Robert J. Johnston
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles St., 309 Mudd Hall
Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone (office): (410) 516-4954 Phone (cell): (718) 406-2901 Email: robertjohnston @ jhu.edu
Education and Professional Experience
2013-present Associate Professor – Johns Hopkins University
Primary Appointment – Department of Biology, KSAS
Secondary Appointment – Department of Neuroscience, JHMI
2006-2013 Postdoctoral Fellow – New York University
Advisor: Claude Desplan
2000-2005 Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics – Columbia University
Advisor: Oliver Hobert
1998-2000 Research Assistant – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Advisor: James E. Rothman
1993-1998 B.S. in Biology and B.S. in Teacher Preparation – Drexel University
Honors and Awards
2022 Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund Award
2022 Graduate Teaching Faculty Award
2019 BrightFocus Foundation National Glaucoma Research Award
2016 Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award
2015 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award
2014 Pew Scholars Award
2012 The New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists
2006 Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund Postdoctoral Fellowship
2005 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award
2005 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research
2005 Samuel W. Rover & Lewis Rover Award in Biochemistry and Molecular Physics
2005 Awarded Ph.D. with distinction
2001 National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
1998 Graduated Drexel University summa cum laude
Publications
Peer-reviewed Research Papers and Preprints
14. Liu, Y., Santiago, C., Sogunro, A., Konar, G., Hu, M., McNally, M., Lu, Y., Li, Z., Agakishiev, D., Hadyniak, S., Hussey, K., Creamer, T., Orzolek, L., Teng, D., Qian, J., Jiang, Z., Johnston, R.J.*, Blackshaw, S.*, and Singh, M.* Transretinal migration of astrocytes and brain/spinal cord-like cells arising from transplanted human retinal organoids. bioRxiv, 2022.05.12.491655, Nat Commun, submitted * indicates co-corresponding authors
13. Voortman, L., Anderson, C., Urban, E., Yuan, M., Tran, S., Neuhaus-Follini, A., Derrick, J., Gregor, T., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2021) Temporally dynamic antagonism between transcription and chromatin compaction controls stochastic photoreceptor specification. bioRxiv, 2021.08.27.457982, Dev Cell, in press
12. Hadyniak, S.E., Eldred, K.C., Brenerman, B., Hussey, K.A., McCoy, R.C., Sauria, M.E.G., Kuchenbecker, J.A., Neitz, M., Neitz, J., Taylor, J., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2021) Temporal regulation of green and red cone specification in human retinas and retinal organoids. bioRxiv, 2021.03.30.437763., Science, in revision
11. Wahlin, K.C., Cheng, J., Jones, M.K., Ogata, A., Kibria, N., Ray, S., Eldred, K.C., Kim, C., Heng, J.S., Johnston, R., Phillips, J., Gamm, D.M., Berlinicke, C., and Zack, D.J. SIX6 regulation in human optic vesicles is mediated by early microenvironment factors.
Front Cell Dev Biol, https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.764725
10. Kahney, E.W., Zion, E. H., Sohn, L., Viets-Layng, K., Johnston, R. and Chen, X. Characterization of histone inheritance patterns in the Drosophila female germline. bioRxiv 2020.08.18.255455; EMBO rep, in press
9. Miller, A.C.°, Urban, E., Lyons, E.L., Herman, T.G.*, and Johnston, R.J., Jr.°* Interdependent regulation of stereotyped and stochastic photoreceptor fates in the fly eye. Dev Biol, in press. ° indicates co-1st authors; * indicates co-corresponding authors
8. Eldred, K.C., Avelis, C., Johnston, R.J., Jr.*, and Roberts, E.* (2020) Modeling binary and graded cone cell fate patterning in the mouse retina. PLoS Comput Biol, 16, e1007691. * indicates co-corresponding authors
7. Viets, K., Sauria, M.E.G., Chernoff, C., Rodriguez-Viales, R., Echterling, M., Anderson, C., Tran, S., Dove, A., Goyal, R., Voortman, L., Gordus, A., Furlong, E.E.M., Taylor, J., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2019). Characterization of button loci that promote homologous chromosome pairing and cell-type-specific interchromosomal gene regulation.Dev Cell, 51, 341–356.
Featured in:
Bateman, J.R., and Kassis, J.A. (2019) Homolog Pairing at the Push of a Button. Dev Cell, 51, 295-296.
6. Eldred, K.C., Hadyniak, S.E., Hussey, K.A., Brenerman, B., Zhang, P., Chamling, X., Sluch, V.M., Welsbie, D.S., Hattar, S., Taylor, J., Wahlin, K., Zack, D.J., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2018) Thyroid hormone signaling specifies cone subtypes in human retinal organoids.Science, 362, 6411.
Featured in (selected from >140 media outlets from 18 countries):
Articles TIME, Forbes, Washington Post, Scientific American, Vice, Live Science, Axios
Radio interviews NPR
Video profile The Hub JHU
7. Datta, R.R., Ling, J., Kurland, J., Ren, X., Xu, Z., Yucel, G., Moore, J., Shokri, L., Baker, I., Bishop, T., Struffi, P., Levina, R., Bulyk, M.L., Johnston, R.J. Jr, and Small, S. (2018) A feed-forward relay integrates the regulatory activities of Bicoid and Orthodenticle via sequential binding to suboptimal sites. Genes Dev, 32, 723-736.
