Lab welcomes QCB student!
We are thrilled that QCB student Chloe has decided to join our lab! Chloe is excited to utilize the awesome worms to study mitochondrial signaling. Welcome to the lab Chloe!
March 2024
Lab welcomes new members
Bharat and Kylie, two graduate students join the lab! Kylie plans to work on mitochondrial genetics while Bharat will investigate the impact of chromatin biology on mitochondria. We are also hosting QCB student Chloe for her fourth rotation. Welcome to the lab everyone! We are so excited to have you.
Feb 2024
Sam passes her qual!
Sam passes her qualifying exam! Lab threw her a surprise party to celebrate! Congratulations Sam. Couldn’t be more proud!
Oct 2023
Lab welcomes two rotation students
Lab hosts BioSci students Bharat and Cassie for their rotation. Bharat and Cassie are both going to be mentored by James. Bharat will work on a project that will allow him to indulge in his love of chromatin biology and Cassie will follow up on an intriguing observation made by a previous rotation student. Welcome Bharat and Cassie!
Oct 2023
Lab welcomes four new students
We are excited to host first year BioSci students Kylie and Briana for their rotation in the lab. Kylie will be working with Lantana and Briana with James. We also welcomed Master’s student Cydney and undergraduate student Charlie to the lab. Cydney and Charlie will be working with Sam. Welcome everyone!
August 2023
Arlene passes her qual!
Arlene passes her qualifying exam with flying colors! Congratulations Arlene!
August 2023
Lantana receives a Rapid Evolution Project Grant
Lantana receives a grant from the Evolutionary Studies Initiative. This grant will allow Lantana to pilot the use of long-range Nanopore sequencing of mtDNA. Congratulations Lantana!
June 2023
Lantana and James recognized at the retreat
Lantana received the Ann Bernard Martin Award for Excellence in Graduate Research. Presented annually, this award recognizes students showing exceptional promise in research early in their career. James received the Outstanding Service to the Department Award, sponsored by the Inclusivity in Bioscience Association. Congratulations Lantana and James!
May 2023
Sam receives the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center Leadership Award!
Sam is a 2023 recipient of the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center Leadership Award! This award recognizes Sam’s contributions to the achievements, interests and goals of women, and towards promoting gender equity in STEM. Amazing Sam! We are so proud of you!
April 2023
Sam receives NSF GRFP fellowship!
Sam is a 2023 recipient of the GRFP fellowship from NSF. This prestigious fellowship provides three years of support for graduate education. Congratulations Sam!
April 2023
Marleigh receives VUSRP fellowship!
Undergraduate student Marleigh was awarded a fellowship from VUSRP. This fellowship supports Marleigh to do full-time research over the summer. Congratulations Marleigh!
April 2023
Nikita publishes his paper in iScience!
Congratulations Nikita on publishing your thesis work on somatic heteroplasmy dynamics!
March 2023
Lab welcomes IGP rotation student Emma
Emma joins us for her fourth rotation. She will be working with Maulik & Lantana. Emma is interested in genome maintenance. We hope to woo her to the dark side - i.e., work on mtDNA instead of the nuclear genome :). Welcome to the lab Emma!
March 2023
Lab welcomes two IGP rotation students
We are joined by Ali and Sander for their third rotation in the Patel Lab. They are both going to be working with James to explore interesting facets of a mitochondrial stress response. Welcome to the lab Ali and Sander!
February 2023
Double congratulations James!
James receives a Dissertation Enhancement Grant from the Graduate Leadership Institute. The grant will allow James to add to his already impressive thesis work.
James is also a recipient of the DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics from the Genetics Society of America. Very fitting given James’ love and knack for genetics! The award will allow James to attend the 2023 International C. elegans meeting in Scotland. Way to go James!
February 2023
Lab welcomes rotation student Chris!
We are excited to host IGP student Chris Acree for a rotation. With a background in tech and consulting, Chris took an interesting path to grad school to say the least! Chris will be working with James to better understand a mitochondrial stress response. Welcome to the lab Chris!
January 2023
Cell Systems preview by Lantana & Nikita
Check out a great preview in Cell Systems written by Lantana and Nikita on the evolution of gene loss and retention in organellar genomes. Congrats Lantana and Nikita!
November 2022
Lab welcomes rotation student Evi!
We are excited to host Biological Sciences graduate student Evi for a rotation. Evi is interested in all things DNA. So, we came up with a great rotation project for her on mtDNA replication, a fundamental yet surprisingly poorly understood process. Evi will be mentored by Lantana in the lab. She will also work with Sam to use CRISPR. We are excited to see what Evi finds. Welcome to the lab Evi!
November 2022
Happy Halloween!
Another fantastic group costume idea for Halloween!
October 2022
Beautiful work from our collaborators at NYU
What happens to mtDNA sorting and segregation in the primordial germ cells (PGCs) during early stages of development is one of the most fundamental and fascinating questions. Now, Aaron Schwartz in Jeremy Nance’s Lab at NYU has published a beautiful study in eLife on the regulation of mtDNA in PGCs of C. elegans. It was a pleasure hosting Aaron for a month in the lab while he learned how to sort cells with Nikita in the beginning stages of this project. Congrats Aaron!
October 2022
AFRESH!
Dr. Cathy Maxwell from Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing has developed an amazing program, called AFRESH, focused on improving health and wellness of older adults. Findings from a pilot study show that providing older individuals with a better understanding of bioenergetics and mitochondrial function increases their desire to make healthy lifestyle changes. Check out the paper on the AFRESH program for details. Thank you Dr. Maxwell for the opportunity to be involved in this incredible work!
September 2022
Lab welcomes Arlene!
MSTP student Arlene joins the lab! Arlene is a rare MD/PhD student with an interest in the basic sciences, especially evolution. We are thrilled to have Arlene in the lab and look forward to getting to know her better. Welcome Arlene! You are gonna love it here!
September 2022
Sam is on fire!
Sam authored a beautiful commentary piece for PNAS on mitochondrial genetics in plants. Nice writing Sam!
September 2022
Congrats Sam!
Sam receives a pilot grant from Evolutionary Studies at Vanderbilt for her proposal to study an intriguing meiotic gene that may be part of a toxin-antidote system. Congrats Sam! We are excited to see the progress on this cool project.
August 2022
Lantana in the news!
Check out the great news piece on Lantana’s recent receipt of the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship!
July 2022
Lab in the news!
Check out a cool story from Vanderbilt on James’ recent eLife paper! It does a nice job of highlighting the relevance of the findings for aging.
June 2022
Lab welcomes Adrianna and Hayeon!
Adrianna is a new RA in the lab. Adrianna is a recent graduate of Stetson University in Florida where she worked in a molecular biology lab. Hayeon is a senior at Sewanee and returns for her second year of summer research. We are excited to have Adrianna and Hayeon join us!
June 2022
Congratulations James and Lantana!
The whole lab enjoyed attending the Biological Sciences Retreat in-person after a two year hiatus. We were especially thrilled to see James receive the Research in Excellence Award, given in recognition of his exceptional scholarship. We are also proud of Lantana, who received the Best Poster Award. Congratulations James and Lantana! And thanks for upholding the Patel Lab reputation for quality science!
May 2022
Double congrats Sam!
Sam is named an awardee on the T32 Training Grant in Environmental Toxicology. On another equally exciting front, she is the 2022 March Mammal Madness winner in the lab. Way to go Sam!
April 2022
James’ tour de force paper is out!
James’ paper on the discovery of a new player in a mitochondrial stress response is published in eLife. With 8 main figures and 18 supplemental figures, this is an amazing piece of scientific work initiated and almost single-handedly executed by James. Congrats James! Way to make us proud!
April 2022
Welcome to the lab Sam!
We are so thrilled to have IGP student Sam join the Patel Lab! Sam’s got it all – she’s super smart, works hard, is kind and supportive of her peers, and has a learning attitude. Yes, we know we are lucky! Sam’s going to explore the link between mitochondrial and germline biology – super cool! Welcome to the lab Sam!
April 2022
Lantana is a 2022 NDSEG Fellow!
Sponsored by the Department of Defense, the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship is a prestigious award. It will support Lantana’s research on mitochondrial epigenetics. Lantana put in a ton of effort (applying three times!) and submitted an exceptionally strong application. Congrats Lantana – we are so proud and happy for you!
April 2022
Bryan’s trifecta!
Bryan’s third manuscript from his PhD work is posted on BioRxiv. In this work, Bryan takes a quantitative deep dive, developing a mathematical framework using the Price Equation to explain multiple selection forces acting on mitochondrial genome mutations. A beautiful wrap-up to an outstanding PhD – congrats Bryan!
