Nathan Song

Ultracold atomic lattices are a hot platform for quantum information. By addressing neutral atoms with resonant light in an optical cavity we can induce effects like Rabi oscillations, Rydberg blockade, and many-body coherent interactions. Precise control over such effects enables exploration of complex Ising models, exotic spin liquids, and phase transitions. With the lifetime of our atoms being ~500 ms, however, the gate time (effective light modulation time) of our setup remains a key hurdle. Building on work from Thompson’s group, this project will enable sub-25µs gates on a new […]

Sanoja Sridevan

Angiosperms (flowering plants) are the most abundant type of plant on Earth. Their diversification and expansion during the Late Cretaceous greatly benefited insect pollinators, including bees. However, direct paleontological evidence of this important plant-pollinator interaction is scarce. This summer I will analyze an exceptionally preserved underground sweat bee nest (family Halictidae) from the Late Cretaceous Gulf coastal plain. I will perform and analyze micro-CT data to observe the nest morphology and contents in greater detail. Inside the nest, pollen pallets collected by the female bee to feed the developing larvae […]

Roma Nagle

Structure determines function. This ground truth drives the exponential progress being made in biology. By understanding a molecule’s structure, scientists can harness its function for drug discovery, genetics, or even studying evolution. However, determining a molecule’s structure in the lab is not easy. Even with advancements such as cryoEM, there has been a significant push to computationally predict structures instead. This motivation is at the heart of my research in the Cate Lab. Can we use machine learning to predict the 3D structure of an RNA molecule from just its […]

Vivian Nguyen

Over the past decade, CRISPR-Cas9 has emerged as an unparalleled tool for single-gene disease therapy. Yet, the vast majority of the genome is currently untargetable by Cas9 due to its strict requirement for a specific protospacer adjacent motif (PAM). While there have been attempts to engineer Cas9 with broader PAM recognition, these variants exhibit significantly lower on-target specificity and higher off-target activity compared to wild type Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9. To expand Cas9’s targetable genomic space without decreased on-target activity and increased off target editing, this research aims to engineer novel […]

Corina Dunn

In materials with “flat-bands” where electrons have suppressed kinetic energy, effects of electron-electron interactions give rise to exotic quantum phases including superconductivity. While two-dimensional flat-band materials have been broadly studied in recent years, flat-bands are only just beginning to be realized in three dimensional networks. 3D flat-band materials are an interesting laboratory for the competition between superconductivity and magnetism and may even permit their coexistence. This project will focus on synthesizing and characterizing 3D flat-band materials to identify what exotic quantum phases can be discovered and to understand how electron […]

Katie Fitzgerald

The ribosome is conserved across biological organisms and is co-evolved with the genetic code to decode mRNA into proteins. Its macromolecular machinery is highly specific to the canonical set of twenty amino acids, leading to high fidelity yet low diversity of possible protein structure. Expanding the set of amino acids that can be successfully incorporated into proteins could lead to novel peptide structures and functions. The Cate Lab aims to rationally engineer the ribosome to incorporate non-proteinogenic monomers. Cryogenic Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) has revealed A2062 as a possible site of […]

Stella Frank

My research explores symbiotic relationships between trees and root-associated fungi, which provide up to 80% of plant nitrogen and phosphorus. These symbioses primarily fall into two categories: ectomycorrhizal fungi, which envelop root cells, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which penetrate root cell walls. Despite their prevalence, comparative studies of the two systems are lacking. I will quantify nutrient sharing and assess gene expression in Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood) associated with each type of mutualistic partner. By elucidating nutrient transfer mechanisms, I seek to pinpoint genes facilitating this exchange and illuminate functional […]

Dimple Amitha Garuadapuri

RNA molecules are known to play critical roles in various cellular processes, and understanding their structure provides a lot of insight into their function and the mechanisms they use. Recent advancement with AlphaFold and other protein prediction algorithms have proven the potential of utilizing machine learning techniques to computational predict structure. Solving the problem of protein structure is not only significantly enhancing our understanding, but also streamlining the drug delivery and therapeutic development process. Being able to computationally predict accurate RNA structures would similarly enhance our understanding of noncoding RNA […]

Casey Herbert

Neuropsychiatric disorders are commonly associated with sleep disturbances and a high percentage of chronic sleep issues. Children with neurodevelopmental genetic conditions have a high likelihood of developing sleep disorders, which consequently leads to an array of neuropsychiatric conditions. Unraveling the relationship between sleep, neurodevelopment, and neuropsychiatric disorders is extremely difficult due to their complexities and interlinking factors. Genomic studies have led to the identification of genes correlated with human sleep disorders. However, unlike previous studies that focus on how genes control sleep behavior, I propose to analyze specific sleep disorder […]

Nicole Khatibi

Turbulent flows are everpresent in engineering and nature. Turbulent flows are characterized by a wide range of flow scales, intense mixing, high rates of heat and momentum transfer, and significant energy dissipation rates. A question of paramount importance in the field is how do turbulent flows achieve these ‘extreme’ properties. The practical and scientific importance of this question can hardly be overstated. A thorough insight into the principal components of turbulence will facilitate the development of better control strategies in engineering and explain the physical mechanism behind the enhanced angular […]