Lab News
Coco and Hannah receive a Double Hoo award!
Congratulations to Coco Holliday and Hannah Ennerfelt for receiving a Double Hoo research grant! This program promotes collaborations between undergraduate and graduate students and Coco and Hannah will be working together to investigate microglia responses in Alzheimer’s disease.
A warm welcome to new graduate students
We are excited to work with new PhD students Ana Royo Marco, Jessica Thanos, Aman Mangalmurti, and Nicholas Natale!
Daniel receives a Harrison Research Award!
Congratulations to Daniel Shapiro for receiving a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award! This program funds outstanding undergraduate research projects and is made possible by David A. Harrison III and family.
Lukens lab members log serious mileage
Hannah, Ashley, Kristine, and friends successfully completed the Richmond half marathon! The stars aligned for a beautiful race day and everyone crushed the course.
Ashley wins best talk award at AAIC Neuroscience Next!
Out of over 300 abstracts submitted to the AAIC Neuroscience Next Conference, Ashley was one of 48 selected to participate in a Lightning Presentation Round. Ashley’s presentation entitled “Meningeal lymphatic dysfunction exacerbates traumatic brain injury pathogenesis” was awarded the honor of being one of the top three talks.
The Lukens Lab Walks to End Alzheimer’s
Thank you to our generous donors who helped us raise $4,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association!
Ashley publishes her work in Nature Communications!
Ashley’s work links meningeal lymphatic dysfunction to traumatic brain injury pathology. This important work provides insights into the consequences of brain injury and suggests that boosting lymphatic function may constitute a potential therapeutic strategy to limit injury-induced damage.
You can find Ashley’s work here.
Mia Hamm gives Cat a special message at her public thesis defense!
Click to view the special message to Cat from soccer great Mia Hamm at her public thesis defense.
Lab hike to celebrate Catherine Lammert successfully defending her thesis and receiving her doctorate!
Cat gave an incredibly impressive dissertation seminar entitled “Dysregulated Innate Immune Signaling as a Driver of Impaired Neurodevelopment”. We will miss Cat and wish her all the best as she pursues postdoctoral research in the lab of Peter Penzes at Northwestern University!
Ashley Bolte receives an F30 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Award for MD/PhD students from the National Institute on Aging
Ashley’s project is entitled “Meningeal lymphatic dysfunction in traumatic brain injury: roles in disease pathogenesis and long-term outcomes”. Huge congratulations to Ashley!
Ashley Bolte is awarded a Wagner Fellowship!
In 1997, Bob and Mary Wagner established The Robert R. Wagner Fellowship Fund with the goal of providing fellowships to graduate students in the basic sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia. We are extremely proud of Ashley for her accomplishment. Click to learn more!
Kristine Zengeler selected for a spot on the CMB training grant
The NIH-sponsored Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB) training program provides funding and training for predoctoral candidates.
Ashley presents at TBI Speaker Series!
On Friday, May 15, at 3pm EST, Ashley Bolte will present at a TBI Speaker Series. Click to see details and instructions on how to tune in!
Cat wins Jill E. Hungerford Prize in Biomedical Sciences!
Each year, the Jill E. Hungerford, Ph.D. prize is awarded by the University of Virginia Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program to a student who closely emulates Jill’s scholarship and vitality.
Cat publishes paper in Nature!
In her final graduate year, Cat Lammert publishes an incredible paper concerning the AIM2 inflammasome. This paper has incredible implications relating to neurodevelopment and identifying therapeutic targets. Congratulations on your publication, Cat!
Muhannah gets into the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine!
Very proud to announce that Muhannah was accepted to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine where he will study for the next few years, working to become a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
Kristine Zengeler joins the lab to pursue her graduate thesis studies
We are excited to work with Kristine who is interested in exploring how the innate immune system contributes to neurodevelopmental disease.
Cat Lammert is awarded a Wagner Fellowship
We are thankful to Robert and Mary Wagner for their generous support of graduate student research at UVA. Dr. Robert B. Wagner served as Professor and Chair of Microbiology from 1967-1994. This fellowship is a lasting tribute to his dedication to student training, his encouragement of young scientists, and his love of UVA.