August 2015 / Volume 23 / Issue 3
THE
SACKLER M ESSENGER
THE JOURNEY STARTS HERE
WELCOME (BACK) TO SACKLER!
Features
GETTING STARTED IN GRADUATE SCHOOL
Advice from administrators and current students
ALUMNI REFLECTIONS
Past students reflect on how to get the most out of your tenure
ACHIEVEMENT UPDATES
Peer publications, fellowships, research, and graduation deadlines
FROM OUR DESK
TO YOURS
We asked lead Sackler administrators Naoko Tanese (Associate Dean and
Director) and Susanne Tranguch (Director, Academic Programs and
Operations) for a little "how to get started" advice at Sackler
Welcome to Sackler! Every August is an exciting time, as we
welcome our incoming class ?
this year, 39 students! Of course,
for those 39 students, moving to
a new city and a new academic
environment can be challenging
and at times, overwhelming.
Most students arrive to NYC on
August 6th, so for current students, please reach out to the new
class!
For new students, we have created this short checklist of FAQs
to help you orient your way
through your first few weeks on
campus.
W HERE IS THE SACKLER
OFFICE LOCATED?
The majority of the office is located in the Old Public Health
Building (341 E. 25th Street,
corner of 1st Avenue), on the 2nd
floor. Naoko Tanese, PhD, Associate Dean for Graduate Biomedical Sciences, is located in the
Skirball 3rd floor Administration
area.
W HO ARE THE STAFF?
The Sackler Institute, led by Dr.
Tanese, has six staff members:
Susanne Tr anguch, PhD, MBA,
Director, Academic Programs &
Operations
2 THE SACKLER INSTITUTE
L isabeth Greene, MA, Assistant
Director, Graduate Student
Services
Jessica Dong, MA, Project Manager, PhD Program
Cindy Godoy, Project Manager,
MD/PhD Program
Amanda Tufekcier , Project Associate, SURP and Events
M elissa M angar , Project
Associate
ARE THERE ANY LISTSERVS I
SHOULD JOIN?
You have all been included on the
Sackler listserv. You also have
been included on the internal
Sackler and Research Communities via atNYULMC.org. Once
you are onboarded, you will have
access to this internal on-line resource and be able to access these
Communities for important information. The Sackler Student
Community is where we post
events, seminars, career opportunities, funding announcements,
and more! If you are interested in
signing up for the reagentmatch
listserv, where students, postdocs
and faculty can request and provide reagents/equipment from
each other, please visit the Sackler Community under ?what?s
new?to subscribe.
ARE THERE ANY SACKLER
SEMINAR SERIES OR EVENTS
I SHOULD ATTEND?
We have an Alumni ?Where are
they now?? series and a ?Careers
in STEM? series that typically
occur once a month. You will receive these announcements via
the Sackler listserv and be able to
sign up for lunch with the invited
speakers. We also hold monthly
staff dinners at OPH, again communicated via email. Space is
limited to 20 people, so sign up
early! Of course, we also suggest
that you attend the various Works
in Progress and thesis defenses,
so you can continually learn
about the research of your peers.
Schedules may be found on
Sackler Community website.
please contact Susanne via email
([email protected])
or by visiting her at her weekly
Coffee Breaks (Wednesday, 9:30
am, Smilow lobby outside the
café). She can either direct you to
the appropriate person or answer
your question directly. The coffee
breaks not only allow you to express any concerns or ask questions to Susanne, but you can
also meet fellow students and
discuss ideas with them. Many
ideas and even collaborations
have been inspired by these
weekly coffee chats.
IF I HAVE A QUESTION,
W HOM SHOULD I CONTACT?
If you have a question about
coursework or rotation labs,
please contact the training program advisors
(http://www.med.nyu.edu/sackler/phdprogram/academics/trainingprograms) or Naoko via email
([email protected]).
If you have a question about any
life issues including payroll,
We look forward to meeting you
all! ?
GREETINGS, SACKLER
A letter from your Sackler Student Council
By Har i Rallapalli
Dear Sackler Community,
Congratulations and welcome to
the incoming class of 2015! We
are very excited to have you join
our community here at NYU
School of Medicine. Orientation
is a crazy time filled with learning the nuts and bolts of graduate
school. We, the Sackler Student
Council (SSC), are all second
year PhD students, so we were in
your shoes exactly a year ago and
would love to share all that we?ve
learned since our own Orientation. If you need advice on picking rotations, classes, or what to
do on the weekends, we can help.
