The Prescher Lab
Expanding the imaging toolkit to spy on cellular communication
Our research team is crafting novel probes to "spy" on cells and decipher their communications in vivo. Cellular networks drive diverse aspects of human biology, ranging from immune function to memory formation. Breakdowns in these networks also underlie numerous pathologies. While cell-cell interactions play key roles in human health and disease, the mechanisms by which cells transact information in vivo are not completely understood. The number of cells types involved, the timing and location of their interactions, the molecular cues exchanged, and the long-term fates of the cells remain poorly characterized in most cases. We are designing and deploying custom tools to visualize cellular networks in real time—and with molecular precision—in physiologically relevant environments. Collectively, our work is decoding cellular communications relevant to infectious disease, cancer metastases, and immune function.
News and Events
October 2024
- Congrats to lab alum Dr. Torrey on his new postition at Amgen in Cambridge, MA!
- Congrats to lab alumna Dr. Love! She was selected for UCSD’s Postdoc Award for Research Excellence.
- Congrats to Kelly! She was selected to present at the Undergrad Research Symposium at Rice U.
September 2024
- Congrats to Dr. Torrey, Lila, and our collaborators in the LFD! Manuscript accepted at RSC Chem. Biol.!
- We went to a lab dinner outing to send off Dr. Torrey! You will be missed.
August 2024
- Congrats to lab alums Mariana and Tanvi and the rest of the phasor imaging team! Their manuscript was accepted at ACS Chemical and Biomedical Imaging.
- Congrats to Lila! She was awarded the Vertex Fellowship from the PharmSci Department.
July 2024
- Congrats to lab alumna Dr. Carly Brennan and our collaborators from the Amelio lab and Promega! Their manuscript featuring some of our bioluminescent probes in classic unmixing was accepted at iScience.
- Happy 14th birthday to the lab!
June 2024
- We went on a lab outing to the San Diego Zoo! Check out the photos.
- Congrats to lab alumna, Dr. Kat Townsend! She was hired into her dream job at Lumanity!
- Zach defended his thesis! Congratulations Dr. Torrey!
- Congrats to Zach on being awarded the Chemistry Safety Researcher of the year!
May 2024
- Congrats to our undergrads Kelly, Katrina, Casey, and Amelia on being selected for UROP Fellows for Summer 2024.
- Congrats to Halley - the newest Ph.D. candidate in the lab!
- Congrats to Halley! She earned an award from the ACS Division of Biological Chemistry to present the new fluorogenic cyclopropenone work!
- Congrats to lab alumna, Dr. Kat Townsend! She accepted the medical writing position at Q2 Solutions, working with their vaccine development team.
April 2024
- Congrats to Halley! She earned an honorable mention from the NSF-GRFP competition!
March 2024
- Congrats to lab alum Dr. Tyler Heiss! His NIH fellowship for postdoctoral work in the Kapoor lab was funded!
- Kat defended her thesis! Congratulations Dr. Townsend!
- Congrats to lab alum Prof. Colin Rathbun! His lab is moving to the Claremont Colleges here in SoCal!
February 2024
- Graduate students Alessandra and Melody officially join the lab! Welcome!
January 2024
- Congrats to lab alum Dr. Drew Ferreira who accepted a new position at Vilya!
- Congrats to Kat, her review article was accepted at Neurophotonics!
- Happy holidays! We celebrated with a fun holiday group lunch.
- Congrats to our undergrads, Beatrice, Kelly, Katrina, and Casey! They were selected to receive UROP funding for their research projects!