Wayne State University Biological Sciences

📢 Lab Feature + Fieldwork in Action! 🌲💧

If looking at cool, pristine streams sounds appealing right now, check out this fantastic article:

👉 How mining impacts water quality in Michigan’s pristine streams

It highlights a project from Donna Kashian’s lab studying how a new nickel mine could impact nearby freshwater systems up north 🧪🐟 The team has been monitoring streams in this incredibly pristine region to better understand potential environmental effects 🌊

Even better—former department members Brenna Friday, Katrina Lewandowski, and Hector Esparra-Escalera are featured doing fieldwork! 🙌

Love seeing this kind of hands-on science making an impact 👏✨

How Mining Impacts Water Quality: Monitoring Michigan’s Pristine Streams Since 2008, a team of researchers has been collecting stream data in Michigan, recording the impact of a new nickel mine in the Upper Peninsula.

📢 Publication Alert! 🎉

Congratulations to Chisom Onu, PhD and colleagues from the lab of Miriam Greenberg on their new publication:

“Inositol biosynthesis is inversely regulated by glycolytic activity”

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular Cell Biology of Lipids (June 3, 2026)

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2026.159752

An important contribution advancing our understanding of metabolic regulation and cellular signaling ⚡🧪

www.sciencedirect.com

📢 Publication Alert!

Work led by Dr. Neha rajput and Jake Hudock from the lab of Prof. Justin Kenney:

“A Simple and Precise Feed-Based Approach to Oral Drug Delivery in Fish”
Journal of Visualized Experiments (J Vis Exp), Issue 231 (May 22, 2026)
DOI: 10.3791/70856

A great contribution highlighting an elegant and practical approach to experimental design in aquatic models 🧪🐟

https://www.jove.com/t/70856/a-simple-and-precise-feed-based-approach-to-oral-drug-delivery-in-fish

We're happy to share some great news from our office! 😊

Our amazing academic advisor, Mary Kuligowski, has been named one of just FIVE recipients of this year’s Outstanding New Academic Advisor Award from the Academic Training Academy 🎉🏆

Mary has only been with us for two years, but she’s already made such a difference for our students and our team 💙

🔬 New Research Highlight from Our Department! 🔬

We’re proud to share a new publication from the lab of Professor Karen Beningo, led by graduate student Jacob DeTone:

DeTone J, Kozole S, Stewart M, Hao B, Beningo KA
Basigin (CD147) and Calpain 4 (CapnS1) are partners in the generation of traction force but not in mechanosensing
Journal of Biological Chemistry
https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(26)02042-9/fulltext

How do cells move? This study explores the teamwork behind cell movement—an essential process in wound healing, immune response, and even cancer spread.

They identified two proteins, Basigin and Calpain 4, that work together to help cells generate the physical forces needed to move. Interestingly, while Calpain 4 plays a role in both force and sensing, Basigin is uniquely involved only in generating movement itself, not in how cells 'sense' their surroundings

By separating these two processes, force generation and sensing, this work helps refine our understanding of how cells navigate their environment, with potential implications for biomedical research.

HTTP Status 429 – Too Many Requests

🌿 New Publication Alert! 🌿

Check out the latest paper from the labs of Professors Ed Golenberg, Aleksandar Popadic, and Weilong Hao:

Transcriptomic Analysis of Phylloclade in Ruscus aculeatus Is Consistent with Unifacial Morphology.
Plants (Basel) (2026)
https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/15/8/1168

Have you ever wondered how plants evolve new structures? This new study looks at a plant called Ruscus aculeatus (Butcher's broom), which grows unusual flattened stems that function just like leaves. Using advanced genetic sequencing, they examined the active genes in these structures to understand how they evolved.

While textbook biology states that plants require a strict "top-vs-bottom" genetic roadmap to grow flat organs, the team discovered that these structures completely bypass that rule. Instead, they flatten out purely through simple sideways expansion and localized cell division. It’s a perfect example of the minimalist flexibility of plant development and evolution.

Transcriptomic Analysis of Phylloclade in Ruscus aculeatus Is Consistent with Unifacial Morphology The development of planar structures such as wings or leaves is a common feature among organisms and serves as a mechanism to increase surface to volume ratios. We wished to explore whether the recurrent and independent development of similar adaptive planar morphologies is the result of an activati...

🎉 Congratulations to Udayan Guha on his recent PhD defense! He did is work in the lab of Dr. Haidong Gu:

"From Early to Late Infection, ICP0 Coordinates the Suppression of

Host Responses in Both Nuclear and Cytoplasmic Environments

During HSV-1 Infection"

Well done Dr. Guha! 🥂

🌟 Department of Biological Sciences Recognition 🌟

We're proud to share that our very own Dr. Marianna Sadagurski has been named the recipient of the 2026 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research by AFAR.

This prestigious award honors Dr. Sadagurski’s impactful contributions to the fundamental biology of aging and recognizes her as a leading scientist whose work is poised to shape the field for decades to come. The award is named in honor of the late Dr. Vincent Cristofalo, a founding AFAR board member and pioneer in aging research.

We are incredibly proud to celebrate Dr. Sadagurski’s achievements and the continued excellence of our faculty in advancing innovative, high-impact research.

👏 Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sadagurski on this well-deserved honor!

https://bit.ly/4ta4J2Q

Wayne State's first Peregrine Falcon Project intern was born for the job Wayne State's first Peregrine Falcon Project science communications intern was born for the job