8. Duan, H., de Navas, L.F., Hu, F., Sun, K., Mavromatakis, Y.E., Viets., K., Zhou C., Kavaler, J., Johnston, R.J., Tomlinson, A., and Lai, E.C. (2018) The mir-279/996 cluster represses receptor tyrosine kinase signaling to determine cell fates in the Drosophilaeye. Development, 145, 7.
9. Anderson, C., Reiss, I., Zhou, C., Cho, A., Siddiqi, H., Mormann, B., Avelis, C.M., Deford, P., Bergland, A., Roberts, E., Taylor, J., Vasiliauskas, D., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2017) Natural variation in stochastic photoreceptor specification and color preference in Drosophila. eLife, 6, e29593.
10. Yan, J., Anderson, C., Viets, K., Tran, S., Goldberg, G., Small, S., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2017) Regulatory logic driving stable levels of defective proventriculus expression during terminal photoreceptor specification in flies. Development, 144, 844-855.
11. Jukam, D., Viets, K., Anderson, C., Zhou, C., DeFord, P., Yan, J., Cao, J., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2016) The insulator protein BEAF-32 is required for Hippo pathway activity in the terminal differentiation of neuronal subtypes. Development, 143, 2389-2397.
Reviews, Previews, and Book Chapters
10. Hagen, J., Roberts, N.S., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. The evolutionary history and spectral tuning of vertebrate visual opsins.
Dev Biol, in revision
9. Roberts, N.S., Hagen, J., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. The diversity of invertebrate visual opsins spanning Protostomia, Deuterostomia, and Cnidaria.
Dev Biol, in revision
8. Hussey, K., Hadyniak, S., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2022) Patterning and Development of Photoreceptors in the Human Retina.
Front Cell Dev Biol, https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2022.878350
7. Voortman, L., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2022) Transcriptional repression in stochastic gene expression, patterning, and cell fate specification.
Dev Biol, 481, 129-138.
6. Ahmed, I., Johnston, R.J., Jr., Singh, M.S. (2021) Pluripotent stem cell therapy for retinal diseases.
Ann Transl Med, 9, 1279.
5. Guy, B., Zhang, J.S., Duncan, L.H., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2021) Human neural organoids: Models for developmental neurobiology and disease.
Dev Biol, 478, 102-121.
4. McNerney, C. and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2021) Thyroid hormone signaling specifies cone photoreceptor subtypes during eye development: Insights from model organisms and human stem cell-derived retinal organoids.
Vitam Horm, 116, 51-90.
3. Urban, E.A., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2018) Buffering and Amplifying Transcriptional Noise During Cell Fate Specification.
Front Genet, 9, 591.
2. Viets, K.*, Eldred, K.C.*, and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2016) Mechanisms of Photoreceptor Patterning in Vertebrates and Invertebrates.
Trends Genet, 32, 638-659. * indicates equal contribution
1. Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2013) Lessons about terminal differentiation from the specification of color-detecting photoreceptors in the Drosophila retina.
Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1293, 33-44.
Peer-reviewed Research Papers (Postdoctoral Work)
8. Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Desplan, C. (2014) Interchromosomal communication coordinates intrinsically stochastic expression between alleles. Science, 343, 661-665.
7. Hsiao, H.Y., Jukam, D., Johnston, R., and Desplan, C. (2013) The neuronal transcription factor erect wing regulates specification and maintenance of Drosophila R8 photoreceptor subtypes. Dev Biol, 381, 482-490.
6. Thanawala, S.U., Rister, J., Goldberg, G.W., Zuskov, A., Olesnicky, E.C., Flowers, J.M., Jukam, D., Purugganan, M.D., Gavis, E.R., Desplan, C., and Johnston, R.J., Jr. (2013) Regional modulation of a stochastically expressed factor determines photoreceptor subtypes in the Drosophila retina. Dev Cell, 25, 93-105.
5. Hsiao H.Y., Johnston, R.J., Jukam, D., Vasiliauskas, D., Desplan, C., and Rister, J. (2012) Dissection and Immunohistochemistry of larval, pupal and adult Drosophila retinas. J Vis Exp, 69, e4347.
4. Sood, P., Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Kussell, E. (2012) Stochastic de-repression of Rhodopsins in single photoreceptors of the fly retina. PLoS Comput Biol, 8, e1002357.
3. Vasiliauskas, D., Mazzoni, E.O, Sprecher, S.G., Brodetskiy, K., Johnston R.J., Jr., Lidder, P., Vogt, N., Celik, A., and Desplan, C. (2011) Feedback from rhodopsin controls rhodopsin exclusion in Drosophila photoreceptors. Nature, 479, 108-112.
