David Courson

Graduate Student Fellow
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The University of Chicago

Lab phone: (773) 702-1332
Optics Lab phone: (773) 834-4382

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My team's 2008 FIRST robot!
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Biography

I have always loved building things and asking how and why questions. For me entering science felt natural. My first lab experience was in the Johns Hopkins Department of Biophysics in the lab of Sarah A. Woodson. At the time the Woodson lab was focused on RNA folding and catalysis. I worked on a project studying formation of a competitive stem loop structure at the 5' splice site of the Tetrahymena ribosomal RNA group I (self-splicing) intron. After graduation I joined the lab of Elizabeth Grove, in the department of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago, as a technician. The Grove lab focuses on brain development using mouse and chicken model systems. There I worked on two projects. One was attempting to develop an accurate and reproducible brain tumor model in live mice and the second was mapping the effects of different fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) splice variants on the development of the cortical map. In the fall of 2005 I enrolled in the biochemistry graduate program at the University of Chicago. I joined Ron's lab in fall of 2006.

Scientific Areas of Interest:

Cytoskeleton, motor proteins, diseases related to defects in cellular adhesion and the cytoskeleton, biological materials, microscope development, microfluidics, optofluidics, and super-resolution imaging.


Education

B.A. Biophysics and German - Johns Hopkins University - 2003

Research Experience

  • Summer 2008 - Marine Biological Laboratory, Physiology Course: Modern Cell Biology using Microscopic, Computational and Biochemical Approaches
  • 2006 - Present - Ronald S. Rock Lab - Single Molecule Biophysics of Various Cytoskeletal Components
  • 2006 - Robert J. Keenan Lab - (Rotation) Directed Evolution of Fluorescent Proteins
  • 2006 - Anthony A. Kossiakoff Lab - (Rotation) Chaperone-Assisted Crystallography of Receptor-ligand Complexes
  • 2003-2005 - Elizabeth A. Grove Lab - Cortical Development and Brain Cancer in Animal Models
  • 2000-2003 - Sarah A. Woodson Lab - RNA Folding and Splicing in vitro

Teaching Experience

  • Fall 2009 - Instructor - Biophysics Program practical section on Protein Purification - 1 Week
  • Fall 2008 - Instructor - Biophysics Program practical section on Protein Purification and Optical Trapping - 2 Weeks
  • Fall 2007 - Instructor - Biophysics Program practical section on Optical Trapping - 2 Weeks
  • Fall 2006 - Teaching Assistant - Protein Fundamentals [BCMB 30400] - Full Term
  • Fall 2006 - Teaching Assistant Training Program - Full Term

Publications

  • David S. Courson and Ronald S. Rock. Fast benchtop fabrication of laminar flow chambers for advanced microscopy techniques. PLoS One. (2009), 4(8): e6479. Full Text
  • Clifford P. Brangwynne, Christian R. Eckmann, David S. Courson, Agata Rybarska, Carsten Hoege, Jobin Gharakhani, Frank Jülicher, Anthony A. Hyman. Germline P granules are liquid droplets that localize by controlled dissolution/condensation. Science. (2009), vol. 324. 1729-1732. Abstract
  • Stanislav Nagy, Benjamin L. Ricca, Melanie F. Norstrom, David S. Courson, Crista Brawley, Philip A. Smithback and Ronald S. Rock. A myosin motor that selects bundled actin for motility. PNAS. (2008), vol. 105. 9616-9620. Abstract
  • Syed A. Rizvi, David S. Courson, Valerie A. Keller, Ronald S. Rock and Sergey A. Kozmin. The dual mode of action of bistramide A entails severing of filamentous actin and covalent protein modification. PNAS. (2008), vol. 105. 4088-4092. Abstract

Funding

  • AHA Predoctoral Fellowship, Midwest Affiliate (2009/10)
  • NIH Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Training Grant (Fall 2005 - Summer 2008)
  • William Randolph Hearst Educational Endowment (MBL Summer 2008)
more...

Current Outreach Efforts


Arriving in SF.

Great Things People Can Do

  • Hopkins 4K for Cancer This is a bicycle trip that starts in Baltimore and ends in San Francisco each summer. It is completely student run and organized. The purpose of the ride is to spread a message of hope. To date it has also raised more than half a million dollars for the American Cancer Society and associated charities. I was a rider in the inaugural year of 2002.


| Profile | Research | Methods | Tips | Pictures | MBL | Outreach | Bikes | Links | Acknowledgments |