Our Mission
In the Fitzpatrick Lab, we leverage the latest developments in cryo-electron microscopy with complementary biophysical techniques (proteomics, light-microscopy, microfluidics) to explore the molecular and structural basis of neurodegeneration. To this end, we determine the structure and behavior of amyloid fibrils, purified directly from postmortem brain tissue, that are implicated in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, we aim to understand the role of protein aggregation in vivo by visualizing the cellular changes that occur in response to the formation, clearance and spread of fibrillar inclusions using light-microscopy and cryo-electron tomography. We are in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and the lab is currently located on Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus, in the Jerome L. Greene Science Center.
We welcome applications from interested individuals to join the lab; please contact Anthony.Fitzpatrick@columbia.edu
News
Congratulations to Qian Yang on her acceptance to the 2019 Dynamo Workshop in Basel, Switzerland!
Qian will be visiting the Biozentrum of the University of Basel in Switzerland to gain hands-on training in all practical aspects of tomography and sub-tomogram averaging using the software Dynamo, which encompasses all stages of the pipeline: alignment and reconstruction of tilt series, tomogram visualization and archiving, particle selection and extraction, and subtomogram alignment, averaging, refinement and classification. The Fitzpatrick Lab is excited for her success and looking forward to the new knowledge she will incorporate into our projects!
Open Positions in the Fitzpatrick Lab!
The Fitzpatrick Lab has open positions for the following:
1) Electron Microscopist (Staff Scientist) to join a CLEM / cryo-ET / SEM research program dedicated to imaging neurons, glia, and human brain tissue.
The successful candidate will play a lead role in instrument support, user training, and methods development. Access to a state-of-the-art suite of electron and light microscopes includes:
Christina Lee joins the University of Oxford!
Many congratulations to our research fellow and Laidlaw Scholar Christina Lee for securing a summer research position at the prestigious University of Oxford, England. Christina will be working in the Benesch Lab at Oxford, doing research in the field of mass spectrometry. We are excited for her accomplishment and new research findings she will bring to the Fitzpatrick Lab upon her return.