2. Johnston, R.J., Jr.*, Otake, Y.*, Sood, P., Vogt, N., Behnia, R., Vasiliauskas, D., McDonald, E., Xie, B., Koenig, S., Wolf, R., Cook, T., Gebelein, B., Kussell, E., Nakagoshi, H., and Desplan, C. (2011) Interlocked feedforward loops control cell-type-specific Rhodopsin expression in the Drosophila eye. Cell, 145, 956-968. * indicates equal contribution
1. Mazzoni, E.O., Celik, A., Wernet, M.F., Vasiliauskas, D., Johnston, R.J., Cook, T.A., Pichaud, F., and Desplan, C. (2008) Iroquois complex genes induce co-expression of rhodopsins in Drosophila. PLoS Biol, 6, e97.
Reviews, Previews, and Book Chapters (Postdoctoral Work)
4. Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Desplan, C. (2010) Stochastic mechanisms of cell fate specification that yield random or robust outcomes. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol, 26, 689-719.
3. Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Desplan, C. (2010) A penetrating look at stochasticity in development. Cell, 140, 610-612.
2. Vasiliauskas, D., Johnston, R., and Desplan, C. (2009) Maintaining a stochastic neuronal cell fate decision.
Genes Dev, 23, 385-390.
1. Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Desplan, C. (2008) Stochastic neuronal cell fate choices. Curr Opin Neurobiol, 18, 20-27.
Peer-reviewed Research Papers (PhD Thesis Work)
8. Cochella, L., Tursun, B., Hsieh, Y.W., Galindo, S., Johnston, R.J., Chuang, C.F., and Hobert, O. (2014) Two distinct types of neuronal asymmetries are controlled by the Caenorhabditis elegans zinc finger transcription factor die-1. Genes Dev, 28, 34-43.
7. Sarin, S., O’Meara, M.M., Flowers, E.B., Antonio, C., Poole, R.J., Didiano, D., Johnston R.J., Jr., Chang, S, Narula, S., and Hobert, O. (2007) Genetic screens for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants defective in left/right asymmetric neuronal fate specification.
Genetics, 176, 2109-2130.
6. Johnston, R.J., Jr., Copeland, J.W., Fasnacht, M., Etchberger, J.F., Liu, J., Honig, B., and Hobert, O. (2006) An unusual Zn-finger/FH2 domain protein controls a left/right asymmetric neuronal fate decision in C. elegans. Development, 133, 3317-3328.
5. Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Hobert, O. (2005) A novel C. elegans zinc finger transcription factor, lsy-2, required for the cell type-specific expression of the lsy-6 microRNA.
Development, 132, 5451-5460.
4. Johnston, R.J., Jr., Chang, S., Etchberger, J.F., Ortiz, C.O., and Hobert, O. (2005) MicroRNAs acting in a doublenegative feedback loop to control a neuronal cell fate decision. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 102, 12449-12454.
3. Chang, S., Johnston, R.J., Jr., Frokjaer-Jensen, C., Lockery, S., and Hobert, O. (2004) MicroRNAs act sequentially and asymmetrically to control chemosensory laterality in the nematode. Nature, 430, 785-789.
2. Johnston, R.J., and Hobert, O. (2003) A microRNA controlling left/right neuronal asymmetry in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature, 426, 845-849.
Featured in: Sengupta, P. (2004) Taking Sides in the Nervous System With miRNA Nat Neurosci, 7, 100-102.
1. Chang, S.*, Johnston, R.J., Jr.*, and Hobert, O (2003) A transcriptional regulatory cascade that controls left/right asymmetry in chemosensory neurons of C. elegans. Genes Dev, 17, 2123-2137. * indicates equal contribution
Reviews, Previews, and Book Chapters (PhD Thesis Work)
1. Hobert, O., Johnston, R.J., Jr., and Chang, S. (2002) Left-right asymmetry in the nervous system: the Caenorhabditis elegans model. Nat Rev Neurosci, 3, 629-640.
Peer-reviewed Research Papers (Research Assistant Work)
4. Melia, T.J., Weber, T., McNew, J.A., Fisher, L.E., Johnston, R.J., Parlati, F., Mahal, L.K., Sollner, T.H., and
Rothman, J.E. (2002) Regulation of membrane fusion by the membrane-proximal coil of the t-SNARE during zippering of SNAREpins.
J Cell Biol, 158, 929-940.
3. McNew, J.A., Parlati, F., Fukuda, R., Johnston, R.J., Paz, K., Paumet, F., Sollner, T.H., and Rothman, J.E. (2000) Compartmental specificity of cellular membrane fusion encoded in SNARE proteins.
Nature, 407, 153-159.
2. McNew, J.A., Weber, T., Parlati, F., Johnston, R.J., Melia, T.J., Sollner, T.H., and Rothman, J.E. (2000) Close is not enough: SNARE-dependent membrane fusion requires an active mechanism that transduces force to membrane anchors. J Cell Biol, 150, 105-117.
1. Weber, T., Parlati, F., McNew, J.A., Johnston, R.J., Westermann, B., Sollner, T.H., and Rothman, J.E. (2000) SNAREpins are functionally resistant to disruption by NSF and alphaSNAP. J Cell Biol, 149, 1063-1072.
