Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory - Translational Control meeting 2026
Our lab was well represented at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Translational Control Meeting! Prof. Mankin delivered a keynote address, and our lab members shared their research through three poster presentations.
Beyond presenting our work, one of the highlights of the meeting was the opportunity to connect with others in the translation field. We enjoyed discussing science, exchanging ideas, learning about exciting new research, and catching up with colleagues and friends from around the world.
It was an inspiring few days filled with great science, thoughtful conversations, and plenty of fun. We returned to Chicago energized by the new ideas and connections—and grateful to be part of such an engaging scientific community!
August 7, 2026
Teamwork takes the win at Lablympics!
We put our teamwork to the test at this year’s Lablympics- and came out on top! It was a fun afternoon where we had the chance to step away from the bench, have some fun, and celebrate the teamwork that keeps our lab going.
July 8, 2026
Our lab had a great time participating in a science fair at a local Chicago Park District Day Camp. We led a series of fun, hands-on experiments that gave kids the opportunity to explore scientific concepts. It was a wonderful day of curiosity, discovery, and lots of science!
June 5, 2026
Mandisa presents at ASM Microbe!
Mandisa represented the lab at the ASM Microbe meet, where she presented her research on antibiotic resistance and bacterial translation. the meeting was a great opportunity to share our lab’s work with the broader microbiology community.
April 22, 2026
Members of the lab participated in a science fair at a local elementary school, where we introduced students to the fascinating world of microbes. Through fun, hands-on activities, students learned about the microorganisms all around us and explored how microbes can be both helpful and harmful. We had a great time sharing our love of science with the next generation of young scientists
November 3, 2025
A new paper in collaboration with the Polikanov group published in Nature communications! Highlighting the the context-specific action of macrolide antibiotics.
Congratulations to Max.
October 23, 2025
We are thrilled to celebrate Alex, who has successfully defended his doctoral thesis, “The impact of depleting the essential bacterial enzyme peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase on translation”. This achievement marks a huge step forward for him and an exciting highlight for our lab.
Alex’s research uncovered how cells respond when a universally essential translation-quality control enzyme is removed. These insights continue to deepen our understanding of translation.
Congratulations, Dr. Alex!
October 15, 2025
We are proud to share that Kasra has successfully defended his doctoral thesis, “Orthogonal Protein Synthesis by Ribosomes with an Integrated mRNA”. This work is a major milestone for him and our lab.
His research reimagined how ribosomes can be engineered to work with integrated mRNAs, advancing the field of orthogonal protein synthesis and opening new possibilities in synthetic biology.
Congratulations, Dr. Kasra!
June 28, 2025
Triennial “Ribosome” meeting took place in Pacific Grove, CA on 22-27 of June bringing together the leading scientists in the field of protein synthesis. The research from our lab was represented with four posters and two talks.
March 26, 2025
A new paper in collaboration with the groups of Gerard Wright (McMaster University) and Yury Polikanov (UIC) is published today in Nature! Lariocidin, the first lasso peptide targeting bacterial translation and a promising new lead for antibiotic development, is in the news today. Congratulation to all authors!
Original publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08723-7
Nature News and Views; Nature News; Nature Review Microbiology Research Highlight; UIC Today Article; Nature Podcast;
March 11, 2025
We are happy to welcome Mandisa (Mandy) Timba as a new PhD Candidate in the lab! Best of luck with your future projects.
October 16, 2024
Congrats to Weiping, Chaetana, and Alena with the new paper on apidaecin-like peptides diversity hidden in the insect genomes just published in EMBO Reports!
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44319-024-00277-5
September 9, 2024
Together with colleagues from Yury Polikanov’s Lab we have been presenting our research at the 2024 Translational control meeting at Cold Spring Harbour, NY, USA.
July 23, 2024
A new paper “Macrolones target bacterial ribosomes and DNA gyrase and can evade resistance mechanisms” is published in Nature Chemical Biology! Another great collaboration with the lab of Prof. Yury Polikanov at UIC. Congrats to Alena, Dorota, and Faezeh.
July 11, 2024
The researches from the lab took part in the Annual Day Camp for children organized by Chicago Park District. Together with scientist from Murphy lab Shura, Clemence, and Max performed the experiments in physics and chemistry with the future researches.
July 7, 2024
A new paper “Sequence diversity of apidaecin-like peptides arresting the terminating ribosome” is published in Nucleic Acids Research! Congratulations to Weiping and Chetana!
June 16, 2024
Lab volleyball season has just started at the North Beach!
April 3, 2024
Dr. Mankin presented the lab’s research at UIC Spark Talks. SparkTalks are UIC’s take on faculty lightning talks, and provide an opportunity for faculty, leaders, and others across campus to learn about the exciting activity happening in every corner of UIC.
March 5, 2024
Dorota again won in the “Best savory dish” category at CBS Potluck. Congratulations from the team! We are all looking forward to taste new masterpieces by the Chef!
February 15, 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Maxim Svetlov with a publication in Science! Joint effort of Myers (MIT) and Polikanov (UIC) labs on the antibiotic cresomycin.
https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.adk8013?af=R