CURO Symposium

Andres and Alejandra with me (Dr. R-G) at the 2022 CURO Symposium. Nice work!

We were so excited for undergraduate researchers Andres and Alejandra to present their research at the 2022 Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium. And it was in person (yay)! They each presented posters, which were thoughtfully created, and practiced short oral presentations of their work. They presented research that they have completed over the past 2 semesters in the lab, focusing on planarian regeneration. They did an AMAZING job. I also want to commend their graduate mentors, Bidushi and Jen, for their excellent mentorship of “The A-team.” Job well done, everyone!

What we're up to...

Lots of new things going on in the lab. Here’s what we’re up to!

  • Jen just posted her paper as a preprint here. We also submitted this paper, fingers crossed!

  • Tulip is writing her manuscript and finishing up experiments. Stay tuned soon to hear more about her work on planarian glia!

  • Kendall and Taylor have some exciting hits from their screen of neural regeneration regulators. They are also preparing for their qualifying exams.

  • We are working on a collaborative review on planarian behavior. Stay tuned for that, soon, too!

  • Graduate students completed their Individual Development Plans and thought a lot about what they want to accomplish this year.

  • Our undergraduate students are doing really well. Andres has applied for some summer research programs and will head to MIT this summer. Alejandra is preparing for the MCAT. Both are making progress on their projects, troubleshooting (sometimes!), and learning lots.

  • Rachel Grimes is finishing up a screen and is making a decision on which Medical School to attend soon.

  • We are hosting a high school student for the first time! Ariel Robinson is a senior at Clarke Central High School.

  • We had our first ever “Merge Meetings” - join lab meetings with Dr. Mansi Srivastava and a few of her trainees. We also tried out a lab meeting dedicated to learning to be better writers. Great job, team!

  • We are looking forward to a new season of Flatworm Fridays seminars.

  • Rachel (R-G) sat on an NIH study section, which was a great learning experience. She is also co-teaching Advanced Developmental Biology (CBIO8300) this Spring! RRG is also trying to get some experiments done this Spring and is looking forward to a summer research trip to University of Kentucky to visit Dr. Beth Duncan as part of the SEC Travel program.

Summer successes

We have been hard at work on several projects this summer. Some highlights:

  • James Gaither (pictured below at mid-left) spent the summer in the lab as part of the STEP-UP (NIDDK) program. He presented his work at their symposium this week and did a fantastic job. Taylor and Kendall mentored James and also did a wonderful job.

  • We had additional meetings of the Flatworm Friday symposium, which were very fun for all.

  • Rachel presented at the virtual SDB meeting in July.

  • Rachel submitted an R01 in June.

  • Both Taylor and Kendall has their first committee meetings.

  • Kendall was awarded an ARCS scholarship.

  • Jennifer was accepted into the Frontiers in Stem Cells and Regeneration course at MBL, which will take place this fall.

  • We tried a “Diversity in STEM” lab meeting discussion and many of us committed to new DEIJ plans or activities for 2021-2022.

  • Rachel applied for an SEC travel grant and was awarded funding to work with Dr. Beth Duncan (University of Kentucky) for a couple of weeks in 2022.

  • Former undergrad Rachel Grimes returned to the lab as a part-time technician. She is applying to medical school now. We’re lucky to have her back!

  • Lots of lab members got new and exciting data to move their projects forward. We are working on 4 manuscripts currently and hope to submit several this fall and in early 2022. Full steam ahead!

Celebrating our STEP-UP program (NIDDK) student, James Gaither. He was mentored by Kendall Clay and Taylor Medlock.

Celebrating our STEP-UP program (NIDDK) student, James Gaither. He was mentored by Kendall Clay and Taylor Medlock.