Patents
2021 Compositions and methods for cellular component transfer therapy
International Application No. PCT/US21/057586 filed November 1, 2021
U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/108,415 filed November 1, 2020
Grants
Active
2015-2024 National Institutes of Health, NEI R01 – 2R01EY025598-06 PI : Johnston
"Mechanisms controlling stochastic gene expression during eye development"
Total Award: $3,376,580 Total Direct Costs: $2,125,000 for 9 years
2019-2021 BrightFocus Foundation National Glaucoma Research Grant PI : Johnston
"Growing human retinal organoids to study retinal ganglion cell birth and death in glaucoma"
Total Award: $200,000 Total Direct Costs: $200,000 for 2 years
2020-2023 National Institutes of Health NIH R01 Research Grant PI : Johnston
"Cone subtype specification in human retinas and organoids"
Total Award: $2,131,756 Total Direct Costs: $1,335,980 for 4 years
2022-2024 Maryland Technology Development Corporation 2022-MSCRFD-5895 PI: Johnston
“A human retinal organoid model to study retinal ganglion cell biology”
Total Award: $345,000 Total Direct Costs: $300,000 for 2 years
Completed
2015-2017 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, March of Dimes PI : Johnston
"Stochastic gene regulatory mechanisms that control cell fate specification during development"
Total Award: $150,000 Total Direct Costs: $136,364 for 2 years
2016-2017 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award PI : Johnston
"Growing human retinas in a dish to understand how color-detecting photoreceptors are specified"
Total Award: $75,000 Total Direct Costs: $75,000 for 1 year
2017-2018 General Research Grant, March of Dimes PI : Johnston
"The role of nuclear architecture in stochastic gene expression during development"
Total Award: $114,583 Total Direct Costs: $104,166 for 1 year
2014-2019 National Institutes of Health, NIGMS R01 Subaward from NYU PI : Small
"Regulatory logic of a transcription factor family in two developmental contexts"
Total Award: $493,068 NCE Total Direct Costs: $304,363 for 5 years
Role: Co-Investigator
2014-2019 Pew Scholars Program PI : Johnston
"Diversifying neuronal subtypes using stochastic and long-range gene regulatory mechanisms"
Total Award: $255,000 Total Direct Costs: $236,111 for 5 years
Invited Talks Seminars (as PI)
2023 Developmental Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
2023 Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology, Mount Sinai, New York, NY
2022 Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2022 Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC
2022 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
2022 Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, England (remote)
2021 Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (remote)
2021 Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (remote seminar)
2020 Affinity group meeting, NIH, Bethesda, MD (remote seminar)
2020 BBS-CDB-GGD seminar series, University of California, Berkeley, CA (remote seminar)
2020 Department of Biology, Queens College, City University of New York, New York, NY
2019 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
2019 Johns Hopkins University Faculty Forum, Baltimore, MD
2019 Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, MD
2019 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology (ICOB), Academia Sinica, Teipei, Taiwan
2018 The George Washington Institute for Neuroscience (GWIN), Washington D.C.
2018 Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
2018 Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY
2018 Department of Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
2018 Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2018 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, England
2018 The Molecules & Circuits Department, Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
2018 Institut NeuroMyoGène (INMG), Lyon, France
2018 Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière (ICM), Paris, France
2018 Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
2018 The Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology, Pediatrics, and Craniofacial Biology, University of
Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO
2017 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2017 Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
2017 Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
2017 Department of Biology, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
2017 Department of Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI
2016 Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, MD
2015 Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
2015 Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2015 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
2015 Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
2015 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD
2014 Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, MD
2014 The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria
2014 National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
2014 Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution, Baltimore, MD
Seminars (previously)
2013 Department of Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, CA
2013 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY
2013 Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
2013 Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
2013 Department of Molecular Genetics, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
2013 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
2013 Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Raleigh, NC
2013 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
2013 University of California, Davis, CA
2013 Vollum Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
2013 National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
2012 Rockefeller University, New York, NY
2012 Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ
2012 Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
2012 Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
2012 Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
2012 Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
2012 Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Department of Molecular Biology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
2012 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, MD
2012 Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, MD
2012 Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
2012 Department of Systems & Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, New York, NY
2011 Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Lehigh, PA
2011 Department of Biology, Queens College, CUNY, New York, NY
2011 Department of Genetics, Columbia University, New York, NY
2010 Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Conference Talks (as PI)
2023 International Society for Eye Research (ISER) Biennial Meeting, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Invited Talk
2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado Invited Talk
2022 63rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA Invited Talk - Plenary Speaker
2021 Society for Developmental Biology 80th Annual Meeting (remote)
2021 JHU Chromatin and Chromosomes Workshop, Baltimore, MD
2020 International Society for Eye Research (ISER) Biennial Meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina Invited Talk - Cancelled due to COVID-19
2020 Virtual Crete Workshop on Molecular & Developmental Biology of Drosophila, Crete, Greece
2020 Banff Intl. Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS), Banff, Canada Invited Talk
2019 ACSB, Carl Zeiss Microscopy, Exhibitor Tech Talk, Washington D.C. Invited Talk
2019 VisioNYC, SUNY College of Optometry, New York, NY Invited Talk – Featured Speaker
2019 Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
2019 KAIST Symposium, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea Invited Talk
2019 Annual Meeting of the Korean Society of Molecular Cellular Biology(KSMCB), Seoul, South Korea Invited Talk
2019 Optical Society of America (OSA) Fall Vision Meeting, Washington D.C. Invited talk
2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada
2019 Janelia Conference - Color Vision: Circuits and Behavior, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA
2019 Gordon Research Conference: Stochastic Physics in Biology, Ventura, CA Invited talk
2018 Lucian Symposium, St. Edward’s University, Austin, TX Invited talk
2018 New York University Developmental Genetics Symposium, New York, NY Invited talk
2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Gordon Research Conference: Visual System Development, Barga, Italy Invited talk
2018 Keystone Symposia: Chromatin Architecture and Chromosome Organization, Whistler, BC, Canada
2018 Pew Scholars and Fellows Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ
2017 Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT Invited talk
2017 Gordon Research Conference: Developmental Biology, South Hadley, MA
2016 Gordon Research Conference: Visual System Development, West Dover, VT
2016 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 2016 Mid-Atlantic Society for Developmental Biology Meeting, Howard University, Washington D.C.
