New publications

From time to time (often coinciding with the drafting of our annual progress report...), we'll post an update on scholars' work resulting from their research as PREP scholars.

Cameron Vasquez from the 2023 cohort recently published a preview article with his mentor, John Albeck

PREP at ABRCMS 2023

In November, the PREP@UCD scholars made our annual pilgrimage to ABRCMS for a few days of science, networking, professional development, and reconnecting with alumni, friends, and colleagues. Since 2018, ABRCMS has been an important part of our fall program, and this year was no exception. 

2023 NSF GRFP results are in!

Congratulations to PREP@UCD scholars Arielle Hancko and Johnny Vertiz for being awarded NSF GRFPS! And PREP@UCD alum Brayan Vilanova, now at Cornell, received one too!

And alums Brandy Weathers (USC) and Kaitlynn Gov (UT Southwestern) received honorable mentions!

We're so proud of ALL of our PREP scholars and alums -- they've learned so much and we look forward to seeing all that they do in their careers.

Tianna Grant's virtual return to St. Francis College

PREP@UCD alum Tianna Grant gave a virtual seminar to students at her alma mater, St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY. In true PREP style, she included spoke about her journey from her undergraduate coursework, through her postbacc, to her graduate research on T cells and their receptors.

Tianna's discovery of bioinformatics in the LaSalle lab launched her into the Jimmy Ye lab and ImmunoX Computional Biology Initiative at UCSF.

Thanks for giving back to your alma mater, Tianna!

Congratulations to Amy Leslie!

PREP@UCD alum Amy Leslie received one of two 2022-2023 travel awards from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Amy, a doctoral candidate in Integrative Pathobiology and mentee of Dr. Allen Gao, will use her award to support attending a cancer-relevant meeting in 2023.

Congrats to Amy!

Mentorship Award

Colton Baumler, a PREP@UC Davis alumnus and graduate student in UC Davis' Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology program, received the College of Biological Sciences Dean's Mentorship Award in Spring 2022.  What's more, the quiet, self-effacing, and publicity-shy Baumler was featured as part of an article on first generation college students in the Fall 2022 issue of a UC Davis publication, In Greater Focus.

Publication by PREP scholar Kiya Jackson

PREP scholar Kiya Jackson coauthored a book chapter with Professor Joanna Chiu and Chiu labbies Yao Cai and Sergio Sotelo. Their work describes an assay based on circadian locomotor activity in Drosophila melanogaster that can be used with mutant screens and mechanistic studies to identify and characterize key molecular components of the circadian clock.

Congratulations, Kiya! 

What to expect in Grad School, year 1

Forewarned is forearmed.

We invited current UC Davis grad students Arthur Flores (Immunology), Celena Lozano (Neuroscience), and Maribel Anguiano (Neuroscience) to talk with our current cohort of PREP@UCD scholars about their first year as grad students. 

The scholars peppered them with questions in our hour-long discussion.

Time to celebrate!

The 2021-2022 Cohort of PREP@UCD scholars and affiliates are making have made decisions about grad school! They have worked hard and their mentors have provided tremendous support.

We are SO excited and proud of them.

Structure, phenotypes, and RNA-edited sequences in plant mitochondria

PREP affiliate Kaitlyn Abe and the Letts lab at UC Davis used biochemical and structural principles to explain the phenotypes of several mutants of proteins that edit RNA in respiratory complexes. Their work recently appeared in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences: Maldonado, Abe, and Letts, A structural perspective on RNA editing of plant respiratory complexes, IJMS 2022, 23(2), 684.

Congratulations to all!

The progression of Rett Syndrome in a mouse model

Rett syndrome, a common neurodevelopmental disorder in girls, alters motor skills and cognition, with disruptions in digestion and metabolism frequently occurring in affected individuals. The Janine LaSalle lab, including Tianna Grant -- PREP@UCD alumna and current UCSF grad student -- have identified new pathways of the progression of Rett Syndrome, with changes in the gut microbiome and metabolism emerging prior to the onset of neurological symptoms. Further, they observed sexual dimorphism in disease progression within mouse models.