Wormaholics

David S. Fay, PhD.

David was born in Brooklyn New York, but then grew up – or at least grew older – in a small town in semi-rural Vermont. After nearly flunking chemistry in high school, David became a chemistry major in college, which led to an interest in biochemistry, and ultimately to a Ph.D. in molecular biochemistry and biophysics. As a graduate student David studied the single-celled organism, budding yeast, where he learned to appreciate the power of genetics. As a postdoc David fell in love with multi-cellularity and development in the form of the nematode elegans. After a number of experimental dead ends, David eventually hit on a productive line of research that he brought with him to the University of Wyoming in 2001. Although the specific research areas for the lab have changed over the years, and now encompass much more cell biology and ‘omics-based’ approaches, David’s love for the worm and the wonderful community of C. elegans scientists has remained steady. David chose to become a faculty member at Wyoming because of the opportunity to do top-notch science in a friendly small-town environment with backdoor access to the wild west. David also does a good bit of service work for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Genetics Society of America, and the Wyoming INBRE, an NIH-funded program project grant that promotes and supports biomedical research throughout the state of Wyoming. David’s current research is supported by a 5-year (2020–2025) $2.7M NIH MIRA award from the NIH and by the Wyoming INBRE.

David Fay CV

Phil Edeen, Lab Manager

Phil is a lab tech/manager for the Fay Lab in the Department of Molecular Biology. A Wyoming native, Phil graduated from University of Wyoming in 1992 and then moved to San Diego where he worked in a Drosophila lab at the Salk Institute for 8 years. In 2000 he transitioned into industry where he held a variety of roles in two different companies including, technician, lab manager, safety officer, facilities manager and operations manager.
 
Phil returned to Wyoming in 2015 and has been a member of the Fay Lab since 2018.

Shae Milne, Research Associate

Originally from Washington, Shae moved to Montana for college and graduated in the spring of 2022, and then moved to Laramie.

Bala Boopathi, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Bala was born and brought up in India. He spent his entire childhood in his hometown and completed B.Sc. in Microbiology from Bharathidasan College of Arts and Science, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India during 2012. Then, he got M.Sc. degree in Microbiology from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India during 2014. Subsequently, he graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology from Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India during Dec 2020 under Prof. K. Balamurugan's supervision. His Ph.D. dissertation was about understanding the importance of Post translational modifications of candidate regulatory proteins during host-pathogen interactions in C. elegans.

He joined the Fay Lab in September 2021 as Postdoctoral Research Associate. He enjoys working with David Fay and colleagues. He loves the Wyoming weather and people out there. His major focus is to identify the substrates of NEKL-2, and NEKL-3 in C. elegans using Proteomics techniques (TurboID, IP, MS, WB, etc.,). He also studies the role of ECM genes such as SYM-3, SYM-4, FBN-1, RAB-11, etc., in intracellular trafficking during embryogenesis

Owen Funk, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Owen grew up in Alaksa where he was first introduced to research science studying hibernation physiology in arctic ground squirrels. He pursued a PhD at the University of Michigan in the lab of Dr. Ken Kwan studying the role of histone variant H3.3 in the development of cortical neurons. Now as joint postdoc at the University of Wyoming in the labs of David Fay and Dan Levy, Owen is exploring the role of multinucleation and polyploidy in C. elegans syncytia through diverse genetic and genomic techniques. When not in lab Owen enjoys riding bikes, skiing, and throwing frisbees.

Shaonil Binti, PhD Student

Shaonil spent her childhood in six different cities and went to ten different schools in Bangladesh. Her gypsy blood makes her want to label herself as a citizen of the earth. She got her B.S. in Biotech from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. She came to Wyoming in 2018 for graduate studies. She joined the Fay lab in May 2019.

Her research involves understanding how NEKL-2 and NEKL-3 promote molting in C. elegans. Now Shaonil is focused on how catp-1, a Na+/K+ pump expressed in the hypodermis is involved in the whole molting process. Right now, she is also exploring how dauer development affects the function of NEKLs.

Gabi Reimann, Master's Student

A native of Wyoming, Gabi grew up in Casper and moved to Laramie in 2017 to attend college. She graduated with her B.S. in Animal and Veterinary Sciences in May 2021. After a year working as a CNA, Gabi joined the Fay lab in July 2022 and will begin the master's program in molecular biology in the fall 2022 semester. In her spare time, Gabi loves to read, paint, draw, hike, and spend time with her dog!

She is currently studying a Class II Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and how it relates to molting and trafficking defects in C. elegans nekl-2 and nekl-3 mutants

Adison Linder, Undergraduate Researcher

Having moved seven different times across six different states, when inquired as to her origins Adison prefers to say the Mountain West. After graduating from Laramie High School, she started her B.S. in Molecular Biology in 2021, and joined the Fay lab as a summer research intern in 2022. Right now, she's working with Shaonil Binti to characterize ptpn-22, a protein tyrosine phosphatase active in the human adaptive immune system, whose function is currently unknown in C. elegans.