2015 Pew Scholars and Fellows Annual Meeting, Vieques, Puerto Rico (2015)
2014 Northeast Regional Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Harvard University, Boston, MA
2014 The Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila Conference, Crete, Greece
2014 Stochastic Biology: from Cells to Populations, The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST), Klosterneuburg, Austria
2014 55th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA
Conference Talks (previously)
2013 54th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington, D.C,
2012 Gordon Research Conference: Visual System Development, New London, NH
2011 Gordon Research Conference: Developmental Biology, Andover, NH
2010 Gordon Research Conference: Neural Development, Newport, RI
2010 New York Area Fly Eye Meeting, New York University, Skirball Institute, New York, NY 2010 51thAnnual Drosophila Research Conference, Washington, D.C.
2009 Exciting Biologies 2009: Biology in Balance, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2009 50th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Chicago, IL
2009 New York Area Fly Eye Meeting, Rockefeller University, New York, NY
2005 Fifteenth International C. elegans Meeting, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2003 New York Area Worm Meeting, Rockefeller University, New York, NY
2003 Society for Developmental Biology 62nd Annual Meeting, Boston, MA
Scientific Service
Peer Reviewer
Cell Reports, Current Biology, Current Topics in Developmental Biology, Development, Developmental Biology, Developmental Cell, Developmental Dynamics, eLife, The FEBS Journal, Genes & Development, Genesis, Genetics, Hydrobiologia, Journal of Cell Science, JOVE, The Journal of Comparative Neurology, The Journal of Neuroscience, Nature, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, PLoS Biology, PLoS Genetics, PLoS One, PNAS, Science, Scientific Reports, Stem Cell Reports
Guest Editor
Dev Biol – Retinal Development Special Issue
PLoS Computational Biology
PNAS
Grant Reviewer
2018 United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)
2018 Wellcome Trust
2018 Human Frontier Science Program Organization
2020 NSF Reviewer
2021 Moorfields Eye Charity Career Development Awards
Meeting Organizer
2014 Co-organizer, Mid-Atlantic Society for Developmental Biology Meeting
2016 Organizer, Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference
2017 Organizer, Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference
2017 Session chair, 58th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA
2020 Discussion Leader, Gordon Research Conference: Visual System Development – Cancelled due to COVID-19
Trainees
Post-doctoral Fellows (4)
Alexandra Neuhaus-Follini
2016-2019, current: AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow
Natalie Roberts
2019-2020
Yang Liu
2019-present
Joanna Hagen
2020-present
Alison Ordway
2021-present
Graduate Students (10)
Kayla Viets
2014-2019, current: Clinical Scientist Liaison at Tempus Labs
Kiara Eldred
2014-2019, current: Post-doc at University of Washington
Caitlin Anderson
2014-2019, current: Curriculum Fellow at Harvard University
Sarah Hadyniak
2016-present
Katarzyna Hussey
2017-present
Elizabeth Urban
2017-present
Lukas Voortman
2018-present
Brian Guy
2019-present
Christina McNerney
2019-present
Simon Zhang
2020-present
Undergraduates (22)
Cyrus Zhou
2013-2015, current: MD/PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis
Haziq Siddiqi
2013-2015, current: MD student at Harvard University
Annie Cho
2014-2016, current: MD student at Johns Hopkins University
India Reiss
2014-2017, current: PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis
Sang Tran
2015-2016, current: MD student at University of Maryland
Alex Majane
2015 (REU), current: PhD student at UC Davis
Tom Zhang
2015-2016
Ank Agarwal
2015-2017
Chaim Chernoff
2015-2019, current: PhD student at Harvard University
Luorongxin Yuan
2015-2018
Mohika Nagpal
2017
Jin Lu
2017-2018
Linda Krasniewski
2017
Jeong Han
2017-2020
Maha Sarfraz
2018
Adrienne Chen
2018-2020
Raphael Chernoff
2019-2020
Joyce Wang
2019-present
Grace Gu
2019-2021, current: MD student at Peking Union Medical College
Trirupa Chakraborty
2019 (Indo-US Khorana Scholars Program)
Andrew Geiger
2019-2021
Rina Helt
2020-present
Delilah Freund
2021-present
Siyona Mishra
2021-present
Christina Im
2022-present
Technicians (8)
Jenny Yan
2014-2015, current: PhD student at Harvard University
Cyrus Zhou
2016
Heather Johnson
2016-2018
Sang Tran
2017
India Reiss
2017-2018
Akin Sogunro
2018-2020, current: MD/PhD student at Yale University
Luorongxin Yuan
2019-2020
Yaniris Molina-Aponte
2020-present
High school student (2)
Mahek Mehta 2015-2016
Rishabh Vuthamaraju 2019 (The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair - ISEF)
Rotation Students (37)
2013-2014 Matthew Wooten, Caitlin Anderson, Kiara Eldred, Shelby Winans, Raghav Goyal, Michael Thomsen, Kayla Viets
2014-2015 Caitlin Pozmanter, Arthur Korman, Rodrigo Matus-Nicodemos (NIH/GPP), Peter Deford, Abigail Dove
