What’s new?
August 2026:
The lab’s third story is on bioRxiv! We discovered that the human orphan Arp “Actin-like 8” is a novel nuclear Arp that plays roles in chromatin biology with downstream consequences on cell migration. This is our first adventure into the histone world that showcases how the actin structure can adapt for many critical processes! Check out the preprint here.
October 2025:
The lab’s second pre-print is on bioRxiv! Check it out here. We combined biochemistry and fly genetics to show how Arp2 splice variants, which differ by only five residues, functionally diverge.
February 2025:
Jordan won the Pharmacology' Department’s Gilman Award to study heteromorphic sperm development. Congrats, Jordan!!
January 2025:
Jordan joined the lab, and the lab was awarded a MIRA grant from NIGMS!
March 2024:
Jordan gave a talk at The Allied Genetics Conference (TAGC) in DC! She presented her work on Arp2 diversification in flies.
November 2023:
The lab’s first paper is now published! Check it out here in Current Biology. Congrats to all authors!
October 2023:
The lab’s first postdoc joined—welcome Nuria! She will be studying recently evolved mammalian Arps that have specialized for sperm development.
July 2023:
Ricky was awarded a spot on the Chemistry-Biology Interface T32 training grant! This is a competitive program that provides financial support, including funds for his stipend, tuition, and travel to scientific meetings.
April 2023:
Kaitlin and Ricky passed their qualifying exams! They are the first students of the lab to officially become Ph.D. candidates.
Jordan Powell joined the lab as a research tech II! She will be studying Arp2/3 diversification in Drosophila.
February 2023:
The lab’s first preprint is on bioRxiv! Congrats to all authors for all their hard work. It turned out to be a fun and surprising story.
November 1, 2022:
Time flies…the lab is now 1 year old! We celebrated with pumpkin carving and bowling, and although our bowling skills may be lacking, one of us managed to get a strike.
August 2022:
Nikki Amarillo joins the lab as a research tech!
April 2022:
The lab’s first graduate students have joined the lab! Welcome to Ricky Chen and Kaitlin Stromberg.
December 2021:
Our NIH R00 grant has been officially funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, providing three years of support for the lab.
Tristan Spain joins the lab as a research technician later this month. Welcome Tristan!
May 2021: The lab was awarded a CPRIT Scholar Recruitment Grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas! Check out the press release here.