Wignall Lab News Feed
2024
The Wignall lab had another great lab retreat, and we successfully escaped from a Jurassic Park/genetics lab-themed escape room!
Yuntong successfully defended her Master’s dissertation and earned her M.S. degree – congratulations!! She will be joining the Northwestern IBiS PhD program this fall.
Emily’s first author paper was accepted at PLoS Genetics – congratulations Emily, Yuntong, and Nikita, who all contributed to this work!
The Wignall lab hosted another successful margarita party!
Liz decided to join the lab – we are excited to have you on the team!
Sadie was promoted to full Professor!
Emily successfully defended her thesis and became Dr. Czajkowski – congrats on your new position at inThought Research!
Liz Lopez and Miranda Flores Escobar joined us for a spring rotation – welcome!
The lab welcomed Chengzhe Duan for a winter rotation.
2023
Juhi gave an awesome talk at the ASCB annual meeting!
Jordy gave a great talk at the annual IBiS retreat!
Sadie was appointed as the Director of the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences (IBiS) graduate program – good luck in your new position!
The Wignall lab had another successful lab retreat, which culminated with a fun boat outing on the Chicago river.
Yuntong Zou joined the lab for her Masters research, as part of the Quantitative and Systems Biology Masters Program – welcome Yuntong!
Ilka was offered a position in the Center for Reproductive Sciences Training Program – congratulations!!
Recent Wignall lab alum Gabe was awarded a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellowship to support his research at UC-Berkeley in the Heald lab – congrats Gabe!!
The Wignall lab hosted another successful margarita party, serving ~30L of margaritas – the party gets bigger every year!
The lab’s first undergraduate researcher (who continued his work in the lab as a technician) successfully defended his PhD thesis at Stanford – congratulations Dr. Michael Tran!
Jamal Jenkins joined the lab for a summer rotation – welcome Jamal!
Ilka Lorenzo officially joined the lab for her thesis work!!
Emily Koury joined us as a lab manager and research technician – we are excited to have you on board!
Hannah successfully defended her PhD thesis – congratulations Dr. Horton!!
Lizzie Trzupek joined the lab as a research technician – welcome to the team!
The lab welcomes Ilka Lorenzo and Mary Lotesto as spring rotation students.
The lab’s first R01 was renewed, allowing us to continue our work on meiotic chromosome congression and segregation – thank you to the NIH for funding fundamental reproductive science!
Rivaan Kakkaramadam joined us for a winter rotation. Welcome Rivaan!
2022
Emily presented her work in a talk at the ASCB/EMBO annual meeting in Washington DC!
Our paper on ZYG-9/ch-TOG was published in PLoS Genetics! This was a fantastic group effort from co-first authors Tim and Gabe, and contributions from Emily, Ian, and Nikita.
Jordy passed his qualifying exam – congrats!!
The Wignall lab won the IBiS Halloween costume contest with our group margarita costume!
Hannah and Nikita’s paper highlighting the importance of proper meiotic chromosome organization was published in MBoC!
IBiS student Jake Miller joined us for a Fall rotation – welcome Jake!
The lab was awarded a new R01 grant from the NIH to study mechanisms promoting spindle stability in oocytes. Thanks to the NIH and to taxpayers for funding fundamental basic science!
Jordy designed our beautiful new lab logo – we are lucky to have a fantastic artist in the lab!
Emily was awarded the 2022 Excellence in Leadership and Engagement Award from the IBiS program – yay Emily!
Gabe successfully defended his thesis and was also awarded the Rappaport Award for Research Excellence from the IBiS program – congratulations Dr. Cavin-Meza!
Jordy was awarded a spot in the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease (CMBD) Training Program – congrats Jordy!
Sadie was a keynote speaker at the C. elegans Development, Cell Biology, and Gene Expression Meeting in Madison, WI, August 2022.
The lab hosted another successful margarita party, serving 25L of margaritas.
IBiS student Jordy Martinez joined the lab. Welcome Jordy!
Sadie gave talk at the Gordon Research Conference on Meiosis, June 2022.
Ian’s paper was published in MBoC!
Gabe’s paper was published in eLife!
We published two collaborative papers with the labs of Tom O’Halloran and Teresa Woodruff, in Biology of Reproduction and in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics .
Our paper describing methods for studying cell division in C. elegans is out in Methods in Molecular Biology!
Sadie became an Associate Editor at Molecular Biology of the Cell.
2021
Sadie gave talk at the ASCB “Chromosome Dynamics and Aneuploidy in Development” subgroup, December 2021.
