Samuel Broadbent 2022-2024
– Undergrad intern, University of Maine, Orono
I am a senior at the University of Maine studying evolution and development. Previously, I attended Montana State University, where I focused on paleontology and volunteered in a bone histology lab. I am currently working with the Murawala Lab, with a focus on tissue clearing of amphibian embryos.
Kalen Windels Jan-Jun 2024
– Undergrad intern, College of Atlantic
I am a 3rd year undergraduate student at College of the Atlantic studying biomedical science and business. I’ve joined the Murawala lab as an intern focused on muscle development and regeneration.
Sallie Boggs, Ph.D. 2021 - 2024
– Volunteer and Emeritus Professor
I retired as an associate professor emrita from from University of Pittsburg Medical School over 20 years ago. Now, I am volunteering in the Murawala Lab to keep my mind active. My research started with questions about the effects of radiation. What is a “safe” dose? Because the lowest dose of whole-body radiation that caused death, did so because bone marrow stem cells were radiation-sensitive. Can we protect bone marrow and kill cancer cells selectively with radiotherapy? If the bone marrow cells themselves were cancerous, could we kill them and transplant “good” bone marrow? What is the identity of bone marrow stem cells? How do we identify them, and track their proliferation and differentiation? Could we transplant them? These questions led me to go on a sabbatical in the lab of Oliver Smithies, where I participated in the first targeted insertion of a gene into human cells using homologous recombination. Oliver later got a noble prize for his many contributions which included knockout mice. In the Murawala Lab, I see a chance to catch up research of the last 20 years and to continue to help answer questions on tissue regeneration.