And that help isn?t just limited to
SSC members ? Sackler is a
community where everyone is
excited to have you and willing
to give you help and advice. So
don?t hesitate to speak to any of
us!
Looking forward, there are a few
things that we as the SSC want to
accomplish throughout this year.
First, we are introducing a new
role: a representative liaison for
each year. Class liaisons will ensure that people at every stage of
graduate school have a voice in
the SSC. We want students in
every year to feel that they are
being heard and their needs are
being met. We will also send a
brief monthly newsletter directly
to the student body to keep
everyone up to date on SSC happenings. Both of these new initiatives will increase transparency
and open communication be-
tween the student body, the administration, and SSC.
Our priority as SSC is to make
the Sackler experience as wonderful as possible for every student. To that end, we will continue the role of Diversity Chair
on the SSC. This will allow for a
stronger focus on the issues affecting students of color and will
better facilitate inclusion of our
whole community.
Hari Rallapalli
Joshi Frenster
Cassidy Reich
Patty Martin
Phillip Thomas
Ilona Kats
Lastly, we want to focus on
building stronger relationships
with industry to provide more
opportunities for students to explore alternative careers to
academia.
We are all thrilled to be on SSC
this year and to have the opportunity to contribute to the Sackler
legacy. Don?t hesitate to contact
us with any questions or
concerns.
Sincerely,
Har i Rallapalli, President
Joshi Frenster , Vice-President
Cassidy Reich, Treasurer
Patty M ar tin, Secretary
Phillip Thomas, Diversity Chair
I lona K ats, Social Chair ?
THE SACKLER MESSENGER 3
The NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development is located on the second floor of 133 East 13th Street.
RESOURCES AT
THE SQUARE
We have plenty of help available here at the Medical Center, but
there's also a trove of resources to use at the downtown campus
Compiled by L isabeth Greene
STUDENT HEALTH
The Wellness Exchange is your key to accessing the University's extensive health and mental health resources designed to address your
needs. You can call a private hotline, available
24 hours a day, seven days a week, which will
put you in touch with a professional who can
help to address day-to-day challenges as well
as other health-related concerns. These might
include: medical issues, academic stress, depression, sexual assault, anxiety, alcohol and
other drug dependence, sexually transmitted
infections, eating disorders. This hotline is
staffed by licensed counselors who can provide ?in the moment?counseling and support.
726 Broadway 4th Floor, Suite 402
24/7 Hotline: (212) 443-9999
Counseling and Wellness Ser vices
Free short-term counseling is available on a
walk-in or appointment basis. Low-cost psychiatric medication is also available for a
maximum out-of-pocket cost of $30.
For details on location/hours, visit:
4 THE SACKLER INSTITUTE
http://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-healthwellness/student-health-center
Pr imar y Care
The Student Health Center provides a range of
services including primary care and women?s
health services at no cost (or for a minimal
fee) for full-time graduate students. Details on
the range of services can be viewed at this
link: http://www.nyu.edu/life/safety-healthwellness/student-health-center
ACADEMIC RECORDS
Official Tr anscr ipts, Enrollment Ver ification, Confir mation of Degree
An official transcript is a comprehensive
record of a student's academic progress at
NYU. The NYU Registrar issues official transcripts in two formats: Signed & sealed paper
transcript (no fee) or Secure PDF electronic
transcript ($3.25 processing fee). Transcripts
can be ordered via ALBERT or in person at
the Student Services Center at 25 West 4th
Street, between Greene & Mercer Streets.
Details on how to order an official transcript,
a letter of enrollment or confirmation of degree can be found here:
http://www.nyu.edu/registrar/transcriptscertification/official-transcript
STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER
Graduate Student Life at the Student Resource
Center provides an opportunity for graduate
students across schools to engage with the
NYU community. Visit the Center at:
https://www.nyu.edu/students/graduates/graduatelife.html
For graduate students with children, if your
child is under 6, apply for a $200 child care
subsidy per semester:
https://www.nyu.edu/students/undergraduates/
student-information-and-resources/studentswith-children/Application.html
ENTERTAINMENT DISCOUNTS
Along with the Ticket Xpress Box Office at
the Medical Center, discount tickets are also
available from the downtown campus. For
more, visit:
http://www.nyu.edu/life/resources-andservices/nyu-box-office/ticket-central
GSAS TRAVEL AWARDS
The Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and
Science (GSAS) provides funds to graduate
students in the humanities, social sciences and
sciences for travel to professional meetings
and conferences to present invited papers or
posters. The Dean's Student Travel Grant Program provides a total of 225 awards each year,
in the amount of $500 each, to help students
defray the cost of presenting their scholarly
work. The grant may be used for travel, lodging, and related expenses.
