Laboratory Happenings
Crutching
16 August 2008
The past two weeks have been interesting. Last
Tuesday I sprained my ankle badly playing basketball.
Today, nearly two weeks later, is the first day that
I can hobble around without an aircast. For the first
week after the injury, I was on crutches.
Unfortunately, the injury came two days before a trip
to New York (to visit IAVI) and Washington D.C. (to
visit NIAID). Navigating the Northeast on cructhes
isn’t very much fun.
But while I was gone, there was lots of activity in the lab. Ben Bimber’s manuscript on killer immunoglobulin receptors in macaques received a very favorable review. Chad Pendley departed the lab to start medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin, while Alex Blasky left to start a PhD program at the University of Colorado-Denver. Very soon, their replacements Ann Detmer and Jen Tuscher will arrive. Now we await the start of the academic year that will coincide with Shelby’s due date. Managing the responsibilities of lab with the responsibilities of parenthood promises to be interesting.
But while I was gone, there was lots of activity in the lab. Ben Bimber’s manuscript on killer immunoglobulin receptors in macaques received a very favorable review. Chad Pendley departed the lab to start medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin, while Alex Blasky left to start a PhD program at the University of Colorado-Denver. Very soon, their replacements Ann Detmer and Jen Tuscher will arrive. Now we await the start of the academic year that will coincide with Shelby’s due date. Managing the responsibilities of lab with the responsibilities of parenthood promises to be interesting.
Busy as a Bee
24 July 2008
In the last few years, I’ve discovered that
fewer and fewer hours at work are mine - most of the
time I’m either coming from a meeting or going
to a meeting. And when I’m not in meetings,
I’m being asked about my availability for yet
more meetings. It sometimes feels strange anything
gets accomplished at all. And while I need to attend
meetings, I’m trying to be a bit more saavy in
scheduling. To wit, notice the newest addition to my
toolbar, ‘Dave’s Schedule.’ This
handy link takes my calendars and puts them into an
HTML viewable form (without disclosing what I’m
actually doing). Hopefully this will simplify meeting
planning, if only a little.
In other news, at night we now face the age old struggle - work on our soon-to-be-due grants or watch DVDs of ‘How I Met Your Mother’. The last two nights, Doogie has won.
In other news, at night we now face the age old struggle - work on our soon-to-be-due grants or watch DVDs of ‘How I Met Your Mother’. The last two nights, Doogie has won.
Eritrea!
17 July 2008
A few people have asked about the countries where our
visitors have come from. Here is a map showing where
their geographic distribution:
We’ve even had a visitor from Eritrea! Soon the sun will never set on the O’Connor lab web empire.
In the last two weeks we submitted a manuscript for consideration by the Journal of Immunology. Hopefully the reviewers will like it. Even if they don’t, the lead author, Ben Bimber, probably won’t care too much since he is getting married this weekend! Congratulations Ben!
Shelby is still very pregnant, though both of us are scurrying to submit grants for the September 7 NIH deadline.
We are also starting to prepare for this fall’s offering of the UW-Madison undergrad class Pathology 210: HIV: Sex, Science, and Society that I am coordinating along with Dr. Tom Friedrich.
Lastly, we are preparing for this year’s nonhuman primate models for AIDS meeting in December. I am co-chairing the meeting with help from staff at both UW-Madison and the Carribbean Primate Research Center. Early response is incredibly positive. We are a month away from the abstract deadline and already we are running short of hotel rooms for the nights immediately before and after the meeting.
We’ve even had a visitor from Eritrea! Soon the sun will never set on the O’Connor lab web empire.
In the last two weeks we submitted a manuscript for consideration by the Journal of Immunology. Hopefully the reviewers will like it. Even if they don’t, the lead author, Ben Bimber, probably won’t care too much since he is getting married this weekend! Congratulations Ben!
Shelby is still very pregnant, though both of us are scurrying to submit grants for the September 7 NIH deadline.
We are also starting to prepare for this fall’s offering of the UW-Madison undergrad class Pathology 210: HIV: Sex, Science, and Society that I am coordinating along with Dr. Tom Friedrich.
Lastly, we are preparing for this year’s nonhuman primate models for AIDS meeting in December. I am co-chairing the meeting with help from staff at both UW-Madison and the Carribbean Primate Research Center. Early response is incredibly positive. We are a month away from the abstract deadline and already we are running short of hotel rooms for the nights immediately before and after the meeting.
We're Huge in Asia!
06 July 2008
We now have more than a month of tracking data from
Google Analytics. It is
amazing to me how far-flung some of our visitors
are. Our little lab web site has been visited by
people from places that I couldn’t point
to on a map (Carlisle, UK? Kuantan, Malaysia?
Really?).
I’m writing this at the tail end of the long Independence Day weekend. Though I frittered my Sunday away watching the Wimbledon finals, the lab has been positively hopping the last few weeks. With Alex Blasky and Chad Pendley weeks from starting grad school and med school, and their replacements already busy at work, we have never seemed like such a large lab before. Hopefully we haven’t reached our carrying capacity yet!
Let’s see...other news:
• Alex Blasky had his paper on reference-strand mediated conformational analysis accepted for publication at Immunogenetics
• Ben Burwitz passed his graduate school Prelim A with aplomb
• Ben Bimber is preparing a paper for submission to the Journal of Immunology while preparing for his upcoming nuptuals
• Shelby O’Connor is now 30 weeks pregnant and looking the part
• We are busily writing grants for the upcoming NIH AIDS grant deadline and bracing ourselves for this fall’s Pathology 210 class
That’s all for now. Big thanks to those of you taking the time to read about our lab from afar.
I’m writing this at the tail end of the long Independence Day weekend. Though I frittered my Sunday away watching the Wimbledon finals, the lab has been positively hopping the last few weeks. With Alex Blasky and Chad Pendley weeks from starting grad school and med school, and their replacements already busy at work, we have never seemed like such a large lab before. Hopefully we haven’t reached our carrying capacity yet!
Let’s see...other news:
• Alex Blasky had his paper on reference-strand mediated conformational analysis accepted for publication at Immunogenetics
• Ben Burwitz passed his graduate school Prelim A with aplomb
• Ben Bimber is preparing a paper for submission to the Journal of Immunology while preparing for his upcoming nuptuals
• Shelby O’Connor is now 30 weeks pregnant and looking the part
• We are busily writing grants for the upcoming NIH AIDS grant deadline and bracing ourselves for this fall’s Pathology 210 class
That’s all for now. Big thanks to those of you taking the time to read about our lab from afar.
My Complex
04 June 2008
I’ve spent the last week researching an
NIH R21/R33 grant I hope to
submit in early September. Concentrated
researching means shutting off email, closing
the door to my office, and trying to stay
focused on identifying and reading papers.
Terrific software like Bookends makes the process
much easier than it used to be, yet it is still
tough sledding. Occasionally I look for a
diversion. Yesterday I found one - setting up
Google Analytics to analyze
traffic to this web site after learning of two
people who discovered that Shelby and I are
expecting from reading this lab web page.
That just can’t be right, so I decided to investigate it (you see, I’m a scientist. That’s what I do. I investigate things). I thought that stats would show that no one visits the site except for wayward students and people from the lab. It turns out that I might have been wrong - while we certainly aren’t ESPN.com, we’ve logged more traffic than I expected. Which puts me under pressure to make sure that I keep this page updated. And worry that I’m going to say something wrong. Or accidentally divulge that Chicken McNuggets based HIV vaccine I’ve been working on.
In more germane news, congratulations to Alex Blasky, whose research paper describing a new type of genetic testing recived very positive reviews and will hopefully be published later this year. Alex, Julie Karl, and Justin Greene described their recent research at the UW-Madison Immunology Symposium last week. We also just migrated our lab’s entire information management system from a series of Mac Minis held together by a load-bearing series of firewire cables to a fancy new XServe. I’m excited because I can leverage the new technology to harass the staff twice as much in half the time. Progress!
