Congratulations, Dr. McDonald!
Nathan successfully defended his thesis entitled "Nanoscale architecture of F-BAR proteins and the Schizosaccharomyces pombe contractile ring." His thesis work has been published in numerous papers and he has written numerous reviews:
- McDonald NA, Gould KL. Linking up at the BAR: oligomerization and F-BAR protein function. Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.). 2016 May 31.PMID: 27245932.
- McDonald NA, et al. The Tubulation Activity of a Fission Yeast F-BAR Protein Is Dispensable for Its Function in Cytokinesis. Cell reports. 2016 Jan 26;14(3). 534-46.PMID: 26776521.
- McDonald NA, Gould KL. Characterization of Cytokinetic F-BARs and Other Membrane-Binding Proteins. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). 1369. 181-9.PMID: 26519313.
- McDonald NA, et al. Oligomerization but Not Membrane Bending Underlies the Function of Certain F-BAR Proteins in Cell Motility and Cytokinesis. Developmental cell. 2015 Dec 21;35(6). 725-36.PMID: 26702831.
- Willet AH, McDonald NA, Gould KL. Regulation of contractile ring formation and septation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Current opinion in microbiology. 2015 Dec;28. 46-52.PMID: 26340438.
Nathan was not only an extremely productive graduate student, but he has been a great lab mate. He established many new experimental techniques in the lab (e.g. super-resolution imaging, liposome and GUV binding assays, novel protein purification strategies, and Gibson assembly), which he was always willing to teach the rest of us. He had many insightful comments and suggestions during lab meetings and was always willing and eager to discuss research projects.
We'll miss you, Nathan! Good luck in the Shen Lab at Stanford!
Nathan presents his work to a captive audience. 
Nathan celebrates with family and friends! Left to right: Nathan, his wife Abigail, committee member Dr. John York, and Nathan's father and mother.