05/01/16
Congratulations to Fong Kuan Wong and Patricia Gordon for being awarded an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship.
Fong Kuan received her PhD in 2014 from Technische Universität Dresden, for her work on the generation of basal radial glia (bRGs) in the embryonic mouse dorsal telencephalon in the laboratory of Prof Wieland B. Huttner. She successfully generated excess bRGs via two approaches– microinjection of ferret poly-A+ RNA into the apical progenitor of the mouse dorsal telencephalon and in utero electroporation of Pax6, work that was published in the journal PLoS Biology. In August this year, she joined the laboratory of Prof Oscar Marín, where she has been working on understanding how cortical circuit assemble in the developing mouse neocortex. Over the next two years, Fong Kuan will use the fellowship to understand how MGE interneurons laminate and mature in the developing mouse neocortex.
Patricia Gordon received her PhD in 2015 from Columbia University, for her work studying neuronal fate determination in the laboratory of Oliver Hobert. She successfully discovered a novel mechanism for repression of alternative fate, work that was published in Developmental Cell. In March this year, she joined the laboratory of Prof Corinne Houart, where she has been working on the splicing factor SFPQ. Over the next two years, Patricia will use the fellowship to examine how SFPQ contributes to the development and maintenance of motor neurons.