For more, visit:
http://gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.travelgrant
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
The Wasserman Center for Career Development offers customized services and programming to support graduate students in their career planning and development efforts. Visit
them online at:
http://www.nyu.edu/life/resources-andservices/career-development
Or in person at:
133 East 13th Street, 2nd Floor
(212) 998-4730
[email protected]
Tax-time? Many students want to know where
they can obtain a 1098-T form. IRS Form
1098-T is entitled "Tuition Statement" and
contains information to assist the IRS and you
in determining if you are eligible to claim educational related tax credits such as the American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, which relates to an IRS educational tax credit.
See details here on how to download the
1098-T:
http://www.nyu.edu/bursar/tax.topics
INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRATION
SERVICES
If you have any immigration or visa-specific
questions, we recommend you contact the experts at Office of Global Service (OGS) office
by calling or stopping by the office during
their walk-in hours:
BURSAR
A mystery charge on your account? Contact
the bursar: http://www.nyu.edu/bursar
Or online at:
http://www.nyu.edu/global/internationalimmigration-services
GRADUATION INQUIRIES
Students are expected to activate their graduation record on ALBERT approximately six
months before their completion date. See instructions here:
http://www.nyu.edu/registrar/graduation/
apply.html
Or contact:
Christopher L. James
(212) 998-4803
[email protected]
Doctor al Disser tation Submission
GSAS Office of Academic & Student Affairs
Attention: Cherone Slater-Bartley
6 Washington Square North, Second Floor
(212) 998-8060 ?
Melissa Zuroff, Student Advisor
(212) 998-4249
[email protected]
A LOOK BACK ON FIRST YEAR
Thoughts from students who thrived during their first year at Sackler
By Russell L edet
These second-year students look back on their
first year ? ups, downs, victories, and challenges. In this piece, they offer advice to new
students just getting started on their journey
through graduate school. I interviewed:
Er ica Br iggs is in the Molecular Pharmacology program and has joined Dr. Susan Logan?s lab.
Phillip Thomas also joined the lab of Dr. Susan Logan in the Department of Microbiology.
Steven Hoang-Phou is a new member of Dr.
Markus Schober?s lab in the Molecular Oncology and Tumor Immunology Program.
W HAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS
REGARDING YOUR FIRST YEAR?
E: First year was very exciting, but also filled
with challenges. Each lab rotation introduces
you to new research and lab techniques.
Starting from scratch every few months is
challenging, but in the end you learn a lot and
feel accomplished.
P: Wow, I can?t believe I made it! Graduate
school has been one of the toughest academic
experiences in my life, and there were many
times during my first year where I was sure I
wouldn?t make it. In hindsight I was wrong,
but I needed that humbling experience. Not
only did I grow from it, but I worked that
much harder to ensure my success.
S: This was definitely one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences of my life!
I have never felt as pushed and motivated to
learn as I have in the past year. Almost everything you learn will be applicable in some
way, shape, or form during your time here.
Also. Sleep, fun, and success ? sacrifice one.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE ON
SUCCEEDING IN FOUNDATIONS, THE
FIRST COURSE FOR NEW STUDENTS?
E: Be patient! Foundations differs from most
undergraduate courses in that the format is
more discussion-based: on lectures from PIs
as well as scientific papers. Give yourself
time to adjust and take your time to thoroughly examine the readings. Also, recording
the lectures is very helpful when reviewing for
exams.
P: From Dr. Angus Wilson?s speech on the
first day stating, ?Graduate school is a
lifestyle? to first-test jitters, Foundations is the
course that will break you into the grad school
experience. My advice is to fight the notion
that classes don?t matter in graduate school
and take it seriously. You receive instruction
by brilliant professors, and the more you put
into the course, the more you?ll get out of it.
S: Read! You'll need to read and research extensively to gain relevant background information for each topic. Reading and making
connections between the literature, current
THE SACKLER MESSENGER 5
findings, and overarching themes will definitely help when it comes to test time or (more
importantly) your research, when you need to
find ways of answering your own
questions.?
?
HOW DID YOU MANAGE THE
TURBULENT TRANSITION TO GRAD
SCHOOL IN THE BIG APPLE?
