2020
January 27th: Brigitte’s latest paper on the MAP Code is accepted at Developmental Cell!
2019
December 11th: At ASCB/EMBO meeting in DC, Kassie co-chairs and presents in the minisymposium session on the Regulation of Cytoskeletal Dynamics and Transport.
October 31st: Brigette presents a talk on her work on MAPs and represents UCD at the SACNAS conference!
September 18th: Kassie gives a seminar at Drexel University College of Medicine. Thank you, Peter Baas, for a great visit!
September 16th: Kassie gives a seminar at McGill University. Thank you, Gary Brouhard, for hosting me!
September 2nd: In collaboration with the amazing McKenney lab, our paper on the diverse behaviors and functions of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, is out in Nature Cell Biology! Read the final version HERE. Read the UCD writeup HERE.
September 2nd: Kassie and Rick are chosen as “Scientists to Watch” by the Journal of Cell Science. Read our interview HERE.
August 28th: Kassie gives a seminar at the UC Davis Medical School. Thank you, Kostas Zarbalis for hosting me!
July: Kassie joins the editorial board of Cytoskeleton!
July 30th: Kassie gives a talk on Brigette’s latest work at the Gordon Research Conference on Motile and Contractile Systems! Thank you Amy Gladfelter and Bruce Goode for giving me an opportunity to speak!
July 9th: Rick and Kassie are featured in a story about their iBiology Seminars course (MCB 110Y), which we will teach every spring quarter. Read it HERE and, if you are a UCD undergraduate, consider joining us!
April 8th: Kassie gives a talk at the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative Meeting in New York City!
April: Brigette Monroy receives the Dean’s Mentorship Award!! Congratulations Brigette! Well-deserved!
April: Janah May Oclaman (undergraduate extraordinaire) receives the Outstanding Performance Citation in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior AND the Outstanding Senior Award in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. Congratulations Janah!!
March 25th: Kassandra is invited to give a seminar at the UPenn Muscle Institute. Thank you, Mike Ostap, for a wonderful visit filled with great scientific discussions!
March 4th: Kassandra gives a talk at the Pew Annual Meeting along with the other members of the 2018 class! Thank you to the foundation, the organizers, the advisors, and the other fellows for making this an outstanding introduction to the Pew community!
January: Christine Smoyer joins the Ori-McKenney lab as a postdoctoral research scholar! Chris will be studying the kinase cascades that result from traumatic brain injury using Drosophila as a model system.
2018
December 8th: Kassandra, Melissa and Brigette travel to San Diego for the ASCB annual conference. Melissa and Brigette present posters and Kassandra organizes and speaks in a subgroup session on the Neuronal Cytoskeleton. Thank you to all the participants for sharing your exciting science!
October 16th: Kassandra hosts Kang Shen for the Joint Seminars in MCB. Thank you, Kang, for a fascinating seminar, spanning the molecular to the organismal!
October 10th: Kassandra is invited to give a seminar at the NIH. Thank you, Antonina Roll-Mecak, for being an extraordinary host and to your entire community for a wonderful, interactive seminar!
October 2nd: Kassandra hosts Steven Markus for the Joint Seminars in MCB. Thank you, Steven, for a great seminar!
September 17th: Kassandra is invited to give a seminar at Colorado State University. Thank you Steven Markus for being an incredible host!!
September 5-6th: Kassandra and Rick are invited to give seminars at Brandeis University. Thank you Avi Rodal and Bruce Goode for an amazing visit with some of the best food I’ve ever eaten!
July 10th: Kassandra gives a talk on Brigette’s latest work and hosts the Power Hour at the Cytoskeletal Motors Gordon Research Conference! Thank you Sam Reck-Peterson and Steve Rosenfeld for giving me an opportunity to speak!
June 14th: Kassandra is selected as a 2018 Pew scholar. Congratulations to Enfu Hui as well, one of the best biochemists I know! Check out the perfect use of PPE in the UC Davis press release.
June 4th: Kassandra gives a keynote talk at the ASCB Bay Area Cytoskeleton Club Meeting. Thank you to the amazing organizers for giving me an opportunity to speak!
May 27-30th: Brigette and Kassandra head to the EMBL Heidelberg for the Microtubule meeting! Thank you to the organizers for hosting a flawless meeting and giving me an opportunity to talk about our work.
