Lab Bites !
Acknowledgements
The research and people in the laboratory are supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Darwin Trust.
Lab Tweet
November 2023
The lab went to a lab retreat in west Scotland.
October 2023
Rohan started his PhD study in the lab.
September 2023
The Wellcome Trust awarded Hiro a Wellcome Discovery Award. It gives a generous support until 2030 to discover the assembly mechanism of the meiotic spindle in the large oocyte volume.
June 2023
Gera, Xiang and Hiro attended EMBO Workshop on Meiosis at Pamhagen, Austria. Hiro chaired the opening session and also gave a flash talk. Gera, Xiang and Hiro presented posters.
May 2023
Xiang, Gera and Hiro attended British microtubule meeting held in Edinburgh. Xiang presented a poster.
April 2023
Xiang, Gera, Rayane, Emiliya, Carmela and Ola attended British meiosis meeting held in Edinburgh. Xiang presented a poster.
July 2022
Hiro visited Craigentinny primary school to run a microscope workshop as a part of City of Edinburgh Council programme to provide meals and activity for children.
June 2022
Hiro gave an invited talk in Gordon Research Conference on meiosis in New England, USA.
May 2022
Jule was selected to give a flash talk and presented a poster at EMBO Workshop on Chromosome segregation and aneuploidy in Vienna.
May 2022
The Wellcome Centre had a bi-annual symposium (Centre Retreat) in Crieff, Scotland. Jule gave a talk and Xiang presented a poster on their works. Congratulations to Jule! Jule won a talk prize.
May 2022
Ola has joined the lab as a Research Assistant.
April 2022
Congratulations to Charlotte! Her paper on 14-3-3 regulation of MAPs in oocytes has just been accepted for publication in PLoS Genetics!
March 2022
Congratulations to Dr Jule! Jule has defended her PhD viva successfully. Well done!
February 2022
Hiro is nominated by an undergraduate student for EUSA teaching award for Personal Tutor of the Year. "For being an exemplary personal tutor, and consistently providing support and advice in all aspects."!
February 2022
Emiliya had a fun with pupils from a local primary school in MicroArt Workshop.
December 2021
Fiona has awarded a life-time contribution/ long service award from School of Biological Sciences. Well deserved. Congratulations!!
October 2021
Fiona has return to the lab one day a week.
October 2021
Rayane has joined the lab as a PhD student. She is from Lebanon and supported by the Darwin Trust.
September 2021
Congratulations to Dr Charlotte! Charlotte has defended her PhD viva successfully. Well done!
August 2021
Fiona, a research assistant in the lab for 24 years since the start of the lab in 1997, has happily retired. Her contribution to the lab, both scientifically and socially, is invaluable. Thank you very much!
June 2021
Elsa has joined the lab. Elsa is a PhD student in the joint degree programme between University of Edinburgh and Nagoya University, Japan.
February 2021
Pedro's paper on synaptonemal complex regulation in oocytes is just published in J Cell Biol. It is under open access. Please enjoy reading!
February 2020
Congratulations to Dr Pedro! Pedro has defended his PhD viva successfully. Well done!
December 2020
Emiliya had a fun with pupils from Craigour Park Primary School, as a part of online STEM Clubs, a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and 6 primary schools in Edinburgh. She made a video "Forensic Footprints" and had an online live session.
December 2020
Congratulations to Pedro! His paper on regulation of the synaptonemal complex in oocytes has just been accepted for publication in J. Cell Biol!
October 2020
Mariana has returned to the lab after one year in Prof Goshima's lab in Nagoya, Japan. She will work on microtubule motors in moss.
July 2020
The lab has re-opened after 100+ days of shutdown. Everyone is safe.
March 2020
A new postdoc, Gera, has joined the lab.
January 2020
A new PhD student, Xiang, has joined the lab. He is supported by the Darwin Trust.
December 2019
A new postdoc, Dan, has joined the lab.
October 2019
A new PhD student, Adam, has joined the lab. He is supported by BBSRC EastBio Doctoral Training Programme.
August 2019
Hiro gave a talk in EMBO Workshop on Meiosis (La Rochelle, France), and Jule presented a poster. Both presentations were well received.
August 2019
The Pierre's paper is selected by J Cell Biol for a Special Collection of recently published outstanding articles about the cell biology of chromosome organization and segregation.
July 2019
Emiliya was awarded for University of Edinburgh Staff Scholarship to support her PhD study! Congratulations.