E: Don?t be afraid to explore, but don?t go to
Time Square! I really love wandering through
the East Village (closer to the NYU main
campus) and Chelsea (the High Line is great
at sunset). You?ll find areas you like, just try
new neighborhoods with your classmates each
weekend. For transportation, NYC Subway
apps are a must for all subway rides (it downloads the entire subway map to your smartphone)! Google Maps is always helpful for
mapping trips, too.
P: Moving to New York was a major adjustment for me, and I think there?s little you can
do to prevent that. However, one of the ways
that I eased the transition was to develop a
network of friends. Being around a group of
supportive people with whom you can unwind
makes it harder to miss home. It?s also much
easier to explore and do new things when
you?re with a group rather than by yourself.
Or, if you're in a rush, pro-tip: Halal carts are
amazing.
W HAT QUESTIONS SHOULD
FIRST-YEARS ASK W HEN SELECTING
ROTATION LABS?
E: Try to figure out how well you communicate with your PI. Feel free to ask him/her
about their management style. You should
also speak with other graduate students in
their lab. This will give you a good idea of
the lab dynamics (from the PI and the student
perspectives) before the rotation.
P: The one thing that I would suggest to ask a
PI during the rotation period is their mentoring style. You want them to expand on this
answer, and you want to evaluate the things
they speak on. You want to ensure that the
things they mention are compatible with the
things that you need as a student to be successful. As students we are often intimidated
by PI?s, and will often be so caught up in the
idea of making a good impression that we
wont ask the tough questions that are most
important to us. We have to fight that fear,
and ensure that this relationship contains the
aspects of it that we as students need to be
successful.
S: Make friends and explore everywhere (but
don't get carried away)! Time management
will be very important. Food is expensive and
the portions are smaller here. Learn to cook.
S: Always ask about the research going on in
the lab - chances are you'll be working on a
part of an existing project. It also doesn't hurt
to know whether or not the PI will actually be
accepting any students and what their avail-
Erica Briggs
Phillip Thomas
6 THE SACKLER INSTITUTE
ability is like (are they always travelling, etc).
Make an effort to also talk to the other grad
student lab members before/during your rotations about their experiences also since you
may very well be in their shoes soon.
HOW DID YOU MASTER TIME
MANAGEMENT W HILE JUGGLING LAB
AND COURSEW ORK?
E: PIs usually understand your coursework
demands, so keep an open line of communication. If you need additional study time, tell
your PI and work out a schedule to accommodate both coursework and research. When
studying is light, you can dedicate more time
to your lab work and make up for any lost
ground.
P: One of the things that I found most valuable in managing lab work along with my
course work was creating a routine. I had set
days/times where I would focus mainly on the
work I had for courses and other times for lab.
Lab is often unpredictable, but I put in a massive amount of work to ensure that nothing
would throw off my routine.
S: Speaking of time management, things are
always guaranteed to take longer than you'll
think so plan ahead and get things done early!
There is usually plenty of downtime in the lab
during incubations. Make the most of it ? you
can use that time to catch up on reading for
classes. ?
Steven Hoang-Phou
FROM WAYWARD
TO WISE
Tips on securing the right graduate mentor for you
By Lydia Gr mai
Scene: You?re in lab at 10 PM on a Sunday
night, woefully finishing a Western blot to
repeat an experiment for the third time in a
week. You?re dreading your 8 AM Monday
morning meeting (because your boss has to
know every result immediately and has
back-to-back meetings all day). You?re
wondering why your PI couldn?t just wait
another day for the result. And the worst part:
this isn?t an anomalous weekend for you.
Each week, Dr. PI wants to see the outcome of
every single experiment, and fewer than two
productive weekly meetings is an obvious
sign of laziness. You drag yourself through
12-hour day after 12-hour day in lab,
wondering why you can?t just analyze your
data over the weekend instead of making a
figure that your PI expects in his/her inbox by
Friday night?s end. Sounds miserable, right?
This is (I hope) a gross exaggeration of a
?micro-managing? PI. But save for hyperbolic
atrocities, such a PI is not uncommon in
academia. And such a lab environment may,
in fact, sound truly awful to you. The grad
student depicted above is probably chatting
with first years during orientation, warning
them to steer clear of this lab at all costs. But
is this really the correct advice to give to
newly minted grad students? As Dr. Indira
Raman from Northwestern University puts it,
?one person?s neglect can be another person?s
freedom [and] one person?s micromanagement
can be another?s nurturing.?
