Cell Cycle Control team at The Institute of Clinical Sciences and MRC-LMS, Imperial College London
The lab got together to celebrate 5 years since the start of the Cell Cycle Control lab. This happily coincided with welcoming two new Postdocs (Luc Alban and Rosa) and two new students (Lucy and Alasdair) to the team. We celebrated by racing around central london on a treasure hunt and then the annual lab party with friends from LMS.
We have two three-year MRC-funded Postdoc positions open in the lab. If you’re interested in what we do, take a look at these adverts and apply! Any questions, email Alexis.
Jake, Kyle and Alexis (Toby couldn’t make it in the end :( )
We managed to get 3 of the 4 authors together to celebrate Jake’s paper. It was lovely to see Jake and Kyle after so long since they’ve moved on from LMS to pastures new so it was a great reason to catch up!
Are you desperate to understand how the cell cycle works? How cells can control whether they proliferate or not? And how cancer cells hijack these pathways for their own benefit? Do you want to answer all these questions in a fun, supportive team, in a vibrant research institute with superb core facilities? Then apply for a PhD with us!
https://lms.mrc.ac.uk/study-here/phd-studentships/lms-3-5yr-studentships/
We were lucky to snatch the last of the sunshine to be able to celebrate our two year lab anniversary outdoors. It’s not been the easiest second year but we’re remaining enthusiastic and optimistic!
From L-R: Alexis, Fern, Rozi, Steve, Lucas and Beth
We finally got everyone together to celebrate Christmas (well the New Year). We persuaded Lucas to try proper fish and chips (although not sure pairing with red wine is the traditional way to eat them) and Keke had her first ever hot pudding. Lovely evening!
We had a lot to celebrate this week with the lab turning one year old and our first MRes student, Alex, completing his project. Alex has set a high standard for future students and is off to start his PhD at the MRC-LMCB. To celebrate, we did an escape room at ClueQuest which was blooming fantastic. Everyone did a cracking job working together to solve the puzzle. Here’s to many more happy years for the team!
It may have nearly finished him off but Steve completed the London to Brighton 100km this weekend and raised over £1400 for Cancer Research UK. If you haven’t sponsored him yet and want to help ease his pain, consider donating here. Well done Steve! We’re very proud of you!
We have a three year MRC-funded Postdoc position available. So if you’re interested in cell cycle, quiescence, imaging, modelling and want to work in an exciting and dynamic new lab - take a look here. We look forward to hearing from you!
Steve our wonderful lab manager and research assistant is to take part in the 100km London to Brighton challenge in May to raise money for Cancer Research UK. He’s already training hard AND has given up booze for January so definitely deserves your support. Donate what you can here to keep him going through the pain!
We were super excited to receive our new microscope this week - an early Christmas present for the lab. Now we can start the new year with oodles of imaging experiments. It’s incredible how such a microscope can accelerate the research we are able to do. Here’s to a fabulous 2019!
Alexis was asked to write a piece for Imperial Medicine on how she manages her work/life balance. You can read her views here.
Alexis and three friends took part in the Shine 2018 night-time marathon walk to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Two of us had taken part in a similar event in Manchester 9 years ago but had clearly forgotten how painful it was and signed up again this year. It was a gruelling event but made bearable by the knowledge that we were raising funds for a great cause, excellent company and London looking wonderful at night. We were all relieved to finish and very happy that we raised over £1000 for CRUK. If you’re feeling generous - you can still sponsor us here.
Towards the end of her time in Chris Bakal’s lab, Alexis had the opportunity to take part in filming for Stand Up To Cancer. Alexis had a great morning being treated like a celebrity and the finished product has just been launched as part of the “It’s Payback Time” campaign. See the final result here! There is also a photo of Alexis looking really angry here.
As of 3rd September the Barr lab is live at Imperial. It's been a week of orientation and meeting new colleagues and full of excitement of things to come.
If you are excited about our research and want to join our team, we have CRUK-funded Postdoc and Technician posts available. Apply now!
Alexis will be heading to the Salk Cell Cycle Meeting next week to present her work with Pau Creixell (Yaffe lab, MIT) on the role of priming in Abl kinase regulation of cell cycle substrates. Alexis' attendance at the meeting was made possible by the generous support of the BSCB and Company of Biologists. If you're there - come and say hello!
Alexis was recently interviewed by @Emma_Pewsey for eLife and their Scientist and Parent series on how she balances a scientific career with being a parent. Read the full article here.
The new Cell Cycle Control team run by Alexis Barr will start at the Institute of Clinical Sciences at Imperial College London in September 2018! Watch this space!
