Giving

Gifts to this fund provided support to a new study abroad program led by Laboratory of Genetics professor, Dr. Francisco Pelegri.  During spring break 2019, Dr. Pelegri took 18  undergraduate students to Costa Rica for the UW Banking Animal Biodiversity field study program. Students applied developmental genetics concepts in projects focusing on global animal bio-preservation efforts at research stations in three diverse locations, including a lowland tropical forest, a cloud forest and a wetland/dry tropical forest.

Gifts to this fund help support external invited speakers to the Laboratory of Genetics Spring/Fall Colloquium Series. The Colloquium Series is very important to our graduate program. It is an integral part of Genetics 707 and 708 courses in which 1st and 2nd year students interact directly with Colloquium speakers. In addition, all graduate students attend Colloquium (whose content is fair game on preliminary examinations!), and many attend lunch with the speakers during a speaker-student luncheon.

Gifts to the Genetics Diversity fund were recently used to help support a scientific talk and reception featuring Daniel Alfonso Colon-Ramos, world-class scientist, founder of Ciencia Puerto Rico, and STEM diversity champion. This event was open to the public and allowed underrepresented students interested in science to meet and talk with this very inspiring scientist who is a 2018 recipient of NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Grant Award.

Daniel Alfonso Colón-Ramosis is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine. His research centers on the underlying mechanisms of memory formation using the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system.  In 2006, during his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, Colón-Ramos founded Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) to connect Puerto Rican scientists across the diaspora to promote scholarly interaction, provide visibility for Puerto Rican scientists, and support research and education in Puerto Rico. In 2011, Colón-Ramos received the American Association for the Advancement of Science Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science in part because of his work with CienciaPR and with promoting culturally relevant science education. In November 2018, Colón-Ramos participated in a Lasker Foundation-sponsored series called Conversations in Science with journalist Dan Rather, in which he described his research, his path to science from his childhood in Puerto Rico, and his approach to mentoring the next generation of scientists.

Sherlyn Wijaya – 2023 Recipient of Stone Graduate Student Travel Award

What kind of research did you present?

While most human neurons exist in our brains from embryogenesis onward, they must sustain their intricate structures and functions throughout our lives. Aging inevitably causes neuron deterioration, potentially leading to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans defies this ‘inevitable’ decline through its alternative life phase—the dauer diapause. During this stage, C. elegans maintains neuron functionality despite chronological aging, a stark contrast to non-dauer/aging worms of similar age. My research aims to leverage the dauer state to uncover the genetic and cellular mechanisms driving extended neuron maintenance, laying the foundation for potential treatments for neurodegenerative disorders.

How did you get interested in this project?
I have always been drawn to research in the field of aging, but what intrigued me about this project was its investigation of an organism that has effectively delayed its aging process. Rather than solely investigating what goes wrong and inferring preventive measures, this project presents a distinctive opportunity to directly comprehend the mechanisms responsible for delayed aging.

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Ryan Ward – 2023 Recipient of Stone Graduate Student Travel Award

How did you use the award?

I’m honored to have been awarded the Stone Travel Award to attend two international conferences. At the Symposium on the Biology of Acinetobacter in Coimbra, Portugal, my talk generated enthusiasm for our unique research methods, inspiring attendees to consider implementing them in their own work. The trip to Portugal also gave me a chance to put my college Portuguese to use! In Heidelberg, Germany, at the New Approaches and Concepts in Microbiology at EMBL, my poster presentation became a focal point for discussions with experts in many different fields, paving the way for potential collaborations.

What was the impact of the award on your career?

Receiving the Stone Travel Grant was a defining moment in my professional development. It afforded me the huge opportunity to engage face-to-face with field leaders, stay up-to-date on groundbreaking research, and begin relationships with potential collaborators.

What kind of research did you present?

My research, presented at these key events, focuses on identifying the genetic vulnerabilities of Acinetobacter baumannii. By combining CRISPRi technology with machine learning, I target essential genes to understand which cellular processes are most vulnerable. This research could pave the way to more strategic approaches to address antibiotic resistance.

How did you get interested in this project?

Economics and genetics have given me a strong foundation in data analysis, but it was the allure of microbiology that captivated me. I see bacteria as tiny, fast-evolving economies of genes and proteins. This project was a perfect match, allowing me to apply my data science skills to the intricate and dynamic world of microbiology, with the opportunity to contribute to solving the pressing issue of antibiotic resistance.

Thanks to the generosity of many, the Robert and Ann DeMars fund has reached its $25,000 endowment goal!  Planning is underway for the first Robert and Ann DeMars Lecture.  We will keep you posted.

Thanks to many generous donors, we are excited to report that the Crow Professorship Fund has met its initial goal of a $1,000,000 endowment!  The department will soon appoint the first James F Crow Distinguished Professor of Genetics and thereby recognize and support the research of a world-class scientist on the faculty in the Laboratory of Genetics.