12/19/2024 – Holiday party

The lab goes ice skating for our annual holiday event and later gathers at Simon’s place for dinner.

12/13/2024 – Joint talk

Simon and Marta give a joint presentation on the role of tumor metabolites in regulating CAF heterogeneity in the Pancreatic Cancer Translational Research Working group. The lab later attends the CCB holiday party.

11/22/2024 – Talk at UIC

Simon is invited by Dr. Alexandra Naba to give a seminar in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Illinois. He speaks about the role of tumor metabolites in regulate fibroblast state and function.

11/01/2024 – UCCCC celebration

The lab attends the celebration for the 50th year anniversary of the Cancer Center’s Comprehensive status. Keynote speaker is Simon’s former mentor Craig Thompson, who also visits the lab before the event.

10/31/2024 – Qualifying exam

Marta aces her qualifying exam and is now officially a PhD candidate – congratulations!

10/03/2024 – Lab anniversary

We celebrate the lab’s second anniversary together with friends traditionally over beer in the pub.

09/29-10/01/2024 – Meeting

Kevin and Simon attend the Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Awardees Networking Meeting in Raleigh, NC.

09/13/2024 – New grant

The lab is awarded a pilot grant from the Cancer Center together with the Muir lab to investigate the role of tumor nutrient stress in CAF heterogeneity.

09/09/2024 – Scholarship

Congratulations to Marta for being awarded the Robert C. and Mary Jane Gallo Scholarship!

09/01/2024 – Postdoc Award

Kevin is awarded a grant through the Postdoctoral Enrichment Program from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for his proposal “Single Cell Phenotyping of the Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Tumor Metabolic Microenvironment”. Congratulations on this honor!

08/17/2024 – New paper

Julien’s and Simon’s review on the metabolic control of collagen synthesis is published in Matrix Biology. Congratulations to the first pure UChicago paper!

08/12/2024 – Rotation student starts

The lab welcomes Yuqing Xue from CCB, who will rotate with us and Jing Chen’s lab over the next 5 weeks. Yuqing will investigate the role of tumor metabolites in CAF heterogeneity.

08/02/2024 – Summer Research Symposium

Following a Keynote Address by the NCI director, summer student Daniel presents at the 10th Annual UCCCCC Summer Research Symposium and receives great positive feedback. We are so proud of your accomplishments over the summer!

07/08/2024 – Research Technician and Biolab student start

The lab welcomes Kristof Turan as a Research Technician. Kristof recently graduated from UChicago and will support the lab’s investigation into the role of tumor metabolites in CAF heterogeneity.

The lab also welcomes Michal Nizio from the Biolab program. A visiting researcher from Poland, Michal will stay with the lab for one year and study the role of metabolic adaptions to tumor nutrient stress in CAFs.

07/02/2024 – Rotation student starts

The lab welcomes Katarzyna (Kasia) Kurylowicz from CCB, who will rotate will us for the next 5 1/2 weeks. Kasia will investigate the role of extracellular metabolites in fibroblast activation.

06/14/2024 – UCCCC summer student starts & EURO 2024

The lab welcomes Daniel Martinez, who will be with us over the summer as part of the University of Chicago Cancer Center’s EYES on cancer program. He will work closely with Postdoc Kevin on investigating the metabolic programs of heterogeneous CAF populations.

The lab and friends also get together to watch the opening match of the EURO 2024.

06/03/2024 – Research Technician starts

The lab welcomes back former Undergraduate Research Assistant Shan Cao. Three weeks after graduating from Loyola University, Shan returns to us as the lab’s new Research Technician. Shan will be supporting Simon in lab management and work on the role of tumor metabolites in regulating fibroblast ECM synthesis.

05/17/2024 – Postdoc Symposium

Kevin and Julien present and win the first two poster prizes at the BSD Postdoc Symposium. Congratulations!

05/13/2024 – New grant

Together with Weber and Muir labs, we are awarded the Krull Pancreatic Cancer Pilot Project Grant to generate patient-derived organoids that incorporate the tumor microenvironment.

05/10/2024 – PancMidwest Symposium

The lab attends PancMidwest, the first Midwest focused symposium for pancreatic cancer research held at the Rubenstein Forum of UChicago. Simon is one of the co-organizers.

