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Lab News

September 2024

Marija gives a talk at Ohio State University, thanks to Dmitri Kudryashov for hosting!

Our paper on the GTP-tubulin cap in cells accepted in MBoC in record time – check it out!

Anna’s image wins the cover of the MBoC Quantitative Cell Biology Issue! Congrats!!

August 2024

The lab says goodbye to our amazing and talented postdoc Beth Lawrence, who is off to her independent position as a Dean’s Fellow at the University of Manchester, UK. Go get ’em, Beth!

July 2024

Marija gives a talk at the 2024 Cytoskeletal Motors GRC in Portland, Maine.

June 2024

Zanic Lab participates in the Vanderbilt-Warwick Mechanobiology Symposium.

Marija and Anna attend EMBO | EMBL Microtubules Symposium in Heidelberg, Germany where Marija gives a talk and Anna presents a poster.

April 2024

Laura participates in the Protein Expression and Purification course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY.

Anna participates in the Analytical and Quantitative Light Microscopy course at MBL, Woods Hole, MA.

February 2024

Marija, Laura, and Sami attend the the Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Philadelphia, where Laura and Sami present their research posters.

December 2023

Anna and Marija participate in the annual ASCB/EMBO meeting in Boston.

Our review on microtubule reconstitution now out in JBC reviews!

August 2023

The Zanic lab participates in the 2nd annual Vanderbilt Center on Mechanobiology retreat!

May 2023

The lab welcomes our new postdoc Abdullah Bashar Sami!

The Zanic lab goes to Ole Miss for the Mid-South Biophysics Symposium with Marija as the keynote speaker. Big thanks to Nikki Reinemann for organizing!

Our latest work on CLASP’s mechanism of microtubule regulation out in JCB – check it out!

Marija gives a seminar at the University of Michigan Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Big thanks to Morgan DeSantis for hosting!

March 2023

Laura wins the prestigious NSF GRFP fellowship! Congrats!!!

February 2023

Nikki defends her PhD thesis! Congrats Dr. Rodgers!!!

Beth gives a talk & Marija chairs at the Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in San Diego!

Hot off the press – our paper on CLASP-mediated microtubule-actin crosstalk out in MBoC – check it out!

Marija gives a talk at the Yale Cytoskeleton Club. Thank you to Tony Koleske and Daisy Duan for hosting!

December 2022

The Zanic lab goes to Washington DC for the annual ASCB/EMBO meeting!

November 2022

Check out our new review just out in Bioessays!

August 2022

The lab participates in the first annual Vanderbilt Center on Mechanobiology Retreat!

June 2022

Nikki, Veronica and Marija participate at the EMBO Microtubules conference in Heidelberg. Veronica wins yet another poster prize! Congrats!

Marija named a 2022 Vanderbilt Chancellor Faculty Fellow! Thank you!

May 2022

The lab welcomes new graduate students: Todd Blakely Jr (Biochemistry), Anna Cassidy (Cell and Developmental Biology), and Rashedeh Roshani (Chemical and Physical Biology)! Welcome to the Zanic lab!

April 2022

Marija accepts co-directorship of the Vanderbilt Center on Mechanobiology!

Matt presents a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering departmental seminar and earns his MS degree! Congrats Matt!!!

Veronica gives a talk at Chicago Cytoskeleton meeting!

March 2022

Veronica defends her PhD thesis! Way to go Dr. Farmer!!!

Veronica wins a Chicago Cytoskeleton poster award!

February 2022

Marija chairs and presents IN PERSON at the 2022 Annual Biophysical Society meeting in San Francisco! Yay!

The lab welcomes 1st year IGP students Gabriela Gonzalez Vasquez and Anna Schwarzkopf for a rotation!

January 2022

The lab welcomes 1st year students Anna Cassidy (IGP) and Rashedeh Roshani (QCB) for a rotation!

December 2021

Our SSNA1 paper out in eLife – check it out!

The Zanic lab participates at (yet another virtual) ASCB/EMBO meeting!

November 2021

Laura Richardson joins the Zanic lab as our newest graduate student, pursuing her PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Welcome to the lab, Laura!

October 2021

The lab welcomes 1st year QCB student Pi’ilani Noguchi for a rotation!

September 2021

The lab welcomes 1st year QCB students Ting-Chen Wang and Todd Blakely Jr. for their 1st rotation!

Veronica gives a talk at the Triangle Cytoskeleton Meeting!

July 2021

Veronica off to the one and only MBL Physiology course!

Farmer, Arpag et al. out in JCB – check it out!

June 2021

Our XMAP215 catastrophe paper accepted in JCB!

The Zanic lab welcomes an incoming QCB student Tara Hickman for a summer rotation in the lab!

May 2021

Marija gives a talk on her career path to date in Motors in Quarantine: “Meet Your Heros” special! Thank you Darius Köster and Anne Straube for the kind invitation!