April 2022
Many reasons to celebrate!
We have many successes to celebrate in the Patel Lab. Nadir and Cassidy are heading off to grad school. Nadir is joining…Vanderbilt! So, we will still see him around. And Cassidy is off to Rockefeller in the Big Apple. Also, Lantana was a 2022 finalist in the Three Minute Thesis Competition. Way to go Nadir, Cassidy, and Lantana!
April 2022
Lab receives a major grant from NIH!
Lab throws Maulik a surprise celebration for receiving a R35 MIRA grant from NIH.
March 2022
Lab in the news!
Check out the featured news story on our cool new work on the evolutionary trade-off between reproduction and aging, which will be funded by a Pilot Research Grant from Vanderbilt’s Evolutionary Study Initiative. This work is led by graduate student James who is aided by research assistant Nadir and undergraduate student Cassidy. We are very excited to see where this work goes!
February 2022
Lab welcomes rotation student Elizabeth!
It’s been great to host so many awesome rotation students. We are excited to welcome Elizabeth Ruark to the lab. Elizabeth comes with worm experience from her previous rotation so she is ready to hit the ground running – a good thing as in his excitement, Maulik may have gotten carried away when designing her rotation project! She will be working on a cool new project (which is just an idea at the moment) on heteroplasmy dynamics. Welcome to the lab Elizabeth!
February 2022
Lab welcomes IGP rotation students Sam and Cameron!
We are excited to host Samantha (Sam) and Cameron. Sam is interested in genetics so we came up with a project that involves about as crazy a genetic crossing scheme as one can hope for! Sam will work with Lantana. Cameron has interest in cell signaling and will work with James on the role of HOE-1 in mitochondrial stress signaling. Welcome Sam and Cameron!
January 2022
Lab welcomes rotation student Luis!
We welcome a second Floridian to the lab! Luis will be doing exciting work investigating the role of fat metabolism in germline-to-soma communication. Welcome Luis!
November 2021
Lab outing?!
Lab outing to get flu shots. Thanks for the great suggestion Nadir!
November 2021
Halloween in the Patel Lab!
Special thanks to Nadir and Lantana for getting us into the Halloween spirit!
October 2021
Lab welcomes rotation student Caleb!
Caleb Hayes is the first IGP rotation student in the lab this year. Having done a Masters AND worked in a lab at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville FL, Caleb has one of the most extensive research experiences for an incoming graduate student. What is more, Caleb’s work at the Mayo was on mitochondria! We are excited to help add worm genetics to his already impressive repertoire of lab skills. Welcome Caleb!
October 2021
Nikita’s paper is on BioRxiv!
Nikita’s manuscript on tissue-specific heteroplasmy dynamics is on BioRxiv. Nikita had to overcome several technical hurdles over the years but the findings are well worth the effort. One of the coolest and surprising findings is that the somatic cells in C. elegans rapidly lose their mtDNA content during development and aging. Congrats Nikita!
July 2021
Lab welcomes Arlene Garcia!
Arlene is a rare MSTP student with interests in medicine and basic evolutionary processes. Arlene’s undergraduate research was on the evolution of mutation rates in experimentally evolved bacteria. For her rotation, Arlene is studying the importance of the mitochondrial genome on evolutionary processes. We are thrilled to have an evolution enthusiast in the lab. Welcome Arlene!
July 2021
James’s paper on BioRxiv!
Manuscript on a tRNA processing enzyme that plays a central role in the mitochondrial unfolded protein response is up on BioRxiv! It represents more than 3 years of work on a project initiated and executed by an extremely talented graduate student James Held in the lab. Congrats James!
June 2021
Congrats Maulik!
Nominated by the students in the lab and selected by the graduate student body in the department, Maulik receives an Excellence in Mentoring Award. This award recognizes the recipient’s deep commitment to the professional and personal development of their trainees. Keep up the good work Maulik!
May 2021
Lantana selected as predoctoral trainee!
Lantana is selected as a predoctoral trainee on the Training Program in Environmental Toxicology. This training program funds outstanding students whose research relates to toxicology. Congratulations Lantana!
April 2021
Lantana joins the lab!
We are excited to officially welcome graduate student Lantana to the lab. Lantana will continue to explore the nascent field of mitochondrial epigenetics in a project she started during her rotation. Welcome to the lab Lantana!
March 2021