People
Principal Investigator
Lillian Fritz-Laylin
About
Dr. Fritz-Laylin is an evolutionary cell biologist who combines classical cell biology with comparative genomics and phylogenetics to understand the evolution and regulation of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Her lab is developing two model systems with developmentally-regulated cytoskeletal dynamics that occupy key positions in the evolutionary tree: the amphibian-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and Naegleria gruberi, a non-pathogenic cousin to the fatal “brain eating amoeba”. She is a Pew Scholar, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California Berkeley where she was a Chang-Lin Tien Scholar in Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity, and was a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California San Francisco.
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
Postdocs
Ananya Nidamangala Srinivasa
Contact
Email: anidamangala@umass.edu
About
am a geneticist and molecular biologist interested in how conflict and cooperation shape the evolutionary trajectory of the genes, genomes and organisms involved. As a postdoc in the Fritz-Laylin lab, I’m interested in studying how such interactions can shape the cytoskeleton across evolutionarily diverse lineages.
Website: ananyans.com
Education
PhD, University of Kansas Medical Center
B. Tech Biotechnology, SASTRA University, India
Sarah Guest
About
Dr. Sarah Guest is an evolutionary cell biologist interested in how the cytoskeleton drives diverse morphology and motility in amoeboid protists across the eukaryotic tree. As a postdoc in the Fritz-Laylin lab, she is currently using a combination of microscopy and biochemical techniques to investigate the conserved function of Myosin 2 in generating contractile actin networks in Naegleria gruberi. She is also working on identifying divergent features of this unexpected myosin, which is believed to originate by horizontal gene transfer from an Amoebozoan ancestor to Naegleria's lineage - a divergence time of over 1 billion years.
Education
B.S. in Microbiology, Minor in Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity, University of California Davis.
Ph.D. in Microbiology, University of California Davis.
Andrew Kennard
About
Dr. Andrew Kennard is a cell biologist and biophysicist, hoping to combine his expertise in microscopy and quantitative image analysis with comparative genomics to better understand the fantastic diversity of cytoskeletal organization. He is currently investigating the assembly and organization of Naegleria gruberi’s unique mitotic spindle, as a case study in evolutionary cell biology and also as a route to discover treatments for infection by the related organism Naegleria fowleri—sometimes known as the “brain-eating amoeba.” He is a postdoc in the Fritz-Laylin lab, and received his PhD in Biophysics from Stanford University. His work is supported by an NIH F32 fellowship (NIGMS).
https://andrewkennard.github.io/
Education
PhD Stanford University
MPhil University of Cambridge
AB Harvard College
Awards
NIH NIGMS F32
Honorable Mention, NSF GRFP
Graduate Students
Yvette Park
Contact
Email: ygpark@umass.edu
About
Yvette Park is interested in how amoeba-flagellates use their cell morphology to respond to their environments. Her research focuses on Naegleria gruberi, a free-living amoeba that responds to environmental stress by differentiating into a flagellate. She is investigating how these flagellates detect and respond to chemical cues through processes like chemotaxis, with a particular interest in the signaling pathways that drive this behavior.
