Kasza Lab Summer 2022!

Karen had a great time at the Signaling by Adhesion Receptors Gordon Research Conference. I learned so much and met so many new folks! A big thank you to Ann Miller and Patrick Derksen for the opportunity to speak to this community and for organizing a fantastic meeting!

Karen gave a virtual talk at the 2022 World Congress of Biomechanics. Thank you to Megan Killian and Lance Davidson for organizing such a great session on Embryonic and Developmental Mechanobiology!

We welcome An and Sebastian to the Kasza Lab as part of the Columbia ENG Summer Research Program for high school students!

Cannot believe the first postdoc in the group is finishing up and moving on to a tenure track faculty position at University of Rochester! Huge congrats to Marisol!

If you’re looking for a great lab to join for grad school or a postdoc, check out the Herrera Functional Multicellular Systems Lab

And what has become a lab tradition going away gift - an embroidered fruit fly adult and embryo pair (Hand-stitched by Hannah Lamar Studio.)

Christian gave a great talk at the 2022 SB3C Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference in Maryland in the session on Cancer & Morphogenesis!

Karen gave a talk in a great session on Cellular Biomechanics and Mechanobiology at the SEM Annual Conference and Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics in Pittsburgh. So good to see everyone in person again!

We welcome undergraduates Maya and Vik to the Kasza Lab as part of the Columbia Engineering Summer@SEAS program!

Congrats to all the graduates in the Kasza Lab - Xun Wang, Estevan Mesa, Andrew Pomposelli, and Chaya Hirsch! Our lab was very well represented at Columbia SEAS Class Day. Estevan (as Senior Class President) gave a fantastic speech! Xun was awarded the Graduate Student Life Award!

It was so much fun to co-organize the workshop on Geometry, Topology, and Symmetry in Soft and Living Matter at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics with Alexei Tkachenko, Miranda Holmes-Cerfon, and Oleg Gang. Thank you to all the participants who made it such an engaging workshop! And a huge thank you to the Simons Center for superbly organizing and hosting!

Sassan gave a great poster at the workshop on Geometry, Topology, and Symmetry in Soft and Living Matter at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics!

Karen had a great time virtually visiting the Wesleyan Biology Department to give a seminar! A big thank you to Jennifer Mitchel for the invitation!

A very big congratulations to Andrew Countryman on passing his qualifying exam in the Department of Biomedical Engineering!

Karen is so honored to be recognized as a 2022 Sloan Research Fellow for her work on the mechanics of living matter! A big thank you to all the members of the lab for their creativity and hard work!

Read more here and here.

Marisol gave a talk in a fantastic session on “Mechanical Forces and the 3D Sculpting of Cell-matrix Interactions and Tissues” at Cell Bio Virtual 2021!

Karen gave a seminar in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton. What a fantastic place for my first in-person visit in a long time! It was great meeting so many new folks and seeing old friends too. A big thank you to Celeste Nelson for the invitation!

Cannot believe our first grad student has defended and is moving on to a postdoc at MIT! Congrats Xun!

And what may become a new lab tradition - an embroidered Drosophila melanogaster going away gift. (Hand-stitched by Hannah Lamar Studio.)

Karen gave a virtual seminar as part of the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering Graduate Seminar Series at Texas A&M University. It was great to get to tell you more about our research. Thank you for the invitation!

Check our new paper in Biophysical Journal on using optogenetics to manipulate myosin-generated mechanical forces in developing embryos! Read the paper here. Read more here.