News and Events

Department News

june 2013

  • Dr. Joe Yost will receive the 2013 Gold Heart Award from the American Heart Association for outstanding contributions to cardiovascular medicine. This is the highest award the association gives.

may 2013

  • Dr. Christopher Gregg has been invited to be an F1000Prime Faculty member of Animal Genetics. His web page with them can be found here.
  • Dr. Coni Horndli in the Gregg Lab has been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Swiss Science Foundation. More about this can be read here.
  • Fabienne Poulain, postdoc in the Yost Lab, has been awarded a K99/R00 Mentored Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health for her project: "Functions of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans in Axon Guidance and Degeneration".
  • Dr. David Morton is the 2013 winner of the Leonard W. Jarcho, M.D., Distinguished Teaching Award. This annual award recognizes an outstanding medical educator at the School of Medicine who has demonstrated exceptional skill and dedication in teaching and advising medical students, interns, residents or fellows.

april 2013

  • Graduate students Lisa Benko from the Dorsky Lab and Kevin Breen from the Vetter Lab have both been awarded the University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship for 2013-2014.

march 2013

  • The Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy received top ranking by Academic Analytics. The department ranked 4th in graduate diciplines that ranked in the top 25% in the nation. For more information please read here.

February 2013

  • Chris Gregg has been chosen to serve as an Associate Scientific Advisor for the journal Science Translational Medicine, and will write a monthly column for this journal.
  • Megan Williams has been selected as a 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.
  • Chris Gregg was awarded a Simons Foundation Explorer Award to examine the conservation of imprinting in other species and the potential relevance of imprinting to autism spectrum disorders.
  • Monica Vetter was awarded a 2013 Innovative Ophthalmic Research Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation.

december 2012

  • Dr. Tom Parks,  has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors. We extend our congratulations! The honor “is bestowed upon academic innovators and inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions and innovations that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society,” the academy says. More about this can be read here.

november 2012

  • Ranajeet Saund of the Saijoh Lab successfully defended his doctoral candidate dissertation titled, "Gut Endodrm is involved in the Transfer of Left-Right Asymmetry from the Node to the Lateral Plate Mesoderm in the Mouse Embryo". Congratulations!

 

September 2012

  • Professor Rich Dorsky and his lab have published an articlie in Developmental Cell entitled "Wnt Signaling Regulates Postembryonic Hypothalamic Progenitor Differentiation".

    From Science Daily: "Researchers from the University of Utah have gained new insight into the regulation of adult nerve cell generation in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates many aspects of behavior, mood, and metabolism. In the Sept. 10, 2012, issue of Developmental Cell they report that a cell-to-cell communication network known as the Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in both the production and specialization of nerve cell precursors in the hypothalamus". Read the rest of the article here.

May 2012

  • Assistant Professor Megan Williams has been awarded a Research Grant from the Whitehall Foundation. The award is for research in Invertebrate and vertebrate (excluding clinical) neurobiology, specifically investigations of neural mechanisms involved in sensory, motor, and other complex functions of the whole organism as these relate to behavior. The overall goal should be to better understand behavioral output or brain mechanisms of behavior.

March 2012

  • Kerry Peterson, Director of the School of Medicine's Body Donor Program, was interviewed by The Salt Lake Tribune about the Body Donation Program in an article called, "Leaving a legacy: Donating your body to science". The article can be read here.
  • Dr. Chi-Bin Chien was awarded (posthumously) a University of Utah 2012 Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Distinguished Mento Award. The award recognized faculty who effectively guide graduate students and postdoctoral scholars throughout their professional training in a continuing, multifaceted partnership sustained by mutual respect and concern. More about this award can be found here.

december 2011

  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (12/05/11) can be found here.

November 2011

  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (11/28/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (11/21/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Building Power Shutdown (11/19/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (11/07/11) can be found here.

october 2011

  • Christopher Gregg, who joined the faculty of the Department this year, was named a Robertson Neuroscience Investigator by the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF). He is one of four researchers nationwide selected for this highly competitive award. He will receive $300,000 annually for five years for his research, which focuses on pathways and genes in the brain that regulate feeding and motivated behaviors.
  • A former member of our faculty, Dr. Mahendra Rao was recently appointed Director for the new NIH Intramural Center for Regenerative Medicine (NIH-CRM), which will focus on creating excellence in stem cell technology at the NIH. The NIH announcement is available at: http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2011/od-03.htm
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (10/31/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (10/24/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (10/17/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Building Power Shutdown (10/11/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Update (10/10/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: Shutdown Schedul Update (10/03/11) can be found here.

september 2011

  • Assistant Professor Megan Williams' paper "Cadherin-9 Regulates Synapse-Specific Differentiation in the Developing Hippocampus" has been published in Neuron. This study reveals that the synapse-specific differentiation is regulated by a classic cadherin.

