URCAD Selfie Contest Winner: Ayushi Dave

Tue, 04 May 2021 10:06:42 -0400

Congratulations to URCAD presenter Ayushi Dave and her research group, winners of the URCAD Selfie Contest in the category: Best Selfie with Mentor! This was a close competition and we couldn't make a decision, so she tied in this category with Karina Brown.

Even though we are socially distanced, Dave's group figured out a way to include Dr. Starz-Gaiano in the photo! Now that is some pandemic creativity!

Ayushi will receive a $50 gift card to the UMBC Bookstore!

Mentor: Michelle Starz-Gaiano, Biological Sciences

The process in which groups of cells coordinate their movements as a cohort is known as collective cell migration. This is essential for tissue development and contributes to diseases such as cancer metastasis. Our lab uses Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, to identify molecular processes regulating coordinated cell migration. Specifically, we study the collectively migrating border cell cluster, activated by polar cells, in the ovary. Here, we investigated the role of the gene effete, which encodes a ubiquitin conjugating enzyme. Ubiquitin enzymes are post-translational protein modifiers which regulate protein localization and stability.