IBiS student Jordy Martinez joined us for a Fall 2021 rotation.
Juhi presented at the CRS Summit 2021 and received a Constance Campbell Research Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation. Congrats Juhi!
Claire Strothman joined the Wignall Lab as a PostDoc. Welcome!
Sadie gave talk at the “Gametes meet in the time of COVID-19” virtual meeting, July 2021.
The lab’s margarita party returned after a year off in 2020. We had a fantastic outdoor party complete with a food truck!
Gabe gave a talk at the Mayosis 2021 virtual meeting.
Juhi passed both parts of her qualifying exam, and advanced into candidacy for PhD!
Nikita graduated with her PhD and moved on to a postdoc at UC-Berkeley! Congratulations!
Nikita’ paper was published in PLoS Genetics!
Juhi was appointed to the Center for Reproductive Sciences (CRS) Training Program at Northwestern University.
Hannah and Nikita’s methods paper describing degron-based approaches was published in Current Protocols!
All Wignall Lab Members are fully vaccinated and joined together IN PERSON for the first time in a year to celebrate a year of many accomplishments. Cheers!
The Year of 2020
This has been an incredibly difficult year for everyone, but there was still a lot to celebrate. Here is a list of the many accomplishments our lab had during these trying times.
Ian graduated with his PhD in August 2020, and moved to Buffalo, NY to begin a Postdoc in Dr. Paula Cohen’s Lab at Cornell.
Emily passed her qualifying exam in May 2020, and advanced into candidacy for PhD!
New lab member Juhi joined the Wignall lab in June!
Emily started training with The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease (CMBD) Training Program at Northwestern University.
Jeremy’s paper was accepted and published in PLoS Genetics!
Jeremy and Ian left the Wignall lab in summer 2020 after many years of hard work, we will miss you both!
Gabe became Mr. Gabriel Cavin-Meza in May 2020! Congratulations Gabe and Rachel. Mazel Tov!
Juhi passed the first part of her qualifying exam in December 2020!
IBiS student Syed Uddin joined us for a Winter 2021 rotation.
Undergraduate student Michelle was accepted into NU Feinberg Medical School!
We ring in the new year with our first foray into preprints- this one being an excellent collaboration with the Libuda and Bowerman labs at the University of Oregon.
2019
The lab celebrates the holidays with our annual party.
The lab attends the annual American Society for Cell Biology conference this year in Washington DC, where Sadie co-chairs a mini-symposium, Ian and Rachel give elegant and insightful talks, and Hannah, Nikita, Gabe and Jeremy present posters. One for the books!
The Wignall lab heads under the sea for Halloween this year, dressing as your favorite show about an animated sponge.
A big year for the Wignall lab at the annual graduate program retreat – Gabe received the coveted Neil Welker Excellence in Teaching award, and Nikita gave an insightful retreat talk.
The lab welcomes Juhi Narula as our fall rotation student.
We’re incredibly excited to learn that Emily is funded by the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease training program!
The Wignall lab joins Twitter!
Congratulations to Dr. Heath on an impressive public thesis defense. We can’t wait to see what amazing work you’ll do next!
The Wignall and Lackner labs have a joint celebration for tenure announcements. Great work, Associate Professors!
We congratulate Gabe Cavin and Hannah Horton on passing their qualifying exams and officially advancing to Ph.D. candidacy. We’ve got some champion researchers in the lab!
The lab is ecstatic to welcome Emily Czajkowski as our newest graduate student!
32 pounds of limes were harmed in the making of the lab’s annual Margarita Party.
Dr. Wignall is officially awarded tenure by Northwestern. FANTASTIC NEWS!
Ian eloquently speaks about his work at the annual Chicago Area Worm Meeting (ChAWM), and Rachel and Nikita present insightful posters.
The lab welcomes Karlin Compton as our spring rotation student.
A rousing congratulations to Dr. Carissa Heath who, in addition to having written the Wignall lab’s latest accepted paper in MBoC and introducing a new model system to the lab, has successfully defended her thesis. We couldn’t be more ecstatic!
We wish Tim well on his last day as he moves on to the Amon Lab at MIT. We’ll miss you dearly!
Nikita begins an internship with Northwestern’s Innovations and New Ventures office. Busy busy!
A big round of applause to Dr. Timothy Mullen, Ph.D. for successfully defending his thesis and graduating from the lab, additionally receiving the outstanding thesis award. Powerful stuff indeed, Tim!
The lab welcomes Emily Czajkowski as our winter rotation student.
We celebrate the holidays a bit later this year with our annual holiday party.
