Shirin Bahmanyar, Ph.D.

Dr. Bahmanyar received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and her Ph.D. from Stanford University.  She was a post-doctoral fellow with Karen Oegema at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UC San Diego where she recognized the advantages of the early C. elegans embryo as a model system to dissect nuclear envelope dynamics.  Her work in C. elegans elucidated an important new principle involved in specifying the nuclear envelope domain of the endoplasmic reticulum. Building on this initial work, her lab at Yale focuses on the cell biological mechanisms that establish and maintain the nuclear compartment.

Research:
Our lab studies organelle structure and dynamics. In particular, we aim to understand how the nucleus establishes and maintains its unique structure during dynamic cellular processes such as cell division and embryonic development. We focus on the nuclear envelope, a specialized membrane that surrounds and protects the genome.  Genes that encode nuclear envelope associated proteins are often found mutated in human genetic disorders called envelopathies. To dissect the critical role of the nuclear envelope and nuclear envelope associated proteins in nuclear dynamics we use high-resolution quantitative fluorescence time-lapse microscopy and genetic tools available in C. elegans and mammalian cells.

Administrative Support: Susan Brady