2015-2016 German Uritskiy, Lukas Shumway (NIH/GPP), Jessie Kirshner, Andrew Gale, Sarah Hadyniak, Nathan Roach
2016-2017 Jee Min Kim, Katarzyna Hussey, Daniel Konzman (NIH/GPP), Elizabeth Urban, Ariel Parker, Xiuqi Chen
2017-2018 Amanda Ray, Kevin Rhine, Lukas Voortman, Matthew Hurlock
2018-2019 Joanne Taylor deKay, Tim Nickels, Christina McNerney, Brian Guy
2019-2020 Simon Zhang, Wayne Fu, Lars Benner, Sara Carioscia, Leighton Duncan (BCMB)
2020-2021 Joshua Derrick, Samantha Goetting, Ariel Gold, Griffin Kowaleski
2021-2022 Altagracia Contreras, Aaron Salisbury (Neuroscience), Christian Wesselborg, Jasmine James, Harrison Curnette
Grants/awards to lab members
Post-doctoral Fellows
Alexandra Neuhaus-Follini
2017-2019 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Joanna Hagen
2021-2023 Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) Postdoctoral Fellowship (declined)
2021-2023 EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship
2022 JHU Post-doctoral Fellow Symposium Poster Award
Alison Ordway
2022-2025 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Graduate Students
Kiara Eldred
2015-2018 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study
2015-2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
2015 Poster award, Johns Hopkins Biology Department Retreat
2017 XSEDE Startup Allocation
2019 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award
2019 JHU Science Service Award
2019 JHU Oppenheimer Award
2020 JHU Certificate of Outreach
Caitlin Anderson
2015 Adam T. Bruce Fellowship
2018 Johns Hopkins Research Photo Contest
2020 JHU Oppenheimer Award 2020 JHU Certificate of Outreach
Kayla Viets
2016-2018 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship
2016 Poster award, Johns Hopkins Biology Department Retreat
Sarah Hadyniak
2016 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention
2017 Victor Corces Teaching Award for Developmental Biology Lab
2018 Poster award, Johns Hopkins Biology Department Retreat
2019-2021 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
(NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship
Katarzyna Hussey
2018-2023 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
2022 1st place graduate student presenter, Mid-Atlantic SDB Meeting
Elizabeth Urban
2020-2022 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
(NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship
Lukas Voortman
2020-2022 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship
Christina McNerney
2021-2024 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship
2022 3rd place graduate student presenter, Mid-Atlantic SDB Meeting
Brian Guy
2021-2024 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Fellowship
Technicians
Akin Sogunro
2018 ABRCMS Presentation Award
Undergraduates
Cyrus Zhou
2013-2014 Dean’s Undergraduate Research Award (DURA)
2014-2015 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
2016 Fulbright Scholar Award
2016 William McElroy Prize
Annie Cho
2014-2015 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
Haziq Siddiqi
2014-2015 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
2016 Fulbright Scholar Award
India Reiss
2015-2018 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2018-2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Sang Tran
2015-2016 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
Ank Agarwal
2016-2019 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Chaim Chernoff
2016-2019 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship – Hanigan Fellow
2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention
2019 William McElroy Prize
Luorongxin Yuan
2016-2019 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Jin Lu
2017-2018 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
Mohika Nagpal
2017-2020 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Adrienne Chen
2018-2021 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Jeong Han
2018-2021 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Joyce Wang
2019-2020 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
Raphael Chernoff
2019-2020 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
Grace Gu
2020-2021 Dean’s ASPIRE Grant
Andrew Geiger
2020-2023 Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Rina Helt
2021-2022 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)
Talks by lab members
Kayla Viets 2014 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Caitlin Anderson 2015 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Kiara Eldred 2015 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Annie Cho, India Reiss, Cyrus Zhou 2015 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Kayla Viets 2015 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Caitlin Anderson 2016 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Kiara Eldred 2016 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Kayla Viets 2016 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Caitlin Anderson 2016 The Allied Genetics Conference (TAGC), Orlando, FL
