Visitor of the Week: Allan Kalungi

Meet Allan Kalungi! The Ugandan national is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at Makerere University (Uganda) and the African Computational Genomics Group at MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit. The postdoctoral researcher joined at us last month’s workshop on Schizophrenia & Related Disorders—his first course at CSHL.

Tell us about your research.
My research is focused on understanding the genetic, biological and environmental factors that underly major and complex psychiatric disorders like depression among African populations from Africa.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
The underrepresentation of Africans in global psychiatric genetics research compelled me to focus on this area. Psychiatric disorders are a growing problem in Africa yet we do not know any of the genes or biological pathways for any of these disorders among populations from Africa, despite recent advances in psychiatric genetics research where the genetic nature of several psychiatric disorder has been illuminated. There is an urgent need to include Africans in global psychiatric genetics research if they are to benefit from recent psychiatric genetics discoveries.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
Africa had generally been left out in psychiatric genetics research. The current global attention to increase the visibility of Africans in global psychiatric research is a big inspiration in my scientific journey. In 2017, I pioneered psychiatric genetics research in East Africa when I produced the first article in the field that reported the association of selected serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms with increased suicidal risk among Uganda adults living with HIV.

Allan hiding in a cactus “forest” somewhere in Cape Town.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I hope my work will contribute to the understanding of the biology that underlies various psychiatric disorders among populations from Africa. I also hope that my work will refine the global understanding of the biology behind these disorders with the inclusion of the highly diverse genetics data from Africa.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself as an independent researcher on the forefront of psychiatric genetics research in Africa.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
I love being in an environment where things are not static and your thinking is under stimulation.

What drew you to apply to this course?
I am interested in understanding the nature of the comorbidity between depression and schizophrenia. My desire to understand the phenotypic and genetic nature of schizophrenia and its related disorders compelled me to apply to the course.

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
It is crucial to understand mechanisms that link genetic variations to disease. I plan to investigate these as well in my genetics studies.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
This is a great course where you will most likely catch up on recent, worldwide breakthroughs in all aspects of schizophrenia research; from Neuroscience approaches to Genetics/Epigenetics and Neuroimmunology.

Enjoying his last dinner of the course, and his first lobster!

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
Meeting with top investigators in schizophrenia research like Robin Murray, Jeremy Hall, Anissa Abi-Dargham and James Walters among others. The most memorable moment was however the schizophrenia case presentation.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
I like the serenity around CSHL. It is isolated with no neighborhoods and is surrounded by trees. I enjoyed the breeze from the ocean. The food was nice and I enjoyed the lobster for the first time in my life!

Allan received a scholarship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to cover his course tuition. On behalf of Allan, thank you to HHMI for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Allan for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Allan Kalungi

Visitor of the Week: Annie Yao

Meet Annie Yao of the University of Connecticut Health Center. Annie is a MD/PhD Candidate in Dr. Riqiang Yan’s lab and recently trained at last month’s Ion Channels in Synaptic and Neural Circuit Physiology course.

Tell us about your research.
My lab studies the pathophysiological underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia worldwide. I’m interested in how beta-secretase, an essential enzyme in the development of AD, regulates neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
Since high school, I’ve been interested in combining translational research with helping patients. While working at the Broad Institute/MIT after college in Dr. Guoping Feng’s lab, which studies synapse and brain circuitry dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders like autism and schizophrenia, I was inspired to pursue a dual MD/PhD degree with the goal of studying and treating brain disorders. I chose my project after rotating in a couple of labs and being inspired by electrophysiology as a way to study neuronal (dys)function.  

Annie patch-clamp recording of a dendrite in the hippocampal CA1 region.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My parents are first-generation immigrants that moved to the U.S. to pursue their own graduate education in science. The strength and resilience they possessed to make that sort of leap… they have always been an inspiration to me.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I hope that my current and future research and clinical training will be able to directly shape patient wellbeing and improve therapeutics.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
One of my favorite parts of being a researcher is that there’s always something more to learn, a new skill to develop, a new perspective to explore.

What drew you to apply to this course?
I have heard amazing things about the Ion Channels course for many years, from both my mentors in previous labs and peers who have taken the course. I knew that this experience would be formative in my growth as a training electrophysiologist. 

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
My key takeaway is to be persistent in your troubleshooting of the rig, and as one of our instructors emphasized at the end of our time here, to be rigorous in our practice of electrophysiology and critical about our data.