Claire Strothman defends her Ph.D. thesis and becomes the very first Zanic lab Ph.D. awardee! Big congrats on a stellar performance, Claire!

Our Quick Guide to TOG-domain Proteins out in Current Biology!

The Zanic lab welcomes our newest lab member, Saptarshi Chattarjee! Saptarshi is awaiting conferral of his PhD Physics degree for his computational biophysics work with Raja Paul, IACS, India.

The lab says goodbye to our amazing undergrad Stephanie Wang, who is off to medical school!

April 2021

Marija promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure! Yay!!!

February 2021

Beth and Marija give talks, and Goker presents a poster at the 2021 Annual Biophysical Society meeting.

Marija awarded the Early Career Award from the Motility and Cytoskeleton Subgroup of the Biophysical Society! Thank you!!!

January 2021

Our new paper on SSNA1 up on bioRxiv!

The Zanic lab welcomes 1st year graduate students Reese Martin (QCB) and Steven Wall (IGP) for a lab rotation!

December 2020

Our new paper on XMAP215-induced microtubule catastrophe up on bioRxiv!

Marija gives a talk at the Reconstituting Cell Biology subgroup at the 2020 ASCB/EMBO Meeting. Thanks to co-chairs Kassie Ori-McKenney & Gary Brouhard for the invitation!

The lab participates at the annual 2020 ASCB/EMBO meeting with four posters!

November 2020

Our tubulin economy review in collaboration with Puck Ohi out in Current Opinion in Cell Biology!

Marija gives a talk at the Motors in Quarantine series! Big thanks to Anne Straube & colleagues for hosting!

Claire wins a poster award at the Triangle Cytoskeleton meeting! Congrats!

October 2020

Marija gives a talk at the very exciting Theory and Modeling of Living Systems workshop on size control in biological systems. Big thanks to Shashank Shekhar for the invitation!

September 2020

Nikki awarded F31 fellowship from the NHLBI! Way to go!

Beth gives a talk on her SSNA1 work at the 2020 UK Cilia Network Symposium!

Claire wins logo design contests for both the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology AND the Department of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt! Big congrats Claire!!!

August 2020

We welcome 1st year QCB student Mikaela Elder for a rotation in the Zanic lab.

July 2020

Beth selected a 2020 Leading Edge Fellow, gives a talk at the Leading Edge Symposium. Bravo Beth!

June 2020

Zanic lab thrilled to be awarded a new NSF Research Grant!

Beth wins the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology Outstanding Postdoc Award! Go Beth!

May 2020

Arpag, Lawrence et al. out in PNAS!

April 2020

Our ‘CLASPs at a glance’ review with Luke Rice published in JCS.

Our microtubule treadmilling paper accepted in PNAS!

Marija receives the inaugural Dean’s Faculty Fellow award.

March 2020

With the rest of the world, the Zanic lab switches to remote work.

Welcome to 1st year IGP student Deanna Bowman for a rotation in our lab!

February 2020

Marija gives a talk at the 64th annual Biophysical Society Meeting in San Diego, CA.

Marija presents a seminar at the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Big thanks to Jeff Moore for hosting!

January 2020

Marija hosts Amy Maddox, UNC for a CDB seminar. Great times!

December 2019

The Zanic lab participates at the annual ASCB/EMBO 2019 meeting in Washington, DC. Strong representation with 5 posters and 1 talk!

Marija participates in an inspiring NSF Reintegrating Biology workshop in Atlanta, GA.

November 2019

Marija presents a seminar at the Princeton Center for the Physics of Biological Function. Big thanks to Andrew Leifer for hosting!

Matt Rogers joins the Zanic lab as our newest graduate student! Matt is pursuing his PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Marija hosts Sam Reck-Peterson for a CDB seminar. What a treat!

October 2019

Marija back from giving a seminar at WUSTL Cell Biology and Physiology. Big thanks to Silvia Jansen for hosting!

Zanic lab rafting trip

September 2019

Marija gives at talk at UT Southwestern Biophysics. Big thanks to Kendra Frederick for hosting!

Welcome to 1st year IGP student Kateryna Nabukhotna for a rotation in our lab!

Strothman et al. featured on the September cover of JCB

August 2019

Claire and Marija at GRS/GRC Motile and Contractile Systems Conference

July 2019

Goodbye to Sarah Hall

Our latest paper accepted in the Journal of Cell Biology

June 2019

Welcome Hailey Lovelace

May 2019

Caye shines at her Qualifying Exam

Marija back from the Michigan Microtubules May Meeting

Veronica takes part in the MBL Analytical and Quantitative Light Microscopy Course

April 2019

Congrats to Megan Dumas, a brand new Ph.D.

