On Friday, May 9, the MCB community is invited to a special afternoon of science, storytelling, and structural biology. Three labs—those of Victoria D’Souza, Rachelle Gaudet, and Doeke Hekstra—will co-host a Structural Biology Supergroup Open House, offering visitors a rare behind-the-scenes look at the methods and discoveries that illuminate life at the molecular level.
Lab Tours
The Open House will include one-hour guided lab tours at 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., starting in the Tea Room outside Room 305 in the Northwest Building. Each tour will stop at multiple interactive research stations led by members of the Gaudet, Hekstra, and D’Souza labs.
You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the techniques the labs use, including cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), x-ray crystallography, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). No registration is needed! Just show up, bring your curiosity, and join the labs for an exciting look into the world of structural biology!
Each lab brings a unique lens to the study of structure and function:
The D’Souza Lab uses NMR, a powerful technique that lets us observe atoms and how they respond to magnetic fields, to understand what molecules like RNA and proteins look like and how they move in solution.
The Hekstra Lab observes the changes in a protein’s shape that result from targeted forces, like those from electric fields or DNA spring, to understand how proteins work.
The Gaudet Lab studies membrane proteins that mediate the flow of matter and information into cells, using a combination of techniques like X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM, bioinformatics, and mutational screening.
Friday Talks @4
To cap off the day, the labs will also be featured in that week’s Friday Talk @4, a regular departmental event highlighting student and postdoc research. Presenters will include:
Gerardo Zavala, a Chemical Biology graduate student from the Gaudet Lab. He will present on the Studying the Peptidase-ABC Transporter That Secretes and Activates Zwittermicin A.
SeArre Abebe, a post-baccalaureate student from the Hekstra Lab. He will discuss Spring Stimulated Protein Mechanics: Applying Known, Targeted Forces to Proteins with Molecular Springs
Kimberley Berg, an MCO graduate student from the D’Souza Lab. She will talk about BC200: The Missing lnc(RNA) in Neuronal Translation Initiation
Whether you’re a structural biologist or simply structure-curious, don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about the molecular machinery of life—and meet the scientists working to uncover its secrets.
Special thanks to Gerardo, SeArre, and Fardin Aryan, MCO graduate student in the D’Souza Lab, for organizing the event.
TGIF
The three labs will also host TGIF at 3:45 pm in BioLabs’ Main Lecture Hall, 1080.
