Professor Dr. Margot Quinlan

Biography

Margot E. Quinlan obtained her B.A. from Reed College in 1991 and spent years in Germany conducting research at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg. She attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked under Yale Goldman and earned her Ph.D. in 2002. Following her doctorate, she served as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dyche Mullins at UCSF until 2008 when she joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. Her research interests encompass Molecular Mechanism, Cell Biology, Regulation, and Mammalian Disease, utilizing biochemistry and microscopy in genetic approaches to study the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. Currently, she is focusing on the roles of Spir and Cappuccino proteins in building the actin network that is essential for early body axis development in Drosophila. The Quinlan lab aims to answer questions concerning the collaborative mechanisms of Spir and Capu, the role of the Spir-Capu complex in Drosophila oogenesis, the regulation of this complex, and its implications in mammalian disease and cell polarity.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards