Lab Members
Michael Buszczak
Principal Investigator
Shane Scoggin
Lab Manager
Nathan Williams
Lab Technician
-
Yun Li
Post-doctoral fellow
In the Drosophila female germline, the selective translational repression of specific mRNAs governs both stem cell maintenance and the differentiation of their progeny. My research is interested in the mechanisms of several translation-related proteins, such as Ago1, Mei-P26, Bam, Bgcn and Sxl, how they control and coordinate different modes of translational repression and how they modulate the self-renewal or differentiation state of stem cells.
-
Violaine Mottier
Post-doctoral fellow
The evolutionary conserved family of RNA-binding proteins termed PUF (Pumilio and FBF) play essential roles in stem cell maintenance and development. PUF proteins control the stability of mRNAs by binding to specific recognition sequences in their 3’untranslated regions (3’UTRs). In Drosophila, two other genes contain some Pumilio RNA-binding repeats but their function has not yet been fully investigated. I am interested to determine what the function of these genes in germline cells is and whether they play a role in stem cell maintenance.
-
Nevine Shalaby
Post-doctoral fellow
I am interested in understanding how chromatin modifications affect stem cell identify. To answer this question, we are using ends-out homologous recombination to knock-out entire gene families of chromatin-modifying enzymes. Specifically, we are characterizing histone demethylases and histone deacetylases and assessing their null phenotypes on stem cell populations of the Drosophila ovary.
-
Zhaohui Wang
Post-doctoral fellow
I study the chromatin organization in Drosophila Germline Stem Cells and synchronously differentiating germline cysts, and specific gene expressions in cap cells and escort cells which regulate germline stem cells maintenance and germline cysts differentiation.
-
Arnaldo Carreira-Rosario
Graduate student
I am interested in translational regulation during differentiation. Currently, I am trying to elucidate the molecular function of A2BP1 in the germline. This is a RNA binding protein required for proper oocyte differentiation as the mutant ovaries cannot enter into meiosis and developed tumors.
-
Dhananjay Chaturvedi
Graduate student
I study the role certain chromatin modifiers in stem cell maintenance. The focus is on members of a transcriptional complex. Interestingly, these genes have a chronology and context dependent phenotype.
-
Susan Eliazer
Graduate student
I am interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression in specialized somatic cells called escort cells that reside adjacent to the niche of the germline stem cells. I work on a histone demethylase lsd1 that plays a role in suppressing niche signals in the escort cells and supports the early differentiation of the germline stem cell daughters. My current work involves identifying the binding partners and molecular targets of lsd1. I am also performing a screen to identify other chromatin related factors that function in the escort cells.
-
Qiao Zhang
Graduate student
Currently my work is focusing on a novel gene we call under-developed(udd). This protein is highly enriched in nucleoli and plays a critical role in female and male germ cell development .
