New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Katherine Thompson-Peer

Assistant Professor, Developmental & Cell Biology
University of California, Irvine
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects.

My lab is interested in how neurons respond to and recover from injury. We specifically focus on how neurons regenerate after injury to their dendrite arbor. The extent to which neurons can regrow dendrites after injury is largely unknown, especially as compared to the decades of research on axon regeneration, even though a functional dendritic arbor is just as important to the neuron as the axon. So we ask fundamental questions about dendrite regeneration. Can neurons regenerate dendrites after injury? If so, how well do they do? If regeneration is imperfect, what is limiting the regeneration, both in the neuron itself and in the surrounding tissue the dendrites are growing into?

So far, we have found that multiple classes of peripheral nervous system neurons are capable of regenerating dendrites after injury, both in developing larvae and adult Drosophila.  At first glance, the regeneration these neurons achieve is remarkably robust, and is able to partially restore receptive function. However, upon closer investigation, we have found numerous ways that dendrite regeneration recreates an arbor imperfectly. These defects include reduced arbor size, changes in dendrite diameter and morphology, alterations in the cytoskeleton, ignoring environmental cues about where dendrites should grow, and more. We have found the molecular causes of a few of these defects, but most have yet to be fully investigated. 

Going forward, we will continue to dissect apart the molecular mechanisms facilitating and limiting regeneration in the PNS neurons that we’ve studied thus far, in the Drosophila larvae and adults.  We will also expand our studies to other neuron types, including motor neurons and interneurons, as well as neurons in the CNS and in other animals, and in response to other types of dendrite injury.

Teaching

I began my position in April 2019, so I have the first year plus to focus exclusively on getting my lab and my research up and running. After that, teaching will be an important part of my job. The department of Developmental and Cell Biology is housed within the School of Biological Sciences at UCI, which awards undergraduate degrees for Biology majors and related topics, as well as graduate degrees. That means that I’ll have the opportunity to teach undergrad courses as well as graduate classes. 

As a postdoc at UCSF, I was exposed to active learning approaches through the fantastic training programs offered by the Office of Career and Professional Development. Now, here at UC Irvine, student-centric and active learning methodologies are supported and emphasized. I look forward to engaging my students, in large lecture classes and small seminars alike.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

The first scientific conference I ever attended was the GSA’s 45th Annual Drosophila Conference in Washington, DC in 2004. I am forever grateful that, even though I was only a research technician just one year out of my bachelor’s degree with nothing to present yet, my PI sent me to the meeting in order to get exposed to the larger scientific community. It was eye-opening. So many interesting talks on such varied topics. A bit like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. Later that year, while applying to graduate schools, I found the names of the PIs whose presentations I had enjoyed, and I envisioned joining their labs as a graduate student. It was inspiring.

Later, as a graduate student working in C. elegans, I had the honor of attending three worm meetings in Los Angeles in 2007, 2009, and 2011. I learned how welcoming and curious and enthusiastic as a whole the worm community could be. I was invited to give my first big talk at the 2009 meeting. It was terrifying but also thrilling. I was awarded a poster prize at the 2011 meeting for work that I was very proud of. The worm meetings were important for helping me to develop my graduate research project and find new tools and approaches to apply.

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 

We are enthusiastically recruiting both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows! 

The lab is currently funded by a generous start-up package from the department, as well as an R00 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, so we have the resources to grow. I was recently named 1 of 8 “Rising Stars in Neuroscience” in the US by The Scientist magazine, and I would love to recruit more people to help establish the foundation for the lab and the field.

Potential graduate students should consider the Cell & Molecular Biosciences graduate program, the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, or the Medical Scientist Training Program at UCI (we are in all 3 programs). Candidates for postdoc positions should contact me directly. Candidates who identify as members of communities that are under-represented in science are especially encouraged to apply.

In terms of mentoring, I want to point out that I believe very strongly in the importance of many and varied mentors for all scientists, especially trainees and early career researchers. I have published articles on how essential peer mentoring was for me as a postdoctoral fellow and how valuable multiple mentors are for trainees at any stage. Science is a group effort, and I believe that the job of mentoring and training new scientists is all of our responsibility.

