Shapeshifters: Can buildings behave like organisms?
The project — which includes Prof. David Odde — reimagines the convergence of architecture and biology to understand how organisms create internal structures.
Undergraduate student Ibrahim Irfanullah receives Fulbright award
Irfanullah plans to work on a project in Brazil aimed at applying techniques in machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop affordable and accessible technologies for hepatocellular carcinoma.
How University of Minnesota scientists use disease simulators to evaluate potential treatments
Dave shares how disease simulators have the potential to power up the potency of clinical trials, making their chances of success far better than they are today.
Computer simulator helps steer COVID-19 clinical trial toward promising treatment
The biophysics-based model from Dave and team simulated the disease on a molecular and cellular level so the trial team could screen potential treatments computationally long before they were given to participants.
Research finds cancer cells can migrate toward certain ‘sweet spot’ environments
Dave and team have found that cancer cells can gravitate toward certain mechanical “sweet spot” environments, providing new insights into how cancer invades the body.
New $9.6M grant to accelerate new cancer immunotherapeutics
A biophysics-based tumor simulator will be developed by BME faculty, thanks to a P01 grant from the National Cancer Institute.
PhD student Ghaidan Shamsan successfully defends dissertation
Ghaidan Shamsan has successfully defended his dissertation, "Mechanical Regulation of Glioma Cell Migration".
Developing a simulator to predict COVID-19 trial outcomes
Dave is creating a biophysical computer model that simulates COVID-19 on a molecular and cellular level, and tests therapies and vaccines computationally.
Student spotlight: Sarah Anderson
The PhD candidate reflects on the highlights of her student experience and shares what she finds exciting about her glioblastoma research.
Dave elected Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering
The honor recognizes Dave's distinguished contributions to and leadership in the field of medical and biological engineering in an international level.
New microtubule dynamics review
Mahya, Brian, and Dave wrote a review on multi-scale modeling of microtubule dynamics for Current Opinion in Cell Biology. Great work, everybody!
Becky (Klank) Markovitz publishes in Convergent Science Physical Oncology
Becky's paper on A Brownian dynamics tumor progression simulator with application to glioblastoma is now in press at Convergent Science Physical Oncology! Towards a goal of patient-specific brain tumor simulations, the Brownian dynamics (BD) simulator can predict tumor progression as a function of cell proliferation and migration rate. Great job, Becky!
Odde Lab at ASCB!
Dave, Louis, and Ghaidan traveled to Philadelphia for the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, which was held in the Convention Center on December 2-6. Dave gave a talk alongisde many other excellent speakers in the subgroup titled "From Motors to Cancer: Integrating Mechanical Forces Across Scales" on Saturday, December 2. Ghaidan and Louis both presented posters on their research on Monday, December 4. All said, it was an eventful conference filled with excellent scientific discussion!
Horacio Estabridis publishes in Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Former Master of Science student Horacio Estabridis published his paper on Cell migration in 1D and 2D nanofiber microenvironments in Annals of Biomedical Engineering in December! In collaboration with Amrinder Nain (Virginia Tech, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering) he investigated glioma cell migration behaviors on polystyrene fiber networks and showed that our cell migration simulator can predict those behaviors. Great job, Horacio!
Dave named AAAS Fellow
Dave was recognized as a Fellow for his contributions to the understanding of the self assembly and force generation of microtubules, F-actin, and associate proteins. Election as a Fellow is bestowed upon American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) members by their peers.
Odde Lab study gives new insight into how cancer spreads
A research study led by Professor David Odde gives new insight into how cancer cells move based on their ability to sense their environment. The discovery could have a major impact on therapies to prevent the spread of cancer.
Sarah Anderson and Mikayla Baker join the lab!
We welcome the lab's newest PhD student, Sarah Anderson, who comes to us from Harvey Mudd College by way of the Biomedical Engineering PhD program. This semester, we also welcomed Biomedical Engineering sophomore Mikayla Baker to the laboratory. Both will be working on projects related to glioma cell migration. Great to have you on board, Sarah and Mikayla!
