Last week, Michigan Biophysics held its annual retreat at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The day's programming comprised of six presentations from various labs in the morning, followed by lunch and an engaging poster session. In the afternoon, the Graduate Student Council conducted a great trivia session, mixing science, pop culture, and Michigan geography questions into a fun and collaborative team game!

The retreat offered an opportunity for biophysics students, postdocs, faculty and staff to share their research with each other. Moreover, it gave our Preview Student visitors a chance to interact and engage with our community.

Below is a list of the presentations that happened during the event:

NameAffiliationPresentation Title
Trevor YehStockbridge LabSingle-molecule dynamics of a bacterial efflux transporter
Yeonghoon KimYang LabDesign components of tunable biological rhythms
Eilidh McClainPenner-Hahn / Sension LabA Novel Method for Analyzing X-ray Absorption Data: Connecting Spectrum to Structure
Kristen VerheyVerhey LabMulti-kinesin complexes: biological functions and mechanical effects
Martin FernandezMosalaganti LabMolecular Visualization of TDP43 Pathology
Martin O'SteenKeane LabRNA-RNA Interactions in Listeria Monocytogenes

The titles of the posters presented from students in the poster session can be found below:

NamePoster Title
Autumn PilarskiStructural and functional characterization of Cytochrome P450 27A1
Chenbo YanThe states of capping protein are defined by the stalk
Chia-Yu KangStructural Determination and Export Mechanism of the Eukaryotic Fluoride Exporter (FEX) Proteins  
Christian KelleyChromosome Folding through Mitotic Exit
Franco TavellaStudying the temperature response of cell cycle oscillations
Grace ArhinExploring the druggability of oncogenic pre-miR-31
IshikaInvestigating the Structure of the Escherichia Coli Nucleoid by DNA Locus Tracking in Living Cells
Lina Maria Pena PardoEngineering Synthetic Microtubule-Binding Rings to Investigate the Dynamics and Force Transduction Mechanisms of the Dam1 Ring
Marlis Denk-LobnigEmergent spatial organization of a bacterial community by social antibiotic resistance
Megan WestwoodInvestigating structural features of pre-miR-122 that affect Dicer processing
Minjun JinDNA/cytoplasmic ratio drives cell cycle lengthening in Xenopus early development
Stanislav CherepanovAdvanced CpHMD Method based on Adaptive Landscape Flattening
Yihua LiStructural Mechanism of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Initiation
Zhijian HuSpatial drug heterogeneity changes growth dynamics in a deleterious environment