Cell scientists to watch – Kassandra Ori-McKenney and Richard McKenney

ABSTRACT Kassandra Ori-McKenney received her Bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, before joining the laboratory of Richard Vallee at Columbia University, New York, for her PhD. She moved to the University of California, San Francisco, for her postdoctoral training with Yuh-Nung Jan on the role of the microtubule cytoskeleton in neuronal development in Drosophila with the aid of a Jane Coffin Childs fellowship. In 2016, Kassandra became an Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). Richard McKenney completed his PhD on regulatory proteins that influence the activity of the motor protein dynein in the laboratory of Richard Vallee after a Bachelor's degree at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. For his postdoctoral work, Richard moved to the laboratory of Ron Vale at the University of California, San Francisco, to continue his work on the regulation of dynein motor activity. Richard joined the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Davis in 2016 as an Assistant Professor. Kassandra and Richard share their laboratory space, as well as equipment, ideas and meetings. Their research groups are interested in the microtubule cytoskeleton, microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), activities of the motor proteins kinesin and dynein, and their roles and functions in neuronal transport and human diseases. Kassandra is funded by grants from the Pew Foundation, Simons Foundation, the March of Dimes and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Richard is funded by grants from the March of Dimes and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).