Ghaidan and Louis win travel awards
Ghaidan is the 2017 recipient of the Masonic Cancer Center Brain Tumor Program Travel Award, and Louis received a travel award from the Council of Graduate Students (COGS). Both will be presenting posters at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual meeting in December. Congratulations to Ghaidan and Louis!
Cell Migration Simulator code available
Following our recent publication, the Cell Migration Simulator version 1.0 (CMSv1.0) code is now available for download on our Software page. CMSv1.0 is currently written for Matlab and replicates 2D cell migration with a tunable mechanical environment and cell parameters. Stay tuned for future updates and versions.
Physical Sciences-Oncology Center website is online
The University of Minnesota Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (PSOC) website is now online! Check out research activities and news from our whole PSOC network here.
#GoldyVsCancer at the Minnesota State Fair
Dave, Ghaidan, Mariah, and Bo traveled to the Minnesota State Fair ("The Great Minnesota Get-Together") for the #GoldyVsCancer event at Cancer Day 2017. Together with Carl Flink and members of the Black Label Movement dance company, they demonstrated a human scale simulation of cancer cell migration.
Ghaidan Shamsan wins travel award
Ghaidan is the 2017 recipient of the Brain Tumor Program travel award through the Masonic Cancer Center. Congratulations, Ghaidan!
Thank you summer undergraduate students!
We were fortunate to have an excellent group of hardworking, dedicated undergraduates joining the lab during summer 2017, including two summer internship students. Reshma Mandava joined us from Virginia Commonwealth University and attended the 2017 Cancer Systems Biology Consortium & Physical-Sciences-Oncology Network Summer Undergraduate Research Conference from July 11-12th in Washington, D.C. Xiyao Jin joined us from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Department of Biomedical Engineering in China. UMN BME students Erik Tazegul and Matt Baxter joined the lab to work on glioma cell migration, and Maria Stanslaski returned to the lab in August after finishing a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) project at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
Emily Tubman publishes in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering
Hot on the heels of her last paper, Emily's latest paper titled Kinesin-5 mediated chromosome congression in mitotic spindles is out in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering! Her paper shows that D. Melanogaster kinesin-5 functions by depolymerizing microtubules in the mitotic spindle, similar to earlier studies of kinesin-5 function in S. Cerevisciae and C.Albicans yeast spindles. Fantastic job, Emily!
Dave presents at TEDx Minneapolis
Dave gave a talk on the interface between technology and cancer research, and the emerging role of mathematical and computational modeling in understanding and treating cancer at TEDx Minneapolis in August 2017.
Louis Prahl wins Gordon Research Conference poster award!
Louis attended the Motile & Contractile Systems Gordon Research Conference at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH in July/August 2017. At the poster presentation, he won a "Best Poster" award and returned with this handy microtubule pencil holder as a prize! Excellent work, Louis!
Emily Tubman publishes in Cell Systems
Former student Emily Tubman, Ph.D. has a new article titled Stochastic modeling yields a mechanistic framework for spindle attachment and error correction in budding yeast mitosis out now in Cell Systems! Dividing cells must ensure that each of their daughter cells receives the appropriate number of chromosomes. Improper attachments between mitotic spindle microtubules and chromosomes that are not corrected can lead to aneuploidy, which is associated with cancer and developmental defects. Using stochastic simulations of microtubule-chromosome interactions, she shows how cells can sense tension on chromosomes and correct erroneous attachments. Great job, Emily!
Ben Bangasser publishes in Nature Communications
A paper by laboratory alumnus Ben Bangasser, Ph.D. is now in press at Nature Communications! The paper titled Shifting the optimal stiffness for cell migration integrates experimental measurements of human glioma cell migration with mathematical modeling to show how cells respond to the stiffness of their environment. It also demonstrates how the optimal (fastest) cell migration speed can shift, depending on the number of force-generating molecular motors and adhesion clutch bonds within the cell. The long author list reflects hard work put in by a number of Odde lab members over the years. Excellent work, Ben!
