Join Dr Radhika Subramanian of Harvard University for a research seminar as part of the Force Talk series entitled "How a kinase finds the cell center for cytokinesis".

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells can range in size from several microns to over a meter in length. A fundamental question is how specific cellular processes are precisely positioned within the large volume of the cytoplasm? We study this in the context of microtubules, polymeric protein filaments, which organize into micron-sized architectures for numerous cellular functions. In this talk, I will discuss on our recent work on understanding how the mitotic kinase, AuroraB, precisely localizes to the centre of a dividing cell, as is required for error-free cytokinesis.

Speaker

Radhika grew up in Delhi, India where she obtained her Undergraduate and Master’s degree in Chemistry and came to the United States for her doctoral studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. There she was introduced to the fascinating world of motor proteins and mechanochemistry, single molecule techniques and microscopy in the lab of Dr Jeff Gelles where she obtained her Ph.D in Biochemistry. She remains fascinated by nanoscale biological machines and loves to stare at microscopy images as much as she did as a graduate student.

Missing the hustle and bustle of a city and wanting to expand her knowledge of cell biology, she then moved to Rockefeller University in New York, NY for her postdoctoral work in the lab of Dr Tarun Kapoor, where she was introduced to one of the most exquisite structures in our cell, the mitotic spindle. As a postdoctoral fellow, she reconstituted minimal modules of the spindle apparatus to decipher the fundamental rules that govern the size and geometry of this micron-sized structure.

She is currently an associate professor at the Dept. of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an affiliate member of the Cell Biology Department at Harvard Medical School.

Radhika is a Pew Biomedical Research Scholar, an American Cancer Society Ellison Foundation Research Scholar, and a recipient of the Smith Family Award and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.

 

How to join:

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Mechanics of Life Leverhulme DSP Force Talks Series

Force Talks is a seminar series hosted by the Mechanics of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme at King's College London. We are honoured to welcome world leaders in mechanobiology.

The series aims to showcase the rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field of mechanobiology and mechanical forces. We welcome those from academia and industry to attend and take part in the discussions.

The programme is funded by the Leverhulme Trust doctoral scholarship grant "Understanding the mechanics of life".

Learn more about the Mechanics of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme