News
Keep up to date on the latest out of the Baker Lab!
New lab members
Fall, 2024
New undergraduate student Jillian joined the ranks and we celebrated our third lab anniversary with some laser tag. Etienne was a force to be reckoned with.
Our annual swag drop this year is being sported by the youngest member of the Baker lab syndicate as Kaitlin and Steve welcomed baby boy into the world. We’re expecting a major productivity boost when the mini-sized lab coat and pipettes arrive.
Finally our group was also expanded with the addition of postdoc Mike who is joining us from the Kalejta lab in Madison, WI.
First trainee talk!!!
Summer, 2024
Himadri rocked his presentation at his first ASV meeting in Columbus, OH. Lots of hard work and preparation paid off, this time specifically in the form of an aperol spritz and a mocktail.
We also bid farewell to foundational lab member Brent, who’s off to grad school at OHSU.
Etienne is taking the summer to gather some moisture and lab skills at UC Berkeley, completing the summer C-GEM program in the Schepartz Lab.
Spring semester movin’ on up
Spring, 2024
The lab moved from the first floor and in return received some epic views. We also kicked off our regular group meetings with the Kell lab at UNM to talk all things negative strand virus.
Lab holiday gathering
December, 2023
We gather to reflect and relax by eating some good food and letting our inner creativity run wild. Bring on the new year! We also welcome new undergrad Etienne to the fold. Etienne joined after our year-end party, so we had an impromptu lab lunch to officially welcome him. Find out more about him here.
Two year anniversary
November, 2023
The lab marked its second birthday with a trip to the bowling alley. Good news is that Himadri & Steve combined could compete with Brent. Also debuted our second year lab swag.
Brent nabs outstanding poster
October, 2023
Immense accomplishment for Brent, who sought out independent funding to attend this year’s SACNAS conference, also walked away with a coveted prize for his research poster. We’re extremely proud!
Steve met up with his postdoc mentor Andy at a pub in the UK and also put on the CIDI research day at UNM. We hosted Kristin Patrick from Texas A&M who gave an incredible talk — one of our highest attended seminars to date!
UNM MGM research day
September, 2023
Steve & Monica Rosas Lemus organized a retreat for the Molecular Genetics & Microbiology Department at UNM. Fantastic student posters, discussion groups, science crosswords, and our favorite, commemorative pins.
Steve also presented at the RiboClub Annual Meeting. First time at this conference and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Celebration
August, 2023
Brent & Steve took Himadri to enjoy his first taste of New Mexican cuisine. And Steve’s project received funding from the American Lung Association. Impromptu dessert at one of our favorite restaurants in town, Mesa Provisions!
Welcome, Himadri!
July, 2023
New postdoc member, Himadri Nath, joins us from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India. Himadri brings his expertise in virology collected from the Biswas lab, and is hungry for more research — or maybe last year’s lab swag ;)
Off to greener pastures
June, 2023
Our inaugural lab member Josh is pursuing a different direction, but remains in state. So of course we had New Mexican cuisine with green (or red) salsa to celebrate. Just look how his sansevaria has grown since he joined! Steve also attended the ASV meeting in Athens, GA.
This calls for bubbly
May, 2023
Our intramural application with the Whitehurst group at NYMC was selected for funding! We’ll be teaming up to learn about what the splice is happening during EBV latency & reactivation.
Steve also attended the GRC in Barcelona. But shhhhh, in the spirit of the conference, we’re not to discuss all the exciting and unpublished results presented.
April, 2023
Steve officially joined as an affiliate member of the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at the University of New Mexico. We’ve been building up collaborations and friendships with lots of folks including the Cannon and Kell labs, and are happy to see the relationship defined.
New affiliation, who dis
All differential on the splicing front: Host alternative splicing alters the landscape of virus-host conflict
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Semin Cell Dev Biol
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All differential on the splicing front: Host alternative splicing alters the landscape of virus-host conflict 〰️ Semin Cell Dev Biol 〰️
New face in lab
January, 2023
We welcome Michelle to the team this month. Michelle’s a graduate student at UNM and will be with us part time learning the ropes of molecular biology from Josh and teaching Steve a thing or two about computational biology.
Alternative splicing liberates a cryptic cytoplasmic isoform of mitochondrial MECR that antagonizes influenza virus
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PLOS Biol
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Alternative splicing liberates a cryptic cytoplasmic isoform of mitochondrial MECR that antagonizes influenza virus 〰️ PLOS Biol 〰️
The Lab’s First Birthday
We celebrated our first anniversary by hiking up to Sandia Peak. Brent and Josh bravely suggested the 8 mile 3,500 ft trek. We celebrated on top with some new lab swag, lunch at Ten3, and a tram ride back down.
October, 2022
Scientific conferences are back!
July, 2022
Steve presented at this year’s Keystone Respiratory Viruses conference in CO, and then some of the lab’s work got a brief cameo on a live TWIV recording at ASV in Madison, WI. Former mentor Andy Mehle was guest alongside Pamela Björkman. While it’s great to be back in person, the pandemic let us reconsider how conferences can be re-thought to be accomodating for all scientist personality types.
June, 2022
Attended the second largest parade in New Mexico - the pride parade in Albuquerque down historic Route 66.
We’re growing!
April, 2022
Brent joined the group this month, and we’re glad to see the group shaping up and benches being filled. Check out Brent’s page to learn more about him and learn how to say a greeting in Keres!
Inaugural trainee
March, 2022
We happily welcome Josh to LBRI! Here he is holding the lab sansevieria. We’re happy to see this plant grow with the lab over time. Check out Josh’s page to see him holding his personal plant.
Steve gives mom a tour of lab
January, 2022
I thought the highlight would be looking at cells through the microscope camera, or my lab coat with my name on it. But nope. “You’ve got lovely plants.”
Thanks, mom.
Sun sets at LBRI
December, 2021
As the year comes to a close we reflect on how fortunate we are to do what we love, even if things look a bit different right now. Thanks to all the folks out there who are keeping the wheels turning. Excited to see what the new year will bring.
We have liftoff!
November, 2021
Packages are arriving! Science is so close we can smell it.
Packing up.
October, 2021
Steve’s time in the Mehle Lab is coming to a close. It’s a bittersweet goodbye to the friends and life made in Madison, WI. Now begins the momentous task of organizing, packing, and transporting lab essentials from the Midwest to the Southwest.