Mariah McMahon joins the lab
Mariah McMahon has joined the laboratory as a researcher III, and will be working on measuring the stiffness sensitivity of human glioblastoma cells. Welcome, Mariah!
Brian Castle publishes in Molecular Biology of the Cell
Brian's paper titled Mechanisms of kinetic stabilization by the drugs paclitaxel and vinblastine was accepted at Molecular Biology of the Cell! In this study, along with co-authors from University of Michigan, we use high-resolution imaging of microtubules in epithelial cells and in vitro using purified protein, and a computational model of microtubule self-assembly dynamics to determine how widely-used chemotherapy drugs affect the kinetics and thermodynamics of microtubule assembly. Great work, Brian!
Physical Sciences-Oncology Center featured in article by University of Minnesota Foundation
The University of Minnesota Foundation recently featured the Physical Sciences-Oncology Center with Paolo Provenzano (Dept. of Biomedical Engineering) and David Largaespada (Dept. of Genetics, Cell Biology, & Development and Masonic Cancer Center) on their fundraising page. Read their article here.
New Software Downloads Page
We have a brand new Software page on the website to share published image analysis and simulation codes. Check it out!
Becky Markovitz (Klank) publishes in Cell Reports
Former PhD student Becky Klank's paper titled Biphasic dependence of glioma survival and cell migration on CD44 expression level is currently in press at Cell Reports. Becky, co-first author Stacy Decker Grunke, and collaborators from the Masonic Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, and Columbia University use genetically engineered mouse models, ex vivo fluorescence imaging, computational modeling, and patient gene expression data to show that glioblastoma (GBM) disease progression and cell migration correlate biphasically with CD44 expression levels. Great job, Becky!
Welcome new lab members!
This semester, we were joined by two BME sophomores, Maria Stanslaski and Jonathan Maleska. In addition, Maria was awarded an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) scholarship in spring 2017!
Horacio defends his masters thesis in Biomedical Engineering
Horacio Estabridis defended his Master of Science degree titled "Experimental and simulated cell migration in 1D and 2D nanofiber microenvironments" on December 16th, 2016. In January, he will be starting at Teleflex. Great job, Horacio!
Odde Lab at American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco
Dave, Louis, and Mahya traveled to San Francisco, CA to attend the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting on December 3-7, 2016 at the Moscone Center. They had an exciting chance to see the latest cell biology research, check out the vendor exhibits, and each presented a poster at the afternoon sessions.
Posters at the Masonic Cancer Center Annual Symposium
Ghaidan and Louis both presented posters at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center symposium held at TCF Bank stadium on November 2-3, 2016.
Biomedical Engineering Society comes to Minneapolis!
The 2016 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) meeting was hosted at the Minneapolis Convention Center in October 2016, and our very own David Odde was one of the meeting co-chairs along with Song Li (UC Berkeley) and Cynthia Reinhart-King (Cornell University). The lab made the long trek from campus to downtown Minneapolis (about three light rail stops) and was well represented in the talks and poster sessions. Ghaidan, Louis, and Chao all gave talks in the themed sessions, and Brooke presented her work in the undergraduate poster session. Great conference, and great work everyone!
Institute for Engineering in Medicine 2016 Annual Retreat
The Odde lab presented four posters at the University of Minnesota Institute for Engineering in Medicine retreat at MacNamara Alumni Center in September 2016. Mahya, Louis, Andrew, and Ghaidan all presented posters in the afternoon session, and Ghaidan won 3rd place in the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering poster competition!
