Got the nicest email from a former student who took my Dev Bio class a few years ago and went on to med school. Moments like this remind me why teaching is so meaningful.

And kudos to Jeffrey Matthew @matthewjeffre.bsky.social, co-first author, who expanded and completed the work with great care and rigor. He is now a postdoc at UPenn, studying regeneration.

A very special shout-out to Luke Woodward, our first author, who began this project as an undergraduate and delivered exceptional results—both in quality and quantity. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, studying heart development.

We show that the sulfation enzyme PAPS synthetase (Papss) is required for organizing the non-chitinous aECM of the Drosophila salivary gland. We also identify and characterize zona pellucida domain proteins as some of the first known components of this non-chitinous aECM.

Several of my students also had the opportunity to present their own work and received great feedback. They were so excited and came back with much more enthusiasm and motivation!

We held the 2nd Fly Bayou Symposium in New Orleans last week—so great to reconnect in person and hear exciting research! What began in 2020 as a small local network has grown to 36 labs across 14 states. Grateful to see this community thrive and support each other! 🪰

Also congratulations to our talented undergraduates, Maggie Wheat (summa cum laude) and Cailyn Lee (College Honors) on their graduation! Can't wait to see what the future holds for them!

Congratulations to Dr. Jeffrey Matthew @matthewjeffre.bsky.social! Jeffrey is one of the most talented, dedicated, and kindest people I've ever known. He will start his postdoctoral research in regeneration at the Rompolas lab at UPenn, and i have no doubt he will thrive. Geaux Jeffrey!

End of semester lab lunch. It feels like each semester goes by more quickly every year!

Huge congrats to talented undergraduate Cailyn Lee in the lab on her well-deserved award from the LSU BioSci department. She will start her masters in medical sciences at Tufts this fall and is applying for MD/PhD. So proud and excited for her!

Excellent presentations from our amazing undergraduate researchers, including my student Cailyn Lee, on their exciting research at #LSUDiscoverDay.

Some good news for my lab in this difficult time for science. I'm so grateful that our NIH grant has been funded. Council meeting was canceled in Jan, but resumed privately(?) and decision was made recently.

Fly Bayou groups at #Dros25 @genetics-gsa.bsky.social ! Great to see many people in person. From a small, local joint lab meeting, we've grown to >30 labs in 11 states. Amazing fly community!

Exciting science and networking at #Dros25 @genetics-gsa.bsky.social in beautiful San Diego! Please check out the presentations from our lab on the cell cycle control and apical ECM during tubular organ formation.

Huge congrats to my student Jeffrey on defending his Ph.D! It's been a true joy to mentor him & see him grow as a scientist. So proud of his accomplishment & excited to see what's next for him! @lsuscience.bsky.social

~4 inches of snow and 10F (-12C) expected tonight in Baton Rouge. Physical campus is closed for two days in LSU. Hope everyone stays warm.

Cheers to another incredible year with the amazing lab members. I'm excited to see what the next year brings!