Biophysics is pleased to welcome Lauren McCormick to our core faculty, who will start in January 2026 as part of the Michigan Program for Advancing Cultural Transformation (M-PACT) Faculty Initiative!
Professor McCormick completed her undergraduate work in the prestigious University Scholars program at Baylor in 2016, with her senior thesis on the ecological ramifications of resurrecting extinct organisms (e.g. woolly mammoths or Tyrannosaurus rex). As a PhD student, she studied clinically-relevant membrane proteins in the labs of Pia Vogel and John Wise at SMU, where she was the second-heaviest user of the Maneframe II supercomputer until she graduated in 2021. Her secondary projects, focused on drug discovery, piqued her interest the cytoskeleton and motivated her to do her postdoc work in Luke Rice's lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), where she was the first postdoc at UTSW to win the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology from the National Science Foundation (NSF PRFB). At UTSW, Lauren elucidated fundamental mechanisms of microtubule dynamics using simulations and biophysical experiments.
At the University of Michigan, Professor McCormick's lab will study how cytoskeletal mechanisms are tuned by protein isoforms and modifications (the "tubulin code"), altered by evolution, or perturbed by mutations that give rise to human disease. Lauren is also passionate about science outreach, particularly about teaching young students to explore the world with a microscope or to empower themselves by learning to code. She greatly enjoys mentoring young scientists as they navigate their careers. In her free time, Lauren enjoys playing video games, causing chaos in Dungeons & Dragons, bird-watching with her family, gardening with low-maintenance plants, k-pop, and knitting her own sweaters (which she is excited to get more use out of in Michigan).
The McCormick lab is currently accepting new students and postdocs. To inquire or welcome Lauren to Biophysics, please contact her at leamcck@umich.edu. We are excited to have Lauren aboard and look forward to her arrival next year!
About M-PACT:
The Michigan Program for Advancing Cultural Transformation (M-PACT) is a federally funded, university-wide faculty initiative. It aims to drive transformative research, life-changing teaching, and accessible clinical care that will support the health of ALL, including a strong commitment to communities that have been underserved. By partnering with faculty throughout their careers, M-PACT strengthens the capacity of those who serve as catalysts for change in academic and healthcare environments. The program provides robust mentorship and sponsorship, cultivates leadership skills, and prepares both mentors and mentees to excel as future leaders and force multipliers across the biomedical and health sciences. They are committed to ongoing, evidence-backed program evaluation in order to continuously refine, expand, and share our impact—across the University of Michigan and beyond.
