Colby Sandate, Ph.D.
Doctoral Thesis: Clocks and Motors: Cryo-EM Studies of AAA+ ATPases and Circadian Oscillators
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz
Noteworthy Publications: "An allosteric network in spastin couples multiple activities required for microtubule severing," Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2019)
Honors & Awards: National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (2016); Carl Strom Underrepresented Minority Fellowship, Gordon Research Conferences (2019)
Favorite Aspects of Graduate Studies: "One of my best experiences at Scripps was working with the Graduate Student Council. As scientists, it's pretty easy to keep our heads down and focused on our research, but in the Grad Council, I met other students who were interested in issues that were within and beyond science, and really, that was one of the most interesting and most enriching parts of my Ph.D."
Next Steps: I will be working as a postdoc in the lab of Nico Thomä at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, Switzerland. My work will be at the interface between structural biology and chemical biology. In the years that follow, I hope to continue with my work in academia."
Be sure to join us at 10 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 31 for our Virtual Commencement Ceremony! Sandate's advisor and mentor, Prof. Gabriel C. Lander, will deliver a few words (as will Sandate) about his graduate experience, and viewers can learn about our 43 other 2020 graduates, who are now setting out to build careers that will impact the future of biomedical research.