Patch clamp of a hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron while measuring evoked activity.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
You get out of an experience what you put in! When applying for the course, be sure to emphasize how your specific project would benefit from this immersive experience. When at the course, make use of the expertise that surrounds you every day – you have access to incredible teachers/scientists/electrophysiologists who can help you answer any question you have about your project design or execution. And finally, make time for yourself - 3 weeks of nonstop ephys is gratifying but intense!

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
After the last day of hands-on lab work, our cohort went on a sunset sailboat trip together. It felt amazing to be on the water, with beautiful weather and in the company of new friends.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
Being surrounded by beautiful nature the second you step outside your cabin or the lab. Cold Spring Harbor is truly such a scenic place to learn in.

Thank you to Annie for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Images provided by Annie Yao

Visitor of the Week: Mohamed "Mo" Gatie

Meet Mohamed “Mo” Gatie of the Sloan Kettering Institute. Mo is a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis’ lab. He took part in our 2021 Mouse Engineering Virtual Minicourse and returned last month to train, in-person, at the Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer course last month.

Tell us about your research.
How cells differentiate and acquire specific identities, organize in an orchestrated manner to generate an anatomical, fully functional organ remains an elusive mystery in developmental biology. To understand the mechanisms that govern the formation of endodermal organs, I use high resolution imaging with single-cell genomic technologies, coupled with precision mouse genetics approaches to further our understanding of normal endodermal organ development; a cornerstone for improving the understanding and treatment of congenital birth defects.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
During my graduate training, I focused on trying to understand the role metabolism plays in lineage decision using in vitro systems. However, for my postdoctoral work, I wanted to switch gears and study later stages of development and use the mouse as a model organism. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the lab of Dr. Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis who is an expert in mammalian embryo development, with a longstanding interest in the endoderm, the tissue which gives rise to the respiratory and digestive tracts and associated organs.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My earliest childhood inspiration would have to be my uncle. I was always amazed by his ability to take things apart, fix them, and put them back together. This really resonated with me, as in developmental biology, we follow a similar process when we’re trying to understand normal development and/or disease.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
In addition to advancing the field of developmental biology, I would like to provide increased opportunities to marginalized groups, minorities and women in science to remove the barriers these groups face and make science more inclusive and accessible to all.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to have a paper or two published from my postdoctoral work and focus on my career path towards an independent research program to do science and mentor the next generation of scientists.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
The scientific freedom to explore the unknown. The most satisfying aspect of research is when you first make a discovery--big or small--and for that moment in time you are the only person who knows about it.

What drew you to apply to this course?
The CSHL Mouse Development, Stem Cells and Cancer course is an intensive, 3-week course that brings together world-class researchers, instructors and students to learn and exchange their unique knowledge and expertise. Coming into this with little mouse experience, this course was exactly what I needed to enhance my competence in this area of science. The instructors and TAs were extremely knowledgeable and approachable, and truly made this experience unforgettable.

What is your key takeaway from the course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
The course was designed in a way to expose us to many different techniques. The point is not to be an expert, but perhaps learn and develop valuable skills that we can take back to our own labs and implement into our individual research projects.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
JUST DO IT! The lectures and the technical knowledge and various topics you will learn about during this course are invaluable.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the course?
The most memorable aspect is easily the collaboration I established with the CSHL Metabolomics course. I wanted to expand my knowledge and was lucky enough to interact with the students and instructors from the Metabolomics course, which was taking place at the same time as the mouse course. We were able to work on a project together and present the data to the class. Collaboration is exactly what science is all about, and CSHL is the perfect place for this.

Is this your first in-person course/workshop since the pandemic? If so, any thoughts you’d like to share?
Yes, this is my very first workshop ever. To many around the world, this pandemic has been very difficult. We in science thrive on collaboration, networking, discussing ideas as well as going to conferences to learn and present our work. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to attend the CSHL Mouse Development, Stem Cells and Cancer course to learn from experts in the field and learn from amazing individuals.   

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
Without a doubt, it is the people I met in the course. I really enjoyed being able to thoroughly plan experiments, talk about science and just spend time at the bar relaxing after a long day with all the wonderful folks. The friendships that I have gained from this course will be everlasting.

