Giving in Action: Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

The students, faculty听and staff of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology would like to thank you for your generous contributions to our ongoing research and educational efforts. Your support enhances our mission to create a robust educational and research platform in which our students can explore numerous venues of learning via our multifaceted research programs, core facilities, hypothesis-based Course Based Research Experiences and Skills Center certifications, extracurricular activities听and seminar experiences. Your generous contributions help us continue to have a robust and competitive training program for both our undergraduate and PhD students against some of the top Ivy league schools in the country. Our students graduate to become leaders in tenure-track positions at highly acclaimed universities, researchers at private industries听and teachers enhancing the minds of the next generation of brilliant life science students. Our faculty are pioneers in biological research and are world-renowned for their innovative programs and techniques. With your support, we continue to fund our scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students, enhance our diversity mission听and recognize those with financial needs. Thank you again for your support.

Lee Niswander, Chair, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Student Learning

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CURCI Foundation scholars

Thanks to the generous support from the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation, 12 life-science scholars embarked on their first two years of PhD studies and have contributed their unique cultural experiences to the University of Colorado Boulder campus in starting in fall 2022 and 2023. The gift aims to increase the percentages of gender diversity and international students at the university pursuing a PhD in the life sciences.

iGEM Program

The iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machine) program is the premier international student competition in synthetic biology. The CU team includes undergraduate students from both the College听of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering and Applied Science. They learn to use molecular biology techniques to create biological systems that help solve real-world problems. CU Boulder鈥檚 team will present听their research at the international iGEM conference Nov. 2-5, 2023.

Bridges to Biosciences student participants

Bridges to Biosciences and Bridges to the Baccalaureate

Eight community college students from Front Range Community College and Community College Denver participated in full-time research experiences with labs in the life sciences including MCDB during summer 2023.

A new National Institutes of Health award extends these educational and research opportunities by supporting four students in their final year at Front Range Community College and into their junior year at University of Colorado Boulder. This five year award will provide stipend, tuition and professional activities for a total of 36 students and smooth their transfer from FRCC to CU Boulder to earn their bachelor鈥檚 degree.

Donations will help to support summer research experiences and the Bridges to the Baccalaureate student鈥檚 fourth year at CU Boulder.

Emerging Faculty Research

Thanks to generous donor support, faculty in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology are able to conduct cutting-edge research like that highlighted below.

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Justin Brumbaugh

Justin Brumbaugh joined the Department of Molecular, Cellular听and Developmental Biology in 2019. He was named a Boettcher Investigator in 2020 and a Goldstein Policy Fellow in 2022. His research is dedicated to understanding how stem cells mature into specialized, functional cells through a process called differentiation. In particular, the Brumbaugh Lab has discovered key epigenetic mechanisms (i.e., regulatory systems that are not directly encoded in the genome) that control differentiation, with a focus on pluripotency, blood听and the gastrointestinal tract. The lab has also contributed to our understanding of reprogramming, the process of converting mature cell types into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). These iPS cells are derived from adult sources but are functionally equivalent to embryonic stem cells and therefore hold enormous scientific and therapeutic potential. Collectively, discoveries from the Brumbaugh lab further our basic understanding of development and have important implications for transplantation therapies, disease modeling听and drug testing.

Nausica Arnolt

Nausica Arnoult joined the faculty of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology in 2018. Her research focuses on the mechanisms that maintain the integrity of our genome, thereby preventing cancer. Her lab uses cutting-edge genome editing techniques to characterize the cellular machines that repair our DNA听when broken. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop novel anti-cancer therapies that target these mechanisms.听The research in her lab is funded by the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the AFAR and Glenn Foundation for Junior Faculty Award听and two NIH awards. She was named a Boettcher Investigator in 2021.

Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology in the Laboratory

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The Stem Cell Research and Technology Resource Center (StemTech)

The Stem Cell Research and Technology Resource Center (StemTech) is a campus-wide shared facility that promotes interdisciplinary research utilizing stem cells. Stem cells hold great promise for biomedical applications and innovation, including studying complex biological processes, elucidating disease mechanisms, therapy development, and regenerative medicine.听

There are no regional resources similar to StemTech. CU Boulder StemTech Center is designed to generate iPSC models for basic and translational research. Also, the center offers services to profit, non-profit, and CU researchers and helps them succeed in their research projects.

Light Microscopy Core Facility (LMCF)

The Light Microscopy Core Facility (LMCF) housed in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology is located at the heart of campus, in Porter Biosciences. Since its inception in 2011, we have trained hundreds of people from at least 10 departments, many of whom are undergraduate and graduate students.听We serve听an important role in their development as the next generation of research scientists and medical professionals and provide them with practical skills to apply in their careers. We help cultivate a community of inclusion within the department and CU, and our goal is to help advance the mission of the University of Colorado Boulder鈥攖o set a new standard in education, research, scholarship听and creative work.听

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