What is your favorite thing about your job? 

I love the freedom to be curious and inventive. To follow a lead, when you don’t know where it will take you. To build momentum on a question and push it forward. I love talking about science with colleagues, hypothesizing about the mechanism behind an observation, and trying to figure out how we could connect what we think might be happening to what we already know.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 

I enjoy exploring oddball museums with my 7-year-old son. Recently, we’ve seen a huge collection of lava lamps that may be important for internet encryption, gotten lost in a maze of mirrors, ridden on one of the world’s largest helium balloons, played pinball machines from the 1940s, and seen every Pez dispenser ever made. We’ve also had a pluot (plum and apricot) taste test challenge, made a brightly-colored baking soda and vinegar volcano, and created some truly gross concoctions in the kitchen.

Previous training experiences:

• BA, University of Pennsylvania (with Dr. Ted Abel)
• Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University (with Dr. Alex Kolodkin)
• PhD, Harvard University & Massachusetts General Hospital (with Dr. Josh Kaplan)
• Postdoctorate, University of California, San Francisco (with Dr. Yuh-Nung Jan)

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Wolfgang Keil

Tenured CNRS researcher (CR) and Group Leader
Physics and Physical Chemistry Department
Institut Curie, Paris, France
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

In short, my lab at Institut Curie studies development of the small roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) from a physics point of view. In groundbreaking work over the past decades, geneticists and developmental biologists have uncovered the gene networks responsible for developmental patterning, and they continue to do so in more detail. In our laboratory, we don’t aim to discover novel genes that regulate development. Rather, we try to conceptualize data about morphogenesis into coherent quantitative and predictive frameworks. In doing so, we hope to answer a different set of fascinating questions: How can development achieve such astonishing complexity and precision at the same time? Are there limits to developmental precision? How does development adapt to different environmental conditions? Is this adaptation coordinated across cells and across tissues?

To get to those answers, we develop novel technologies that improve our ability to obtain quantitative high-resolution dynamic data on C. elegans development (e.g., microfluidics for live imaging, quantitative perturbations of development, and software for automated large-scale phenotypic analyses). At the same time, we study several paradigmatic developmental patterning problems in the worm (e.g., cell-fate patterning during development of its egg-laying organ and its skin.) Finally, we develop physics-inspired mathematical frameworks to gain a predictive understanding of how the collective action of gene networks and environmental factors coordinate the emergence of biological shapes and patterns.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

I only very recently became a member of the GSA. My PhD was in Theoretical Physics & Computational Neuroscience, and I did not fully appreciate the wonders of biology until my time as a postdoctoral fellow at The Rockefeller University. I learned about the GSA at my first ever International C. elegans conference. It was an absolutely overwhelming experience in many ways. As I was a newcomer to biology and to C. elegans research, this GSA meeting was invaluable in my introduction to the field and the community. I have experienced the GSA worm community as extremely welcoming, warm and supportive. And, of course, I have attended every worm meeting since!

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 

Yes, we are! I would like to assemble a multidisciplinary team of scientists in my group: experimental and theoretical physicists, geneticists, microscopists, molecular biologists, computer scientists… My team welcomes people from diverse scientific backgrounds who share our passion for solving exciting puzzles in biology.

The Institut Curie has an interdisciplinary graduate program for international students (IC3i PhD program). Otherwise, graduate student candidates can matriculate through the doctoral school, “Physics at Île-de-France.” Postdoc candidates should check out my lab website and e-mail me for more details. We also very much welcome master’s students for short-term or longer-term internships in our team. Paris is one of the most exciting cities in the world, both from a scientific and an everyday life perspective. So, come join us on our journey!

What is your favorite thing about science or about your work? 