Dr. Ben Barres, a neurobiologist at Stanford
University School of Medicine, underscores
the importance of choosing the right thesis
advisor for ensuring a graduate student?s
long-term success. This is to say that the
chances of a grad student ?making it? aren?t a
direct reflection of rote intelligence or
scientific capabilities
(we are all brilliant
and capable, that?s
why we are here), but
rather of proper
guidance through the
academic journey. In
his article (published
in Neuron in 2013),
he suggests a
two-part screening
process for first-year
grad students looking
to select a thesis
advisor.
So what are these two parts? According to Dr.
Barres, the only two things that should be
sought in a thesis advisor are: 1) a good
scientist, and 2) a good mentor.
Notice that he didn?t say ?sought in a thesis
lab.? Dr. Barres cautions against putting too
much emphasis on the research topic when
selecting a lab. To echo advice given to me as
a first-year student that resonated with this
article: ?Find a good mentor. You?re a
scientist ? you?ll fall in love with the science.?
An interesting field is critical, yes ? but
science is all about solving puzzles. And the
thrill of solving those puzzles is the root from
which our love for science often stems. The
"One person'sneglect can
be another person'sfreedom [and] one person's
micromanagement can be
another'snurturing."
Flickr / Calsidyrose
more important thing, he says, is to find a
professor who is a good scientist that can and
will turn you into one as well.
To visit an excerpt from the article:
?So how can you, a mere first year
graduate student, possibly decide which
advisors are good scientists? After all,
the whole point of earning a PhD is to
learn the difference between good and
bad science and you haven?t learned how
to do that yet!?
Excellent point, Dr. Barres ? but wait, he?s not
finished?
?The hallmark of a good scientist is
generally that he or she asks important
questions and makes mechanistic or
conceptual steps forward in answering
them.?
What questions, you ask? Well, the scientist
he refers to, my friend, is you! And according
to Barres, you should be inquiring about the
PI?s rate of publication (a quick PubMed
search should do the trick) and whether or not
THE SACKLER MESSENGER 7
their work sounds interesting to you. Other
factors of varying relevance included their
level of grant support, H-index (a measure of
citation frequency), and CV. And of course, it
goes without saying that advice from senior
faculty, deans, and graduate advisors is
invaluable. We grad students think we have it
all figured out, but if we aren?t careful, that
stubbornness can come back to haunt us. Be
proactive in seeking such advice, and be open
to receiving it.
The second part of this process, as Dr. Barres
lays out, is ensuring you are selecting a good
mentor. You want a mentor who will design
experiments with you, discuss science with
you frequently, give you advice and/or
experience in grant writing, peer review, and
presentation skills. Some of this will be
difficult to extract from a cursory meeting
with the PI, and so this is where that ?advice?
thing comes in handy. Talk to current
members of the lab and/or postdocs and
faculty who can comment on the PI?s
mentoring style. See how happy his/her grad
students are as a general gauge of how well
you?ll fare if you decide to join. Look at that
PI?s track record of mentoring success (pro
tip: most lab websites have a list of ?former
members? to aid in this search). Ideally, some
of their former trainees have gone on to a
career in science (whether academia or
industry). You?ll be working for this person
for at least four years, and you want to be sure
this person is equipped to lead you to a
successful scientific career.
article and see for yourself), I hope what
you?ve read here sheds a little light on the
advisor selection process. If you can take a
few things away from this article, I ask that
you choose from these: look for a PI who
loves and excels at their science, value a PI
who will invest in your long-term success, and
heed advice from older grad students,
postdocs, and (most importantly) faculty.
They?ve been in the game longer than us, and
if they are taking the time to offer advice, it?s
certainly worth listening to.
And lastly, don?t be surprised if you find
yourself in lab late on a Sunday night anyway.
Don?t always blame it on your boss ? you?re a
scientist. You?ll fall in love with the science! ?
While this synopsis will do little justice to the
mounds of useful advice Dr. Barres supplies
in his article (I urge you to read the entire
ALUMNI REFLECTIONS
Thoughts from past graduates of the Sackler Institute
By Paul Chang and M edeva Ghee
Paul Chang, PhD
Sackler Class of 2006
Neuroscience & Physiology
Vice President, Medical Director
Cline Davis and Mann
yourself and you?ll find that self-awareness
will allow you to grow, not just as a scientist,
but also as a person. The answers to these
difficult questions will help you crystalize
your goals and set you on the career path
that?s right for you.