04/23/2024 – Defense

Co-mentored student Chufan Cai successfully defended her PhD thesis today. Congratulations Dr. Cai!

04/08/2024 – Eclipse

The lab watches the (partial) solar eclipse on a sunny day in Chicago.

04/01/2024 – New grant

The lab was awarded a Pilot Research Award from the AGA Foundation to develop a novel screening approach to identify compounds that modulate CAF plasticity.

03/18/2024 – Rotation student and Undergraduate students start

The lab welcomes Hunter Blaylock from CCB, who will rotate with us for the Spring quarter. He will investigate the intersection of metabolism and chromatin in regulating CAF state decisions.

The lab also welcomes first year Undergraduate students Nicole Liu and Sayana Isaac, who will gain their first lab experiences with us.

02/26/2024 – Rotation student starts

The lab welcomes Maia Clare from CCB, who will rotate will us for the next 6 weeks, investigating the role of metabolism in CAF survival in the TME.

02/09/2024 – Lab outing

The Faubert and Schworer labs visit the UChicago pub to celebrate Brandon’s birthday.

01/24/2024 – New Grantee Workshop

Simon visits the NCI to participate in a New Grantee Workshop.

01/18/2024 – UChicago Lab Night and Biology Career Fair

The Lab participates in a Career Fair for undergraduate students.

12/20/2023 – Lab Holiday Event

The Lab gathers at Simon’s place to celebrate the season and have some fun.

11/03/2023 – EMBO Fellows Meeting

Simon participates in the EMBO Lab Leadership course in Irvine, followed by a meeting of current and former EMBO Fellows.

10/24/2023 – ASMB Meeting

Simon gives a talk at the 2023 meeting of the American Society for Matrix Biology in Salt Lake City, where he receives the Founder’s Award for his work on the metabolic control of matrix synthesis.

10/18/2023 – Journal Club with Bill Kaelin

Marta and Simon lead a journal club with Nobel laureate Dr. William Kaelin, who later visits the lab.

09/11/2023 – Simon’s Birthday

The lab surprises Simon with cake and beer to celebrate his birthday.

08/25/2023 – Last day for summer students!

Simon takes out Alexa and Shan on their last day in the lab (unfortunately, Alex couldn’t join). We had a blast and wish you all the best for the next school year!

08/17/2023 – Marta appointed to T32!

After only a few days in, Marta already rocks: Her application to the NCI-funded T32 “Multi-disciplinary Training grant in Cancer Research” was successful. Congratulations to this honor!

08/15/2023 – Marta returns!

The Lab is excited to welcome back Marta Storl-Desmond, who officially joins us as the Lab’s first PhD student. A double-first for her! We’re so happy to have you back!

08/01/2023 – Kevin starts!

We are excited to welcome Dr. Kevin Muñoz Forti, the Lab’s second postdoc! Kevin joins us from the University of Missouri as UChicago’s first IRACDA fellow. He will develop approaches to probe CAF metabolism in vivo.

06/12/2023 – Alex starts!

The lab welcomes summer student Alex Turk, a first-year Biochemistry major from UChicago!

06/01/2023 – Julien starts!

We are excited to welcome Dr. Julien Guillard, the Lab’s first postdoc! He joins us from Reims/France to investigate how metabolism regulates tumor ECM production. The Lab gets together for Pizza and Beer to welcome Julien and his wife.

05/30/2023 – Francesco was admitted to M.D./Ph.D. program

We’re so happy to learn that former research technician Francesco Cimino was admitted to the M.D./Ph.D. program at SUNY Downstate! Thank you for all the hard work over the last two years, and congratulations on reaching this significant milestone in your career!

05/30/2023 – Shan starts!

The lab welcomes summer student Shan Cao, a third-year Biochemistry major from Loyola University!

05/08/2023 – Simon talks at Keystone

Simon presents the Lab’s work on the role of hypoxia in regulating CAF plasticity at the Keystone Symposia: The Resistant Tumor Microenvironment. He also chairs a workshop on CAFs.

05/02/2023 – Alexa starts!