Caitlin Anderson 2016 Johns Hopkins Biology Department Retreat, Hershey, PA
Caitlin Anderson 2016 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Sarah Hadyniak 2016 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Kayla Viets 2016 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Boston, MA
Caitlin Anderson 2017 58th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, San Diego, CA
Kayla Viets 2017 Johns Hopkins Chromatin and Chromosomes Workshop
Kayla Viets 2017 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Alexandra Neuhaus-Follini 2017 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Elizabeth Urban, Chaim Chernoff 2017 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Kiara Eldred 2017 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Baltimore, MD
Kiara Eldred 2017 HHMI Gilliam Annual Meeting, Bethesda, MD
Kayla Viets 2017 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Brunswick, Maine
Alexandra Neuhaus-Follini 2017 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Brunswick, Maine
Chaim Chernoff, Jin Lu, Luorongxin Yuan, Linda Krasniewski 2017 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Brunswick, Maine
Kayla Viets 2018 59th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Alexandra Neuhaus-Follini 2018 59th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Elizabeth Urban 2018 59th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Kayla Viets 2018 Cold Spring Harbor Nuclear Organization & Function Meeting, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Kiara Eldred 2018 SMBE Meeting: Molecular Evolution and the Cell, Park City, UT
Kayla Viets 2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Caitlin Anderson 2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Chaim Chernoff 2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Kiara Eldred 2018 Johns Hopkins Biology Department Retreat, Flintstone, MD
Kayla Viets 2018 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Chaim Chernoff 2018 Northeast Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Chaim Chernoff 2019 60th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Dallas, TX
Adrienne Chan, Jeong Han 2019 60th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, Dallas, TX (poster blitz talk)
Kiara Eldred 2019 Onassis Foundation Science Lecture Series (1st graduate student ever to present)
Lukas Voortman 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Elizabeth Urban 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Luorongxin Yuan 2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference, Philadelphia, PA
Caity Anderson 2019 Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
Elizabeth Urban 2019 Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
Brian Guy 2019 Chromosomal Pairing Meeting, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH
Sarah Hadyniak 2020 Society for Developmental Biology 79th Annual Meeting Online
Elizabeth Urban 2020 Society for Developmental Biology 79th Annual Meeting Online
Lukas Voortman 2020 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference Online
Elizabeth Urban 2020 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chromosome Pairing Conference Online
Sarah Hadyniak 2021 St. Jude National Graduate Student Symposium (NGSS)
Sarah Hadyniak 2021 Exceptional Young invEstigators Symposium – EYES Online
Katarzyna Hussey 2022 Mid-Atlantic Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) Regional Meeting, Bethlehem, PA
Elizabeth Urban 2022 Johns Hopkins Chromatin and Chromosomes Workshop
Katarzyna Hussey 2022 Gordon Research Conference: Visual System Development, Southbridge, MA
Teaching Activities
Current Courses
Advanced Genetics and Molecular Biology (020.668), 20-25 students, 2016-2019, ½ of 3 credit course with John Kim Molecular Biology, undergraduate core course for Molecular and Cellular Biology Majors with Emily Fisher Guest Lectures/Service
Responsible Conduct of Research (020.699), 20-25 students, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, joint session with Mark Van Doren
TIME: Introduction to Regenerative Medicine (ME:800.652), 15 students per section, 2018, 2019, 2 sections
Communicating Science (020.619), 19 students, 2018, NRSA review panel
Johns Hopkins Retinal Degenerations and Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision, JHMI, ~20 students, 2020
Previous courses
Critical Thinking in Biology (020.731), 10 students, 2014, 1/3 of 2 credit course (with David Zappulla and Alex Bortvin) Gene Regulation During Development and Disease (020.360), ~20 students, 2015, 2017, 3 credit course
Undergraduate Advisor
2014-2015
15 advisees
2015-2016
21 advisees
2016-2017
24 advisees
2017-2018
22 advisees
2018-2019
24 advisees
2019-2020
28 advisees
2020-2021
33 advisees
2021-2022
33 advisees
Support of Graduate and Undergraduate Students
2013-present
Mentor for 41 graduate student rotations (37 CMDB, 3 GPP/NIH, 1 BCMB)
2013-present
Committee member for 25 thesis committees (17 CMDB, 5 JHMI, 2 NIH, 1 Lehigh University)
2013-present
Mentor for 22 undergraduate students (20 Johns Hopkins University, 1 REU/St. Mary’s College of
