Last 6 months saw our 3 talented PhD students finish their viva! Ren, Yisha and Ana started during the pandemic and despite challenging conditions, worked hard and supported each other to grow as independent scientists - along with many joyful moments and other achievements outside their studies. Many congrats to them!
The thesis titles are:
Yisha - Nodal organized cell dynamics for building tissue shapes in vertebrate gastrulation
Ana - The mechanical characteristics and differentiation potential of the axial progenitor region in vertebrate embryos
Ren - Cell mechanics-based modelling and in toto imaging describe a new mode of lumen formation in chicken neural tube
We are immensely grateful to the examiners, Richard Adams, Tim Saunders, Goli Kolahgar, Bertrand Bénazéraf, Thierry Savin, and Elisa Martí, who gave critical and construct feedback on the students' works.
Yisha is supported by a Cambridge Trust International Scholarship, Ana a Gurdon-Vice Chancellor Scholarship, and Ren a Wellcome PhD studentship.
Parts of their works have been published or in submission as reviews and methods papers. Their main findings are in progress towards more extensive research articles. Stay tuned for our preprints later this year!
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