What’s Happening Around the Lab?
Lab holiday party postponed :/
December 17, 2021
We were eagerly gearing up for our annual holiday party, which was going to also include five other labs from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, but sadly we felt it was most responsible to postpone last-minute given the ongoing NYC surge in coronavirus cases from the omicron variant. Nevertheless, we have some reading to keep us busy over the holidays! Everyone received Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Jennifer Doudna, “The Code Breaker,” and next calendar year we’ll host Walter for a special in-person lab visit to learn more about his writing and journalism philosophy.
Minjoo going-away party
November 30, 2021
Although she’s not going far (NYU), we were nevertheless sad to say our goodbyes to Minjoo Kim, who was a valuable member of the lab for the past two years, whose lead project is currently in revision at a top journal (stay tuned!). We celebrated her time with a lab dinner outing, and she even came around the lab on the last day with an old-school Polaroid instant camera for some fun pictures. We wish her all the best in her future career.
New biochemistry student/postdoc seminar series
November 19, 2021
Today we kicked off a new monthly student and postdoc-led seminar series in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics to facilitate more regular scientific exchanges between various labs within (and beyond) the department. Each meeting features two 30-minute talks, followed by a happy hour social with pizza and refreshments. For next year, we also plan to add student/postdoc-invited guest speakers from other universities. We’re excited to continue fostering more cohesion and collaboration across campus!
Leo defends his Ph.D. dissertation
October 29, 2021
Leo gave a wonderful thesis seminar to cap an incredible 3.5 years in the lab, followed by an expert defense in front of members of the thesis committee, which included Alice Prince (chair), Alex Chavez, Tal Danino, and Masa Yazawa. His dissertation work advanced powerful new tools to perform precision genome engineering in bacteria and complex bacterial communities (microbiomes), and not surprisingly, he was quickly scooped up by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston, where he starts a new Scientist position next week to develop CRISPR-based genetic medicines. We’re sad to see him go but expect to run into him frequently at future conferences. His thesis celebration coincided with a Halloween party we hosted, hence the costumes (Sam was Dr. Seuss’ “Sam I Am,” and Leo was a “kid on the last day of school”).
Sam visits Barbara McClintock’s shed
October 7, 2021
Sam was invited by Joe Peters to present the lab’s research at Cornell University in Ithaca, which offered the opportunity to visit Barbara McClintock’s field laboratory. It was here, in her famous shed, that she obtained physical evidence confirming that chromosomal recombination in maize is linked to genetic changes; later, she also famously discovered the first transposable elements, or ‘jumping genes,’ for which she was later awarded the Nobel Prize.
Lab outing to a Yankees game
September 20, 2021
We continued our tradition of an annual lab outing to a Yankees game in the Bronx, joined by new rotation student Jeanine Gezelle (third from left) and new joint Ph.D. student in the group, Matt Walker (fourth from left). The Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 3-2!
The lab says GOODbye to Hannah
August 20, 2021
Jeez, this summer seems to be full of goodbyes. Hannah Hu will head back to Caltech for the fall semester, where she’s an undergraduate. Her time with us since the spring was one silver lining of the COVID pandemic and obligatory remote learning, and she made some exciting research advances while working under the mentorship of Leo. (It’s now a challenge to figure out who in the lab can continue the project without skipping a beat.) Hannah, you’re welcome back anytime!
A goodbye BBQ for Nora
July 31, 2021
Nora joined the lab two years ago as lab manager and shepherded us through a major lab move, two renovations, a doubling in size, the COVID shutdown, and much more. (As if that weren’t enough, she was also an integral part of an exciting research project that will soon be published.) We’re not quite sure how we’ll manage without her! To say a proper goodbye, we had a fun lab BBQ – jointly with Harris Wang’s lab – and got to re-experience our youths while playing on a nearby jungle gym. Nora, best of luck in graduate school!
Sanjana is welcomed to the lab
July 27, 2021
It was fitting that Columbia Employee Appreciation Day coincided with Sanjana Pesari’s first week in lab. Sanjana (second from right) recently graduated from Johns Hopkins University and joins as the new lab manager, since Nora is off to graduate school in the fall. In addition to free ice cream, we also enjoyed some live music from a jazz trio that was stationed right around the corner from our building. If only they could be a part of campus life every day!
Yankees-Phillies outing with the webmaster
July 21, 2021
Sam invited the lab’s webmaster (Rob) to an exciting Yankees-Phillies game at Yankees Stadium (extra innings!). Did we mention that the webmaster also doubles as Sam’s father?! He works pro bono, though under the condition that he’ll be the first to receive any anti-aging genetic enhancements offered by CRISPR breakthroughs from the lab (kidding). Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Rob roots for the Phillies too, but supported the Yankees (favorite team since childhood) at this game. He is a professor emeritus of geophysics from Franklin & Marshall College.
The lab bids Ethan a fond farewell
June 30, 2021
Ethan graduated from Columbia with his Bachelor’s degree in May, and spent his last day in the lab today. Ethan worked closely with Leo (both pictured) since joining the lab in 2019, and co-authored a study in Nature Biotechnology last year, in addition to exciting unpublished work that we plan to wrap up soon. He’ll be heading to Harvard Medical School for a research assistant position, before pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. program. We wish him all the best!