Education
B.S., Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Awards
2024 Albert L. Delisle Scholarship, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Kirsten Underwood
Contact
Email: klunderwood@umass.edu
About
Kirsten Underwood is interested in how the cytoskeleton and signal transduction drive morphology and motility during chytrid fungi development. Currently she investigates the dynamics and function of actin patches in chytrid fungi. She is also working on co-culturing frog-killing chytrid fungi with frog epithelial cells to study the mechanisms behind fungal invasion and growth in amphibian skin. Kirsten is a PhD student in the MCB program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Education
PharmD., University of Wyoming
B.S., Biological Sciences, Montana State University Bozeman
Stephanie Ridley
Contact
Email: sridley@umass.edu
About
Stephanie Ridley is interested in how biotic and abiotic signals influence fungal development. Currently, she is working on the signaling pathways associated with mucin-induced encystation in frog-killing chytrid fungi. She is also exploring how environmental factors affect the growth and overall development of these species. Stephanie is a PhD student in the MCB program at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Education
B.S., Biological Sciences, Hampton University
Stephanie Brody
Contact
Email: smbrody@umass.edu
About
Stephanie Brody is interested in how cells build and maintain a variety of functionally distinct actin structures from the same supply of actin monomers and regulators. She is currently studying how chytrid fungi respond to and crawl in different environments, specifically how confinement of cells affects the dynamic rearangements of the actin cytoskeleton. Stephanie is a PhD student in Dr. Fritz-Laylin's lab at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Education
BS, Biochemistry and Applied Mathematics, Brandeis University
Sarah Prostak
About
Sarah Prostak is an evolutionary cell biologist interested in understanding the diversification and regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. She has identified actin regulatory genes in several chytrid fungi species and cataloged the actin structures in the frog killing chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Sarah is a PhD student in Dr. Fritz-Laylin's lab currently working on establishing the mRNA expression profiles of actin regulatory genes throughout the life cycle of several chytrid species, including Bd. She is also interested in how Bd and other chytrids osmoregulate as well as establish cell polarity. Sarah received an Honorable Mention for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2021.
Education
BS, Biology University of Massachusetts Amherst
Awards
Honorable Mention, NSF GRFP
Support Staff
Jacob Ritz
About
I am a research specialist in the Fritz-Laylin lab specializing in microscopy technique development. I am interested in how we can utilize a variety of microscopy techniques and fluorescent probes to design clever experiments to learn more about cellular signaling.
Education
Ph.D. Physics, University of Minnes
B.S. Physics, University of California, Irvine
Stevie Schafenacker
Contact
About
Stevie is the Lab Administrator. She provides administrative and financial management support. She also runs her own farm and food coaching business.
Education
B.A., Mount Holyoke College
Jarrett Man
Contact
Email: jaman@umass.edu
About
I am a staff researcher and the lab manager. My background is evolutionary developmental biology, I'm interested in how genetic modifications impact organisms' evolutionary trajectories.
Education
PhD Plant Biology University of Massachusetts Amherst
BA Agroecology Hampshire College
Awards
2019 Lotta M. Crabtree Fellowship in Production Agriculture. University of Massachusetts
2016 Distinguished Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship. University of Massachusetts
2016 Helmsley Scholarship. The Helmsley Charitable Trust. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
2016 Albert L. Delisle Scholarship. University of Massachusetts
Emily Larkin
Contact
Email: emilylarkin@umass.edu
About
Emily Larkin is an undergraduate currently working with Dr. Andrew Kennard to investigate the assembly and organization of the mitotic spindles in Naegleria gruberi. She hopes to help uncover potential treatments for infections caused by a related amoeba, Naegleria fowleri (the “brain-eating amoeba”). She is interested in learning more about evolutionary biology through the cytoskeleton and hopes to use her skills in biochemistry and computer science to conduct more sophisticated imaging and data analysis.
Education
B.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
B.A. Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Alumni
Where are They Now?
- Cleo Baldoumas (Past Support Staff) – PhD student researcher, Florida State University
- Dr. Karen Fisher @fisher_ke (Past Research Fellow) – Associate research scientist, Arizona State University
- Jose Alfredo Guzman Lopez (Past Research Fellow) – Postdoc at UC Berkeley
- Shane Hussey (Past Research Fellow) – Bioinformatician
- Katrina Velle @KatrinaVelle (Past Postdoc) – Assistant Professor of Biology, Umass Dartmouth
- Andrew Swafford @Swafford_AJ (Past Postdoc) – Assistant Professor, Middlebury College
- Edgar M. Medina @mycozoa (Past Postdoc) – Assistant Research Professor, Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University
- Alena Naritsin (Past Undergraduate Student) – Medical student at St. George's University
- Mallory Kakley (Past Research Fellow) – High school science teacher