Construction Updates (October 2017)

Lots of construction happening in October and early November.  Lights were replaced.  The walls were painted.  Floors were replaced and kneeholes were built into existing cabinetry.  We also had some small projects to replace a sink and install a glassware cabinet.  And my office was nicely repainted and re-carpeted.  

As of mid-November, our fume hood was just installed and the downstairs area of the lab (the "upside-down") has a fresh coat of paint and new floors/lighting.  Looks much better!

I also received approximately 100 boxes that I have been working to unpack.  Kind of like Christmas, but only for someone who likes to clean and organize!

NAPM4

Rachel attended the 4th North American Planarian Meeting this weekend at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.  Peter Reddien's group hosted the meeting and organized a very successful conference, scientifically and socially.  The planarian biology community is still on the smaller side, so these meetings give us a critical opportunity to exchange ideas, solve problems, develop new technologies, and support each other so that we can all do the best science possible.  It was wonderful to see my colleagues and friends and to meet new people, too.  

Scientific highlights include application of single cell sequencing to several key problems and insight into regeneration of the planarian eye.  We also heard some exciting new work from our non-planarian colleagues who study acoels, schistosomes, and tapeworms.  Social highlights include an awesome game of "Planarians against humanity" and a visit to see bioluminescent dinoflagellates in Buzzards Bay.

So we send our gratitude for a lovely weekend to the Reddien lab!  I hope to see everyone again next year at the Morgridge Institute (Madison, WI) for the International Planarian Meeting! https://morgridge.org/research/regenerative-biology/international-planarian-meeting/

Evening view across Great Harbor.

Construction update

We should be moving back into the lab in room 302 next week.  Things are really coming along and the construction teams have been fantastic!!

Recent things science and science-related at UGA

In the past several weeks, I've been excited to attend several awesome events on the UGA campus.  Our Cellular Biology grad students hosted their first Research In Progress seminar.  Members of the Farmer and Muralidharan labs presented and it was a great kickoff for the series.  I'm really looking forward to future RIPs and getting to know the students in the department better.  The CBIO department has also hosted some really great speakers in our departmental seminar series.

The Regenerative Bioscience Center also hosted its first Connection Series event of the year.  These events will be an opportunity for RBC members to discuss current research efforts in an informal and interactive setting.  Drs. Peter Kner and P.S. MohanKumar kicked off the series, stimulating great discussion.

The (new) Center for Molecular Medicine at UGA also hosted an inaugural symposium, featuring a slate of fantastic speakers.  The talks focused on approaches that can take fantastic basic science and move it toward translational applications.  Highlights included Michael Rudnicki talking about the asymmetric cell division of satellite cells in the muscle, Sally Temple presenting her work on regeneration/stem cells in the retinal pigment epithelium, and Jim Wells presenting an overview of his lab's work on organoids. It was a lovely two days of talks at the new CMM building (see photo attached).

On the teaching/science education side, I have really been enjoying the Faculty Learning Community I joined for junior STEM faculty.  It is led by the excellent educators Julie Luft and Alice Hunt.  I was able to observe some excellent science classes (including Erin Dolan's Biochemistry class).  I am really inspired (and excited) to be in a place where I know that my future teaching endeavors will be supported and enriched just as I have a great environment in which to launch my research program.

So a great few weeks of science and science education at UGA!

First student!

We have enlisted our first new lab member, an undergraduate student named Yamini who will join us in January.  (More accurately, I guess, she will mean the lab is now becoming an "us" rather than a "me.")  She is a sophomore Cellular Biology major and I'm really excited to have her join!  Welcome, Yamini!