Summer Research Spotlight: Athena, Carys, and Shahina

by Heidi Hehnly in

This summer, our lab welcomed three talented undergraduate researchers who made impressive contributions to our studies on cytoskeletal and cell junction dynamics in early development.

Shahina Alibekova, a SOURCE Scholar from Syracuse University, worked under the guidance of graduate student Yiling Lan to investigate centrosome dynamics in early embryos.

Athena Allred (Arizona) and Carys Timpson (Cambridge) worked with Dr. Heidi Hehnly and postdoctoral fellow Yan Wu to study tight junction assembly during left-right organizer development and its relationship to cytoskeletal dynamics. Their joint work culminated in a co-authored poster presentation.

  • Athena was supported through our NSF-REU award for Microscopy.

  • Shahina received funding from the Syracuse University SOURCE program.

  • Carys joined us as a visiting undergraduate scholar from Cambridge University.

Congratulations to Athena, Carys, and Shahina for a productive and successful summer of research!

Athena (Left) and Carys (Right)

Shahina

Better late than never—huge congrats to Isabella Morales, who was named a Spring 2025 SOURCE Scholar at Syracuse University!

by Heidi Hehnly in ,

Isa is tackling some fascinating questions in early embryonic development, investigating how Pericentrin contributes to spindle assembly both before and after the mid-blastula transition. Using a pericentrin null zebrafish line, she's uncovered some striking findings that are shedding new light on centrosome function during this critical developmental window.

Catch Isa and her exciting results this Friday at the SOURCE Research Festival. Way to go, Isa—we're so proud of everything you've accomplished!

Isa working away at the bench!