[email protected]
Welcome to Sackler! It?s an exciting time to
pursue an advanced degree. We?re in high
demand and our skills are valued more than
ever before. From academia, to industry, to
strategic consulting, to law, to medical
education, to promotional advertising,
everyone is looking to employ our most
talented. During your scientific training, you
may realize a few of these ?alternate?
scientific careers appeal to you. But even if
you?ve already decided your goal is to start
your own laboratory, here are some tips to
help prepare you for success, regardless of
what that may look like in your future:
Explore Your Self. Utilize this opportunity to
learn more about yourself. What do you enjoy
doing? What are your strengths? How can you
improve your weaknesses? Be honest with
8 THE SACKLER INSTITUTE
Think Bigger. Are you choosing your
discipline or laboratory based purely on
personal interests? Will your short-term
decisions set you up for long-term success?
Will they lead to better publications or
collaborations? Which topics resonate beyond
academia? Can your research translate into
medical and real-world opportunities? Your
answers should drive your key decisions just
as much as other criteria.
Pr ior itize Tr ansfer able Skills. Academia
will push you to develop deep scientific
expertise on your research topic, but you
should really focus on improving the skills
that got you there Data mining. Problem
solving. Hypothesis validation. Crisis
management. Collaborations. Complex idea
distillation. Customized communication to
different audiences. These skills will help you
stand out and will always stay relevant, even
when landscapes shift.
Expand Your Wor ld. Identify unique ways to
translate your experience to non-scientific
audiences. Mentor high school or college
students. Intern at a pharmaceutical company.
Freelance as a medical writer in medical
communications. Join consulting groups or
other clubs. Volunteer in a clinical setting.
You?ll not only expand your existing network,
you?ll also improve communication abilities
that are highly valued by all future employers.
Be Br ave. Exper iment Beyond Your
Exper iments. Be humble and embrace the
unknown. Try to challenge yourself to explore
new areas. There?s never a better time to step
out of your comfort zone. It will be harder to
do as your career matures. If it?s worth the
calculated risk, dive in. The greatest rewards
require risk taking.
Few will openly admit that the world can be
intimidating, full of change and uncertainty.
These 5 practices have been critical to my
professional growth and I?m so happy I have
the opportunity to share them with you.
Flickr / Got Credit
Remember, your Sackler community is here to
help you succeed, regardless of your shortand long-term goals. Connect with us; we
can?t wait to hear from you.
Look up. The sky?s the limit, now more than
ever before.
Your best is yet to come.
M edeva Ghee, PhD
Sackler Class of 1997
Microbiology
Executive Director, The Leadership Alliance
Assistant Professor of the Practice of
Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown
University
Despite the number of years that have passed
since my first day at NYU School of Medicine
as a microbiology PhD candidate, I still have
vivid recollections of my graduate school
journey. I?d like to share with you what I have
learned as a result of my experience in
graduate school as well as an administrator
who helps students navigate their academic
and career pathways.
Star t wor king on an I ndividual
Development Plan (I DP). The IDP is a tool
that is used to help identify your academic and
career goals and the strategies for achieving
them. This is an organic and interactive
process that should be done in discussions
with your faculty mentor. This plan will help
you shape your short and long-term goals.
Attend financial liter acy classes where
possible. It?s so easy to get into to debt or
deeper into debt living in NYC. Financial
literacy is critical to effectively managing and
budgeting limited finances.
Find at least one thing that you do outside
of your research environment and stick to
it! I enjoy cycling. Each year, I watch the Tour
de France. As a graduate student, I organized
my time to get some time on my bike.
Numerous studies cite the benefits of regular
physical activity. If you?re not sport-centric
then find something you enjoy with a more
creative slant.
Apply for exter nal funding. Even if you are
fully supported by your doctoral program, it is
important to apply for external funding to
support your graduate training. Writing grants
is a critical skill to have as a researcher so you
might as well start developing it. Consider
NIH Ford Foundation pre-doctoral
fellowships. In addition, obtaining travel
awards for conferences is also a great way to
practice grant writing.
Paul Chang
I dentify mentor s and a suppor tive networ k
in and outside of your depar tment. Creating
a diverse, supportive community will help you
deal with the myriad of issues you will
encounter while in graduate school. Build
relationships with peers, faculty, and
administrators throughout the institution.
Network to continue building and
strengthening your personal and professional
communities.