Lab retreat in Hebron, New Hampshire
June 18–21, 2021
After a one-year hiatus due to COVID, the lab celebrated its third year with an amazing retreat in New Hampshire – thanks to Nora for doing the lion’s share of the organizing! Over a long four-day weekend at a wonderful rental, we played indoor/outdoor games, swam/kayaked/paddleboarded off a private dock on Newfound Lake, cooked and ate meals together, and overall grew as a group. We also found time for ‘lightning’ science talks on topics ranging from phage to fungi to neuronal physiology. Last but not least, team ‘CRISPRmobile’ couldn’t resist arriving in style with matching hats and “Good Vibes Only’ t-shirts – an apt motto for the trip.
Lab party in the park
May 27, 2021
We may not be the best at synchronized jumping, but the lab sure knows how to have fun! We had some great reasons to celebrate (Tyler defending his thesis; Rebeca passing her qualifying exam; start of summer), and were joined by a few dozen other friends and family members who were surely looking on and appreciating our impressive gymnastics. Not shown are the tables filled with delicious food and drinks.
Rebeca passes her qualifying exam
May 27, 2021
Hot on the heels of Tyler’s thesis defense, Rebeca passed her qualifying exam with flying colors — while showing off some serious Zoom whiteboard skills in the process — and was joined by another fantastic cast of Columbia committee members. With the beautiful spring weather, the lab planned a joint celebration for Rebeca and Tyler in nearby J. Hood Wright Park, together with other colleagues, friends, and family. (Our tradition in the lab is that the person who last passed their qualifying exam is in charge of party-planning, which was Sanne this time. Rebeca, you’re next!)
Tyler successfully defends his thesis
May 26, 2021
Just three short years (and two co-authored Nature articles) after joining the lab, Tyler is the first student to graduate with a Ph.D. from the Sternberg Lab Congrats!! The committee was in rapt attention during the private defense, which included numerous scientific colleagues and collaborators at Columbia. Tyler and Israel worked closely together to determine the cryoEM structure of V. cholerae TniQ-Cascade, captured in the beautiful glass artwork (bottom right) that Tyler can decorate his future desk with at Regeneron, where he heads next. Although the seminar and defense were held on Zoom, Sam and Tyler couldn’t resist an in-person ‘hooding ceremony.’
Preparation for a big Illumina sequencing run
May 20, 2021
Multiple lab members congregated for the final pooling steps of next-generation sequencing libraries destined for an Illumina sequencer in the Sulzberger Columbia Genome Center. Some of the exciting experiments were led by Matt Walker (facing camera on right), a rotation student who worked closely with Sanne. Spoiler alert: he’ll be returning to the lab in the near future.
Jason receives 2021 Bridges and Sturtevant Prize
April 23, 2021
We were thrilled to learn that Jason (on right in picture) was one of three graduating seniors to be awarded this year’s Bridges and Sturtevant Prize for most outstanding research in Biological Sciences. Way to go!! (For those that are curious, Bridges and Sturtevant were Columbia undergrads in Thomas Hunt Morgan's lab who helped pave the foundation for our understanding of genes and how they behave, working in Drosophila of course.) After graduation, Jason is headed to the Broad Institute for a research associate position in the Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases – we’re expecting big things from him.
Lab happy hour in the park
March 26, 2021
We congregated for happy hour in J. Hood Wright Park, just north of campus, on what must have been the windiest day of the year. Although we were due for some outdoors group socializing anyways, part of the motivation was to welcome, and recruit, two prospective Ph.D. students that were visiting Columbia to learn more about the graduate program. We’re happy to report that our recruitment efforts were successful in both cases – see you in the fall!
Live ‘office hours’ for World Science Scholars CRISPR course
March 18, 2021
Over the past few months, Sam — working closely with Teaching Fellows Sanne, Leo, and Tyler — collaborated with the World Science Scholars organization to prepare an online course for high-school students all around the world, titled “Rewriting the Code of Life with CRISPR.” Comprising video lectures, online exercises, and live lab tours, the course aimed to teach students about the discovery and development of CRISPR technology, and stimulate discussions about the societal and ethical ramifications of this technology. The culminating event was an engaging live Q&A session. Stay tuned: a version of the course will soon be publicly available online as part of the World Science U program. We continue to plan more scientific outreach events for the future!
Doppelgangers for a day
March 2, 2021
We thought we were experiencing double vision today! Without any planning, Ethan and Leo, who work side-by-side in the lab, came to work wearing nearly identical jeans, black fleeces, and black masks. Combine that with the same blue gloves and similar hair styles, and it was hard to tell them apart! If only we all had doubles in the lab...
The department welcomes Prof. Anna-Lena Steckelberg
February 16, 2021
We’re excited to welcome Lena Steckelberg (green arrow) to Columbia, as the newest faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Lena recently completed her postdoc in Jeff Kieft’s lab at the University of Colorado, and her lab studies RNA-protein interactions at the host-virus interface… quite the timely topic. We haven’t been able to have a proper in-person celebration of her new lab yet, but this virtual Zoom toast with some folks from the department, full of wacky video filters, was a fun stand-in. Lena, let us know when the whole lab can visit for a proper lab-warming party!
Jerrin arrives in NYC (and gets picked up in the CRISPR-mobile)
January 23, 2021
The lab is thrilled to welcome our newest postdoc to the lab. Jerrin Thomas George and his wife, Amy, braved the long flight from India during COVID and arrived safely at Newark airport, where they were picked up by Sam. (And yes, Sam really did register his car in NYC with ‘CRISPR’ vanity plates back in 2018… don’t judge him too harshly!) Jerrin will be jointly advised by Dr. Ruben Gonzalez (Sam’s former undergrad advisor), and is the recipient of a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) – congrats!