Peter W. Baas (pbaas@drexelmed.edu)
Professor and Lab Director
Peter W. Baas (pbaas@drexelmed.edu)
Dr. Baas earned his PhD from Michigan State University, and then trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Temple University. From there, he was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin for ten years before joining the faculty of Drexel University in 2000. Dr. Baas is interested in all aspects of the neuronal cytoskeleton, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of microtubules in developing neurons. He is currently the Director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, and the Director of an NIH-funded Postdoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences at Drexel University.Our mission is to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that establish and regulate the microtubule arrays of the neuron, during development, health, and disease.
Research Instructor
Wenqian Yu (wyu@drexelmed.edu)
Dr. Yu earned her MD from Shanghai Medical University, and then joined the Baas Laboratory in 1993 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She has remained in the laboratory since, and is currently a Research Instructor. She is the chief cell biologist in the laboratory, and is involved in several of the ongoing projects as well as the training of Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows. She has published on microtubule transport in the axon, the role of the centrosome in generating axonal microtubules, the regulation of the dendritic microtubule array, the fragmentation of microtubules underlying collateral branch formation, and the role of microtubule severing proteins and molecular motor proteins in regulating key events in the establishment of neuronal polarity. Dr. Yu is the recipient of the prestigious Edward Jekkal Award.
Senior Scientist
Joanna Solowska (jsolowsk@drexelmed.edu)
Dr. Solowska earned her Ph.D. from the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Oncology in Gliwice, Poland in 1986. She is now the Chief Molecular Biologist in the Baas Laboratory, where she focuses her attention on microtubule-related severing and motor proteins.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Shen Lin (shen.lin@drexelmed.edu)
Dr. Lin obtained his PhD at the MRC Centre for Developmental Biology in King's College London, England in 2008. He joined the Baas lab in 2008 and is working on the functions of molecular motor proteins in spinal injury models.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Haruka Sudo (haruka.sudo@drexelmed.edu)
Dr. Sudo earned his MD from KEIO Medical University, Japan in 1999 and obtained his PhD in the department of Pharmacology (research on Alzheimer’s disease) at KEIO Medical University, Japan in 2003. He joined Baas laboratory in 2008 and focuses on cellular function of Katanin in neurons.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Vandana Sharma (vsharma01@drexelmed.edu)
Dr Sharma obtained her PhD in Neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India and was a Postdoctoral fellow at University of Iowa thereafter. She joined Baas lab in June 2010. She is working on microtubule motors and post-translational modifications of tubulin in neurons.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Vidya C. Nadar (vcn32@drexel.edu)
Vidya recently completed her Ph.D. in the Neuroscience Program at Drexel University in the Baas Laboratoy. Prior to that, she earned her M.S. from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India in 2004. Vidya's doctoral research project was on the role of kinesin-5 in growth cone behavior, and she is continuing that work as a Postdoctoral Fellow before departing the Baas Laboratory next year.
Graduate Student
Aditi Falnikar (af347@drexel.edu)
Aditi is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience program at Drexel University. She earned her M.S. degree from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India in 2006, after which she joined the Baas Laboratory in 2006 for her doctoral studies. Aditi's thesis research project is aimed at elucidating the organization of microtubule array in migrating neurons.
Graduate Student
Daphney Jean (dcj25@drexel.edu)
Daphney Jean is a doctoral student in the neuroscience program at Drexel university. She earned a BS in biology from Stony Brook University in 2004. Daphney joined the Baas laboratory in 2008 to study the role of doublecortin in axonal branch formation. The project is a collaboration with Dr. Mark Black at Temple University.
