Description of project: I'm an electrical engineer by training, but I got interested in how cells solve engineering problems, which I view as fundamentally interesting but also potentially as the key to learning how to harness cells for engineering purposes. My main focus is on how geometry arises within cells, as well as how cells perform computations and behaviors.

Description of project: My general interests are in understanding how cells control the size of their organelles. As a model system for size control, I study cilia/flagella of both cultured mammalian cells and the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas using quantitative live-cell imaging and analysis.

Mary Mirvis, Postdoctoral Fellow

Description of project: How is the cellular interior organized? I want to understand how the spatial and mechanical interactions between organelles contribute to cytoplasmic patterning in yeast using image-based modeling and biophysical simulations.

Ask me about: (your scientific expertise/interests) - organelles, cytoskeleton, confocal microscopy, live cell imaging, image analysis, cell biology/systems biology

When I'm not doing science I enjoy: reading all kinds of things, yoga, trail running & hanging out in the woods, learning astronomy & stargazing, trying and failing to teach my cat tricks, bullet journaling and calligraphy

For more, visit: Twitter, Linkedin, PubMed

Ambika Nadkarni, postdoc (joint with Sindy Tang Lab, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford)

Description of project: mechanism of wound healing in Stentor

Description of project: I use imaging and micromanipulation techniques to study dynamics of the cytoskeleton and cytoplasm.  I'm interested in mixing driven by amoeboid motility as well as turnover and re-use of cytoskeletal proteins during Stentor growth and regeneration.  

Description of project: I study the molecular basis of pattern formation and regeneration in Stentor, with a focus on the role of SFI1 proteins and the E2F pathway in controlling the spatial and temporal process of rebuilding cellular structure

Description of project: How can we improve our mental models of biology with the aid of computer graphics? I am interested in applying the latest 3D modeling softwares developed by the video game and film industries to simulate the structure and dynamics of organelles. Perhaps hidden in the geometry and movements of organelles lies the information that ultimately generates the emergent properties of cells and tissues!
 

Ask me about: animation science, mitochondrial networks, complex-systems theory, energetic scaling laws, and all the ways art can help us do better science.
 

When I’m not doing science I enjoy: rollerblading, meditating, and ruminating about climate change.
 

For more, visit: Twitter, Linkedin, PubMed

Deepa Rajan, MD/PhD student

Description of project: exploring the basis of cognition in cells using Stentor

Jamarc Allen-Henderson, Masters student

Description of project: role of microtubule motor proteins and mitochondria in Stentor regeneration

Raphael Mostov, Undergrad student

Description of project: using graph theory and abstract algebra to understand mitochondrial network geometry