University of Minnesota joins Physical Sciences-Oncology Network
We are excited to announce the formation of a new Physical Sciences-Oncology Center at the University of Minnesota! David Odde is a director of the brand new "Center for Modeling Tumor Cell Migration Mechanics" - an $8.2 million, 5-year award from the National Cancer Institute. Along with co-directors Dr. David Largaespada (UMN Dept. of Pediatrics and Masonic Cancer Institute) and Dr. Steven Rosenfeld (Cleveland Clinic Brain Tumor and Neuro-oncology Center and Dept. of Cancer Biology), and involving multi-disciplinary research groups at the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, and Cleveland Clinic, this grant will fund research focused on understanding the mechanics of cancer cells and their environment in high grade tumors. Cell migration is a common feature of high-grade cancer, so developing a computational "flight simulator" for cancer cell migration could lead to new therapeutic strategies aimed at disabling cell migration and improving patient outcomes.
Read the University of Minnesota press release
Read the project overview at the National Cancer Institute website
David Odde receives collaborative National Institute on Aging grant
David Odde, Ph.D., IEM Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Theme Co-Chair and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, is a Co-Principal Investigator on a recently awarded R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging. In collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Rhoades (Principal Investigator, U. of Pennsylvania, Dept. of Chemistry) and Dr. Jonathan Sachs (Co-Investigator, U. of Minnesota Dept. of Biomedical Engineering), the $2.3 million 5-year grant will fund research into the molecular mechanisms of tau, a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the loss of function of the microtubule-associated protein tau, which leads to microtubule destabilization and disruption of normal neuronal function. One possible mechanism is that disease-specific modifications to the tau protein disrupt motor-based protein trafficking along axons through altered microtubule organization and dynamics. The goal of this collaborative project is to develop a molecular level understanding of tau's mechanism of action on microtubule assembly dynamics in both normal and disease-specific tau variants that affect tau-microtubule interactions. Using computational modeling, in vitro experimental analysis of purified proteins, and imaging microtubules in living cells, this project will develop a detailed biophysical mechanism of tau function towards the goal of being able to predict changes in cellular function from molecular-scale modifications to the tau protein. Results from this research will guide future therapy development to restore normal tau function in patients with Alzehimer's disease.
Khoa Cao defends his masters thesis
Khoa Cao completed his Master of Science degree in biomedical engineering in July 2016 for his project titled "Estimating mechanical differences between dorsal and ventral surfaces of U251 cells." Thanks for the hard work, Khoa!
2nd Annual Midwest Tumor Microenvironment Meeting held at McNamara Alumni Center
The University of Minnesota was host to the 2nd Annual Midwest Tumor Microenvironment Meeting on May 18-20, 2016. Andrew, Ghaidan, and Louis presented posters, and the meeting was a great way to engage with other researchers within the very active local community. Special thanks to Paolo Provenzano, David Wood, Kaylee Schwertfeger, and James McCarthy for organizing!
Odde lab at the 3rd Minnesota Neuro-Oncology Symposium
The 3rd Minnesota Neuro-Oncology Symposium was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis on May 9-10th, 2016. Andrew and Ghaidan both presented posters at the poster session on May 9th. Thanks to all attendees, especially the great set of speakers!
Jesse Kasim and Matthew Hunt graduate with honors
Biomedical engineering seniors Jesse Kasim and Matthew Hunt defended their honors theses in May 2016 and graduated with degrees in biomedical engineering. Next year, Jesse Kasim will be attending the University of Wisconsin Medical School, while Matthew Hunt will be working in R&D at Boston Scientific while he applies to medical school. Great job, and congratulations to the class of 2016!
Emily Tubman defends her thesis
Emily Tubman defended her Ph.D. thesis titled "Modeling and analysis of chromosome attachment error correction and congression during mitosis" in April 2016! She is currently working in Scientific Affairs at Boston Scientific as a Project Manager. Great job, Emily!
Rebecca Markovitz defends her thesis
Rebecca Markovitz (Klank) defended her Ph.D. thesis titled "Physical determinants of glioma cell migration and disease progression" in September 2015! She is currently residing in Leipzig, Germany. Gut gemacht, Becky!
