THE LI LABORATORY

Installation day for our 2-photon microscope! Allie (the name of the microscope) has finally joined us after conquering the most severe global supply chain issues in the 21st century , laboratory renovation challenges (including a bidding process to source a contractor for asbestos abatement), and delivery difficulties (including moving in a 1000lb air table without an elevator). Texan men and immigrant men got the job done!

Dr. Jingjing Yan joins the laboratory as a Research Associate. Dr. Yan will use her expertise in molecular biology and genomics to explore the reciprocal relationship between chronic stress and the development of chronic diseases.

Dr. Fumihiro Ito has arrived from Japan! Dr. Ito is joining us as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. He will use his expertise in evolution biology to explore how chronic social isolation impacts health through the modification of health-critical behaviors.

Brissa Castillo officially joins the laboratory as a Lab Manager/Research Assistant. Brissa has worked in the Li lab since Fall 2022 as a Student Research Assistant, and she graduated from the Biomedical Sciences (BIMS) program in December 2022. Brissa is our very first “Aggie”! More Aggies are in the making in the Li Lab.

After learning diverse techniques during several rotations at different laboratory buildings on the Texas A&M campus and collecting various parking citations, first-year graduate student Eric Shah said “yes” to Dr. Li and happily joined the lab. Eric will develop a thesis project to investigate the timekeeping mechanisms during chronic social isolation. A doctor in the making!

Rotation student Eric Shah (Genetics Program), Student Research Assistant Esther Land (International Studies), and Dr. Li attended the 2022 symposium of the Texas Society for Biological Clocks and Medicine (TSCBM) at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. What an amazing reunion for the chronobiologists in Texas after the pandemic. We are looking forward to the next TSCBM symposium, which will be hosted by the Center for Biological Clocks at Texas A&M University.

Our paper, titled “Chronic sleep loss disrupts rhythmic gene expression in Drosophila,” was published on Nov 18th, the w1118 World Drosophila Day! Check out my thread on Twitter about the findings we made and an interactive web portal for around-the-clock gene expression in Drosophila.

Grant proposal submission, travel for Drosophila Central Complex Meeting at the Janelia Farm Research Campus, travel for SfN meeting at San Diego, travel for invited seminars, severe reactions to the bivalent booster, kids’ baseball season, and coverage for spouse’s business trips - Dr. Li conducted a real sleep deprivation experiment on herself. However, she felt it was really worth it when she reunited with the amazing people whom she met through science for these many years.