News – Kantarci Lab

Lab Updates

2/22/2025 – Uma, who joined our lab as a high school researcher last year, presented her research findings at the Greater Austin Regional Science & Engineering Fair (GARSEF). She won first place in the Cellular & Molecular Biology category and was awarded “Best of Fair,” qualifying her as a Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF 2025) finalist. ISEF will take place on May 15th in Columbus, OH, where top high school STEM students from around the globe participate in 22 project categories for prizes and scholarships. Uma will also present at the Texas State Science & Engineering Fair on March 29th at Texas A&M University in College Station. Additionally, the U.S. Office of Navy Research recognized Uma’s project presentation with a special award for research excellence.

11/9/2024 – Kimberly gave talk at the Golf Coast Research Symposium at Rice University (GCURS). Her presentation was on Glial-PGE2 signaling and their role on excitability. It was a very exciting conference where she met fellow undergraduate’s who were mentored by experts in the fields of neurophysiology, neurobehavior, and neuroaddiction.

12/17/2024 – Inara Jawed have joined the lab!
11/1/2024 – Kimberly wins the UT Austin Undergraduate Research Fellowship award with her proposal ” What Triggers Excitability in Retinal Ganglion Cells: Internal Mechanisms or Glial Support?” Congrats to Kimberly!
9/5/2024 – Roopa Ravichandar joins the Kantarci lab as the lab’s first postdoctoral fellow! Roopa is currently completing her doctoral work in Dr. Fraser J. Sim’s lab at the University at Buffalo. We are thrilled to welcome Roopa to the lab! She will lead a collaborative project under the co-mentorship of Dr. Amy Lee in our department, investigating the glial regulation of retinal ganglion cell development.
8/27/2024 – Four amazing undergraduate researchers—Eunsu Kim, Joshua Bhat, Kimberly Castillo, and Mariam Hajiaghajani—have joined the lab!