That just can’t be right, so I decided to investigate it (you see, I’m a scientist. That’s what I do. I investigate things). I thought that stats would show that no one visits the site except for wayward students and people from the lab. It turns out that I might have been wrong - while we certainly aren’t ESPN.com, we’ve logged more traffic than I expected. Which puts me under pressure to make sure that I keep this page updated. And worry that I’m going to say something wrong. Or accidentally divulge that Chicken McNuggets based HIV vaccine I’ve been working on.
In more germane news, congratulations to Alex Blasky, whose research paper describing a new type of genetic testing recived very positive reviews and will hopefully be published later this year. Alex, Julie Karl, and Justin Greene described their recent research at the UW-Madison Immunology Symposium last week. We also just migrated our lab’s entire information management system from a series of Mac Minis held together by a load-bearing series of firewire cables to a fancy new XServe. I’m excited because I can leverage the new technology to harass the staff twice as much in half the time. Progress!
It's Memorial Day!
26 May 2008
It's been an exciting month in the O'Connor lab. In
addition my mounting excitement over being a new dad
(and Shelby's, of course, of being a new mom!), we
have begun planning for a fall semester where we will
be on maternity/paternity. Except for the Path 210
class we teach. And except for the NHP AIDS 2008
meeting that we are co-chairing. And except for all
the other exceptions that we haven't identified yet!
But really, we will be MIA for most of the fall (we
hope) as we welcome our newest family member to the
world.
Other exciting news:
-Justin Greene's paper on adoptive transfers in nonhuman primates was accepted at PLsS ONE.
-Chad Pendley and Ericka Becker's paper on MHC genetics of Indonesian cynomolgus macaques was accepted at Immunogenetics.
-Ben Bimber and Justin Greene have passed their Prelim B, while Ben Burwitz is gearing up to take his Prelim A at the end of May
-Dawn Dudley submitted a grant application for UW-Madison ICTR Pilot Project Funding
-Joe Mankowski from Johns Hopkins visited us for two days in early May, right before the weather got nice
-Simon Lank and Ann Detmer will be joining the lab as Associate Research Specialists in our Genetics Unit after graduation in May
And the Pirate Monkeys, a soccer team comprised mainly of players from our lab and David Watkins's lab, have started the spring season on a 4-0 tear.
Other exciting news:
-Justin Greene's paper on adoptive transfers in nonhuman primates was accepted at PLsS ONE.
-Chad Pendley and Ericka Becker's paper on MHC genetics of Indonesian cynomolgus macaques was accepted at Immunogenetics.
-Ben Bimber and Justin Greene have passed their Prelim B, while Ben Burwitz is gearing up to take his Prelim A at the end of May
-Dawn Dudley submitted a grant application for UW-Madison ICTR Pilot Project Funding
-Joe Mankowski from Johns Hopkins visited us for two days in early May, right before the weather got nice
-Simon Lank and Ann Detmer will be joining the lab as Associate Research Specialists in our Genetics Unit after graduation in May
And the Pirate Monkeys, a soccer team comprised mainly of players from our lab and David Watkins's lab, have started the spring season on a 4-0 tear.
Where in the World is the O'Connor Lab?
22 February 2008
As Madison creeps closer to 100 inches of total
snowfall this winter, members of the laboratory have
been abandoning the city in the name of science!
Shelby and I just returned from Sao Paulo, Brazil
where we spent a week with our collaborator Esper
Kallas. During our time in Brazil, we
met with research staff and taught Brazilian scientists
and clinicians about HIV pathogenesis and
genetics. Now that we are back, Julie Karl and
Ben Bimber have left to spend a week working
with computer programmers at Connexio in Perth, Australia.
Alex Blasky is also out of the lab right now as
he vies for graduate school admission.
Even with all the traveling, we have had a very good start to the year. We received NIH R01 funding for a project to study adoptive transfer of vaccine elicited immunity. The Wisconsin National Primate Research Center conducted an exciting site visit of its activities. And I recently received a UW-Madison Vilas Associate Award to support a study of HIV superinfection in collaboration with Dr. Kallas in Brazil. Now we can start to gear up for spring (if winter ever ends!).