Louis Prahl receives travel award to France
Graduate student Louis Prahl received a STEM Chateaubriand Fellowship and NSF Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) grant to study in France! He will spend 3 months in Paris, collaborating with Dr. Matthieu Piel at Institut Curie and learning microfabrication techniques to study cell migration. Tres bien, Louis!
New papers from the Odde lab
We have two new papers out this month! First, former undergraduate Kelsey McCoy's paper Physical limits on kinesin-5 mediated chromosome congression in the smallest mitotic spindles was accepted to Molecular Biology of the Cell. This research, in collaboration with Judy Berman's laboratory (UMN/Tel Aviv University) and the Boulder Laboratory for 3D Electron Microscopy of Cells (University of Colorado) explores chromosome congression in the fungal yeast candida albicans. Next, former Master of Science student Joe Powers' paper The predicted role of steric specificity in crowding-mediated effects on reversible biomolecular association was accepted to Physical Biology, and will be in press later this year! Congratulations, all!
Louis Prahl presents at PhysCell Meeting
Graduate student Louis Prahl presented a poster titled "Increased traction force and reduced migration following microtubule depolymerization" at the EMBO Physics of Cells: From Molecules to Systems (PhysCell 2015). PhysCell 2015 was held at Banz Abbey, near Bad Staffelstein, Germany.
Odde Lab Retreat 2015
The Odde laboratory and collaborators from the University of Minnesota and Cleveland Clinic held their annual retreat at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, MN on July 1st. This great day of scientific discussion and brainstorming ended with dinner and a park concert in Plymouth, MN! 
Odde Lab Undergrads present at UROP symposium
Congratulations to Angela, Patrick, Jesse, and Divya, who presented their research projects at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) symposium in April 2015!
Odde Lab at ASME NanoEngineering conference
The University of Minnesota hosted the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 4th Global Conference on NanoEngineering in Medicine and Biology in April 2015. Dave gave the keynote lecture in the "Cell-ECM interactions in mechanotransduction" section. Ghaidan and Louis both presented posters, and Louis' poster "Nanoscale measurements of microtubule assembly kinetics and tip structure" received Honorable Mention in the poster competition!
Emily Tubman presents at Genome Instability meeting
Graduate student Emily Tubman traveled to Oklahoma City, OK to present her poster "Transition-state model of kinetochore-microtubule attachments in budding yeast" at the Emerging Topics in Genome Instability Symposium in April 2015. Great work, Emily!
Follow @DavidOddeLab on Twitter!
The Odde laboratory has entered the social media world! Follow @DavidOddeLab on Twitter to receive updates on ongoing research projects, conferences, publications, and more. https://twitter.com/davidoddelab
Odde Lab at Biophysical Society
Dave, Brannon, and Ghaidan traveled to Baltimore, MD for the Biophysical Society meeting in February 2015. Ghaidan presented a poster titled "Finite Element Modeling of Cell Traction Force", and Brannon gave a talk titled "Molecular Recognition of Actin Turnover at the Leading Edge of Migrating Cells." Good job, everyone!
Benjamin Bangasser defends his thesis
Benjamin Bangasser defended his thesis "Optimality in the nanomechanics of cell migration and adhesion" in September 2014, and is currently working in Minneapolis at Valspar as an Engineer III. Great job, Dr. Ben!
Odde Lab at Mathematics of the Cell meeting
Dave, Brannon, and Brian traveled to the "Mathematics of the Cell: Integrating Genes, Biochemistry and Mechanics" meeting at the Banff International Research Station in September 2014.
Brian Castle defends his thesis
Brian Castle defended his thesis “Multiscale modeling and analysis of microtubule self-assembly dynamics” in July (2014). Brian continues to work in the Odde lab as a post-doc. Well done, Dr. Castle!
Louis Prahl awarded NSF Fellowship
Graduate student Louis Prahl received the NSF Graduate Fellowship in the spring of 2014. Keep up the good work, Louis!
