news

Congratulations to Becca Hill, Kayla McConnell, and Dr. Fitzkee for being selected to give oral presentations at the 2020 Spring ACS Meeting in Philadelphia! All three of the talks will focus on our recent research on protein surface interactions. See you in Philly!

Emily Chappell, one of the talented undergrads working in the Fitzkee Lab, was recently featured on MSU's "Our People" series. You can read the complete story here. Congratulations, Emily!

Our summer REU students are working hard in the lab! With six undergrads, things have been pretty busy. This picture shows (front to back) Becca, Sarah, Taylor, Rebecca, Katie, and Kayla working at their terminals. (Photo by Siddik Alom.)

Congraulations to everyone on successfully moving the lab from 3322 and 3323 to 2206! This move allows us to reorganize and optimze our workflow, and it puts us closer to the autoclave and fluorimeter currently found in the Curie Lab. Moving was a lot of work, but hopefully the results will be increased productivity and a more cohesive workspace.

Student bench space:

It's official! Dinusha has been offered a postdoctoral position in Dr. Andrew Lee's lab at UNC Chapel Hill. We're very proud of her accomplishments and wish her the best in her new position. Congratulations, Dinusha!

This week Becca and Randy both passed the comprehensive oral/written exams. Becca's proposed project involved monitoring how biochar influences mycorrhizae metabolism, and Randy proposed studying the IcaB protein and its involvement in biofilms. Congratulations, Becca and Randy!

Dr. Fitzkee has been awarded the Alumni Association 2019 Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. This award is given to one MSU faculty member each year, and applicants must submit all syllabi used, several letters of support from past and present students, as well as a detailed statement of teaching philosophy. In addition, applicants are evaluated by classroom observation. Dr. Fitzkee will be recognized on April 25th at the MSU Faculty Awards and Recognition Reception.

Dr. Fitzkee has been awarded 2019 Honors College Faculty Mentor Award. This award was given at the 51st Honors College Annual Awards Ceremony and recongizes Dr. Fitzkee's commitment to developing oustanding undergraduate researchers.

This past week, Becca, Randy, and Dr. Fitzkee presented their research results at the 2019 Biophysical Society Meeting in Baltimore, MD. You can read more about their presentations in the BPS Meeting Abstract Issue. Shortcuts to the abstacts are below: