Michele Jacob, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience, Graduate Programs in Neuroscience, Cell Molecular & Developmental Biology, and Physiology, Sackler Mentor Award, 2007

Dr. Michele Jacob obtained her PhD at Yale University where she received training in neuroscience and cell biology. She completed two postdoctoral training positions: one at Columbia University School of Medicine, where her studies identified the source of the precursor cells that give rise to the central nervous system of the invertebrate Aplysia, and the second at the University of California, San Diego, where she investigated synapse formation in vertebrate neurons. She then joined the faculty at the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (Shrewsbury, MA) and in 1997, moved to Tufts Medical School. Her research is defining the molecular mechanisms that direct the assembly of nicotinic synapses during development and regeneration.

Dr. Jacob is a member of three Sackler Graduate Programs, Neuroscience, Cell Molecular & Developmental Biology, and Cellular & Molecular Physiology. She is Co-Director of the Tufts/NEMC Imaging Facility. She serves as Graduate Student Adviser in Neuroscience and the Integrated Studies Program (ISP). She teaches in several neuroscience, cell biology and medical school courses. She initiated the Neuroscience Evening Seminar series, a monthly interactive discussion oriented seminar given by the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. All Neuroscience Program members attend and provide lively discussion and valuable feedback to the trainees on their research projects as well as presentation skills. Dr. Jacob is also Director of the Developmental Neuroscience course and arranges the participation of leading experts in the field from Tufts, Harvard and Children’s Hospital. She has trained numerous undergraduate, graduate and MD/PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows. She enjoys interactions with students and postdocs and readily engages in brainstorming sessions on their research projects and future career plans.

John Castellot, Ph.D, Professor of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Graduate Programs in Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology and Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Sackler Mentor Award, 2006

John Castellot came to Tufts Medical School and the Sackler School in 1988.  He obtained his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and completed postdoctoral training at the same institution.  He joined Tufts after a period as Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard.  His research focuses on translational approaches that link the pathogenesis of smooth muscle cell-based diseases to potential therapies.  These conditions include restenosis following vascular surgery, uterine fibroids, and asthma.

Participation in Sackler-based activities has always been a major focus of John’s activities.  Upon arriving at Sackler, his first task was to help re-vitalize the Ph.D. Program in Anatomy and Cell Biology, now known as Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology (CMDB).  John has a long-standing commitment to teaching and mentoring, and one of his major reasons for coming to Tufts was the opportunity to continue a vigorous research program in an environment where faculty-student interactions and teaching was highly valued.  In 1998, he became the CMDB Program Director and in 2003 played a key role in the genesis of the Integrated Studies Program, which now encompasses four of the eight basic science graduate programs as Sackler.

Ananda Roy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pathology, Graduate Programs in Genetics (Director) and Immunology, Sackler Mentor Award, 2005

Ananda Roy completed his undergraduate studies in his native India, where he focused on Chemistry.  He came to the United States for his graduate work at the University of Nebraska and turned his attention to biochemistry so that he would learn to work on biological problems.  He completed postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University, and then joined the faculty of Tufts Medical School in 1993.  He continues to focus his research on an intriguing question:  how does the cell sense extrinsic biological signals and control a series of chemical reactions within the cell to switch gene expression.

In addition to his active research program, Dr. Roy is a member of the Immunology Graduate Program and serves as Director of the Genetics Program, a position he assumed in 2005.  Dr. Roy has trained numerous pre-doctoral students from both graduate programs and also trained a number of postdoctoral fellows and presently serves as the faculty liaison to the Graduate Student Council.  He comments that he enjoys teaching and training students—both in the classroom and in his research laboratory. “Not only do I take immense pleasure in teaching students, I am always amazed at how much I learn from them!”

F. Rob Jackson, Ph.D., Professor and Interim Chair, Neuroscience, Graduate Programs in Genetics and Neuroscience, Sackler Mentor Award, 2004

Dr. F. Rob Jackson was a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received training in classical genetics and neuroscience. He completed postdoctoral training at Einstein College of Medicine and the Rockefeller University. As a student and a postdoctoral fellow, he pursued studies of the nervous system and behavior using the fruit fly Drosophila as a model system. As a faculty member at the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (Shrewsbury, MA) and Tufts University School of Medicine, his research has continued to be focused on neurogenetic studies with an emphasis on cellular and molecular analyses of biological (circadian) rhythms. Research in his lab has been supported by a prestigious award from the McKnight Foundation (McKnight Scholars Award), the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Professor Jackson moved to the Tufts Department of Neuroscience in 1997, where he is faculty in the Sackler Graduate Programs in Neuroscience and Genetics. He has served as Course Director of Neuroscience 201, a graduate level course in cell and molecular neuroscience, for the past seven years. He initiated ‘FlyClub’ at Tufts University, a monthly group lab meeting during the academic year that brings together investigators from Tufts University, Tufts-NEMC and Harvard Children’s Hospital to discuss biological and biomedical research in the model genetic organism Drosophila. He currently serves as Interim Chair of Neuroscience at Tufts Medical School, is the local chapter representative for the National Society for Neuroscience (SfN), Director of the Tufts/NEMC Imaging Facility and Director of the Tufts Center for Neuroscience Research.  He has trained numerous students and postdoctoral fellows.