PAUL NURSE, THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE
The goals of Dr. Nurse's laboratory are to better understand the global cellular networks which regulate the eukaryotic cell cycle, cell form and cell growth. These cellular controls are fundamental to the growth, development and reproduction of all living organisms.
The Gartner lab seeks to answer questions about how tissue structure forms and functions. They take a synthetic approach, building human tissues from the bottom-up, which allows them to measure and perturb the molecular and physical properties of individual cells, reconstitute them into living tissue, then observe their interactions to reveal the underlying "rules" guiding their collective behaviors.
The Weissman laboratory is looking at how cells ensure that proteins fold into their correct shape, as well as the role of protein misfolding in disease and normal physiology. They are also developing experimental and analytical approaches for exploring the organizational principles of biological systems and globally monitoring protein translation through ribosome profiling.
BRUCE EDGAR, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
The Edgar lab uses genetics to characterize the programs of cell growth and proliferation that occur during development, regeneration and tumorigenesis, with the goal of finding the genes that act as limiting regulators in each context.
The Clemons lab is primarily interested in understanding the molecular details of life and as a tool we focus on “structural biology”. They currently work on problems related to protein transport across membranes and post-translational modification of proteins. The lab primarily uses X-ray crystallography but also works with biochemistry, microbiology, mass spectrometry and electron microscopy.
Dr. Piel's team studies cell polarization, a process which involves a reorganization of the cell cytoskeleton and movement of cellular organelles, usually triggered by external cues. They are particularly interested in cell polarity in the context of cell migration and cell division.
AMY GLADFELTER, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
The Gladfelter lab is interested in how cells are organized in time and space. They study how cytoplasm is spatially patterned and how cells sense their own shape. They also investigate how timing in the cell division cycle can be highly variable yet still accurate. For their work, they combine quantitative live cell microscopy and computational, genetic and biochemical approaches in fungal and mammalian cells.
Through the efforts of Dr. Tirrell's laboratory and others, the code has been "reinterpreted" in various ways to enable the participation of an expanded set of amino acids in cellular protein synthesis. These developments have provided a basis for powerful new approaches to protein design and to spatially and temporally resolved analysis of cellular processes.
H. TOM SOH, DEPARTMENTS OF RADIOLOGY AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Attend Dr. Soh's pre-seminar presentation to learn more about Dr. David Tirrell's seminar, "Reinterpreting the Genetic Code - Engineering and Probing Protein Behavior with Non-Canonical Amino Acids", to be held Thursday, May 24th.
NATHANIEL HEINTZ, THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY
Dr. Heintz will discuss recent studies of molecular mechanisms that regulate specific cell types and circuits in the mammalian brain, and illustrate their role in modulation of complex social and emotional behaviors.