Congratulations! You have embarked upon an
exciting and challenging journey in your
pursuit of a doctoral degree. My last few
pearls of wisdom are this. Work hard and play
hard! Keep your support network close. Enjoy
the ride ? both the ups and downs. ?
Medeva Ghee
THE SACKLER MESSENGER 9
Graduate student Diana Klompstra (left, here on Splash Mountain) recently published in Nature Cell Biology about her work on PAC-1, a
symmetry-breaking protein that localizes to sites of cell contacts in the developing C. elegansembryo (right, PAC-1 in red).
RESEARCH AT WORK
Work by graduate student Diana Klompstra sheds light on how embryos begin to
differentiate the inside from the outside early in development
By Evelyn L itwinoff and Anj elique Schulfer
A human adult comprises about 100,000 billion cells. It is amazing to think that a human
is more than just a puddle of all these cells;
we have tissues and organs with highly specialized structures and functions. How does it
happen? It all starts with one cell.
If one cell continuously divided in half, specializations would never occur. In order to establish the different progenitors that give rise
to our tissues and organs, cells must become
polarized. With polarity, cells can divide
asymmetrically and begin the process of developing into a complex organism.
PAC-1 is a regulator of cell asymmetry and is
a crucial protein for cell polarization. Studying the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans,
Dr. Jeremy Nance?s lab in the Skirball Institute identified PAC-1 several years ago and
has been working on characterizing its function ever since. PAC-1 is recruited to cell contact sites and promotes asymmetry, but it was
unknown how these contact sites were able to
recruit PAC-1 and polarize cells.
10 THE SACKLER INSTITUTE
E-cadherin, an adhesion protein, is necessary
for polarization in many cell types. It is difficult to study the role of E-cadherin in cell polarization due to the fact that it is required in
most model organisms for cellular adhesion,
which is essential for development to ensue.
One lingering question in the field is whether
E-cadherin acts as a recruiter to facilitate polarization or if it merely allows proper adhesion so that other contact signals can initiate
polarization.
Developmental Genetics graduate student Diana Klompstra addressed this question in an
exciting new paper published in Nature Cell
Biology. By using worms, Diana and colleagues get around the challenges usually associated with E-cadherin studies in other
model systems. In the C. elegans model, the
E-cadherin homologue, HMR-1, is not required for adhesion during polarization. With
this model they show HMR-1 recruits PAC-1
to contact sites for polarization initiation. Additionally, they identified the intermediate
binding partners that link HMR-1 to PAC-1.
Adding to the complexity of their model, they
also found evidence for an E-cadherin independent pathway to recruit PAC-1 to cell contacts, which relies on the PH domain of
PAC-1.
When asked what she found most interesting
about this work, Diana replied, "It was a
pleasant surprise to see that mislocalizing Ecadherin was enough to recruit the polarity
regulator PAC-1 and depolarize the worm embryo. E-cadherin?s role in polarization has
been debated for years and we showed the
first clear evidence that it can act instructively
in this critical process."
Fresh off of this high-profile publication, Diana will be graduating soon and heading to
Rockefeller University for a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Dr. Shai Shaham. ?
STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Arias MA, L ubkin A, Chasin LA. 2015.
Splicing of designer exons informs a
biophysical model for exon definition. RNA
21(2):213-29.
D'amour JA, Froemke RC. 2015. Inhibitory
and excitatory spike-timing-dependent
plasticity in the auditory cortex. Neuron
86(2):514-28.
Jastr ab JB, Wang T, Murphy JP, Bai L, Hu
K, Merkx R, Huang J, Chatterjee C, Ovaa H,
Gygi SP, Li H, Darwin KH. 2015. An
adenosine triphosphate-independent
proteasome activator contributes to the
virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112(14):E1763-72.
Jung H, Dasen JS. 2015. Evolution of
patterning systems and circuit elements for
locomotion. Dev Cell 32(4):408-22.
Karpowich N, Song JM, Cocco N, Wang DN
2015. ATP binding drives substrate capture in
an ECF transporter by a release-and-catch
mechanism. Nat Struct Mol Biol
22(7):565-71.
Keefe D, Kumar M, K almbach K . 2015.
Oocyte competency is the key to embryo
potential. Fertil & Steril. 103(2):317-22
K lompstr a D, Anderson DC, Yeh JY,
Zilberman Y, Nance J. 2015. An instructive
role for C. elegans E-cadherin in translating
cell contact cues into cortical polarity. Nat
Cell Biol. 17(6):726-35.
cell-derived cardiac Purkinje cells. Stem Cells
33:1102?12.
K osche G, Vallentin D, Long MA. 2015.
Interplay of inhibition and excitation shapes a
premotor neural sequence. J Neurosci.
35(3):1217-27.
M ar lin BJ, M itre M , D'amour JA, Chao
MV, Froemke RC. 2015. Oxytocin enables
maternal behaviour by balancing cortical
inhibition. Nature 520:499-504.
Kourtis N, Moubarak RS, Aranda-Orgilles B,
Lui K, Aydin IT, Tr imarchi T, Darvishian F,
Salvaggio C, Zhong J, Bhatt K, Chen EI,
Celebi JT, L azar is C, Tsirigos A, Osman I,
Hernando E, Aifantis. 2015. FBXW7
modulates cellular stress response and
metastatic potential through HSF1
post-translational modification. Nat Cell Biol.
17(3):322-32.
M aurer K , Reyes-Robles T, Alonzo III F,
Durbin J, Torres VJ, Cadwell K. 2015.
Autophagy mediates tolerance to
Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin. Cell Host
Microbe. 17(4):429-40.
K ur tz ZD, Müller CL, Miraldi ER, Littman
DR, Blaser MJ, Bonneau RA. 2015. Sparse
and compositionally robust inference of
microbial ecological networks. PLoS Comput
Biol. 11(5):e1004226.
L itwinoff EM S, Hurtado Del Pozo C,
Ramasamy R, Schmidt AM. 2015. Emerging
Targets for Therapeutic Development in
Diabetes and Its Complications: The RAGE
Signaling Pathway. Clin Pharmacol Ther
[Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1002/cpt.148.
Maass K, Shekhar A, Lu J, Kang G, See F,
Kim EE, Delgado C, Shen S, Cohen L,
Fishman G. 2015. Isolation and
characterization of embryonic stem
Scharfman H, Ber nstein H. 2015. Potential
implications of a monosynaptic pathway from
mossy cells to adult-born granule cells of the
dentate gyrus. Front Syst Neurosci (in press).
Schulfer A, Blaser M. 2015. Risks of
Antibiotic Exposures Early in Life on the
Developing Microbiome. PLoS Pathogens
11(7): e1004903.
Teixeira FK* , Sanchez CG* , Hurd TR* ,
Seifert JRK, Czech B, Preall JB, Hannon GJ,
Lehmann R. 2015. ATP synthase promotes
germ cell differentiation independent of
oxidative phosphorylation. Nat Cell Biol.
17(5):689-96.
Wake N, Marina I, Olin JW. 2015. Vascular
function in fibromuscular dysplasia. J Vasc
Med Surg. 3:196.
* These authors contributed equally
GRADUATION DEADLINES
January 2016 Deadlines
Register on Albert (home.nyu.edu) from: June 22, 2015 to October 2, 2015
Preliminary Thesis due: December 4, 2015
Final Thesis due: January 15, 2016
For more details about the electronic submission of the thesis, please visit:
gsas.nyu.edu/page/grad.life.dissertation.html
THE SACKLER MESSENGER 11
AWARDS & HONORS
STAFF
Chr istopher Bowman
2015 Sackler Dissertation Award
Editor s
Michael Burel
Lydia Grmai
Jessica Chukwu
Diversity Supplement Grant,
NIH NINDS
K ather ine Eyr ing
Ford Foundation Fellowship
Phillip Geter
HHMI Gilliam Fellowship
Lydia Gr mai
UNCF/Merck Graduate Fellowship
L ea L ough
Diversity Supplement Grant, NIH
NCI;
Career Development Activities
Award
L uis Antonio M ar tinez-Velazquez
NIH NRSA
Carolyn M or r ison
NIH NRSA
M illie Rincon-Cor tes
2015 Sackler Dissertation Award
L amia Har per
UNCF/Merck Graduate Fellowship
Alej andro Ulloa
Ministry of Science and Technology
Fellowship, Republic of Costa Rica
Russell L edet
Ford Foundation Fellowship
K ar a Zang
NINDS NRSA
Staff Advisor
Lisabeth Greene
Contr ibuting Wr iter s
Russell Ledet
Evelyn Litwinoff
Anjelique Schulfer
Guest Contr ibutor s
Paul Chang
Medeva Ghee
Hari Rallapalli
Qiuling L i
HHMI International Student
Research Fellowship
AHA WALK/RUN
Image: NYU Langone Medical Center / Peter Dutton
Cover: Flickr / Guilherme Nicholas