NEWS

On May 11, 2022, Frost lab Master's student Lulu successfully defended her thesis! Lulu will be staying on in the Frost lab as a PhD student as a part of our IBMS Biology of Aging Discipline. "I'd like to thank Dr. Frost and the whole Frost lab for their support on this project over the course of my master's. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Ellen Kraig, Dr. Yidong Bai, Dr. Lizhen Chen, and Dr. Gregory Collins for their guidance and expertise as I navigate

Frost lab MD/PhD student Gabbe Zuniga has successfully defended her dissertation! Gabbe's work focused on understanding the role of nonsense-mediated RNA decay and aberrant translation in the context of neurodegenerative tauopathy. She has also taken an active role in our Phase II clinical trial in patients with early Alzheimer's disease. During her time in the lab, Gabbe had a first-author paper published in Alzheimer's and Dementia, and earned coauthorship on manuscripts pu

Frost lab trainees rocked it at the UTHSA Cell Systems & Anatomy Departmental retreat! Poster Awards: Lulu Shulz – Best poster, Master of Science Program Elizabeth Ochoa – 1st place poster, Predoctoral Program Postdoc Elevator talk: Farzaneh Atrian, PhD, 1st place Faculty Awards: CSA Excellence in Graduate Student Education: Bess Frost, PhD CSA Senior Research Award 2022: Bess Frost, PhD

This project was led by Lulu Schulz with the help of Paul Ramirez, Adrienne Lemieux, Elias Gonzalez, and Dr. Travis Thomson. Lulu’s study was based on our recent finding that pathogenic forms of tau limit the extent to which "faulty" RNAs are cleared from the cell via nonsense-mediated RNA decay. In addition to targeting error-containing RNAs, nonsense-mediated RNA decay regulates the steady state transcript levels of some immediate early and activity-dependent genes, includi

Dr. Camille Ravel-Godreuil has recently joined the Frost lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Ravel-Godreuil earned her undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences and her Master’s degree in neuroscience from Paris Descartes University, France. She then earned her Ph.D. in 2020 from PSL University, where she investigated the role of epigenetic alterations in the neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the context of Parkinson disease in the laboratory of Pr. Alain Prochiant

Tau-induced deficits in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay contribute to neurodegeneration is now available online as a featured article in Alzheimer's & Dementia. Our study was also featured in several news outlets, including GEN: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. We are incredibly proud of first author Gabrielle Zuniga and co-authors Simon, Paul, Jasmine, Elias, and Maruca! Cells utilize the nonsense mediated RNA decay (NMD) pathway for post-transcriptional control of g

SACNAS will host a panel discussion with the co-authors (including our own Claira Sohn, Frost lab PhD student) of new work published in Cultural Studies of Science Education. According to Claira, the project "aimed to gain a deeper understanding of why minorities, specifically Native Americans, do not persist in STEM and how we can help them overcome those barriers with mentorship and increasing awareness." Claira's undergraduate principle investigator Dr. Naomi Lee (Seneca)

Lulu Schulz is a student in the Biotechnology track of the Cell Systems and Anatomy Master's program at UT Health San Antonio. She is currently working in the Frost lab to complete her Masters dissertation focused on the effects of tau on the immediate-early gene Arc. As a PhD student in the Biology of Aging discipline of our IBMS program, Lulu will continue her studies on tau and Arc. Lulu, we are thrilled that you are sticking around!

The Biology of Aging T32, directed by Dr. Nick Musi, is funded by the National Institute of Aging. This longstanding training grant has four predoctoral and four postdoctoral positions. Claira is interested in the nucleus as a mechanosensor, and how nuclear mechanosensing changes in the context of physiological and pathological aging. Congratulations Claira!

Zach Uttke has joined us as a Student Research Assistant! Zach is an incoming M.D./Ph.D. student at UT Health San Antonio who will start as an MS1 in Fall 2022. Zach earned his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from UW-Milwaukee and recently completed an NIH IRTA postbac in the Rapp lab at NIA where he studied normal cognitive aging in Long Evans rats. Based on his strong interest in aging biology, Zach plans to join the Biology of Aging discipline of our IBMS program for h