Mohamed received a scholarship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to cover a portion of his course tuition. On behalf of Mo, thank you to HHMI for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Mo for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Mohamed Gatie

Visitor of the Week: Adrian Padron

Meet Adrian Padron of the Meharry Medical College School of Graduate Studies and Research! The doctoral candidate is conducting his work in the lab of CV Dash which utilizes biochemical approaches to understanding the early events of the HIV-1 replication process. Adrian is at Retroviruses, his first in-person meeting since the pandemic, where he had the opportunity to give his first talk titled “Cyclophilin A Promotes HIV-1 Preintegration Complex Function.” It was warmly received by his fellow researchers and he received some direct and “quite invaluable” feedback. But despite this career milestone, being able to meet people from different parts of the world and learning of their work in virology has been what Adrian enjoyed most from his time at CSHL.

Tell us about your research.
My project entails determining the role of the host factor, Cyclophilin A (CypA), on HIV-1 pre-integration complex function. The overarching aim of this study is to determine if CypA has a role in the critical step of vDNA integration.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
Although I studied animal physiology as an undergrad, I have always had an interest in microbiology and virology. I spent several years working in various research labs in California and Maryland which gave me an opportunity to explore my research options. When I began my graduate work at Meharry, I was fortunate to be able to further explore my interests rotating in molecular virology research labs.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I was inspired to go on my scientific journey after completing my undergraduate studies as I reflected on my early experiences in life including witnessing the onset of the HIV pandemic when I was young and seeing many people, including my uncle, become infected and lose their life to HIV/AIDS.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I hope to continue research and pass on knowledge to others as a university level researcher/instructor.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
One of the things I love most about being a researcher is being able to learn something new and ultimately being able to share it with others.

What drew you to attend this meeting?

The opportunity to be exposed to research from investigators from all over the world is one of the key aspects that drew me to attend this meeting. 

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?

One of the main takeaways from this meeting is that there is still so much to learn about virology which is very exciting! 

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?

I would most certainly advise anyone considering participating in this meeting to network with other researchers.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?

There were two wonderful and inspiring keynote talks—Carol Carter and Thomas J. Hope—which were one of the most memorable aspects of this meeting.

Thank you to Adrian for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Adrian Padron

Visitor of the Week: Nicholas Hiers

Meet Nicholas Hiers of the University of Florida! The second year PhD student from Dr. Mingyi Xie’s lab joined us at this week’s Regulatory & Non-Coding RNAs. This not only is his first meeting at CSHL but his first one as a researcher and he made his debut with a bag; presenting a poster titled “The target-directed miRNA degradation interactome in cancer.” Here is Nicholas on his poster presentation experience: “This was my first in-person poster, and I think it went very well. I got to talk about our lab’s science to a bunch of big names and fresh faces, and I also got some nice feedback and a couple new ideas from it as well.”

Tell us about your research.
My research primarily relates to dysregulated small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs) as it relates to cancer progression and severity. I specifically study the mechanisms that determine microRNA birth/biogenesis and death/degradation to better understand altered microRNA-mediated gene expression in cancers.   

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
The degradation of microRNAs recently became a hot topic in the non-coding RNA field, so I was eager to take on a project related to that area. My PI described this subject as a sort of black box, and the prospect of discovering something both novel and impactful was too good to pass up.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I can confidently say that the inspiration for my scientific journey is personal curiosity. I desperately want to better understand how life “works” and this curiosity is generally what fuels my investigations.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
This is difficult to choose, I personally really enjoy research as a creative outlet, but I also get a lot of personal fulfillment and pride from the work that I do.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
It is not everyday that there is a conference for almost exclusively non-coding RNAs, how could I pass up that? That, and the stacked lineup of talks from many of the big names in the field.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
My main takeaway is that this field is full of such great and diverse science, much of which is of such quality that it is personally motivating for me to reach that standard.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
Just come! Everyone is friendly, the campus is gorgeous, and you will get so many fresh ideas and perspectives from all the talks/posters.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
That’s a tough one, but probably getting to see my coworker Tianqi give a talk on her research. It was really exciting to see her explain her science to all of the bigshots in the field, and she ended up nailing the talk!

Is this your first in-person meeting since the pandemic? If so, any thoughts you’d like to share?
It was, it was also my first conference in general. I feel like the pandemic has made everyone far too used to isolation, and it was really nice to just be around a lot of like-minded people in my field now that the pandemic has settled down.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
Without a doubt, the best thing about this meeting has been the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of friends and colleagues from around the world. I have not experienced anything like this since becoming a researcher, and it has been such a positive experience that I will 100% be returning to CSHL.

Thank you to Nicholas for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by NIcholas Hiers