Updated Tip Tracker code available
An updated version of our microtubule tracking algorithm (TipTracker_v3) is now available for download here . The download package comes as a zip file that contains the tracking algorithm (two Matlab files) and a PDF support manual. This code update follows our recent chapter Quantitative analysis of microtubule self-assembly kinetics and tip structure in Methods in Enzymology, which contains additional information on code performance under various imaging conditions, and optimization procedures for potential user applications.
David Odde receives National Cancer Institute R01 grant
David Odde, Ph.D., IEM Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Theme Co-Chair and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, was recently awarded a new R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop an integrated modeling and microsystems approach to glioma invasion.
The $2.3M grant will involve researchers from Neurosurgery, the Masonic Cancer Center, the College of Science & Engineering and a collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic (Prof. Steve Rosenfeld, M.D., Ph.D.). A major goal will be to develop a "flight simulator" to simulate the mechanics of brain cancer cell migration in the brain, and use the simulator to identify possible therapeutic targets.
In this study, Prof. Odde and colleagues will be using a combination of advanced genetics, mouse models, and confocal light microscopy imaging to quantitatively measure glioma cell migration and force generation dynamics in live mouse brain slices. In parallel, they are developing advanced in vitro systems with controlled chemical and mechanical properties that more closely mimic normal and diseased brain tissue. Finally, these advanced experimental systems will be used to develop the "flight simulator" for the migrating cancer cells. This computer model will then be used to screen in silico for the most vulnerable nodes, and node combinations, in the mechanochemical network. Ultimately, they hope to find drug target combinations that strongly and selectively disable glioma cell migration, leading to new and more effective therapies.
Brian Castle publishes in Biophysical Journal
Brian Castle's paper Brownian Dynamics of Subunit Addition-Loss Kinetics and Thermodynamics in Linear Polymer Assembly has been published in the current Biophysical Journal. In addition, Brian's image (shown at the left) was featured as the cover image of the current issue! Read more about the cover art here. Congratulations, Brian!
Ben Bangasser publishes in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering
On the heels of his last publication, hot off the press is Ben's most recent paper Master Equation-Based Analysis of a Motor-Clutch Model for Cell Traction Force in CMBE. Way to go, Ben!
Becky Klank wins outstanding poster at the UMN Institute for Engineering in Medicine Conference
Becky Klank was awarded outstanding poster in the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Theme for her poster Biphasic Cell Migration and Progression of Malignant Gliomas. Well done, Becky!
Ben Bangasser publishes in Biophysical Journal
Ben's paper Determinants of maximal force transmission in a motor-clutch model of cell traction in a compliant microenvironment was published in the Biophysical Journal in August 2013. Congratulations, Ben!
Joseph Powers defends MS thesis
Former student Joseph Powers defended his Master's thesis entitled The Predicted Role of Stereospecificity in Crowding-Mediated Effects on Reversible Association in the summer of 2013. Joe then packed up his guitar and moved West to pursue a PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Washington. Lucky for the Huskies!
Feed my Starving Children
The Odde lab participated in Feed my Starving Children's food-packing event, which provides meals to malnourished children in over 70 countries around the world.
Farewell to Alistair and Ben
Former undergraduate researchers Alistair McIntyre and Ben Fuller graduated in the spring of 2013. Alistair is currently pursuing a MS in Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, and Ben is attending medical school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Thanks for your hard work and good luck in your endeavors!
Becky Klank awarded the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for 2013-2014
The University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship will fund Becky's final year of graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. She will be completing her work on novel imaging and modeling approaches for understanding glioma tumor progression. Congratulations, Becky!
Odde lab at Marine Biological Laboratory
Dave returned to MBL as a Physiology Course Faculty member in July 2013. Graduate students Louis Prahl and Emily Tubman traveled with him as teaching assistants. Over the course of the two week rotation, Physiology Course students developed and presented computational models of their research. In addition, course participants got to test their models using "bodystorming" with members of the Black Label Movement dance company.
