Supporting & Uplifting Postdoc Recruitment (SUPR) Program

The Bewersdorf lab is interested in developing microscopy methods that push the temporal and spatial resolution and the multicolor imaging capabilities of fluorescence microscopy far beyond the limits of conventional light microscopy. In collaboration with our colleagues in the Department of Cell Biology, we apply these techniques to address a large range of biological questions.

The Ferguson lab seeks to define how the endolysosomal pathway adapts to meet ongoing changes in cellular demand and how defects in meeting such demand in neurons, glia and immune cells contributes to neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. We investigate these important problems across a range of model systems and experimental methodologies and welcome the recruitment of new colleagues who share our determination to make cell biological discoveries that bridge the chasm between human genetics and disease pathology.

The Guo lab studies cell fate control. Yamanaka factors can convert somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), but they only work in very few cells (<0.1%). Answers to why Yamanaka factors fail in most cells hold the power to creating any cell type at wish. Rare hematopoietic progenitors are hundreds of times more powerful in enabling Yamanaka factors. We aim to define the cellular state that enables the Yamanaka factors, and how such a cell state impacts hematopoiesis. We wish to deduce fundamental principles and to develop tools to enable Yamanaka factors in most cells, while learning how such insights can be applied to boost hematopoiesis.

The Gupta lab develops novel spatially resolved membrane biology platform to understand how spatiotemporal organization of membrane proteins and lipids regulate cell signaling. We work in an interdisciplinary and collaborative manner within the lab where we develop novel mass spectrometric approaches, build new chemical biology tools, and further combine them with orthogonal biochemical and biophysical approaches. Using these platforms, we are interested in understanding how spatiotemporal organization of proteins and lipids at the cellular membrane regulate organellar health in human health and disease.

The Lin lab specializes in building molecular tools using DNA nanotechnology, with focuses on high-precision membrane engineering, building nuclear pore mimics, and elucidating force-regulated protein structure and biochemistry. These tools afford unique opportunities to control the assembly and dynamics of biomolecules with high spatiotemporal precision, thus providing a synthetic biology framework for answering a wide range of mechanistic questions. We collaborate with colleagues at Yale and worldwide to develop new technologies for a better understanding of the molecular basis of membrane trafficking, nuclear transport, and mechanotransduction.

The LusKing lab works on fundamental mechanisms that control the physical and functional integrity of the nucleus and its mechanosensitive properties in physiological and pathological contexts.

The Melia lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms of macroautophagy, including how the autophagosome is formed and how cargo is recognized and processed. In particular, we focus upon how the structure and composition of membranes in these processes govern the process of autophagosome biogenesis.

The Reinisch lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which membranes are made and by which their composition is established and regulated. Organelles within a cell differ in terms of the lipid composition of their surrounding membrane, and these differences help to establish organelle identity and thus allow for directional transport of materials between organelles. We are interested in the homeostasis of glycerophospholipids as well as phosphoinositide lipids, with dual roles as determinants of organelle identity and in signal transduction pathways. We use X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, biochemistry and biophysics to understand structure and function of lipid transfer proteins, then test hypotheses arising from these studies using cell biology techniques.

The von Blume lab is dedicated to understanding the molecular mechanisms of protein secretion. We focus on protein sorting and export processes from the Golgi apparatus and the molecular components that regulate these functions. Additionally, we investigate how these processes are affected by diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, immune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases.

The Wu lab is interested in understanding the emergent properties of membrane dynamics and lipid metabolism, cell size homeostasis and mitosis.