Abstract: The goal of this research is to identify tubulin mutants that affect the conformational cycle and microtubule dynamics of tubulin dimers. An α-helix located in the core of the tubulin dimers changes position based on the dimer conformation, suggesting that the residues around the helix play an important mechanical role in the conformational changes of tubulin dimers.
What Does Research Mean to You? Research has always been about the big picture for me. It's easy to get bogged down in the details and lose momentum when worrying about many different factors in research, but remembering that each step in a big project is another small step towards helping people in the long run is what it's all about for me.
Tell Us About Your Journey I did neuroscience research at UTD for a couple of years before GreenFellows. I was unsure whether my experience with a single lab was misleading about a career in research and medicine, so I joined a Biophysics lab. It was way out of my comfort zone, engaging a working knowledge of physics and biology that I was unfamiliar with. Altogether, it was very informative about how differently a lab environment can be run.
Advice for Future Green Fellows
For future GreenFellows, I believe that it would be prudent to stay in close contact with other GreenFellows who you may not actively recognize are going through similar or worse struggles. It is very helpful to gain support through shared challenges and support others in turn in the GreenFellow Program. Don't let yourself get carried away with your research and forget about the other Fellows working with you. You are all in this together and have plenty of time and energy to support each other along the way.