Even with all the traveling, we have had a very good start to the year. We received NIH R01 funding for a project to study adoptive transfer of vaccine elicited immunity. The Wisconsin National Primate Research Center conducted an exciting site visit of its activities. And I recently received a UW-Madison Vilas Associate Award to support a study of HIV superinfection in collaboration with Dr. Kallas in Brazil. Now we can start to gear up for spring (if winter ever ends!).
Happy New Year!
02 January 2008
Happy New Year from your friends in the O'Connor
laboratory! Around this time of year we often receive
inquiries from prospective students considering
graduate study at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. Our laboratory is affiliated with
the Cellular and Molecular
Pathology program, the Cellular and Molecular
Biology program, and, most recently, the
Microbiology program.
Additionally, we train students in the Molecular Biosciences Training
Grant, regardless of their graduate program.
The last few months have been really exciting. Julie Karl's manuscript on Chinese rhesus macaque MHC genetics was published in the journal Immunogenetics. Two of our undergraduate researchers (Chad Pendley and Ericka Becker) are working with Shelby O'Connor to submit a manuscript describing Indonesian cynomolgus macaque MHC genetics. Justin Greene is submitting a third manuscript exploring adoptive transfer in macaques. 2008 is already shaping up as a busy year for publications.
It has also been a busy time for travel. Dave visited Washington D.C. twice and New York in November. Dave and Shelby took a much-needed vacation to Hawaii in December and will be traveling together to Sao Paulo, Brazil in February to lecture on HIV to Brazilian scientists.
Lastly we would like to welcome our newest undergraduate researcher, Kelly Sandman. In other personnel news, Chad Pendley has accepted a full-time position in our laboratory following his graduation in December. Additionally, undergraduate Kevin Campbell recently won a Mary Shine Peterson scholarship to support his continuing research in our laboratory. We are exceedingly proud of our undergraduate's high quality work, but will likely not be hiring any additional students (unless they are exceptionally well-qualified scholastically, GPA > 3.75) during the spring semester.
The last few months have been really exciting. Julie Karl's manuscript on Chinese rhesus macaque MHC genetics was published in the journal Immunogenetics. Two of our undergraduate researchers (Chad Pendley and Ericka Becker) are working with Shelby O'Connor to submit a manuscript describing Indonesian cynomolgus macaque MHC genetics. Justin Greene is submitting a third manuscript exploring adoptive transfer in macaques. 2008 is already shaping up as a busy year for publications.
It has also been a busy time for travel. Dave visited Washington D.C. twice and New York in November. Dave and Shelby took a much-needed vacation to Hawaii in December and will be traveling together to Sao Paulo, Brazil in February to lecture on HIV to Brazilian scientists.
Lastly we would like to welcome our newest undergraduate researcher, Kelly Sandman. In other personnel news, Chad Pendley has accepted a full-time position in our laboratory following his graduation in December. Additionally, undergraduate Kevin Campbell recently won a Mary Shine Peterson scholarship to support his continuing research in our laboratory. We are exceedingly proud of our undergraduate's high quality work, but will likely not be hiring any additional students (unless they are exceptionally well-qualified scholastically, GPA > 3.75) during the spring semester.
Free Fallin'
31 October 2007
A chill is in the air and the days are getting
shorter in Madison. But there is no shortage of work
in the lab. Alex Blasky and Justin Greene are
preparing manuscripts for submission while Shelby and
I just finished hosting Dr. Denis Nansera, a
pediatrician from Uganda, and Dr. Esper Kallas, a
clinician/researcher from Sao Paulo, Brazil. A crazy
and hectic week!
Earlier this month I gave a seminar to transplantation researchers in Washington D.C., a city I will be visiting twice more by the end of November. October was also a busy month for teaching. Shelby and I lectured extensively in Pathology 210, HIV: Sex, Science, and Society and Pathology 803.
The lab is happy to welcome our newest member, Dr. Dawn Dudley, who joins us after getting her PhD in Dr. Eric Arts's laboratory at Case Western Reserve University.
dave
Earlier this month I gave a seminar to transplantation researchers in Washington D.C., a city I will be visiting twice more by the end of November. October was also a busy month for teaching. Shelby and I lectured extensively in Pathology 210, HIV: Sex, Science, and Society and Pathology 803.
