Olivia DrakeDecember 16, 20102min
Manju Hingorani, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and Jacob Bricca, adjunct assistant professor of film studies, explained their experimental cross-disciplinary course on science documentary filmmaking at Wesleyan in a December 2010 article published in American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Today. In the article, Hingorani and Bricca wrote about their course, "Making the Science Documentary," which they co-taught together, starting in 2007. The course was designed to introduce undergraduate students to the life sciences and to documentary filmmaking (more…)

Olivia DrakeFebruary 8, 20102min
The second Neuroscience and Behavior Alumni Symposium will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20 in Science Center 121. The public is invited. Five of the department's “best and brightest” alumni from the last decade will speak at the symposium. "We invited these particular alumni because they are at different developmental stages on paths toward uniquely varied careers," says John Kirn, professor and chair of the Neuroscience and Behavior Department, professor of biology and director of Graduate Studies.  "This symposium will focus on their personal stories of post-Wes training in graduate school, biotechnology, medical school, and at…

David PesciJuly 14, 20093min
Ann Burke, associate professor of biology, recently received a three-year, $395,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the development and evolution of the shoulder girdle using transgenic mice, frog and salamander. The mice will be generated in collaboration with a lab at the University of Michigan and will allow Burke and her associates to turn off Hox genes, which are specific patterning genes, in specific sub populations of the embryonic mesoderm that make the musculoskeletal tissues. "Comparing the dynamics of gene expression and cell interactions during the formation of the pectoral region in a variety of embryos…

David PesciMarch 5, 20092min
Sitting in front of the Senate panel, Laura Grabel was ready for the “when” and “why” questions. But she knew one of these questions held a lot more potential danger to her future than the other. Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of biology, is a renowned stem cell researcher. She is also the co-director of the University of Connecticut Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility, part of a $100 million human stem cell research initiative created by the State of Connecticut in 2006. The stem cell initiative was the state’s response to a veto…

Olivia DrakeApril 4, 20088min
Joshua Boger ‘73, P’06 P’09 speaks about “Building a 21st Century Pharmaceutical Company” during the student-organized Graduate Student Career Retreat March 29. Posted 04/04/08 Students pursuing degrees in biology, molecular biology and biochemistry fields had the opportunity to discuss their future careers with Wesleyan alumni during the Graduate Student Career Retreat March 29. The first-ever event, held at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown, allowed alumni to deliver a series of brief talks on their own careers and participate in panel discussions. In addition, graduate students held a poster session to share their own research with the invited guests. “I consider…

Olivia DrakeDecember 7, 20075min
Michael Singer, assistant professor of biology, is the recipient of a NSF grant which will enable him to hire a postdoc and undergraduate student to collaboratively research behavior of the woolly bear caterpillar. Posted 12/07/07 When a woolly bear caterpillar becomes infected with a parasite, it can’t go to a pharmacy for medicine, so it does the next best thing: It eats the leaves of medicinal plants. This behavior and recognition for the need to self-medicate when ill is at the heart of a new grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a proposal by Michael Singer, assistant professor…

Olivia DrakeApril 2, 20075min
Jenna Gopilan '07 researches neural stem cells in mice brains, and presented her research at a recent StemCONN conference. Posted 04/02/07 Jenna Gopilan ’07 familiarized herself with the scientific research environment during her freshman year as a work study student. As a sophomore, she shadowed graduate students to learn their techniques. Now, as a senior, the neuroscience and behavior major had the opportunity to present her own research project to the Media and Legislative Briefing at the State Capitol in Hartford. The briefing took place during Connecticut's Stem Cell Research International Symposium, also known as StemCONN 07, March 27-28. Gopilan’s…