We are sorry to share the sad news that Dr. Achilles “Oggie” Pappano, Professor Emeritus at UConn Health, passed away on December 31, 2024.

Dr. Pappano received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, and after a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, joined the University of Connecticut faculty in the Department of Pharmacology in 1968 when he joined the inaugural faculty at the newly established UConn School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Graduate Medical Education, where he built his own research lab and taught thousands of students for 44 years.  He moved to the Department of Cell Biology in 2007 and retired in 2009 but continued on for several years teaching medical students as a re-employeed retiree.

He is internationally recognized for his discoveries about autonomic regulation of pacemaker activity and excitation-contraction in the heart. He is also recognized for his exceptional contributions to medical student education.

During his tenure at UConn Health, he received the distinguished National Institutes of Health (NIH) Career Development Award for Young Scientists/MERIT. He served on the National Board of Medical Examiners and on study sections of the NIH. Dr. Pappano received the Charles Loeser Award for outstanding teaching in the basic science curriculum from the University of Connecticut Health Center and the Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching at the graduate level from the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Pappano is survived by his wife Mary Ann, their 4 children, 5 grandchildren, as well as his many friends at UConn Health. We will miss him.

His obituary can be found here.

Cell Biology students Brenna McAllister, Hayden DiMaio (both of the Caromile lab) and Iris Nakashima (Jaffe and Egbert lab) presented posters at the 2024 meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

October 1, 2024. Cell Biology & Vascular Biology Retreat at the Hill-Stead Museum. We had a great turnout with 87 people in attendance. Everyone enjoyed the day and found it to be an enriching experience, possibly creating new connections for future collaborations. Special thanks to our keynote speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Chen (UT, Southwestern).

Sarvenaz Sarabipour joined CCAM and the Cell Biology Department as an assistant professor.  Her research in computational systems biology focuses on developing experimental and computational methods to study mechanisms of signal transduction in cells and tissues. She is also active in initiatives to improve  research  culture.

Trafficking dynamics in human endothelial cells.

March 2024. Abhijit Deb Roy
Abhijit Del Roy joined CCAM and the Cell Biology Department as an assistant professor. His research concerns molecular signaling pathways and cytoskeletal dynamics involved in mechanobiology and cell migration. Directional cell migration plays critical roles during physiological processes such as development, angiogenesis and immune response, whereas dysregulation of cell migration is observed in pathologies such as cancer metastasis and atherosclerosis.

HeLa cells immunostained for alpha-Tubulin (gray), acetylated alpha-Tubulin (orange) and DNA (blue).

Congratulations to Mayu Inaba and her lab on their publication in Nature Communications!

Ridwan, Twillie, Poursaeid, Beard, Bener, Antel, Cowan , Matsuda , and Inaba 

Diffusible fraction of niche BMP ligand safeguards stem-cell differentiation

Nature Communications (2024) 15, 116.

Congratulations to cell biology department members Margaret Vos and Rebecca Page on their contributions to a publication in Nature!

Padi, Vos, Godik, Fuller, Kruse, Hein, Nilsson, Kelker, Page, and Peti.

Cryo-EM structures of PP2A:B55-FAM122A and PP2A:B55-ARPP19.

Nature (2024) 625:195.

Congratulations to associate professor Mark Teraski, now a fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology! Dr. Terasaki is among a cohort of 19 new fellows elected by their peers. They will be formally recognized at the ASCB’s joint meeting with the European Molecular Biology Organization, in December in Boston.