The lab is happy to welcome our newest member, Dr. Dawn Dudley, who joins us after getting her PhD in Dr. Eric Arts's laboratory at Case Western Reserve University.
dave
Off the Road Again
18 September 2007
Shelby and I submitted 2 NIH R01 applications in the week after we returned from Montana. Now we keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!
Congratulations to Justin Greene who submitted a manuscript in August and also completed his Pathology Department Preliminary Written exam. Julie Karl also submitted a manuscript last month. Hopefully the next website update will reflect the positive peer review of these papers!
Chaotic
07 August 2007
I am writing this from the LaGuardia airline terminal
in New York. When many flights are delayed - as they
are now - the already small gate areas can begin
feeling entirely claustrophobic. Combine with two
parts screaming babies and a good time is has by all.
I am in New York to meet with our friends at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. They provided support for our pilot research into nonhuman primate adoptive transfer experiments and I visited today to give a status update on this project. If all goes well, we will continue our relationship with IAVI into the future.
Last week I also visited with HIV treaters at the Medical College of Wisconsin. If our subsequent interactions are as positive as the ones we had last week, Milwaukee and Madison HIV treaters and researchers may be working together very soon.
In other late breaking lab news, I'm pleased to announce that Dr. Dawn Moore-Dudley, formerly of Dr. Eric Arts' laboratory at Case Western Reserve, will be joining our team in October. Welcome Dawn!
I am in New York to meet with our friends at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. They provided support for our pilot research into nonhuman primate adoptive transfer experiments and I visited today to give a status update on this project. If all goes well, we will continue our relationship with IAVI into the future.
Last week I also visited with HIV treaters at the Medical College of Wisconsin. If our subsequent interactions are as positive as the ones we had last week, Milwaukee and Madison HIV treaters and researchers may be working together very soon.
In other late breaking lab news, I'm pleased to announce that Dr. Dawn Moore-Dudley, formerly of Dr. Eric Arts' laboratory at Case Western Reserve, will be joining our team in October. Welcome Dawn!
Chaotic
01 August 2007
I am writing this from the LaGuardia airline terminal
in New York. When many flights are delayed - as they
are now - the already small gate areas can begin
feeling entirely claustrophobic. Combine with two
parts screaming babies and a good time is has by all.
I am in New York to meet with our friends at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. They provided support for our pilot research into nonhuman primate adoptive transfer experiments and I visited today to give a status update on this project. If all goes well, we will continue our relationship with IAVI into the future.
Last week I also visited with HIV treaters at the Medical College of Wisconsin. If our subsequent interactions are as positive as the ones we had last week, Milwaukee and Madison HIV treaters and researchers may be working together very soon.
In other late breaking lab news, I'm pleased to announce that Dr. Dawn Moore-Dudley, formerly of Dr. Eric Arts' laboratory at Case Western Reserve, will be joining our team in October. Welcome Dawn!
I am in New York to meet with our friends at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. They provided support for our pilot research into nonhuman primate adoptive transfer experiments and I visited today to give a status update on this project. If all goes well, we will continue our relationship with IAVI into the future.
Last week I also visited with HIV treaters at the Medical College of Wisconsin. If our subsequent interactions are as positive as the ones we had last week, Milwaukee and Madison HIV treaters and researchers may be working together very soon.
In other late breaking lab news, I'm pleased to announce that Dr. Dawn Moore-Dudley, formerly of Dr. Eric Arts' laboratory at Case Western Reserve, will be joining our team in October. Welcome Dawn!
Returned
06 June 2007
We're back in Madison after a week of whirlwind
traveling to Florida and Brazil. With classes done,
the lab is busier than ever with graduate students
and undergrads spending entire days in lab. Hopefully
it will be a productive summer!
Congratulations to O'Connor lab alumnus (Sr. Vice President in Charge of Awesomeness) Kendall Krebs -- he tied the knot last weekend and is moving to Cleveland with Christi to work with Dr. Eric Arts.