    The preview can be found here. The paper can be found here.
  • The “Grant Writing Crash Course” is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and led by Gary C. Schoenwolf, Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy.

    Grant Writing Crash Course Update:

    Registration for the Fall 2011 “Grant Writing Crash Course” has reached capacity!
    Registration for the Spring 2012 “Grant Writing Crash Course” is now available.

    June 8 – 10, 2012
    The Lodges at Deer Valley Resort
    Park City, Utah

    Experienced University of Utah faculty will provide individualized instruction in the mechanics of effective grant proposal writing, how to sell your idea to a sponsoring agency, how to develop specific aims and justifications, and the political and social aspects of “grantsmanship.” Participants will work on their grant proposals at the Crash Course, receiving real-time feedback to strengthen their proposals and enhance their likelihood of funding.  Registration fees include two nights lodging at Deer Valley Lodges, use of recreational facilities, and most meals.  Immediate family members are welcome to accompany the participant at an additional charge. Attendance is highly limited and you are encouraged to reserve your place as soon as possible.  To register, or for more information, please contact Tony Onofrietti, Director of Research Education or call 801-585-3492.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: Shutdown Schedul Update (09/26/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: Shutdown Schedul Update (09/19/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: Shutdown Schedul Update (09/18/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (09/12/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (09/05/11) can be found here.

august 2011

  • Remembering Esther Fujimoto (click here).

  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (08/29/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (08/22/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (08/05/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of August 1stPDF Update can be found here.

July 2011

  • Phase 1 of the Wintrobe remodel project is now complete.  You can stop by level 3 and check out the new space, or see the pictures below.  The Chien lab has moved down to level 3. Jan Christian's lab is located across the hall.  Chris Gregg will have his lab at the east end of the new space when he starts this fall. Megan Williams will also start this fall and will have temporary space next to Chi-Bin until her space on level 5 is done.  Phase 2 (the rest of level 4 and most of level 5) is now underway, and is scheduled to be completed by December.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (07/29/11) can be found here
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of July 25th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of July 18th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of July 11th PDF Update can be found here.

June 2011

  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule for Multiple Days (06/29/11)can be found here.
  • We are pleased to announce that Megan Williams, postdoctoral fellow with Anirvan Ghosh at the University of California San Diego, will be joining the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy as Assistant Professor in Summer 2011. She is investigating the molecular mechanisms that mediate the formation of synaptic specificity in developing neural circuits, with the goal of understanding how defects in synaptic specificity cause neurological disorders. See 2010 Neuron 68(1);9-18.
  • The Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy has partnered with the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies to successfully recruit Jan Christian as Professor to the University of Utah School of Medicine with shared appointment in both departments. She will be starting July 1, 2011 and will be bringing an active research program focused on how essential cell signaling pathways, including Wnt and BMP signaling, are regulated during vertebrate embryogenesis.
  • Andy Aman, recent graduate from Tatjana Piotriowski's lab in the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy was the recipient of the 2011 James W. Prahl Memorial Award for for outstanding contributions by a graduate student in biological or biomedical sciences at the University of Utah.
    Andy's dissertation is entitled: Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates multiple aspects of lateral line morphogenesis.
  • Dr. Alejandro Sanchez and Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski have moved their laboratories to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. We wish them much success in their new institution.
  • We have had many successful PhD dissertation defenses this past year, including: Issam Al Diri (Vetter lab), Sofia Robb (Sanchez Lab), Otto Guedelhoffer (Sanchez Lab), Wei Chen (Vetter lab), Erin Cadwalader (Yost lab), Sheila Samson (Yost lab), Andy Aman (Piotrowski lab), with several more pending this summer. Congratulations to everyone! We had a successful turnout of Neurobiology & Anatomy as well as Neuroscience graduates at this year's School of Medicine commencement.

    (click picture for larger view)
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule Update (06/20/11) can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of June 20th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of June 13th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule for Multiple Days can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of June 6th PDF Update can be found here.

May 2011

  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of May 23rd PDF Update can be found here.

  • Student Honors:

    Graduate Student Coni Stacher-Horndli of the Chien Lab has been awarded the University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship for 2011-2012 ($15,000 plus tuition). More information about this award can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of May 16th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: Steam Shutdown Schedule can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of May 9th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of May 2nd PDF Update can be found here.

