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 also interested in various aspects of microtubules during neurodegenerative diseases as well as during nerve injury and regeneration. He is currently the Director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at Drexel University.
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 the Chief Molecular Biologist in the Baas Laboratory, where she focuses her attention on microtubule-related severing proteins, with a particular emphasis on spastin and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia..
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. Dr. Lin is funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.
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.
Graduate Student
Olga Mozgova (om58@drexel.edu)
Olga Mozgova is a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program at Drexel University. She earned a B.S. degree in Neuroscience from George Mason University in 2010 before joining the Baas laboratory for her doctoral studies. She is focusing on the establishment and regulation of the microtubule array of dendrites by microtubule-severing proteins and molecular motor proteins.