In a highly anticipated matchup, the original lab soccer team, Incompetent United (with the Drs. O'Connor, Ben Burwitz, and Chad Pendley), solidly thrashed the motley upstart lab team the Long-Term Non-Progressors (which includes Alex Blasky, Justin Greene, and Ericka Becker) 3-1. Rumor has it that the LTNP were so distraught that they disbanded their team for the summer.
A few other developments to pass along:
- Undergraduate Chad Pendley won a prestigious Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowship for his studies on Indonesian cynomolgus macaque MHC genetics
- 1st year PhD student Ben Bimber was selected to give an oral presentation at the University of Wisconsin Immunology Symposium
- Assistant Scientist Roger Wiseman participated in an NIH think tank on nonhuman primate genetics in late May
- The website for the Knowledge Vaccine Project can now be accessed
- I was just named the Wisconsin Primate Research Center's interim Associate Director for Research Services in addition to my responsibilities as head of the Primate Center's Genetics Service.
- Shelby and I also started a new project with our friends and co-geeks Angie Mabb and Scott Svendsen to simplify supplies purchasing for academic labs. For more details, visit http://www.lab-hound.com.
Congratulations to O'Connor lab alumnus (Sr. Vice President in Charge of Awesomeness) Kendall Krebs -- he tied the knot last weekend and is moving to Cleveland with Christi to work with Dr. Eric Arts.
In a highly anticipated matchup, the original lab soccer team, Incompetent United (with the Drs. O'Connor, Ben Burwitz, and Chad Pendley), solidly thrashed the motley upstart lab team the Long-Term Non-Progressors (which includes Alex Blasky, Justin Greene, and Ericka Becker) 3-1. Rumor has it that the LTNP were so distraught that they disbanded their team for the summer.
A few other developments to pass along:
- Undergraduate Chad Pendley won a prestigious Hilldale Undergraduate Research Fellowship for his studies on Indonesian cynomolgus macaque MHC genetics
- 1st year PhD student Ben Bimber was selected to give an oral presentation at the University of Wisconsin Immunology Symposium
- Assistant Scientist Roger Wiseman participated in an NIH think tank on nonhuman primate genetics in late May
- The website for the Knowledge Vaccine Project can now be accessed
- I was just named the Wisconsin Primate Research Center's interim Associate Director for Research Services in addition to my responsibilities as head of the Primate Center's Genetics Service.
- Shelby and I also started a new project with our friends and co-geeks Angie Mabb and Scott Svendsen to simplify supplies purchasing for academic labs. For more details, visit http://www.lab-hound.com.
Grants
02 May 2007
New research proposals have been the story of the
last few months. We submitted an expanded proposal to
the International AIDS Vaccine
Initiative, revised a proposal for the
MERC New Investigator award
program, and submitted our lab's first NIH R01
grant application. This summer will see us
writing at least two more grants, an NIH R13
travel grant for the 26th Symposium for Nonhuman
Primate Models for AIDS (I am the Scientific
Chair!) and revision of a program grant.
Needless to say, it has been busy!
In a way, the next few weeks will be more relaxing. I am preparing a talk for the American Association of Immunologists meeting in Miami and a visit to our collaborator Esper Kallas in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In a way, the next few weeks will be more relaxing. I am preparing a talk for the American Association of Immunologists meeting in Miami and a visit to our collaborator Esper Kallas in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Thawing
20 February 2007
The temperature in Madison has finally climbed out of
the teens, though we still may see more snow before
the end of winter (note added 2/23 - we're supposed
to get over a foot of snow this weekend!). The last
few months in the lab have been very productive.
Roger Wiseman submitted a review article and Shelby
O'Connor recently resubmitted a manuscript on
Mauritian cynomolgus macaque MHC class II genetics.
The two Bens, Bimber and Burwitz, recently joined the
lab as graduate students, willingly submitting
themselves to several years of working around here.
We also hired a new undergraduate researcher, Ann
Detmer, bringing our total number of undergrads to
four. I am also happy to report that Jason
Wojcechowskyj, one of our former technicians, paused
his tour of the world long enough to get accepted
into graduate school at the University of
Pennsylvania. Congratulations Jason!