May 21st: Kassie and Rick are featured in the piece, “Perfect Chemistry: CBS Faculty are Partners In and Outside of the Lab.”
April 16th: The first research paper from our lab is published in Nature Communications! Congratulations Brigette, Danielle, Bryce, Tracy and Melissa on an amazing effort!
March 27th: Kassandra is invited to give a seminar at Boston College. Thank you, Laura Anne Lowery, for being an incredible host and for always pushing people to be the best versions of themselves.
March 5th: Kassandra is featured in an activity book for kids: “Exciting Science by Cool Scientists” by a very talented graduate student, Briana Rocha-Gregg. Briana runs the Young Scientist Program–please support her and her program!
February 27th: Undergraduate Melodie Navarro hosts Kassandra for the Prytanean Society‘s Dinner for 10 Strangers. Thank you, Melodie, for a wonderful night!
January 18th: Kassandra hosts Jessica Feldman for the Joint Seminars in MCB. Thank you, Jessica, for an exceptional seminar!
2017
December 7th: Kassandra hosts Margot Quinlan for the Joint Seminars in MCB. Thank you, Margot, for a great seminar! Margot was on fire!
December 6th: Kassandra co-organizes the Neuronal Cytoskeleton subgroup session at ASCB and presents Brigette’s incredible work.
September 25th: Kassandra is invited to give a seminar at the University of Wisconsin. Thank you to my host extraordinaire, Jill Wildonger, for an incredible visit!
August 18th: Kassandra is awarded the SFARI Pilot Award!
June 30th: Kassandra gives a seminar to the students of the UC-HBCU Initiative.
June 30th: Kassandra and Rick are faculty panelists for the Aggie Transfer Scholars Weekend.
June 7th: Ashlyn receives the Provost’s Undergraduate Fellowship award for her summer research project. Congratulations Ashlyn!
May 15: Brigette Jong gets married and morphs into Brigette Monroy! Congratulations Brigette and Robert!
March 29-31: Kassandra is invited to speak at the DYRK1a Conference in St. Malo, France!
March 27-28: Kassandra is invited to give a seminar at Universite de Rennes. Thank you, Regis Giet for hosting me!
March 9th: Kassandra receives the March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award!
February 24th: Kassandra brings her flies and scopes to Grunsky Elementary School in Stockton as part of the Young Scientist Program. Thank you, Briana Gregg for organizing such an exciting event!
February 16th: Kassandra co-hosts Craig Montell for the Joint Seminars in MCB. Thank you, Craig, for a fascinating seminar!
February 9th: Kassandra hosts Denise Montell for the Joint Seminars in MCB. Thank you, Denise, for an excellent seminar!
February: Sterling Wong joins the lab as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome Sterling!
2016
December: Tracy, Casandra and Bryce are awarded the Schilling Undergraduate Research Award. Congratulations!
December: Kassandra is a panelist at two career sessions at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting: ‘Preparing a K99/R00 Application’ and ‘Negotiating a Faculty Position’
November 20th: Kassandra gives a Road to Research Seminar to UC Davis undergraduates.
November 18th: Kassandra hosts Katherine Thompson-Peer for a Friday Cell Biology Seminar. Thank you Katie for a great talk on dendrite regeneration!
November 9th: Kassandra gives students from Feather River Community College an introduction to fly genetics as they tour through UCD labs focused on model organisms. Thank you, Celina Juliano for organizing this event!
November 9th: Kassandra hosts Laura Ann Lowery for Seminars in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Thank you Laura Ann for a wonderful talk about the growth cone cytoskeleton!
November: Casandra Aguilar Mendoza joins the lab as a McNair Scholar. Welcome Casandra!
August 14th: Kassandra is invited to speak at the Jan Lab Reunion and Symposium!
June: Bryce Ackermann joins our lab as an undergraduate researcher.
June 3rd: Kassandra is invited to speak at the 25th Annual Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Symposium at UCSF. DSCB Symposium Flyer
May 6th: Kassandra participates in the iBiology Google Hangout about ‘Negotiating an Academic Position’ with Dr. Raychelle Burks and Dr. Omar Quintero. You can watch the video here: http://www.ibiology.org/ibiology/negotiating-academic-position.html
March: Tracy Tan and Melissa Borden join our lab as undergraduate researchers.
January: Paige Wilson joined the lab as a junior specialist.
January: Kassandra and Rick walked into empty lab space, excited by the possibilities!