Veronica presents a ReX seminar

Cayetana participates in the EMBO Emerging Concepts of the Neuronal Cytoskeleton Workshop

Marija gives a talk at the Annual Searle Scholars Meeting

Marija gives a talk at University of Minnesota

March 2019

Welcome James Hayes

Goker presents at the annual Biophysical Society meeting in Baltimore, MD

February 2019

Marija back from the AAMC Leadership Workshop in San Diego

Marija writes a JCB Spotlight with colleague Joshua Alper

January 2019

Beth participates in the “Reconstitution of cell cytoskeleton in vitro” workshop in UK

Welcome Rachel Dotterweich

December 2018

Claire and Marija give talks, and Beth and Veronica present posters at the ASCB meeting in San Diego

November 2018

Annual mechanobiology lab retreat with the Lang lab

Our latest review out in Current Opinion in Cell Biology

Veronica awarded AHA Predoctoral Fellowship

October 2018

Marija gives a talk at the TSU Department of Biological Sciences

Marija hosts Sadie Wignall, Northwestern University for CDB seminar

September 2018

Bailey, Blake and Stephanie present their summer research projects

Beth back from the Physics of Integrated Biological Systems EMBO Workshop in Cargese, France

Claire, Veronica and Marija back from the Triangle Cytoskeleton Meeting

August 2018

Welcome Steven Walker

Welcome Clarice Amelia Lee

Our HSET paper out in Nature Communications

July 2018

Claire wins Dean’s Award for Exceptional Achievement

Marija presents at the GRC Motors conference

Welcome Sarah Hall

Zanic Lab Potluck

June 2018

Welcome Blake Hanan

Marija back from the EMBO Microtubules Meeting in Heidelberg, Germany

May 2018

Beth and Claire win poster awards at the Cell Dynamics Symposium

Nikki wins a slot on the Molecular Biophysics Training Program NIH Grant

Beth’s paper gets the MBoC cover!

Welcome Bailey Heneghan!

Welcome Stephanie Wang!

April 2018

Cayetana Arnaiz new Zanic lab grad student!

Marija presents at the Vanderbilt Board of Trust Meeting

Marija back from the Searle Scholars meeting

March 2018

Beth wins Chicago Cytoskeleton Poster Award

Our HSET paper up on the BioRxiv

Beth’s paper accepted in MBoC!

February 2018

Marija gives a talk at the Biophysical Society Meeting in San Francisco

Marija appointed Assistant Professor of Biochemistry!

Marija presents MBTP seminar

January 2018

Welcome Cayetana Arnaiz!


December 2017

Zanic lab back from ASCB

September 2017

Marija co-presents Flexner Discovery Lecture

Welcome Justin Lopez!

August 2017

Welcome Alvina Adimoelja!

Zanic lab contributes to the new Gould lab paper in press at JCB

Beth and Marija back from the Motile and Contractile Systems GRC

July 2017

Marija gives a talk at the HFSP Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal

May 2017

Welcome Isaac Richardson!

Nikki Rodgers new Zanic lab grad student!

April 2017

Marija returns from the annual Searle meeting

March 2017

Marija gives a talk at Chicago Cytoskeleton

Welcome Bella Gaeta!

January 2017

Marija interviewed for the new Nikon Center of Excellence at Vandy

Welcome Nikki Rodgers!


December 2016

The Zanic Lab returns from ASCB

October 2016

Welcome Colbie Chinowsky!

Marija back from the QCBNet workshop at the Allen Institute

September 2016

First Lab Whitewater Rafting Adventure

Beth and Marija back from the Triangle Cytoskeleton Meeting

August 2016

Welcome Goker Arpag!

July 2016

Marija gives a talk at QBio 2016

Marija presents at the 16th HFSP Awardees meeting in Singapore

June 2016

Our NIH MIRA grant recommended for funding!

Beth and Marija participate at the EMBO Microtubules 2016

May 2016

Claire and Veronica awarded slots on NIH training grants!

Veronica Farmer & Claire Strothman first Zanic lab graduate students!

April 2016

Marija named 2016 Searle Scholar!

March 2016

Beth presents the first lab research poster!

Our new review published!

Marija featured in VUMC Reporter

Lab outing to Korean BBQ

Goker Arpag to join the Zanic Lab this summer

Welcome Amanda Erwin, Michael Greer and Meagan Postema!

February 2016

Goodbye Marija Podolski!

January 2016

Marija Podolski presents in the Microtubules and Motors Club


November 2015

First tubulin prep!

Marija gives a talk at Clemson University

Welcome Veronica Farmer & Ian Setliff!

October 2015

Welcome Olivia Purtell!

September 2015

Welcome Claire Strothman!

August 2015

Welcome Corey Hayford!

Elizabeth Lawrence, Ph.D. to join our lab!

Welcome Marija Podolski!

July 2015

Welcome Justin Ma!

May 2015

Welcome Ki Oh!

Perspective Article with Kaverina Lab published in Cell Cycle

April 2015

Lab Dinner

March 2015

HFSP Career Development Award starts!

January 2015

Welcome Nikita Thomas!

Lab Milestone!

Welcome Chloe Snider!


November 2014

Welcome Anika Rahman!