Growing
24 December 2006
Welcome to the O'Connor lab website. We enjoyed a
very successful end to 2006. Two papers from our lab
were published back-to-back in the Journal of
Virology, Roger Wiseman is finalizing a review
article for Transplantation Reviews, and Shelby
O'Connor is preparing a paper for submission to
Immunogenetics. Meanwhile, other members of the lab
are pursuing projects including the adoptive transfer
of immunity between SIV-infected monkeys, improving
tools for studying macaque genetics, and conducting
pilot experiments with Affymetrix GeneChips. Three
rotating graduate students helped with these projects
during the fall semester and at least one of these
students will be joining our laboratory in the
spring. We look forward to a productive and exciting
2007.
Publishing
18 October 2006
Welcome to the O'Connor lab website. The last few
weeks have been very good to our lab. The Journal of
VIrology accepted two manuscripts detailing the
relationship between monkey genetics and SIV
infection. Roger Wiseman described some of these
results at the Nonhuman Primate Models for AIDS
meeting in Atlanta, GA. Shelby and Dave also
attended. All three even had a chance to do some
sightseeing at the Georgia Aquarium and CNN center.
The lab also obtained its first HIV research sample
from a volunteer in Madison. Dave is busy reviewing
grants, teaching classes, and generally making a
nuisance of himself.
Freedom
22 September 2006
After several months, I am finally able to edit this
webpage from my laptop! With my newfound freedom, I
will...um...I guess I don't have much to say right
now. We currently have two papers under consideration
by the Journal of Virology and are keeping our
fingers crossed. As for me, a return trip from New
York last week took nearly 12 hours, giving me and my
trusty ipod plenty of time to contemplate the larger
issues confronting the world, such as 'when and where
did kool recruit his gang?' and 'have I always been
blind to the quality of early Phil Collins records?'.
Transitions
20 August 2006
The summer is coming to an end, and with it comes the
annual immigration and emigration of lab personnel.
This month we say goodbye to Tobi Gopon and Jason
Wojcechowskyj who will be spending the next year
overseas. We hope to welcome two to three new lab
personnel this fall, including at least one graduate
student. If you are a CMB, CMP, or MBTG graduate student interested
in my lab, please take a moment to read my
graduate student philosophy and
consider whether my lab might be a good fit for
you.
This has been a terrific summer for research productivity. We prepared two manuscripts for consideration by the Journal of Virology and received approval to conduct HIV research in conjunction with UW-Hospitals and Clinics. Researchers in the lab successfully developed new assays for virus sequencing and genetic testing. We purchased animals for an exciting new vaccine research project and began working with outside labs to help characterize the genetics of their research animals. Hopefully we can continue this momentum into the fall and winter.
This has been a terrific summer for research productivity. We prepared two manuscripts for consideration by the Journal of Virology and received approval to conduct HIV research in conjunction with UW-Hospitals and Clinics. Researchers in the lab successfully developed new assays for virus sequencing and genetic testing. We purchased animals for an exciting new vaccine research project and began working with outside labs to help characterize the genetics of their research animals. Hopefully we can continue this momentum into the fall and winter.
Redesign
19 June 2006
Wow, it's been several months since the last web page
update. The lab has grown dramatically in the last
few months. We received a new NIH award to study SIV
pathogenesis in genetically defined monkeys and are
currently waiting to hear about another manuscript
under submission. The lab now has six full-time
members and two undergraduates, plus me. We plan on
accepting rotating graduate students from the both
the CMB and Pathology graduate programs this fall, so
if you are reading this and considering labs, please
look at my graduate student philosophy.
Anniversaries
14 February 2006
It was one year ago this week that Kendall Krebs and
I first set foot in my new lab. Our first experiment
came about 10 days later, on 2/25/05. Since then, we
have grown dramatically -- what started as just the
two of us is now me, a lab manager, a PhD student,
three technicians, and an undergraduate researcher
(even though the website doesn't reflect this reality
yet). Our ambitions and goals scaled with our size,
we are now characterizing the genetics of different
macaque populations, undertaking SIV pathogenesis
trials in macaques, initiating HIV research in
conjunction with UW-Madison clinicians, and toying
with the idea of becoming more involved with HIV
preexpoosure prophylaxis research. Phew. Quite a
year. On another note, I'd like to welcome any
prospective CMB or CMP graduate students who are
browsing my website. Madison is a terrific city and
the UW-Madison is an outstanding institution for
advanced study.
