People
Principal Investigator
Dr. Lillian Fritz-Laylin
About
I am an evolutionary cell biologist, coupling comparative genomics with modern cell biology to discover core molecules and mechanisms required for cell motility. I work with a number of eukaryotic organisms, from free living amoebae to flagellated fungi, as well as human neutrophils. Fun stuff!Education
B.A. Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Postdoc Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, University of California San Francisco
Research Fellows
Sarah Prostak
About
I am a research fellow in the Fritz-Laylin lab interested in how pathogens move and infect their host. I am continuing my work investigating actin structures and actin-based motility in the frog parasite Batrachochytirum dendrobatidis. Understanding the cell biology of this organism may help save our amphibious friends, something I'm super excited to be a part of.Education
B.S. Biology, University of Massachusetts – Amherst
Postdocs
Dr. Katrina Velle
Contact
Email: kvelle@umass.edu
About
I am a postdoc in the Fritz-Laylin lab, and I'm interested in cytoskeletal dynamics as well as mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis. I am investigating actin-based protrusions underlying motility and phagocytosis in the non-pathogenic freshwater amoeba Naegleria gruberi as a model for the brain-eating amoeba, N. fowleri.Education
B.A. Biology, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
Ph.D. Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Dr. Andrew Swafford
Contact
Email: aswafford@umass.edu
About
I am a postdoc in the Fritz-Laylin lab and I’m interested in the origins and evolution of behavior as an emergent property of motor and sensory systems. I am investigating how the molecular mechanisms of cell movement have evolved and subsequently integrated with sensory systems in chytrid fungi, influencing their ecology and pathogenicity.Education
B.A. Biology, Bowdoin College.
M.A. Bioinformatics and Phylogenetics, University of California Santa Barbara.
Ph.D. Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara.
Dr. Edgar Medina
About
Coming soon to a lab near youGraduate Students
Kristyn Robinson
Contact
Email: kristynrobin@umass.edu
About
I'm a graduate student with the Molecular and Cellular Biology PhD program. I'm interested in cell motility and organismal development. I am currently investigating the adhesion of infectious chytrid fungi to amphibian mucus and how this affects the fungi's life development.Education
B.S. Biochemistry, Clemson University
Undergraduate Students
Simon Shulman
About
I am an undergraduate research assistant in the Fritz-Laylin Lab. I am interested in cellular biology and genetics. I particularly enjoy genetic analysis of pathogenic organisms and am now working on chytrid fungi.
Tati Beckford
About
I am an undergraduate student and intern in the Fritz-Laylin lab. I am a Pre-Med Biology Major here at the university. I hope to continue my education with a focus in Forensics and Virology.
Terrell Redwood
About
