Periklis Paganos, PhD | Swartz Lab

Periklis Paganos, PhD, a postdoctoral scientist in the MBL's Eugene Bell Center, received a two-year postdoctoral award from the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (GCRLE) of the Buck Institute entitled, "Gene regulatory networks controlling sea star reproductive longevity and aging." Sea stars are able to produce hundreds of thousands of new oocytes during adulthood throughout their 35+ year lifespan, making them an ideal model to understand why humans lost this feature and whether it is possible to take advantage of this ability to improve human reproductive health and aging. Periklis will conduct research by using comparative approaches to understand how extreme reproductive longevity and fecundity have evolved in echinoderms, and its underlying gene regulatory mechanisms.

Cristina Roman-Vendrell, PhD | Morgan Lab

Cristina Roman-Vendrell, a postdoctoral scientist in the MBL's Eugene Bell Center, has been selected for the National Institute of Health's MOSAIC program (Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers). This program is part of NIH’s efforts to enhance diversity within the academic biomedical research workforce and is designed to facilitate the transition of promising postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds into independent, tenure-track or equivalent research-intensive faculty positions.

Cris's project, “Mechanisms of endosomal dysfunction at synapses in α-synuclein pathology” will provide insights into the early membrane trafficking events leading to synaptic dysfunction in α-synuclein-related diseases. Understanding these mechanisms will help advance the development of therapies aimed at improving synapse function in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. Here is a link to the ASCB MOSAIC Program (AMP) with photos of the new cohort.

Jessica Stock, PhD | Albertin Lab

Jessica Stock, PhD in the Albertin lab of the Eugene Bell Center at MBL, received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program that supports early career scientists seeking to broaden their research skill by moving into new areas of study while working in a new country. Jessica's recently awarded three-year HFSP research project, Molecular and morphogenetic characterization of early neurogenesis in cephalopods, seeks to use her previous work in zebrafish, such as lineage tracing and cell transplantation, to reveal key mechanisms of neurogenesis in cephalopods. Through genetic manipulation using CRISPR/Cas9, Jessica hopes to identify and functionally characterize specific molecular factors that are essential for different steps of neurodevelopment in cephalopods.