Bustling
16 November 2005
It has been two months since our last update. The lab
has been exceptionally busy. Tobi Gopon joined our
group in mid-October and we have hosted two rotating
graduate students from the UW-Madison Department of
Pathology. In terms of progress, our first grant, an
NIH R24, was awarded late in September. Our lab's
first paper was published in the Journal of
Immunology. Yesterday, I submitted an invited review
article to the new journal Future Virology. I taught
several classes throughout October and culminated the
month by serving on an NIH study section in
Washington DC.
We have also been conducting our first SIV infection trial with Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques. As of now, we are six weeks into the infection and learning new things each and every day.
We have also been conducting our first SIV infection trial with Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques. As of now, we are six weeks into the infection and learning new things each and every day.
Repopulation
19 September 2005
Since returning from Brazil, the lab has been a
hotbed of chaotic activity. Kendall departed to take
a job in Chicago, Ben started chiropractor school,
Justin began graduate school, and Jason returned to
his undergraduate studies. A new crop of talented and
capable researchers have been hired to take their
place. Nathan Vakharia and Roger Wiseman are already
contributing to the productivity of the lab. An eager
set of rotating graduate students are circulating
through the lab this fall, and we may take one if the
fit is right.
We've also received good news on several research fronts. Our Journal of Immunology manuscript on Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques is now in press, while our first studies using these animals are slated to begin in early October. I've been furiously writing grants to help subsidize these preliminary experiments!
We've also received good news on several research fronts. Our Journal of Immunology manuscript on Mauritian Cynomolgus macaques is now in press, while our first studies using these animals are slated to begin in early October. I've been furiously writing grants to help subsidize these preliminary experiments!
Harried
01 July 2005
Another month in the O'Connor lab is in the books. We
expanded to 4.25 members this month, held our first
lab meetings, submitted two grant proposals and one
revised manuscript, purchased our first Mauritian
Cynomolgus macaques, and participated in educational
outreach programs with South Africa.
The pace should relax a little during July. I am participating in the 3rd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Brazil. After the meeting, my wife and I are spending 10 days on the island of Fernando de Noronha.
In other exciting lab news, Kendall Krebs will be leaving us in August when he moves to Chicago. He is going to continue HIV/AIDS research in the lab of our collaborator, Steven Wolinsky.
The pace should relax a little during July. I am participating in the 3rd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Brazil. After the meeting, my wife and I are spending 10 days on the island of Fernando de Noronha.
In other exciting lab news, Kendall Krebs will be leaving us in August when he moves to Chicago. He is going to continue HIV/AIDS research in the lab of our collaborator, Steven Wolinsky.
Work Opportunities
31 May 2005
A section on work opportunities within the lab is now
available. In addition to describing the types of
employment within the lab, the page describes the lab
philosophy and our expectations for its workers.
Submitted
08 April 2005
Our lab submitted its first manuscript for
peer-review today. While we have been involved in
many publications, this is the first one led by Dr.
O'Connor. Now we'll keep our fingers crossed and wait
the 4-?? weeks until it is peer-reviewed (or returned
to us without review right away!).
Welcome
02 April 2005
Welcome to the inaugural website of David O'Connor's
laboratory. We are members of the Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Our laboratory plans on studying the pathogenetics of AIDS infection, though right now we are preoccupied with equipping the laboratory and making it functional.
We recently presented results at the 2005 Seattle International Conference on Primate Genomics. A pdf of our presentation is now available.
Our laboratory plans on studying the pathogenetics of AIDS infection, though right now we are preoccupied with equipping the laboratory and making it functional.
We recently presented results at the 2005 Seattle International Conference on Primate Genomics. A pdf of our presentation is now available.
