Grabel

During the 2021 Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, held March 11–13, participants explored the topic of "Truth (and Lies) in Our Time." The Shasha Seminar is an annual educational forum for Wesleyan alumni, parents, and friends that provides an opportunity to explore issues of global concern in a small seminar environment. Endowed by James Shasha '50, P'82, the Shasha Seminar supports lifelong learning and encourages participants to expand their knowledge and perspectives on significant issues. David McCraw, vice president and deputy general counsel for The New York Times, presented the Shasha Seminar's keynote address titled "Lies and Liberty: The Future…

In 2018–19, six Wesleyan faculty retired from Wesleyan. They were honored during the 187th Commencement ceremony on May 26 and during a special ceremony at the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty. The faculty include: Douglas Charles Professor of Anthropology (2000 – 2019) Associate Professor of Anthropology (1994 – 2000) Assistant Professor of Anthropology (1986 – 1994) Ronald Ebrecht University Organist (1988 – 2019) Artist-in-Residence, Music (2011 – 2019) Laura Grabel Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society (2008 – 2018) Fisk Professor of Natural Sciences (1996 – 2008) Professor of Biology (1995 – 2018) Associate Professor of Biology (1989…

Laura Grabel, the retired Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, received an award at the 15th Annual Connecticut Technology Council Women of Innovation® Awards presentation on March 27. The Women of Innovation® program recognizes women innovators, role models, and leaders in science and technology professions, as well as outstanding young women at the high school and collegiate level pursuing technology studies. Of 50 finalists, 11 were recognized as winners in their respective categories; Grabel took the top spot in the Academic Innovation & Leadership (Postsecondary) category. Grabel, who also is a retired professor of biology, is an accomplished scientist…

For her efforts creating and fostering STEM initiatives that support women in science, Laura Grabel, the retired Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, was selected as a Women of Innovation finalist by the Connecticut Technology Council in March. She is one of 50 finalists in the state. Grabel, who also is a retired professor of biology, is an accomplished scientist engaged in understanding how the fertilized egg can become a complex organism. This spring, she is teaching Reproduction in the 21st Century. In addition to publishing dozens of academic articles and a book on ethical stem cell research, Grabel fosters…

Laura Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of biology, warns in a new op-ed that the progress of embryonic stem cell research in this country, always subject to the ups and down of politics, is currently under threat. Co-authored with Diane Krause of Yale University, the op-ed in The Hartford Courant notes that Tom Price, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is on record opposing embryonic stem cell research. They write: As stem cell researchers, we fear that this appointment would endanger human embryonic stem cell research in the United States…

Janice Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, director of the Center for Faculty Career Development, was awarded a $250,000 grant in September from CURE Epilepsy.org. The grant, which will be given over a period of three years, will fund research examining synaptic function in GABAergic stem cell transplants using optogenics. This technique provides a way to modulate and control the activity of individual neurons in living tissue using discrete delivery of light into the brain or tissue slice. It will be used to investigate how GABAergic stem cell transplants suppress seizures in mice with temporal lobe epilepsy.…

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Janice Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, and Laura Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of biology, were recently honored in Hartford Magazine’s “Amazing Women” issue. Two of only 13 women selected this year for recognition, Naegele and Grabel were lauded for their contributions to the field of stem cell research. The magazine's profile of Naegele states: "The research conducted by Janice Naegele, who is professor of biology and neuroscience and behavior at Wesleyan University, is opening up new possibilities for treating epilepsy through stem cell therapy. Her work focuses on temporal lobe epilepsy,…

For the roughly one-third of temporal lobe epilepsy patients for whom drugs are not an option, researchers at Wesleyan are paving the way for alternative therapies using stem cells. Faculty members Janice Naegele, Gloster Aaron and Laura Grabel, together with Xu Maisano, Ph.D. ’11, Elizabeth Litvina, B.A. ’10/M.A. ’11, and Stephanie Tagliatela, the lab manager in the Naegele lab, recently published a landmark study in the Journal of Neuroscience on the use of embryonic stem cells to treat temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The researchers derived neural “parent cells” in culture from mouse embryonic stem cells, and transplanted them into the…

An article written by three Wesleyan faculty and two alumni was published in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, 32(1): pages 46-61. In "Differentiation and functional incorporation of embryonic stem cell derived GABAergic interneurons in the dentate gyrus of mice with temporal lobe epilepsy," the authors describe embryonic stem cell derived neuronal transplants for treating temporal lobe epilepsy. The authors include Jan Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior; Gloster Aaron, assistant professor of biology, assistant professor of neuroscience; Laura Grabel, the Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society, professor of biology; Xu Maisano Ph.D. '11; and Elizabeth…

In the video below, Laura Grabel, Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science in Society, professor of biology, discusses teaching cell biology, her research into neurogenesis of embryonic stem cells, fate of embryonic stem cell-derived transplants in the brain, and cell migration in the early embryo: [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2O3P97vnu8&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

Professor Laura Grabel has received a $750,000 grant from The State of Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee for her study titled "Angiogenesis of Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Hippocampus Transplants." It is her third grant from the Committee since Connecticut began its state-funded human stem cell research program in 2006, and second where she is the principal investigator (P.I); she was co-P.I. on the other. Grabel, professor of biology and Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science in Society, is also a co-director of Connecticut’s Human Embryonic Core Facility, a research center in Farmington, Conn. that houses some human stem cell…

Campus Community Explores “Truth (and Lies) in Our Time” During Shasha Seminar

6 Faculty Retire from Wesleyan in 2018-19

Grabel Wins Women of Innovation® Award

Grabel Named a Connecticut Women of Innovation Finalist

Grabel Warns of Threat to Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Op-ed

Naegele Awarded Grant from CURE Epilepsy.org

Wesleyan Scientists Attend Connecticut Stem Cell Symposium

Naegele, Grabel Lauded for Stem Cell Research Contributions

Future Stem Cell-based Therapies for Treating Epilepsy Explored in 3 Biology Labs

Naegele, Aaron, Grabel, Xu ’11, Litvina ’11 Published in Journal of Neuroscience

Video Feature on Professor Laura Grabel

Grabel Receives New Human Stem Cell Research Grant