National Postdoc Appreciation Week Schnitzler Lab Postdoc Spotlight

National Postdoc Appreciation Week Schnitzler Lab Postdoc Spotlight

Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Please join us in celebrating Whitney Laboratory Postdocs and the contributions they make to the lab, U.S. research and discovery! Today we spotlight postdocs in the Schnitzler Lab.

GONZALO QUIROGA ARTIGAS, PH.D.

Gonzalo joined the Schnitzler Lab in 2018. Gonzalo is a developmental biologist whose main research interest is animal regeneration and its evolution. He has worked with different invertebrate organisms throughout his scientific career, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the hydrozoan cnidarian Clytia hemisphaerica. Prior to coming to Whitney, his research focused on a wide range of topics, from the behavior of tumor cells to the molecular and cellular intermediates mediating light-induced spawning in jellyfish. Dr. Quiroga Artigas received his BSc and MSc from University of Barcelona, Spain. It was in the Université Pierre Marie Curie in France that he received his PhD in Developmental Biology under the supervision of Dr. Evelyn Houliston. His main research focus in the Schnitzler lab has been on stem cells and regeneration in the hydrozoan Hydractinia as well as developing new techniques for studying gene function in this animal.

LEXI DUSCHER, PH.D.

Lexi joined the Schnitzler Lab in 2019 where she is working to expand her molecular and microscopy skills using the Hydractinia model system and focusing on the immune system’s involvement in stem cell regeneration.

Dr. Duscher is originally from Minnesota but has lived in Florida for the past 10 years. She obtained her bachelors in Marine Science at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. She then worked with Dr. Jamie Foster at the University of Florida in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science as a post-baccalaureate and focused on the metagenomes of rock-forming bacterial communities called stromatolites. After a year she began her PhD with Dr. Foster on squid symbiosis (Vibrio fischeri and Euprymna scolopes) and innate immunity in a space-like environment. She mainly focused on bioinformatic analysis of transcriptomic datasets from the perspective of both the bacteria and the squid. In the Schnitzler lab, her research focus has been on a class of enzymes called chitinases and their potential involvement in regeneration and innate immunity in Hydractinia. In her free time she enjoys being outside at the beach, surfing, paddling, and hiking.