Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Chemla Room (67-3111) and Zoom
Talk Title: Celebrating the Dynamic States of Molecular Machines and Talented, Diverse Scientists
Presented by the Foundry IDEA Committee
Zoom link

Abstract:
Dr. Eshun-Wilson is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Gabriel Lander at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. She completed her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Eva Nogales at UC Berkeley as a National Science Foundation and Ford Fellow. She also received the 2020 Cris Alvaro PhD Commencement Prize for excellence in research and community service.
Early on, Lisa became fascinated by highly dynamic proteins that bind and stabilize key cytoskeletal filaments known as microtubules. Lisa started to appreciate the microtubule as an allosteric macromolecular machine that interprets multifaceted inputs and reacts by transforming its conformation, stiffness and dynamics. This appreciation inspired my pursuit to solve the first structure of the dynamic, flexible microtubule regulator called MAP7, or microtubule-associated protein 7. During her PhD, she found that like proteins, she had dynamic states that collectively made her who she was – and she wanted to celebrate all of these different states and unique identities. Whether it was my desire to teach, mentor or give back to my community, each of these states made her the scientist that she is today. So, in addition to her science, she launched an initiative called inclusiveMCB (iMCB) at UC Berkeley during her PhD, in collaboration with Dean Michael Botchan, that aimed to create an inclusive space for diverse scientists and to celebrate the unique states of all scientists.
For this talk, Dr. Eshun-Wilson will dive deeply into the key functional states of microtubule-associated proteins and how iMCB helped her to celebrate her all the energy states that comprise her (thermo)dynamic landscape.
Bio:
Dr. Eschun-Wilson is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in the Lander Lab. She received her PhD from UC Berkeley in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2019.