As much as I love the worm, I think people are even more interesting. That is why I really enjoy mentoring. Everybody is different, everybody has different ideas, questions, solutions, struggles. That’s even more true in an interdisciplinary group. I love to interact with scientists from different scientific backgrounds to figure out answers to fascinating questions or just to come up with the questions in the first place.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 

I love playing music of different sorts! I do classical singing in ensembles for early vocal music. l like to express myself playing jazz on the piano, preferably while jamming with some good friends. And from time to time, I pick up my accordion for practice to hopefully one day be able to decently play some “jazz manouche” and French chansons on it. I very much enjoy my regular runs along Canal de l’Ourcq, a lovely canal which passes right by my home in Paris. I try to go rock climbing/bouldering as often as time permits, and I have also recently picked up tennis.

Previous training experiences:

• Postdoc fellow, Center for Studies in Physics and Biology and Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, The Rockefeller University (with Prof. Eric D Siggia and Prof. Shai Shaham)
• PhD in Theoretical Physics, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization (with Prof. Fred Wolf)
• Diploma studies in Physics, University of Jena, Germany

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

David Garcia

Assistant Professor
Institute of Molecular Biology
University of Oregon
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

We study prion proteins as a model for understanding epigenetic mechanisms that are important for RNA regulation. I studied the molecular basis for microRNA function during my PhD, and for my postdoc I wanted to study protein-based mechanisms that regulate RNA biology. I found a perfect example in prions because they are protein-based units of inheritance that change protein conformation and function. By focusing on enzymes that chemically modify RNA and also have prion behavior, we are working toward the goal of understanding how these chemical modifications can be regulated to promote adaptation to stress and new environments. Working in yeast empowers our discovery and profiling of these epigenetic states, and the RNA biology that we study is extremely well-conserved. In the future, we will search for conserved examples of these phenomena in metazoans, where it would be exciting to see if such regulation impacts development and disease.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach?

I just began my position in December 2018 and have a break from teaching duties for the first year or so, but teaching will be an important part of my position in the near future. I think I would love to teach genetics and molecular biology. I am also interested in developing a course on inheritance, from postulated mechanisms from over a century ago up to CRISPR babies. I’ve really enjoyed reading Carl Zimmer’s She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, and I would like to use some of this material as a basis for lessons. Our understanding of inheritance has evolved over hundreds of years and still is evolving. I think it could be an excellent learning experience to review that history. Sadly, this subject is also rife with examples of tragic failures in human rationalization, which I think is also worth educating students about—how the misuse of scientific concepts or misinterpretation of data can lead to terrible, long-lasting social problems.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

I greatly benefitted from attending the GSA Yeast meeting last year. I met many generous scientists who offered helpful advice for getting my lab started. During the coffee break after a session in which I presented a short talk, Fred Winston, who was in attendance to give the Lee Hartwell Lecture, told me about a paper from his lab from 10 years prior that had some interesting data on a protein that I also study and had discussed in my talk. I think he might have even pulled out his iPad and showed me some figures. The GSA yeast community is warm, supportive, and innovative in their science. The Genes to Genomes blog is also a great resource for me and my lab to get updates on conferences, funding opportunities, and other relevant news.

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 

Yes, we are! Graduate student candidates can matriculate through either the Biology or Chemistry departments at the University of Oregon. Postdoc candidates can check out my lab website for more details about what information to send me.

What is your favorite thing about science or about your work? 

I love mentoring. It’s so satisfying to see my trainees succeed, and I like the challenge of teaming up with them on a weekly basis to refine our questions and thinking and troubleshoot whatever impedes progress.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 

Spending time with my family is a joy and a wonderful balance for my work. We love the outdoors, seeking out/cooking delicious food, and finding art and music. I also love playing music—I am a jazz drummer—and cycling (both road and MTB). Eugene is a famous running town, and I’ve enjoyed my regular runs on “Pre’s Trail” (designed by famous Oregon product Steve Prefontaine), which begins only a 10-minute walk from the lab. I confess, though, that I’m not fast!