The lab welcomes the lab’s first summer student, Alexa Jang, a first-year Biological Sciences major from UChicago!

04/13/2023 – Lab get-together!

The Lab dines out together to celebrate our recent achievements.

04/06/2023 – Podcast

Simon makes his first Podcast appearance in NCI’s Inside Cancer Careers, where he talks with Oliver Bogler about starting a new lab.

03/31/2023 – First tracing experiment!

With the help of our Cancer Metabolomics Platform Director, Hardik Shah, we are performing our first LC-MS and stable isotope tracing experiment.

03/20/2023 – First rotation student starts!

The Lab is excited to welcome its first rotation student, Marta Storl-Desmond, from CCB! Marta will stay with us for the spring quarter to investigate how cellular metabolism regulates CAF plasticity.

03/13/2023 – First paper published!

The Lab’s first paper is published online today in Cancer Research. Thanks to all the co-authors, especially former Research Technician Francesco Cimino, for helping bring the revisions over the finish line!

03/08/2023 – First tumor inoculation experiment!

The Lab performed its first orthotopic injection of tumor organoids into the pancreas.

02/28/2023 – CRF Young Investigator Award!

The Lab was awarded a Young Investigator Award from the Cancer Research Foundation to develop novel systems for investigating the metabolic determinants of fibroblast heterogeneity. Simon was also named the CRF’s Breakthrough Board Scholar.

02/25/23 – Craig Thompson Symposium

Simon joins his former lab mates at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to celebrate the legacy of his mentor, Dr. Craig Thompson. It was wonderful to catch up and meet several generations of fellow Thompsonites!

02/22/2023 – Congrats Daiqing!

We celebrate Daiqing’s admission to graduate school

02/03/2023 – First GC-MS experiment!

Daiqing and Simon ran their first experiment on the GC-MS. Thanks to Brandon Faubert for helping us get here!

01/25/2023 – Mice from NY arrive!

Days-long fingers crossing worked – our mice made it from New York to cold Chicago and have moved into their temporary home in quarantine.

01/18/2023 – R00 awarded!

The Lab (finally) received its NOA from the NCI for the R00 project. That took way longer than we imagined! We celebrate traditionally over beer at the pub with our friends Brandon and Andrea.

01/17/2023 – Daiqing starts!

The Lab welcomes Daiqing Chen! Daiqing joins us as a Research Technician from the Liao lab who just left for Arizona.

01/05/2023 – First cells in culture!

The Lab thawed its first batch of cells. We hope they grow as well in Chicago as in New York!

12/16/2022 – Bowling

Simon joins the Faubert Lab’s Holiday outing for lunch and bowling in Hyde Park. Thanks, Brandon, for having me!

12/14/2022 – First mice arrive!

The Lab received its first transgenic mice from JAX. Fingers crossed that they will breed well!

12/13/2022 – Founder’s Award!

Simon was selected as the American Society for Matrix Biology Founders Awardee!

12/06/2022 – Lab is fully set up and operational!

After two months of ordering, unpacking, and organizing, all the major equipment, consumables, and reagents are here, and we can finally start working!

11/16/2022 – Augustyn Award!

Simon was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Caroline Craig Augustyn & Damian Augustyn Award in Digestive Cancer from the American Gastroenterological Association. This grant will support our work on the role of compartmentalized redox metabolism in tumor fibrosis.

11/03/2022 – First talk!

Simon gives his first talk as a PI in the Working Group for Cancer Metabolism at UChicago.

10/21/2022 – Protocols approved!

The Lab’s IBC and IACUC protocols are approved. Let the bacteria and mouse work begin!

10/18/2022 – First grant awarded!

Simon received a Seed Grant from the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. This grant will support our investigation into the role of hypoxia in regulating CAF plasticity in PDAC. We celebrated this significant moment with our friend and neighbor Brandon Faubert in UChicago’s pub.

10/08/2022 – Bambino!

The first and arguably most important piece of lab equipment arrives – Bambino, the Lab Espresso maker! Did I say that lab members enjoy complimentary espresso?

10/03/2022 – The lab opens!

Simon starts at UChicago on a sunny day. The lab is empty …