It has been an eventful eight months. Our first and most recent entry was posted in March of this year, and much has happened since then! While COVID-19 has had a tragic negative effect on the world around us, we have been very fortunate to have had plenty of positive events as well.

Since our last update, Drew has moved on to a neurosurgery residency at Duke University. Randi has also moved on to opportunities elsewhere. We are thankful for the work that they put in as members of the lab and wish them the best in their future endeavors!

In June, we welcomed Lizzy Ramsey, our new level III researcher, as well as Kasi McPherson, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the IRACDA-Merit Program. Both of them have quickly become integral members of the lab and we are so fortunate to have them with us!

In August, we welcomed Jack Hoover for a graduate rotation. It has since ended in mid October, and we were glad to have had the chance to get to know him and have him as a member of our lab, if only temporarily! At the same time, we also brought in Emily Page, a research assistant in the UAB Graduate PREP Scholar’s Program. We are so excited for her to continue to be a part of our lab and our science!

In October, we welcomed Shaurita Hutchins as our newest graduate rotation student. We look forward to seeing what she will accomplish with us throughout her rotation!

Finally, we were fortunate to bring in a new wet lab manager, T.C. Howton, PhD, in November. He has and will continue to be instrumental in bringing our wet lab space fully back up and running!

(Left to right) First row: PI Brittany Lasseigne, PhD, Avery Williams, Emily Page, Jen Fisher
Second row: Sasha Thalluri, Lizzy Ramsey, Tabea Soelter, Jordan Whitlock
Third row: Lara Ianov, PhD (guest), Kasi PcPherson, PhD, Vishal Oza, PhD, T.C. Howton, PhD
Last row: Shaurita Hutchins

Outside of news about all of our wonderful new (and newly alumni) lab members, we have also been granted a new lab space! We have expanded into a second room in Room 966 of Tinsley Harrison’s Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology Department, right by our original space in 960. The plan is to designate 960 as exclusively wet lab and 966 as only dry lab in order to best accommodate for our combined interests. This will also allow us to have more lab members present while maintaining safe social distancing measures.

Our new computational lab space in Tinsley Harrison Room 966.

We hope that you are doing well and staying safe!

Avery Williams – November 2nd, 2020
Updated: December 23, 2020 to include our newest lab manager, T.C. and pictures of the lab members and our new space.