Sofia Marie Possidento
Ph.D. Biomedical Science Student
Phone: 860-679-4204
Email: possidento@uchc.edu
I am a second year biomedical science PhD student in the Dodge-Kafka lab. I graduated with a B.S. in biomedical science from Quinnipiac University, where I minored in microbiology and immunology. I also have a M.S. in biomedical science from Quinnipiac, where I did my Master’s thesis on the role of MYC and YDJC in breast cancer progression. Here in the Dodge-Kafka Lab, I study perinuclear ryanodine receptor mediated calcium release around the scaffold protein mAKAP. In our lab, I use novel peptides localized to mAKAP with various microscopy techniques to investigate the source of calcium that drives calcium mediated gene transcription to uncover the molecular mechanism behind cardiac hypertrophy.
Moira Renee Agcaoili
Undergraduate Student
Phone: 860-679-4204
Email: moira_renee.agcaoili@uconn.edu
I am an undergraduate student researcher currently pursuing a B.S. in Physiology and Neurobiology with a French minor. I joined the Dodge-Kafka lab in my senior year of high school and worked on an independent project through which I received my first hands-on experience in a research lab setting. During my time at UConn, I also worked as a lab technician and developed my technical skills in different staining protocols and fluorescent microscopy. As part of my ongoing UConn Honors thesis, I currently use various beta blockers and mAKAP-specific reagents to understand the mechanism in which nuclear beta-adrenergic receptors mediate cardiomyocyte apoptosis via the mAKAP scaffold protein.
Moriah Turcotte
Post Doctoral Fellow
Phone: 860-679-1362
Email: mturcotte@uchc.edu
As a University Post Doctoral Fellow in the Dodge-Kafka Lab, my main project concerns the role of perinuclear beta-adrenergic receptors in cardiac hypertrophy. I received my Ph.D. in 2021 at UConn Health where I began this project, and also published on mAKAP regulated perinuclear calcium transients required for cardiac hypertrophy. I received my BS in Biology with Honors from the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. I joined the Dodge-Kafka Lab in 2013 for my senior undergrad capstone project, which concerned mAKAP-dependent PKA activity and led to a lab technician position. My practical expertise lies in live-cell imaging and FRET technology, as well as cardiomyocyte isolation and culture.