Annual Update (2017 - 2018)
The Jupiter Life Science Initiative (JLSI) unites scientists in research and training programs from FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, College of Medicine, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, FAU Brain Institute, The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). This update features FAU Jupiter faculty and their contributions locally and nationally.
New Faculty with Labs in Jupiter
Dr. Johanna Kowalko has been recruited as an Assistant Professor in the Wilkes Honors College and is supported in part by the JLSI. Kowalko's lab located within the JLSI research space (MC 19) will focus on understanding the genetic basis of trait evolution.
Dr. Carmen Varela will join FAU and the JLSI in early 2019 as an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department and her lab will be located within the JLSI (MC 19). Varela comes from the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory (MIT).
Recent Funding
has recently received an NIH R21 grant and received a fundable score on another proposal. Read more here .
has recently received an NIH R56 grant totaling $394,704 and is a collaborator on another proposal. Read more here .
is a co-PI on three grants including a $1.68 million NIH R01 grant for his work on trait evolution, sleep and metabolism. Read more here
Dr. Johanna Kowalko  has recently received an NSF grant totaling $200,000 for her work with trait evolution. Read more here .
Education
Nambu Research Experience for Undergraduates
The John Nambu Memorial Research Experience for Undergraduate scholarship recipients for 2018 are (PI in parentheses): Mariah Calubag (Stackman), Garcendy Derosier (Keene), Erin Gerlica (Keene and Duboué), Elizabeth Potts (Blakely), Taylor Selman (Dawson-Scully), Sam Stilley (Blakely), Rameen Walters (Godenschwege), Anders Yuiska (Keene and Duboué). They presented their summer research projects on July 20, 2018. Read more here .
Nikon Microscopy Workshop
Dr. Jana Boerner , FAU Nikon Imaging Core Manager and JLSI staff, hosted a two and a half day workshop based on "NIS Elements," Nikon's acquisition and analysis software. The workshop boasted 23 participants, including graduate students, post docs, JLSI and Honors College faculty members, and will be held again this fall to orient students to the expanding Imaging Facility that she directs. Read more here .
New Students 
Sarah Kruessel (Kwon lab) and new student Clara Tepohl (Fitzpatrick lab) were accepted into the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS), a joint Ph.D. program between FAU, MPFI, University of Bonn and the associated Max Planck Institute in Bonn, Germany.
Roberto Hernandez (Macleod lab) joined the IBNS program in spring 2018 and Juan Lopez (Murphey lab), Akshay Naraine (Dawson-Scully lab), Justin Palermo (Keene lab), and Morgan Slevin (Anderson lab) will start in fall 2018. 
IBNS Graduates
The IBNS program has graduated a total of six students, two of which were also part of the IMPRS program: Brati Das (Young lab), Herborg Asgeirsdottir (Stackman lab), Daniel Wilson (Fitzpatrick lab), Keith Murphy (Ja lab), Monica Risley (Dawson-Scully lab), and Wesley Bollinger (Dawson-Scully lab). These graduates have started their scientific careers in both industry and research, landing postdoc positions at MIT, Stanford, and the Cleveland Clinic.
IBNS Student Publications (2017 - 18)
One reason for establishing the JLSI was to enhance education and foster student research in the life sciences. The success of this effort is proven by the number of publications from IBNS students in high impact journals such as Nature , Nature Neuroscience , and Cell . Below is a list of the most recent IBNS student publications (students names are bold). Full list here .
  • Rowan MJ, Bonnan A, Zhang K, Amat SB, Kikuchi C, Taniguchi H, Augustine GJ, Christie JM. Neuron. 2018 Aug 9; 99: 1-17.
  • Kelly SP, Risley MG, Miranda LE, Dawson-Scully K. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2018 Jul 18; 221(Pt.14): jeb179747.
  • Risley MG, Kelly SP, Minnerly J, Jia K, Dawson-Scully K. Invertebrate Neuroscience. 2018 May 30; 18(2): 8.
  • Yurgel ME, Keene AC. Current Biology. 2018 Apr 2; 28(7): R317-R319.
  • Hughson BN, Anreiter I, Jackson Chornenki NL, Murphy KR, Ja WW, Huber R, Sokolowski MB. Journal of Insect Physiology. 2018 Apr; 106(Pt 1): 20-29.
  • Tauber JM, Brown EB, Li Y, Yurgel ME, Masek P, Keene AC. PLoS Genetics. 2017 Nov 9; 13(11): e1007059.
  • Stahl BA, Slocumb ME, Chaitin H, DiAngelo JR, Keene AC. Sleep. 2017 Aug 1; 40(8).
  • Scholl B, Wilson DE, Fitzpatrick D. Neuron. 2017 Dec 6; 96(5): 1127-1138.e4.
  • Murphy KR, Park JH, Huber R, Ja WW. Nature Protocols. 2017 Nov; 12(11): 2355-2366.    
  • Tauber JM, Brown EB, Li Y, Yurgel ME, Masek P, Keene AC. PLoS Genetics. 2017 Nov 9; 13(11): e1007059.
  • Ishino Y, Yetman MJ, Sossi SM, Steinecke A, Hayano Y, Taniguchi H. Journal of Neuroscience. 2017 Oct 11; 37(41): 9901-9916.
  • Kudumala SR, Penserga T, Börner J, Slipchuk O, Kakad P, Lee LH, Qureshi A, Pielage J, Godenschwege TA. PLoS One. 2017 Aug 24; 12(8): e0183605.
  • Lee D, Creed M, Jung K, Stefanelli T, Wendler DJ, Oh WC, Mignocchi NL, Lüscher C, Kwon HB. Nature Methods. 2017 May; 14(5): 495-503.                
  • Opperman KJ, Mulcahy B, Giles AC, Risley MG, Birnbaum RL, Tulgren ED, Dawson-Scully K, Zhen M, Grill B. Cell Reports. 2017 Apr 25; 19(4): 822-835.       
  • Lu R, Sun W, Liang Y, Kerlin A, Bierfeld J, Seelig JD, Wilson DE, Scholl B, Mohar B, Tanimoto M, Koyama M, Fitzpatrick D, Orger MB, Ji N. Nature Neuroscience. 2017 Apr; 20(4): 620-628.
  • Wilson DE, Smith GB, Jacob AL, Walker T, Dimidschstein J, Fishell G, Fitzpatrick D. Neuron. 2017 Mar 8; 93(5): 1058-1065.e4.
  • Park JH, Carvalho GB, Murphy KR, Ehrlich MR, Ja WW. Cell Metabolism. 2017 Mar 7; 25(3): 484-485.
The Jupiter Life Science Initiative staff is here to serve students, faculty, and staff. We are always happy to assist as well as answer questions and provide general support during your visit to the FAU John D. MacArthur Campus. For general information, contact Marjorie at 561 - 799 - 8060 or mcazeau@fau.edu.
To feature exciting news and accomplishments in this newsletter,
please contact  Dr. Stacee Caplan at scaplan4@fau.edu.