2018
The lab attends the annual American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) meeting. Tim, Ian, Nikita, Carissa and Jeremy present their research.
The lab dresses as the cast of Bojack Horseman for Halloween, achieving the coveted Best Lab Costume prize.
Sadie gives an excellent keynote address at the September Chicago Cytoskeleton meeting.
Tim and Sadie are awarded the prestigious annual PLOS Genetics research prize for their outstanding work on microtubule organization! Read about it here.
Congratulations to Amanda, Nikita, and our former undergraduate student Rachel on publishing their work on SUMO remodeling in meiosis.
A hearty congratulations to our new graduate student Gabe on his acceptance into the Carcinogenesis Training Program, sponsored by the NIH!
The lab celebrates Amanda’s last day, and wishes her the best as she moves on to The Biggins Lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle for her postdoctoral work.
Dr. Amanda Davis-Roca successfully defends her thesis and is awarded her Ph.D, also garnering a distinguished thesis recognition. Congratulations, Doc!
Hannah, one of our newest graduate students, is accepted into and funded by the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease training program. We’re overjoyed!
The lab’s annual retreat takes us to the international horse racetrack in Arlington Heights.
The lab welcomes two new graduate students, Gabriel Cavin and Hannah Horton. Glad to have you on board!
Ian presents his work at the Northwestern Center for Reproductive Science’s (CRS) annual summit, and is awarded best presentation.
Ian represents the Wignall lab well at the EMBL Microtubules conference.
Sadie’s career and research is highlighted in an ASCB post, and the lab couldn’t be more proud!
The Wignall lab attends the first annual Chicago Area Worm Meeting (ChAWM), at which Amanda gives an excellent presentation and Nikita a superb poster.
The lab celebrates its 7th-year anniversary on April 1st.
We welcome Brett Wisniewski as a rotation student for the spring quarter!
Amanda and Carissa sing as part of the annual NU Keynotes spring a Capella concert. Beautiful!
After presenting an exceptional poster, Nikita gives an invited talk at the Chicago Cytoskeleton meeting.
The lab welcomes Rachel Kadzik, our first postdoctoral researcher, from Sabine Petry’s lab at Princeton. Glad to have you on board!
We welcome Gabriel Cavin as a rotation student for the winter quarter.
The lab is awarded an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
2017
The Wignall lab attends the annual meeting for the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), this year in Philadelphia. A special shout-out to Tim and Carissa, who presented their work in symposia talks.
The Wignall Lab welcomes a new rotation student, Hannah, for the fall quarter. Welcome Hannah!
Congrats to Tim for publishing his work on spindle microtubule bundling, and for a powerful presentation at the Northwestern Center for Reproductive Sciences seminar.
Amanda is awarded the Rappaport award for Research Excellence and presents her work to the department.
Sadie presents the lab’s work for an invited talk at the EMBO conference in Croatia. Way to represent!
Nikita passes her qualifying exam, making her officially a Ph.D. candidate. Congrats Nikita!
Amanda presents her recent work on error detection in C. elegans oocytes at the Northwestern University Center for Reproductive Science’s 2017 summit. Way to go!
Ian skillfully presents his work at the Northwestern University Biophysics Symposium. Great Work!
The Wignall lab’s exceptional undergraduate researchers Rachel, Zach, and Ellie graduate with the Northwestern University class of 2017, and the lab wishes them well as they pursue their respective goals. Keep in touch!
Sadie receives the coveted Distinguished Teaching Award from the University!
The lab hosts its annual universally-acclaimed Margarita party.
Tim eloquently presents his work on acentriolar spindle assembly at the Chicago Cytoskeleton symposium. A true star!
Amanda publishes her work on error-sensing in meiosis. Congrats!
Nicholas Sepulveda joins the Wignall lab as a rotation student. Welcome Nicholas!
Ee Phie Tan joins the lab as a visiting scholar from the Slawson lab at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Welcome Ee Phie!
2016
Congratulations to Ian on receiving the American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship!
Carissa, Ian, Tim, Amanda, Nikita, and Sadie attend the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual conference, this year in San Francisco.
Congrats to Ian, Tim, and Mike on publishing the Wignall lab’s latest paper.
Michael leaves the lab to start graduate school at Stanford University.
Jeremy Hollis joins the lab as the new lab technician!
Nikita Divekar joins the Wignall Lab as our newest graduate student!
The lab receives funding from The March of Dimes & The Chicago Biomedical Consortium’s Catalyst Grant
Keila passes her Thesis Defense!
Let’s party! The Wignall Lab hosts its annual Margarita Party.
