The Small GTPases in Membrane Processes Conference

Nava Segev is a cell biologist interested in the regulation of trafficking inside cells. She is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Segev uses a combination of genetic, cellular, biochemical, and molecular approaches to determine how the conserved molecular switches, termed Ypt/Rab GTPases, coordinate the secretory and autophagic pathways in yeast and human cells.  Segev received her PhD from Tel Aviv University and was trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  
 

Rytis Prekeris is a Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Director of the Molecular Biology Graduate Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. His laboratory is interested in regulation of cross-talk between membrane traffic and cytoskeleton in polarized cells. Among several research directions, he focuses on regulation of cell migration, cell division, and epithelia polarization, with a special focus on Rab GTPases. Prekeris received his PhD at East Carolina University and his postdoctoral training at Stanford University.
 

Peter McPherson is a Distinguished James McGill Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital of McGill University. His laboratory uses biochemical, cell biological, molecular biological, and structural approaches to identify and functionally characterize proteins regulating membrane trafficking in the endosomal system. 

McPherson has published pioneering papers using subcellular proteomics to study the molecular make up of endosomal membranes. He has identified numerous links between endocytic membrane trafficking and neurological disease including ataxia, ALS, and epileptic encephalopathy. His laboratory has developed approaches for antibody production and validation. 

McPherson received a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Iowa working with Kevin P. Campbell and performed post-doctoral training with Dr. Pietro De Camilli at Yale. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.