Previous training experiences:

• BS, University of California, Santa Cruz
• PhD, MIT (with Prof. David Bartel)
• Postdoctorate, Stanford University School of Medicine (with Prof. Daniel Jarosz)

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Aakanksha Singhvi

Assistant Member
Division of Basic Sciences
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

In a nutshell, “Glia-Neuron interactions,” in health and disease. My laboratory wants to decode the molecular conversations between glia and neurons, the two major cell types of our nervous system. We know that disrupted interactions between glia and neurons are an underlying factor in many neurological disorders of development (e.g. Autism), function (e.g. sensory or cognitive impairments) and aging (e.g. Alzheimer’s). However, mechanisms underlying these interactions are still not well-defined at molecular resolution. We are excited to explore how glia regulate sensory perception, neuronal physiology, neural circuit activity, memory formation, and animal behavior. We use C. elegans as a genetic model because its nervous system has some unique features that make it an especially powerful system to address these questions in vivo.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

My association with GSA started as a graduate student and has helped me grow as a scientist throughout my career, including now in setting up as a new PI. My first C. elegans paper was in GENETICS, and my professional networks have grown through GSA-sponsored worm meetings. As a postdoc, I served as the first Trainee Representative on the GSA publication committee and the TAGC 2016 organizing committee. I have also known of GSA’s support for trainees and advocacy for basic research. As I start a lab, I realize that these experiences have influenced my perspectives on many facets of science—research, administration, mentoring, publishing, and career paths. As a new PI, I am now organizing a Glia workshop at the 2019 C. elegans meeting, and I look forward to continued association with GSA members and trainees.

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 
I am always excited to meet students and postdocs who share our wonder for glia-neuron interactions in the nervous system. My lab accepts graduate students from the fantastic inter-departmental programs between Fred Hutch and the University of Washington. Anyone who is interested, please email me! By the way, Seattle is a gorgeous city with an awesome and diverse scientific community.

What is your favorite thing about science or about your work? 
Everything about biology is so cool! As experiences, the thrill of thinking, creating, and exploring this wonder freely with fellow scientists, as well as the “aha” moment when a puzzle clicks into place, are perhaps my favorite things about this job. Every new data point or mutant analysis is a dopamine fix.
As a biological question, I cannot stop being in awe of the nervous system! How do we sense the world around us, make memories of this rich and complex information? How do cells molecularly talk to each other; what do they say? What goes wrong in neural disease or aging? There are so many awesome puzzles to solve that one lifetime feels too little. So, for now, we are focused on finding everything we can about the most mysterious of cells in our brain—glia.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 
My other passion is dancing, lindy-hop to dandiya! Throughout my postdoc I actively performed Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form I have trained in, with a dance group in NYC. In a way, I find it parallels biology research. One spends long years passionately mastering the technique, the beauty of its structure and rules, and existing knowledge. Then, you start thinking outside the box, pushing boundaries with your creativity and unique thinking. Each performance takes practice and has a presentation structure and a story to tell. And it is pure joy when audiences engage with your story or findings!

Previous training experiences:

• BS, Gujarat University, India
• MS Fellow, National Center for Biological Sciences, India
• PhD, University of California Berkeley (with Dr. Gian Garriga)
• Postdoctorate, The Rockefeller University (with Dr. Shai Shaham)

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Kerry Geiler-Samerotte

Assistant Professor at the Center for Mechanisms of Evolution
School Of Life Sciences
Arizona State University
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

Organisms are comprised of interacting parts. Even within single cells, networks of proteins regulate basic functions. The impact of perturbing one part of an organism—for example, via genetic mutation—can often be modified by perturbation to other parts. This creates an obstacle for scientists: How do we predict traits from genetic data when the same mutation can have different impacts? This also presents challenges during evolution: How does an organism adapt or evolve when changing one trait can influence many other traits, resulting in complex tradeoffs?

To quantify the spectrum of effects that a specific perturbation may have on an organism, the Geiler-Samerotte lab measures how yeast cells respond to subtle genetic or environmental changes. Then, we study how cellular responses change when multiple perturbations are combined or when the magnitude of a perturbation is systematically varied. Our research provides insight into how interactions between small-effect genetic variants shape the evolution of complex traits.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

Being a part of GSA has advanced my career by bringing me so many opportunities to present my research and engage with fellow scientists. In particular, in 2013 I was awarded the DeLill Nasser Professional Development Award to travel to a Gordon conference on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics.

I also especially enjoy the GSA Yeast meeting, as well as the new GSA meeting on Population, Evolutionary and Quantitative Genetics. These meetings have provided me invaluable opportunities to hear about the latest research in the field and to get feedback about new results.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach?

In the fall of 2019, I am very excited to co-teach my first course with fellow ASU professor Susanne Pfeifer. We will be implementing the HHMI Science Education Alliance program, “Phage Hunters Advancing Genomic and Evolutionary Science,” at Arizona State University for the first time.

In this year-long intensive course, undergraduate STEM majors will actively engage in research to discover, isolate, and computationally analyze bacteriophages—with the Fall semester being wet-lab focused and the Spring semester being dry-lab focused. The course is designed to provide students with an authentic research experience where they gain a sense of ownership of the scientific problem and of the discoveries made.

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 
I am recruiting technicians, PhD students, and postdocs. My lab’s research lies at the intersection of cell biology, evolutionary biology, and genetics. Thus, I am interested in recruiting people with training in any of these different backgrounds, particularly people who are interested in bridging disciplines. The Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, with its diverse expertise, is a phenomenal place to explore the intersection of these fields. If using insights from cell biology to understand complex genetics and evolutionary phenomena sounds appealing to you, please drop me a line at kerry.samerotte@asu.edu.

What is your favorite thing about science or about your work? 
I only just started as a faculty member in January of 2019, and my favorite thing about the job so far is getting to know the amazing community of biologists at Arizona State University. In particular, the community of evolutionary geneticists in Arizona is extensive, and I am having a blast hearing about all of the cool research going on in my new home.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 
When I’m not at work I brew beer using my favorite model organism, budding yeast.

Previous training experiences:

• BS, Cornell University (with Rick Harrison)
• PhD, Harvard University (with D. Allan Drummond and Daniel Hartl)
• Postdoctorate, New York University (with Mark Siegal)
• Postdoctorate, Stanford University (with Dmitri Petrov)

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Karen Mruk

Assistant Professor at the School of Pharmacy: Programs in Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences, and Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences
University of Wyoming
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

In the CNS, specialized cells work together to differentiate, wire, and later die to form a completely integrated system. As a chemical biologist, I integrate chemistry, organismal biology, and cellular/molecular techniques to investigate the injury response and regeneration of the CNS. In particular, my lab uses the zebrafish as a model because of their remarkable regenerative capacity.

My lab is particularly focused on understanding the role bioelectricity plays in locomotor recovery and the genetic factors that govern this process. Bioelectric signals generated by membrane proteins, such as changes in membrane voltage, are required for embryonic patterning, wound healing, and tissue regeneration suggesting a mechanistic link between membrane potential and an individual cell’s behavior as well as cell-cell communication. To gain a systems-level understanding of the bioelectric network we are utilizing multi-electrode array electrophysiology. By recording the CNS network over time and monitoring swim behavior, we will understand how global changes in bioelectricity contribute to recovery. We aim to combine these studies with traditional genomics in order to identify new therapeutic intervention points.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

One of my favorite blogs is Genes to Genomes. I really enjoy participating in The Allied Genetics Conference; it provides a unique opportunity to meet with scientists using other model organisms, helping to establish new collaborations.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach?

Mind, Brain, and Behavior

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 
YES! We are actively looking for new lab members — especially those in love with the zebrafish!

What is your favorite thing about science or about your work? 
I get to learn something new every day and work with some really amazing students!

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 
Hiking or snowshoeing — depending on the weather!

Previous training experiences:

• BA, Drew University (research intern at L’Oreal)
• PhD, University of Massachusetts Medical School (with Professor  William Kobertz)
• Postdoc, Stanford University (with Professor James Chen)

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Jian Ding

Professor (since 2017)
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

1. The genetic networks regulating heart contraction
2. miRNAs and miRNA regulators in skeletal muscle development and function
3. Mitochondria and muscle aging

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

GSA offers the opportunities for me to communicate/interact with other researchers and improve my academic network, help me to establish collaboration and research partnerships with colleagues.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach?

Molecular Genetics

Previous training experiences:

– B.S, Biology, Nanjing University
– M.S, Biology, Nanjing University
– Ph.D, Biochemistry and Drosophila Genetics, Iowa State University
– Postdoc, mouse genetics, Harvard Medical School/ Boston Children’s Hospital

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Daniel McKay

Assistant Professor, Biology Dept, Genetics Dept, Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences (iBGS) (July 2013)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

The focus of our lab is to understand the mechanisms controlling gene expression in development. We combine Drosophila genetics with genomics and more targeted molecular approaches to investigate how the activity of DNA regulatory elements is controlled in different organs and at different times in development. We also study how histone proteins act as carriers of epigenetic information during specification and maintenance of cell fates.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

I have found being a GSA member has helped to expand my network of colleagues. The GSA-sponsored Drosophila Research Conference is one of my favorite meetings to attend, not only because I can catch up with old friends, but also because I always meet new people in my field.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach?

I teach an upper-level Developmental Biology class to undergraduates (mostly senior Biology majors).

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 

YES, I’m looking for students and especially postdocs.

Previous training experiences:

– Undergrad: Cornell University, no research experience
– Ph.D.: Columbia University, Developmental Genetics, Richard Mann laboratory
– Postdoc: UNC Chapel Hill, Genomics, Jason Lieb laboratory

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

I used to have hobbies like camping and fishing. Now I have 3 kids

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

David Matus

Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University, Dept. of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (since 2014)
Stony Brook University
Lab website

Briefly describe the ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.

My lab is interested in studying morphogenesis at the intersection of cell, developmental, and evolutionary biology. We use C. elegans and other nematodes to understand how cells acquire an invasive phenotype, or the ability to breach the basement membrane. During nematode post-embryonic development, the anchor cell, a specialized somatic gonad cell, initiates the uterine-vulval connection by invading through the basement membrane that separates the uterine and vulval cells, so that worms can passage eggs to the external environment. We are especially interested in understanding how cell cycle regulation impacts invasive behavior and basement membrane remodeling during development and how these programs might change across evolution. We have some really fun collaborations going on right now as well, both locally at Stony Brook and across the globe. Specifically, we are collaborating with Ben Martin’s lab, looking at cell cycle regulation of cell behaviors in zebrafish posterior growth and during cancer metastasis, funded by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Also, we just started a project studying the only vertebrate model of algal endosymbiosis, where a photosynthetic algae, Oophila amblystomatis, “invades” into the embryos of the spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum. We are hoping to use light sheet microscopy to gain new insights into this endosymbiosis in collaborating with Ryan Kerney (Gettsyburg College), Solange Duhamel (Columbia University) and John Burns (American Museum of Natural History), funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important? 

As I was a newcomer to working with a genetic model organism as a post-doc, the international C. elegans GSA meeting was invaluable in my introduction to the C. elegans community, which has been fantastic! I was also able to attend the Model Organism to Human Biology GSA meeting as a postdoc, which was a wonderful experience to interact with a whole new set of biologists, and has had a profound influence on helping me frame my work in a human context. Societies like GSA are fundamental to professional and scientific development at all career stages by providing opportunities for networking, new collaboration, and maintaining friendships with colleagues globally.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach?

I teach an upper level developmental genetics laboratory course. It’s a relatively large class (~75 students) that we recently changed into a CURE (Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience), allowing students to get hands on experience designing experiments using either C. elegans, Drosophila, or Nematostella (the starlet sea anemone). I also help teach a graduate student developmental biology class where the students read papers from invited seminar speakers and interact with the speakers during their visits, based on a class that my postdoc mentor led at Duke.

