The Department of Molecular Medicine is hosting research Work-in-Progress presentations this Fall and Winter, prior to the merger with the Department of Biomedical Sciences to become the Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences
 

Fall 2025 / Winter 2026 Department Work-In-Progress Series
4:00 pm Mondays, Lecture Hall III, unless noted otherwise

SEPTEMBER 2025

• September 15
  Matt Zanotelli  (Cerione Lab)  - A Dock7-mTOR complex sustains AKT and S6K activity necessary for stress survival in cancer 
  Sumanth Mosale (Sardana Lab) - TBD

• September 22
  Shun Enomoto (Cerione Lab) - Embryonic stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles delay cellular senescence by inhibiting oxidative stress
  Sarah Chan  (Kawate Lab) - Elucidating the biochemical role of the TTYH protein family in the nervous system

• September 29
  Saul De La Penn (Cerione Lab) – Unraveling the biology and structure of rhodopsin-transducin in the presence of native lipids
  Justin Tapper  (Adler Lab) - Identifying regulators of stem cell apoptosis in planaria

OCTOBER 2025

• October 6
  Jessica Holchek (Cerione Lab) - Investigating the dynamics of phosphodiesterase-6 activation by the G-protein transducin using electron spin resonance spectroscopy
  Libby Huang (Kurpios Lab) - The role of villus stroma in lymphatic-muscle development and stem cell homeostasis

• October 13 
  No WIP, Fall Break

• October 20 
  Alexandra Hommer (Sevier Lab) - The role of sub cellular protein methionine oxidation and methionine sulfoxide reductase (MSR) activities in aging
  Jacob Neumann (Cerione Lab) - TBA

• October 27
  Katie Crowther (Kawate Lab) - Elucidating the function and physiological role of TMEM94

NOVEMBER 2025

• November 3
  Jac Longstreth (Cerione Lab) - Advancing treatment of infectious disease by targeting glutamine metabolism
  Jade Bowerman  (Sardana Lab) - Identification of isoform specific functions of AP-1 adaptor in intra-Golgi recycling

• November 10
  Yongsheng Wang (Cerione Lab) - Palmitoylation as a Mechanism for Regulating Extracellular Vesicle Cargo and Function
  Julia Zhu  (Sardana Lab) - The Yeast Homolog of CTNS is a Golgi Protein Linked to Redox Homeostasis

• November 17
  Biswanath Shaw  (Cerione Lab) - Structural Insights into Dock7-DHR2 Regulation by Activated Cdc42
  Isabel Delo (Adler Lab) - Investigating the role of Smad4-2 in neural feeding circuit regeneration

• November 24 
  NO WIP, Thanksgiving Break

DECEMBER 2025

• December 1
  Trisha Bhattacharya  (Ichikawa Lab)- Developing chemical probes to discover protein modifications that recruit E3 ligases
  Yifan Fang  (Cerione Lab) - The E3 ubiquitin ligase targeting mitochondrial GAC degradation under SIRT5 regulation in breast cancer

• December 8
  Lola Lang  (Ichikawa Lab) - Methionine oxidation as a marker for protein degradation
  Fu-Yu Tsai (Adler Lab) - Regulation of brain neurogenesis in planarians

• December 15
  Kayleigh Morrison  (Hollopeter Lab) – Determining the function of the MLT-4 amphipathic helix
  Minyi He  (Ichikawa Lab) - Phosphine-based chemical probes for dehydroamino acids

• December 22 
  NO WIP, Winter Break

• December 29 
  NO WIP, Winter Break

JANUARY 2026

• January 5
  Iana Nikorich  (Ichikawa Lab) - Harnessing myogenic differentiation for discovery of redox-sensitive E3 ligases
  Sam Deck (Cerione Lab) - Temperature-dependent crystallography of K-RAS reveals unique structural hotspots serving as potential allosteric and druggable binding sites

• January 12
  Kan Ujiie  (Ichikawa Lab) - Protein Engineering for Stereo-specific Detection of Methionine Oxidation
  Jacqueline Ehrlich (Kawate Lab) - The Pannexin 1 gating loop controls channel opening by electrostatic energy

• January 19 
  NO WIP, Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

• January 26 
  NO WIP, BBS Recruitment

FEBRUARY 2026

• February 2
  Erick Eguia  (Sardana Lab) - Investigating the Targets and Regulation of Endo-Lysosomal Ubiquitin Ligases
  Junda Chen  (Sevier Lab) - Exploring Msr Proteins as Adaptors Linking Oxidative Damage to Urm1-Mediated Modification

• February 9
  Cyrus Habas  (Hollopeter Lab)
  Yuhan Jiang (Kawate Lab)