Department of Cell Biology

Dr. Kenneth Myers, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, received a Whitehall Foundation grant, “Coordinating Synaptic Actin and Translational Control”. The Whitehall Foundation supports early career investigators studying basic research in neurobiology, with the goal of better understanding brain mechanisms of behavior.

This three-year grant will allow the Myers lab to investigate how the LASP family proteins coordinate actin cytoskeletal remodeling during synaptic plasticity. This work is expected to identify new regulatory mechanisms underlying the control of synaptic strength and neural circuit dynamics in the brain.

Dr. Devesh Pant, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Jiang Lab, has received the Development Grant from Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). This career development grant will provide three-year support on his proposal titled “Investigation of ALS caused by mutant KIF5A”. MDA is the nation’s largest nonprofit supporter of neuromuscular research facilitating researchers to advance their research and careers.

Congratulations to the Bassell Lab for their publication in Nature Communications titled, "Muscleblind-like proteins use modular domains to localize RNAs by riding kinesins and docking to membranes," June 2023.

Ryan P Hildebrandt ^# 1, Kathryn R Moss ^# 2, Aleksandra Janusz-Kaminska ², Luke A Knudson ², Lance T Denes ¹, Tanvi Saxena ¹, Devi Prasad Boggupalli ¹, Zhuangyue Li ¹, Kun Lin ², Gary J Bassell ³, Eric T Wang ^4 5

^#These authors contributed equally

The authors dedicate this paper posthumously to Kun Lin.

Dr. Douglas Falls has been selected for 2023 Educator Appreciation Day. Dr. Falls has played a central role in orchestrating the Foundations of Medicine curriculum. His efforts as Foundations of Medicine curricular coordinator were highly regarded by students, faculty, and administrators. Dr. Falls is a very successful and creative course director and teacher. 

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Congratulations to Dr. Jill Ward for her nomination to the Scientific Advisory Board for The International Symposium for Neural Repair. Since 1985, The ISNR has met every 2 years and is the premier forum for the presentation and discussion of progress, insights and controversies important to advancing the understanding of injury responses and potential therapeutics targeting peripheral nerve and central nervous system injuries. Dr. Ward will serve a 3-year term.

Congratulations to Don Noble, Nisha Raj and Victor Faundez on being awarded an Emory URC grant!! The University Research Committee (URC), oversees a competitive, annual research grant program to support research and creative projects in fields with limited external funding, or to explore new areas of research that are likely to attract future external support.