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 

Yes! We are particularly interested in looking for students or post-docs who might be interested in applying CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technology to the study of anchor cell invasion in other nematodes related to C. elegans.

Previous training experiences:

– Duke University, David Sherwood’s lab, Dept. of Biology – postdoc (2007-2013)
– University of Hawaii, Kewalo Marine Laboratory, Mark Q. Martindale’s lab, Zoology Department – M.S. and PhD (1999-2006)
– Wesleyan University, B.A. in Biology, 1998

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?

I’m a sax player, and am fortunate enough to have been able to keep my chops up by playing with local or university big bands throughout my career. I’m currently playing with both the Stony Brook University big band “Blowage” and also have a monthly gig at Stony Brook’s only jazz club, The Jazz Loft. Playing music keeps me sane! I also love to cook, which works out well, so I can practice my craft on my wife and children, who will definitely grow up to NOT be picky eaters (or at least appreciate good food). We also like to go running and hiking, and for the last two years I’ve been coaching my daughter’s basketball team, which is awesome!

New Faculty Profiles allow GSA members who are establishing their first labs to introduce themselves to our wider community. If you’d like to submit your profile, please complete this form.

Jordan Ward
Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology
University of California Santa Cruz

What are your previous training experiences, including your postdoc, graduate school, and undergraduate background?
B. S., University of Alberta
M. S., University of Alberta (with Dr. Tracy Raivio)
Ph.D., Cancer Research UK, Clare Hall Laboratories/University of London (with Prof. Simon Boulton)
Postdoctorate, University of California, San Francisco (with Prof. Keith Yamamoto)

Briefly describe your ongoing and expected research projects as your lab gets up and running.
Nestled in the redwoods of the stunning UC Santa Cruz campus, we are interested in how the remarkable complexity and noise of gene regulation is converted into the beautiful and precise cellular behaviors that drive animal development. We use genetics, molecular biology, microscopy, in vitro biochemistry, and genomics to study how individual, evolutionarily conserved transcription factors regulate distinct gene expression programs controlling cell division and differentiation and organ development in living animals. We focus on transcription factor regulation of two cellular processes: i) nematode spermatogenesis; and ii) the nematode molt, which is the shedding of the old skin (cuticle) and generation of a new one.

By extending our findings into the human parasitic nematode Brugia malayi, which causes the disfiguring disease lymphatic filariasis, we aim to understand how gene regulatory networks evolve in the context of a parasitic life cycle. We are motivated by the public health implications of this work: parasitic nematodes infect over 1.5 billion people globally and also threaten food availability by infecting crops and livestock. There are a small number of drugs currently available to fight parasitic nematode infections, so novel approaches are desperately needed. Molting is a good target as it is essential, involves nematode-specific molecules, and is regulated by many druggable targets (proteases, nuclear hormone receptors, etc.). Similarly, if we can specifically modulate nematode fertility, we could prevent transmission of parasites. By characterizing key developmental processes in parasites, we aim to develop new approaches to combat helminthic infections.

If your position involves teaching, which subjects or courses are you expecting to teach? 
I teach undergraduate molecular biology and a graduate class in the critical analysis of scientific literature.

How has being a member of GSA helped you advance in your career? Why do you think societies like GSA are important?
GSA-sponsored meetings have been crucial for developing and maintaining my professional network, and for providing a platform for presentation of my work. Additionally, GSA journals like Genetics have been an important venue for dissemination of my work. The connections that I’ve made at C. elegans meetings were really important in my search for a faculty position.

Are you looking to recruit students and/or postdocs? If so, please describe and be sure to also post the opportunity to GeneticsCareers.org. 
We are interested in recruiting talented technicians, project scientists, students and postdocs to keep the Ward lab rolling!

What is your favorite thing about science or about your work? 
The opportunity to come into work and learn something new every day and to work with an amazing collection of really brilliant people.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work? 
Hang out with my wife and trail run, work in our garden, or eat and drink delicious things.