News & Events
December 2024: Our first paper has been published! We introduce Malibu, a genetically encoded malonyl-CoA biosensor.
Members of the Schmitt Lab attended Cell Bio 2024. We presented five posters and Danielle chaired a session on the future of metabolism.
The Schmitt Lab had our annual holiday party!
September 2024: Danielle was selected as a Physical Sciences Faculty in Inclusive Teaching Fellow, a program developed by the Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences. This program provides time, space, and resources to implement inclusive teaching practices into the classroom.
August 2024: The Schmitt and Lawson labs went to Will Rodgers State Beach for a beach day.
Congrats to Anna, who was admitted to the UCLA Undergraduate Research Scholars Program!
July 2024: Danielle received a Research in Emerging Areas Critical to Human Health Loan Repayment Award from NIH/NIGMS. The LRP program helps to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers.
Danielle co-organized and presented at the Dynamics and Encoding in Cell Signaling FASEB meeting in Niagara Falls, NY. Jack and Brodie also attended and presented posters. There was also a mini-lab reunion with Zhang Lab current members and alumni in attendance!
To celebrate our second birthday, we had a lab retreat! We discussed the State of the Lab, results of the lab climate survey, revised our mission statement and core values, and pitched new project ideas.
June 2024: Danielle has been selected as a UCLA Hellman Fellow for 2024-2025! This award provides support for an ongoing undergraduate-led project in the lab investigating mechanisms for compartmentalized AMPK activity!
Congrats Tiffany, who has been selected as a fellow in the Warren Alpert UCLA Computational Biology/AI Training and Retention Program!
Congrats to Valerie, Laura, Michael, Zach, and Raf on their graduation! Valerie graduated with her Master’s, while Laura, Michael, Zach, and Raf all graduated with their bachelor’s and received departmental commencement awards.
Congrats Jack, who passed his Advancement to Candidacy exam!
Congrats Valerie, who presented her capstone project, completing her Masters in Applied Chemical Sciences!
Congrats to Jack, Marvin, and Alexia, who were awarded the UCLA Cell and Molecular Biology T32!
May 2024: Congrats to Kasey and Anna, who were awarded the Daniel E. Atkinson and Charles A. West Undergraduate Research Fellowship! They were recognized at the annual Chemistry & Biochemistry Departmental Awards Ceremony.
Kasey presented her work at the departmental Undergraduate Poster Session, hosted by SMACS.
April 2024: Congratulations to all six Schmitt Lab undergraduate students who were selected for commencement awards and summer undergraduate research fellowships! We are very proud of our undergraduates and their accomplishments.
The lab enjoyed the partial solar eclipse in Los Angeles in Court of Sciences!
March 2024: Danielle and Kasey attended Discover BMB in San Antonio, TX. Kasey presented a poster.
Members of the lab attended the 2nd SoCal Metabolism Symposium at UC Irvine, and Jack presented a poster!
The Schmitt Lab has been awarded a UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Strategic Plan Aligned Project Grant. This small pilot grant will support our work developing biosensors for imaging metabolism across scales. We are very grateful to JCCC for supporting our work!
The lab had a happy hour to celebrate the end of the winter quarter.
February 2024: Danielle and collaborator Tara TeSlaa attended the CZI Measuring Metabolism Across Scales Kickoff Meeting in Silicon Valley. Thank you again CZI for supporting our collaborative work to measure and manipulate methionine metabolism!
December 2023: We held the Annual Schmitt Lab Holiday Party! No one succeeded in finding the pickle hidden in the Christmas tree.
Danielle attended Cell Bio 2023 and presented a poster. The Young Hall 5th Floor Labs got together for dinner in Boston.
November 2023: We had our First Annual Bouhaddou-Schmitt Labs Beach Bonfire!! We had a great time roasting s’mores and relaxing on the beach.
October 2023: A collaborative project with Dr Tara TeSlaa (UCLA DGSOM) has been selected for funding by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as part of their “Measuring Metabolism Across Scales” program. Our project seeks to develop and use genetically encoded organelle-targeted tools to manipulate and measure metabolism across scales. You can learn more about our project here.
We have received the 2023 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award! This $1.5 million award will be used to develop new biosensors for metabolites to study compartmentalized regulation of metabolism. This is also the lab’s first NIH grant!
September 2023: Danielle has been awarded an ASCB IPERT Travel Award to attend Cell Bio 2023 in Boston, MA.
July 2023: Danielle has been awarded a UCLA Faculty Career Development Award by the UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion! This award will support ongoing work on multiplexed imaging of metabolic regulation.
June 2023: Congrats to Jack for being awarded a Cell and Molecular Biology Training Grant Fellowship!
Danielle completed the American Society for Cell Biology’s Accomplishing Career Transitions Program. This program provided structured mentoring and career development for the postdoc-to-PI transition.
Congrats to Alexia for graduating from UCLA with her BS in Biochemistry and Departmental Highest Honors. Alexia also received the Daniel E. Atkinson and Charles A. West Commencement Prize in Metabolic Biochemistry. Congrats, Alexia!
May 2023: Congrats to Kasey Parks for receiving the Susan Elizabeth Baumgarten Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and Michael Sun for receiving the Boyer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Kasey and Michael were honored at the Departmental Awards Ceremony. You can read more about their awards here.
Danielle participated in Scialog: Advancing BioImaging in Tucson, AZ!
February 2023: The Schmitt Lab has joined the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute.
Danielle has joined the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Faculty.
October 2022: Danielle’s review detailing genetically encodable regulation of kinase signaling has been published in Current Opinions in Chemical Biology.
Danielle has joined the UCLA Institute for Quantitative & Computational Biosciences Faculty.
July 2022: Danielle’s paper using a new AMPK activity reporter to uncover mechanisms for subcellular AMPK activity has been published in Nature Communications.
May 2022: The Schmitt Lab will be opening in Fall 2022 at UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry!