The Pompano lab is growing. We welcome 3 new Chemistry PhD students this fall: Jon Zatorski, Aditya Rane, and Sophie Cook. Looking forward to what they will accomplish in the coming years!
Posts filed under Lab Updates
Peach picking
The Pompano lab took a field trip to Chiles Orchard in Crozet to celebrate a successful summer. Lots of peach cobbler the following week. Yum!
Pompano lab joins the UVA Cancer Center
We are thrilled to be the newest member of the UVA Cancer Center as part of the Immunology & Immunotherapy Program. We look forward to participating in the research of the center and being part of a community that seeks to find treatments and cures for such a devastating set of diseases.
The UVA Cancer Center is one of a prestigious national network of centers supported by the National Cancer Institute at the NIH.
Public talk at UVA Forward
“A Glimpse into the Chemistry of the Immune System”
It was a special honor to be invited to speak to UVA staff members at their annual professional development event in June 2018. Although the event was meant to inspire the attendees, in the end it was just as inspiring for me! Sharing our lab’s vision, goals, and progress with people from mostly non-science backgrounds, many of whom provide the daily support that make it possible, was a special privilege and a touching reminder of why I am here.
Welcome Gianna Haskin from Xavier University
We are thrilled to have Gianna Haskin, a rising second year student at Xavier University of Louisiana, join us for summer research this summer. She is participating in the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program, a nationwide program that sponsors first-time research experiences after the first year of college. Gianna is working on pioneering methods for long term culture of lymph node slices! She has done a great job in her first month, and we look forward to seeing what she achieves by the end of the summer.
Good Luck to Drake, Ben and Kristen!
As UVA begins to prepare for Final Exercises we want to thank all our graduating undergrads for all their hard work over the past years. Many of them have been part of the lab since the first summer and they have helped shape the lab and develop many of our novel procedures. They have done excellent work and we wish them the best of luck as they move forward in their scientific careers.
We will miss you all but look forward to seeing your future accomplishments.
Alyssa M. and Rebecca Y. win summer research fellowships
Congratulations to 1st-year student Alyssa Montalbine and 2nd-year student Rebecca Yoo, who each won competitive undergraduate research fellowships to fund their work in the lab this summer! Alyssa received a NanoSTAR fellowship for her work on a scaffold for an artificial lymph node, and Rebecca received a Department of Chemistry fellowship and a College Science Scholars award for her work testing the effects of fluid flow on lymph node tissue. We are excited to have them here with us this summer!
Meg takes top honor at 3rd year poster session
We are so proud of Meg Catterton for receiving the award of "Best Poster" at the annual 3rd-year PhD student Poster Session in the Department of Chemistry. Meg presented her work on a device for local stimulation of tissue slices with a movable microfluidic port. Following the poster session, she had the opportunity to present her work to the entire department in a celebratory seminar. Great job Meg! Look for her paper coming soon.
Congratulations also to the 2nd and 3rd place winners of a great poster session!
- 1st Place: Meg Catterton (Pompano lab)
- 2nd Place: Qian Liang (Cafiso lab)
- 3rd Place: Nicole Swope (Columbus lab) & Robert D'Ippolito (Hunt Lab)
Image credits: Dr. Jim Demas
Pompano and Rutkowski awarded collaborative research grant
We are honored that the Pompano lab and Rutkowski lab were awarded a 2018 Collaborative Research Project Award in the amount of $75,000 from the Carter Immunology Center. According to the program announcement,
The goal of this award is to increase the level of collaborative activity among members of the Carter Immunology Center; bring together individuals and laboratories with complementary skills and perspectives; encourage the development of multi-investigator awards, which generally have higher budgets and more comprehensive scope of research activities; and to drive high quality science and encourage its translation into treatments for disease.
We are excited to begin work on a new model of tumor immunity for this project! This award was generously funded by the Carter Foundation.
Austin advances to PhD candidacy
Congratulations to Austin for successfully completing his PhD candidacy exam in February! We look forward to seeing all you accomplish.
Celebration after PhD qualifying exams were over!
Photo credit: Prof. Jim Demas
