The mission of MCB is to understand fundamental biological processes at the molecular and cellular levels across all domains of life. We accomplish this through research, classroom teaching, and laboratory training directed at promoting the intellectual curiosity and critical thinking of individuals at all career levels including undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research staff members, and faculty.
News
- Summer ’24 Doctoral Dissertation Award AnnouncementCongratulations to Alyssa Coulter, Ryan Drennan, Jacob Kellermeier, Nadine Lebek and Michelle Neitzey on their Summer '24 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Awards from the Graduate School!Posted on April 16, 2024
- MCB Grad Student Appreciation WeekOn Monday, 4/8, the MCB Department celebrated UConn's Grad Appreciation Week with Dairy Bar ice cream! It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy each other's company along with the ice cream. Thank you MCB Graduate students for all you do!Posted on April 10, 2024
- MCB DEI Seminar and Workshop with B. Chad Starks a SuccessThe MCB DEI Committee recently welcomed Dr. B. Chad Starks, CEO and Founder of BCS & Associates for a special seminar and workshop. Dr. B. Chad Starks is a writer, speaker, and educator with over 20 years of experience working with universities, research institutions, and organizations to provide training on issues of social justice and […]Posted on April 8, 2024
- Goldhamer Lab Receives Grant from Alexion PharmaceuticalsDr. David Goldhamer and Alexion Pharmaceuticals have established a collaborative research agreement under the company’s Discovery Partnerships Program to investigate mechanisms of impaired regeneration in models of muscle degenerative disease.Posted on April 2, 2024
- 2024 MCB Summer Fellowship AwardsThe UConn Department of Molecular and Cell Biology is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 graduate and undergraduate student summer fellowships. These distinguished fellowships are made possible by some very generous donors and are offered on a competitive basis to the most highly qualified students. Congratulations to all the awardees! Claire M. Berg Graduate Fellowship […]Posted on April 1, 2024
News Archive
Upcoming Events
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Apr
19
Special Seminar with Dr. Jinghui Zhang 10:30am
Special Seminar with Dr. Jinghui Zhang
Friday, April 19th, 2024
10:30 AM - 11:30 PM
BPB 201
Dr. Jinghui Zang
St. Jude Endowed Chair in Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
UConn ’94Co-sponsored by Dept. Molecular and Cell Biology, The Institute for Systems Genomics, and the School of Computing
Genomic Variants in Pediatric Cancer: Driver Discovery, Clinical Testing and Computational Analysis
Jinghui Zhang’s research focuses on developing and applying genomic-based approaches for improving the treatment and outcome of pediatric cancer. Her research on innovative computational methods development has greatly advanced discovery, interpretation, and visualization of somatic and germline variants. She has built a new Computational Biology Department at St Jude by recruiting and mentoring multi-disciplinary computational experts to establish innovative research programs focusing on pediatric cancer. An advocate for genomic data sharing, Zhang initiated the development of St. Jude Cloud, the world’s largest pediatric cancer data sharing platform. She received a PhD in Genetics from the University of Connecticut in 1994 for research done with the late Claire M. Berg (MCB). She continued work at the NCBI for many years, worked in industry (Glaxo Wellcome, Celera Genomics) and at the National Cancer Institute. Since 2010 she has been at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. She is an elected fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology.
Contact Information:
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Apr
23
MCB Seminar Series: Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Tenure Talk 3:30pm
MCB Seminar Series: Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Tenure Talk
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
03:30 PM
BPB 131
Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Host: Carol Teschke
Intracellular cargo transport in Toxoplasma gondii
The human pathogen Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) causes life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals and when infection occurs in utero. Survival and disease pathogenesis are dependent on host cell invasion, intracellular replication and egress, which results in destruction of the infected cells. In order to complete this lytic cycle, Toxoplasma must traffic proteins to three distinct secretory organelles, the micronemes, rhoptries and dense granules. In this talk I will present our recent work characterizing how actin and an unconventional myosin motor, MyoF regulate protein trafficking and vesicle transport in Toxoplasma.
Bio: Aoife Heaslip received her bachelor’s degree from University College Dublin and PhD degree from the University of Vermont under the mentorship of Dr. Gary Ward. Aoife then moved to Indiana University and worked as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Ke Hu. She then returned to Vermont to complete a second postdoc with Dr. David Warshaw, an expert in myosin biophysics. I joined the MCB department as an assistant professor in 2017.
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Apr
24
MCB Dissertation Defense: Lorraine Burdick 10:00am
MCB Dissertation Defense: Lorraine Burdick
Wednesday, April 24th, 2024
10:00 AM
BPB 131
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Announces the
Oral Dissertation Defense for the Doctoral Degree
Lorraine Burdick
B.S. University of Connecticut
Investigating the Developmental Fate of Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors in Mouse Models of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
10:00 AM
BPB 131
Webex Link: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/lna09001
Major Advisor: David Goldhamer
Associate Advisor: Charles Giardina
Associate Advisor: Leighton Core
Examiner: Lawrence Silbart
Examiner: Caroline Dealy
Link to Current Draft of Dissertation
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Cb4h7YolwT3UbVc4Um7_yzmNh9aMCT0zxS7b0y74Qc/edit?usp=sharing
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Apr
26
MCB Research in Progress: Samuelson and McDermott 12:20pm
MCB Research in Progress: Samuelson and McDermott
Friday, April 26th, 2024
12:20 PM
Biology/Physics Building
Kaylah Samuelson, Hanlon Lab
Tyler McDermott, Mellone LabContact Information:
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Apr
26
All Biology Undergraduate Symposium 1:30pm
All Biology Undergraduate Symposium
Friday, April 26th, 2024
01:30 PM - 04:30 PM
TLS 111
All Biology Undergraduate Symposium
Contact Information:
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Recent Publications
Gogarten Lab:
Neighboring inteins interfere with one another's homing capacity
PNAS Nexus
Lynes Lab:
Extracellular metallothionein as a therapeutic target in the early progression of Type 1 Diabetes
j.cstres
Lynes Lab:
Stress biology: Complexity and multifariousness in health and disease
j.cstres
Teschke Lab:
Bacteriophage P22 SieA-mediated superinfection exclusion
mbio
Goldhamer Lab:
Sex as a critical variable in basic and pre-clinical studies of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.
Biomolecules
May Lab:
Curvature sensing lipid dynamics in a mitochondrial inner membrane model.
Commun Biol
Heaslip Lab:
F-actin and myosin F control apicoplast elongation dynamics which drive apicoplast-centrosome association inToxoplasma gondii
mbio