April 2011

  • Distinguished Professor Gary Schoenwolf has been awarded the 2011 AAA / Wiley A.J. Ladman Exemplary Service Award. From the award presentation program:

    Schoenwolf’s contributions to AAA have been broad, and their impact on AAA has been significant.  As stated in the letter of nomination from Parker Antin, “I know of no member of the American Association of Anatomists who has done more in service for the Association and is more deserving of this Award.  Dr. Schoenwolf’s relationship with the AAA has spanned more than 30 years, during which time he has amassed a remarkably energetic record of service in all aspects of Association activities.  It is not hyperbole to suggest that some of his efforts have helped to ensure the existence of the Association and the solid financial footing that it enjoys today.”

    Please read more from this presentation here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Contruction: Shutdown Schedule for Multiple Days can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of April 25th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: HVAC Shutdown Schedule can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of April 18th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of April 11th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of April 4th PDF Update can be found here.

March 2011

  • The "Maxwell Wintrobe Research Building Partial Remodel and Infrastructure" PowerPoint presentation giving more details of the project can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of March 28th PDF Update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of March 21st PDF update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of March 14th PDF update can be found here.
  • Wintrobe Remodel Construction: For the week of March 7th PDF update can be found here.

    The South East Entrance will have fencing installed and the South East Stairwell will have limited access until December. Abatement & Protection Work on the 3rd & 4th floors will start this week as well. Demolition on the 1st, 3rd, and 4th floors will begin. The auditorium on the 1st floor will be closed until December.

October 2010

September 2010

  • Dr. Hideo Otsuna of the Chien laboratory placed 2nd in the 2010 Nikon Small World photomicrography competition, with this confocal image of a 5 day old zebrafish. Red=Gal4/UAS labeling (neuromasts and subset of brain neurons); green=anti- acetylated tubulin (axons); blue=ToPro3 (cell nuclei).
Department Picnic 2010

 

August 2010

  • Christopher Gregg, postdoctoral fellow with Catherine Dulac at Harvard University, will be joining the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy as Assistant Professor in Summer 2011. His research is focused on genomic imprinting and the identification of epigenetic and genetic pathways that influence neuronal circuits associated with feeding and foraging behavior and neuroeconomic decisions. His recent work was published in two papers appearing in the Aug 6 issue of Science, and highlighted in multiple journals including Neuron (67:359-362) and Nature (466:823-824).

May 2010

  • Ranajeet Saund of the Saijoh Lab has received an American Heart Association Predoctoral Award.
  • Issam Al Diri of the Vetter Lab has received a University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship.

April 2010

  • Graduate Student Ranajeet Saund of the Saijoh lab is a recipient of the Thomas N. Parks Student Travel Award. Ranajeet will attend the SDB meeting in Albuquerque this August. He will present a poster entitled "Left-right determination requires endoderm function in mice."

March 2010

  • Kerry Peterson, Director of the School of Medicine's Body Donor Program, was interviewed by The Tasty Morsel Podcast about Body Donation – "the ultimate in recycling". The link to the podcast can be found here.
  • Graduate Student Sarah Elliot of the Sánchez Alvarado lab is a recipient of the Thomas N. Parks Student Travel Award. Sarah will attend the Embryology Course: Concepts and Techniques in Modern Developmental Biology at the MBL, Woods Hole, MA later this summer.
  • Graduate Student Issam Al Diri of the Vetter lab is a recipient of the Thomas N. Parks Student Travel Award. Issam will present "Role of PRC2 in eye development" at the Society for Developmental Biology Meeting in Albuquerque, NM in August.

January 2010

  • Dr. Monica Vetter was appointed Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy effective January 1, 2010. She has been a member of the department facutly since 1996, and served as interim chair for 2008 and 2009.
  • Postdoc Bret Pearson's work in the Sánchez Alvarado lab on the tumor supressor p53 was published in Development and was featured on the cover. Read more about it here.

November 2009

October 2009

  • Drs. Tatjana Piotrowski and Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado were awarded an NIH Challenge grant to identify genes involved in hair cell regeneration in zebrafish. Zebrafish sensory hair cells are very similar to hair cells in the inner ear of humans that enable hearing. Loss of hair cells in the inner ear leads to deafness in humans. However, in contrast to human hair cells, zebrafish hair cells regenerate. Thus, identifying genes in the zebrafish might inform us about how regeneration is regulated; why this process is blocked in humans and how this block can potentially be overcome.
  • Professor Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado was named a recipient of the prestigious Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award.  The award is designed to support established investigators, working at institutions in the U.S., to conduct research in the basic biological sciences relevant to understanding lifespan development processes and age-related diseases and disabilities.  The award is intended to provide significant support to established investigators in order to allow the development of new, creative research programs by investigators who may not currently be conducting aging research or who may wish to develop new research programs in aging.
  • Graduate student Sofia Robb of the Sánchez Alvarado lab is now a lecturer at this year's "Programming for Biology" course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: October 12th-27th. She will present two lectures on bioperl.