Michael will begin graduate school in the fall at Stanford University. Congratulations!
2015
We are sad to see Chrissy leave the lab for a job in sales. We wish her the best of luck.
The Wignall Lab participated in the 2015 Northwestern Wormlypics and took home First Prize!
We are pleased to welcome our four new undergraduates! Ellie Flaum, Rachel Ng, and Maria Kaufman each received an Undergraduate Research Grant from Northwestern. Zach Rubnitz received the Program in Biological Sciences Grant.
We say goodbye to our undergraduates Bohan Xing, Erica Jepsen, and Tanvi Subramanian. Congrats on graduating and we wish them the best of luck.
The Wignall Lab hosts its third Margarita Party.
Congratulations to Chrissy, Keila, and Mike on publishing the Wignall Lab’s first paper: Kinetochore-independent chromosome segregation driven by lateral microtubule bundles (eLife).
Ian passes his qualifying exam. Good for him!
Our very own Amanda Davis married Antonio Roca in Arizona. Congratulations!
The Wignall Lab participates in the Northwestern University Biology Investigations in Reproduction & Development (NU-BIRD) event for the second time.
2014
Sadie, Tim, Amanda, Ian, and Carissa attend the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual meeting in Philadelphia.
The Wignall Lab celebrates with its Annual Holiday Party!
The Wignall Lab contributes to ASCB’s “We are Research” campaign to bring attention to the need for more science funding. Photo.
The Wignall Lab holds its first in-house scientific retreat and then celebrates with a boat cruise in Chicago.
The Wignall Lab participates in the Second Annual “Wormlympics” with the Andersen, Morimoto, and Petersen Labs.
Carissa passes her qualifying exam!
Ian is appointed as a trainee of the Molecular Biophysics Training Program.
Tim passes his qualifying exam and is appointed as a trainee of the Carcinogenesis Training Program.
Tom graduates with a B.A. in Genetics & Molecular Biology.
Bohan and Erica receive Undergraduate Research Grants (URG) for Summer 2014.
Ian returns to the lab, this time as a graduate student.
Amanda passes her qualifying exam!
Amanda is awarded the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Grant from the NSF.
Chrissy Muscat and Keila Torre-Santiago are awarded the Constance Campbell Research Award at the 33rd Minisymposium on Reproductive Biology
Carissa is appointed as a trainee on the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease (CMBD) Training Grant.
The Wignall Lab participates in a Northwestern University Biology Investigations in Reproduction & Development (NU-BIRD) event for the first time. NU-BIRD is a program co-sponsored by the Center for Reproductive Sciences and is a chance for local High School students to explore university labs.
2013
Sadie, Keila, Tim, Amanda, Ian and Carissa attend ASCB (American Society for Cell Biology) annual meeting in New Orleans.
The Wignall Lab celebrates with its annual holiday party!
The Wignall Lab participates in the First Annual “Wormlympics” with the Andersen and Morimoto labs.
Amanda is appointed as a trainee of the Molecular Biophysics Training Program.
Sadie’s son, Ari, was born on July 4th!
We are thrilled to welcome three fantastic graduate students to the lab – Amanda, Tim, and Carissa!
Mike graduates with honors in Biology and also receives the David Shemin Prize for Undergraduate Research.
Tom receives the Weinberg Summer Grant and Bohan receives the Program in Biological Sciences Summer Grant.
The Wignall lab hosts its second margarita party!
Sadie was awarded a Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award from the March of Dimes.
2012
Sadie was awarded a Runyon- Rachleff Innovation Award from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
Sadie was awarded a V Scholar Award by the V-foundation for Cancer Research.
Keila passed her qualifying exam and ran the Chicago Marathon!
Sadie was awarded a Basic Research Grant for Assistant Professors from the American Cancer Society Illinois Division.
The Wignall lab hosts its first margarita party!
Mike received the Undergraduate Research Grant (URG) for Summer 2012.
The lab celebrated our one year anniversary (or as we like to say, “labiversary”) with a trip to Molly’s cupcakes and the Lincoln Park Zoo
We welcomed our first graduate student, Keila Torre-Santiago, to the lab.
The lab was awarded its first grant!! Sadie was awarded an Internal Research Grant from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
2011
The first members join the lab. Chrissy Muscat joined as a Research Technician/Lab Manager followed by Michael Tran, our first undergraduate student and baker extraordinaire. Ian Wolff joined as a Research Technician later in the month. July was a big month for the Wignall lab!!
Lab Founded – April 1, 2011 – and that’s no joke.