04/08/2024 – Eclipse
The lab watches the (partial) solar eclipse on a sunny day in Chicago.
03/18/2024 – Rotation student starts
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.
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 …
