celebration at the Student Life Center Nov. 29. Susan R. Wente, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, noted in her opening remarks that an endowed chair is the highest honor...
Lineage tracing in the gut
Nov. 30, 2017—Scientists are finding that they can understand organ function (and dysfunction in the case of disease) better if they know where the cells that make up these organs came from. New single-cell technologies allow all cell states within a differentiating tissue to be identified. However, the relationships between cell states that lead to formation of tissues...
Blackwell, Macara, Southward-Smith Elected AAAS Fellows
Nov. 20, 2017—Timothy Blackwell, Ian Macara, and Michelle Southard-Smith have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this year. They are among 396 fellows from around the country selected by their peers “because of their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.” They join other Cell and Developmental Biology primary faculty members Kathleen Gould...