Maryland, 1 Indo-US Khorana Scholars Program)
2014-present
Mentor for 10 graduate students
2015-present
Mentor for 2 high school students
2016-present
Mentor for 5 post-doctoral fellows
Thesis Committees (24)
Hong Zhou
2014-2018 (thesis reader)
Lijuan Feng
2014-2016 (thesis reader)
Gina Wang
2015 (JHMI)
Michael Thomsen
2015-2020 (thesis reader)
Shekerah Primus
2015 (thesis reader)
Caitlin Pozmanter
2016-present
Jessica Houtz
2016 (thesis reader)
Peter Deford
2016-present
Brett Gershman
2016-2019 (Lehigh University)
Bill Keenan
2017
Boris Brenerman
2017-present
Mindy Clark
2017-2019
Nathan Roach
2017-2020
Julia Slocomb
2017-2018 (NIH)
Daniel Konzman
2018-present (NIH)
Jeremiah Miller
2018-present
Claire Bell
2018-present (JHMI)
Emily Scott-Solomon
2018-2019 (thesis reader)
Raghav Goyal
2019 (thesis reader)
Michele Biederman
2019-present
Andrew Scasny
2019-present (JHMI)
Kurt Weir
2019-present (JHMI)
Patrick Leavey
2019-present (JHMI)
Natalie Murphy
2020-present
Margaret Starosik
2020-present
Leighton Duncan
2020-present (JHMI)
Nicole Pannullo
2021-present (JHMI)
Emma West
2021 (Harvard University)
Lars Benner
2021-present
Aurelia Mapps
2021 (reader)
Vickie Trinh
2022-present (JHMI)
Leah Nielson
2022-present (Towson University/Master’s)
Weifeng Li
2022-present (JHMI)
Aleks Bykov
2022-present (JHMI)
Post-doc Advisory Committee (1)
Lydia Grmai
2019-present
Graduate Board Oral (GBO) Exam Committees (30)
2013-2014 Hong Zhou
2014-2015 Michael Thomsen, Matthew Wooten, James Thierer
2015-2016 Matt Brown, Caitlin Pozmanter, Marla Tharp, Peter Deford, James O’Donnell, Rodrigo Matus- Nicodemos (NIH), Charlotte Choi
2016-2017 Himani Galagali, Kevin Maciuba, Aurelia Mapps
2017-2018 Jeremiah Miller, Elliott Mattson, Daniel Konzman (NIH), Kaya Matson (NIH)
2018-2019 Velinda Vidaurre, Daria Naumova, Xiaoyi Li (NIH), Max Echterling
2019-2020 Jonathan Snedeker, Natalie Murphy, Haolong Zhu, Margaret Starostik, Kate Weaver, Emma Dallon
2020-2021 Zhixiao Su (BCMB), Siran Tran
2021-2022 Robyn Styx (NIH), Brenda Cesar, Leah Pappalardo (NIH), Jonathan Fischer, David Wang
Department Service
Committee Service
2014-present Departmental seminar committee
2015-present Undergraduate curriculum committee
2015-2016 Cell biology faculty search committee
2015-present Retreat organizer
2016-2018 Graduate curriculum committee
2016-present Pioneers in Biology award committee
2020-present James Taylor memorial committee
2020 T32 training grant committee
2020-present IIC steering committee
2020-present Computational biology faculty search committee
2021-present Graduate curriculum committee head
2021 CMDB thesis awards committee
2021-present Biology Futures committee
2021-present CMDB admissions committee
Faculty Mentor
2019-present Tatjana Trcek
Seminar Speakers Hosted (32 total)
2013-2014 Gregor, Kim, Hu
2014-2015 Flannery, Broihier, Rogulja, Boettiger, Blobel, Levin, Elowitz
2015-2016 Palmiter, Ha, Desplan, Levine, Boettiger, Berchowitz, Phadnis
2016-2017 Narlikar, Joyce, Swaroop, Cepko
2017-2018 Larschan, Zaret, Berglund
2018-2019 Brickner, Wang, Sprecher, Kwan
2019-2020 Secombe, Kay
2020-2021 Vogt, Koenig, Worley
2021-2022 Stein-O’Brien
2022-2023 Modell, Harrison
University Service
Committee Service
2014-2015 Pew/Searle internal nomination committee
2015 Undergraduate biology awards committee
2016-present PURA selection committee
2016-present Neuroscience undergraduate curriculum committee
2017-2018 Facultyforce pilot tester committee
2018-present Undergraduate Research Advisory Board
2019 NOVA selection committee
2019-2020 Pew internal nomination committee
2019-2020 T32 VSTP training grant reviewer
2020 Single cell sequencing task force
2020 Wilmer Eye Institute Pooled Professor Fund review
2022-present Neuroscience faculty search committee
Johns Hopkins University Development Activities
2018 The 24th Annual Palm Beach Dean's Symposium, Palm Beach, FL, Featured faculty speaker
2018 Krieger Campaign Close Celebration, New York, NY, Faculty representative
2019 Johns Hopkins University Reception, Naples, FL, Featured faculty speaker
Community Service
Panelist, Public Outreach, and Additional Service 2016 9th NIH Career Symposium, NIH, Bethesda, MD
2016 9th NIH Career Symposium, NIH, Bethesda, MD
2018 Celebrate Life Science Fair, Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.
2018-2019 Offsite academic mentor for Erin Jimenez
2018-2020 OPTIONS Academic Research Career Community workshop series, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
2018-2020 Mentor for high school student, Rishabh Vuthamaraju, 2nd place Somers Science Fair
2019 Discover Hopkins II 2019, EN.580.136.51 Biomedical Engineering: Stem Cells, Guest lecture
2019 Academic College Sessions, Family Weekend, Guest lecture
2020 Research Gram interview
2020 Tri-Beta Undergraduate National Biological Honors Society, Faculty Speaker Event
2022 “What in the Health?” Podcast, guest expert
Art Exhibition
2019 Screen
Organoid installation
Sean Raspet, Kiara Eldred, Robert J. Johnston Jr. Empty Gallery, Hong Kong