September 2009

  • Professor Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado earns prestigious 10-year MERIT award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.   Initiated in 1987, the MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award program extends funding for up to 10 years to a select number of investigators who have demonstrated superior competence, outstanding productivity during their previous research endeavors and are leaders in their field with paradigm-shifting ideas. MERIT awards are intended to provide such investigators with long-term, stable support to foster their continued creativity and spare them from the burden of frequent application for research grants.
  • Dr. Joe Yost and his team have been selected as one of four research centers for the Cardiovascular Development Consortium (CvDC), a multi-center pediatric translational research initiative sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

    They will provide “Genome-wide Analysis of Cardiac Development in Zebrafish”. Their strategy is to obtain multi-layered molecular profiles of cardiac developmental defects to reveal the underlying causes of the defects.

June 2009

  • Monica L. Vetter, Ph.D., Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, has been selected as one of 53 ELAM Fellows for 2009-2010. The yearlong fellowship, part of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine, prepares senior faculty at medical, dental, and public health schools to assume leadership roles at academic medical centers. Read more here.

May 2009

  • Graduate Student Judith Neugebauer of the Yost Lab has been selected to receive the "2009 James W. Prahl Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Gratduate Student at the University of Utah in Biological or Biomedical Sciences."

April 2009

  • Distinguished Professor Gary Schoenwolf will presented "Grant Writing Workshop: National Institute of Health". The workshop reviewed the processes of writing effective grant applications and assembling a good proposal to the NIH. The basic components of a competitive grant proposal was described including common pitfalls to avoid in grant writing and submission.
  • Developmental Biology Training Grant Retreat: Saturday, April 25 at Deer Valley. All members of the developmental biology community were invited.
  • Distinguished Professor Gary Schoenwolf was honored at the 6th Annual University of Utah Pediatric Research Conference for his outstanding contributions to mentoring. He is the first recipient of an annual award that will carry his name as "The Schoenwolf Mentoring Award". He was recognized for his exceptional role in the success of the Child Health Research Center (CHRC), and for the many fellows and junior faculty that he has directly mentored.

February 2009

  • Graduate Student Hara Kang of the Sánchez Alvarado lab defended her dissertation titled "Cell cycle, fate, stem cells and the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea".

November 2008

  • Assistant Professor Tatjana Piotrowski has been featured in the latest University Health Care Health Sciences Report in an article called "Fishing for Hearing". Download the article here.
  • Graduate Student Andy Aman of the Piotrowski lab has his paper entitled "Wnt/b-catenin and Fgf signaling control collective cell migration by regulating chemokine receptor expression" in press in Developmental Cell. Download the paper here.
  • Graduate Student Eric Veien of the Dorsky lab defended his dissertation titled "Wnt signaling and the establishment of dorsoventral polarity". He will begin a postdoc in Nathan Lawson's lab at UMass Worcester.
  • Graduate Student Eric Veien of the Dorsky lab has his paper entitled "Canonical Wnt signaling is required for the maintenance of dorsal retinal identity" in press in Development. Download the paper here.
  • The 2009 Department Seminar schedule has been updated and can be found here.
  • Graduate Student Otto Guedelhoefer of the Sánchez Alvarado lab won the best poster competition during the NSF-sponsored "Frontiers in Developmental Biology" course in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

September 2008

  • Graduate student Minde Willardsen of the Vetter lab defended her dissertation titled "Initiation of Neurogenesis in the Retina: The Regulation of Ath5 Gene Expression".
  • Graduate student George Eisenhoffer of the Sánchez Alvarado lab defended his dissertation titled "Molecular Analysis of the stem cell compartment in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea".
  • Graduate student Sofia Robb of the Sánchez Alvarado lab will be lecturing as a Teaching Assistant at this year's "Programming for Biology" course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: October 14th-28th.
  • Graduate student George Eisenhoffer of the Sánchez Alvarado Lab is recognized in the Daily Utah Chronicle for his recent publication in Cell Stem Cell.

August 2008

  • The new 2008-2009 Faculty Seminar schedule can be found here.
  • The Fall 2008 Research In Progress (RIP) presentation schedule can be found here.

July 2008

  • Our Chairman, Professor Thomas Parks, has been appointed as the University's new Vice President for Research. The announcement from University of Utah President Michael Young can be read here.
  • Kerry Peterson, Director of the School of Medicine's Body Donor Program, has been spotlighted in the Summer '08 issue of Continuum, the University's magazine. You can read the whole article here.

Department Picnic

9-28-07

Our department’s annual picnic at Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City is always fun. We have great food, great company and, often, great weather. And the kids like the games at the end complete with candy! Here are some pictures from our last picnic.