Odde Lab Retreat 2013
The Odde lab held its first annual Odde Lab Retreat at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum June 27, 2013. The lab used this time to discuss all current projects and brainstorm new ideas with collaborators from the University of Minnesota and the Cleveland Clinic.
If truth is beauty, can art be science?
Dave presented "If truth is beauty, can art be science?" with collaborator Carl Flink, Department of Theatre Arts & Dance at the TEDMED2013 Event at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2013.
Bodystorming: Dance Grooves Show How Molecules Move
Dave and UMN Department of Theatre Arts and Dance Professor Carl Flink's collaboration is making news in the scientific community. On the heels of their recent publication Science+Dance=Bodystorming (Trends in Cell Biology, 2012), Bodystorming: Dance Grooves Show How Molecules Move, published in Science NOW in November, describes the background and progression of the collaboration, as well as reactions from other scientists invited to join the pair to use bodystorming to test their own scientific hypotheses. Photo: William Cameron
Dominique Seetapun publishes article on GTP cap size
Former graduate student Dominique Seetapun's paper Estimating the GTP cap size in vivo was published in Current Biology in September, 2012.
Lucas Kramer advances to Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
High school research participant Lucas Kramer participated in the Central Minnesota Science Fair where he presented his poster "The Effects of Microtubule Dynamics on Glioma Cell Motility: Does the Cell Length Dependent Model for Microtubule Activity in Neurons Apply to Human Glioma cells?" from work completed in the Odde lab under the mentorship of Brian Castle during the summer of 2012. He was selected to advance to the Intel International Science Fair in Phoenix in May.
Emily Tubman presents poster at IRB Barcelona meeting
Emily presented her poster "Kinesin-5 promotes disassembly of long kinetochore microtubules" at the Microtubule Cytoskeleton in Development and Disease meeting March 18-20, 2013 .
Becky Klank presents poster at PhysCell meeting
Becky presented her poster entitled "CD44-Mediated Motility in the Progression of Malignant Gliomas" at the PhysCell 2012 Meeting "Pierre-Gille de Gennes days on Physics of cells: from soft to living matter" in Hyeres, France held September 2-8, 2012.
Odde lab at Marine Biological Laboratory
Dave returned to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA as a Physiology Course Faculty member and brought Odde lab graduate students as his teaching assistants. In the two-week rotation, course students developed mathematical models of their home research topics and tested these models on Minneapolis-based dance company Black Label Movement.
Benjamin Bangasser gives talk at Gordon Research Seminar
In July, 2012, Ben gave a talk entitled "Optimality in a motor-clutch cell traction model" at the Signaling by Adhesion Receptors Gordon Research Seminar at Colby College in Waterville, ME. Well done, Ben!
Becky Klank awarded NIH Neuroimaging Training Fellowship
With support from the NIH Neuorimaging Training Fellowhip, Becky will be using optical coherence tomography and two-photon imaging to study brain cancer motility. Congratulations, Becky!
Emily Tubman awarded Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship
With support from the UMN Graduate School IDF, Emily will collaborate with dancers, using "body-storming," to develop error correction models in mitosis during the 2012/2013 academic year. Congratulations, Emily!
Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference
The SPRBM and BMES are hosting the second inaugural Conference on Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Jan. 3-7, 2012, at the Hilton Caribe Hotel and Resort in Puerto Rico.
Dave Odde named an Associate Editor of Biophysical Journal
Effective July 1, 2011, Dave joined the editorial board of the Biophysical Journal, the official journal of the Biophysical Society.
Dominique Seetapun defends her thesis
Dominique Seetapun, a recent graduate of the Odde lab, defended her thesis “Multiscale Microtubule Plus-End Dynamics in Neurons and Epithelial Cells” last May, 2011. Dominique is now a Senior R&D Scientist at Miromatrix Medical.. Congratulations, Dr. Seetapun!
Ben Bangasser awarded NSF Fellowship
Graduate student Ben Bangasser received the NSF Graduate Fellowship in the spring of 2011. Congratulations, Ben!