June 2019
Congratulations to Mariana. Her paper on spindle maturation in oocytes has just been accepted for publication in J. Cell Biol!
June 2019
Charlotte won the best poster prize for PIP (internship) in EastBio PhD student symposium (Dundee). Well done!
May 2019
Mariana gave a talk selected from submitted abstracts in British Microtubule meeting in Edinburgh.
May 2019
Charlotte gave a talk in the Wellcome Centre symposium in Crieff, and Pedro and Jule presented posters.
April 2019
Pedro was selected for a talk in the British meiosis meeting in Aberystwyth, and won the best talk prize! Congratulations. Jule and Charlotte also presented posters. All were well received.
March 2019
A new visiting master student, Simona, from University of Pavia (Italy) has joined the lab.
March 2019
A collaboration grant with Prof Goshima lab in Nagoya University (Japan) has been awarded by UK Research Innovation/BBSRC and JSPS. The panel said "Both applicants are cutting edge researchers in the field of spindle formation. Both have excellent track records."
February 2019
A new technician, Emiliya, has joined the lab.
February 2019
Hiro is nominated by an undergraduate student for EUSA teaching award for the Best Overall Teacher Award. "His lectures were very well organised and delivered! He was very approachable and knowledgeable!"
February 2019
Hiro is invited for a talk by the Edinburgh University Biomedical Society.
February 2019
A new postdoc, Lucia, has joined the lab.
September 2018
Fiona, Charlotte, Maria and Hiro visited Ormiston Primary School in East Lothian to show wonders of life under microscopes. Thanks to all kids who shared a fun with us.
July 2018
Congratulations to Pierre. His paper on a novel microtubule nucleation pathway in oocytes has just been accepted for publication in J. Cell Biol!
June 2018
Hiro gave an invited talk at Gordon Research Conference on Meiosis in New Hampshire (USA), and also presented a poster too.
May 2018
Hiro gave an invited talk at the EMBL/EMBO Symposium on Microtubules in Heidelberg. Mariana presented a poster on spindle maturation at the conference.
May 2018
Pierre was selected for a talk, and Mariana, Charlotte and Fiona presented a poster in the British microtubule meeting in Edinburgh. All were well received.
May 2018
Hiro gave a talk and Charlotte presented a poster in the biannual symposium of Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology.
March 2018
Verdiana had conversations with public about use of Drosophila in research at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh.
January 2018
Robin's paper has been selected by J Cell Biol for one of the best 2017 papers on cell division.
November 2017
Fiona and Hiro helped a drop-in microscope demonstration "Life through lens" at the Botanical Gardens Edinburgh. Thanks to all people who shared a fun with us.
October 2017
Fiona demonstrated microscopy and biology at Ormiston church.
October 2017
A new postdoc, a PhD student and a research assistant, Verdiana, Jule and Alex, have started.
September 2017
Fiona helped University Open Day. Thanks to all people who visited the University.
August 2017
Hiro gave a talk at the EMBO Meiosis Conference in Croatia. Mariana presented a poster on spindle maturation at the conference.
July 2017
Congratulations to Dr Mila! Mila has defended her PhD viva successfully. Well done!
July 2017
Congratulations to Robin, Ricardo, Pierre and Fiona. Their paper on a novel spatial control mechanism in oocytes has just been accepted for publication in J. Cell Biol!
July 2017
Hiro demonstrated his fly dissection skills to school pupils in a "Kickstart" event. They enjoyed an experience of what a life in a university is like.
May 2017
Hiro is invited for the 2018 EMBL/EMBO Symposium of Microtubules (Heidelberg).
April 2017
The Wellcome Trust Centre had a bi-annual symposium (Centre Retreat) in Pitlochry, Scotland. Pierre gave a talk and Mariana presented posters on their works. Congratulations to Mariana! Mariana won the best poster prize.
April 2017
Pierre and Mariana presented posters in the British Microtubule Meeting in Edinburgh.
April 2017
Mariana was selected to give a talk at the British Meiosis Meeting in Dundee, and presented her work on spindle maturation in oocytes. Pierre presented a poster in the meeting.
April 2017
Breaking news: Hiro's application for an Investigator Award in Science to the Wellcome Trust was successful!
March 2017
Hiro is invited to give a talk about his research to students at an Edinburgh University Biology Society meeting.
March 2017
Charlotte helped a drop-in microscope demonstration "Life through lens" at a local school. Thanks to all people who shared a fun.
February 2017
Hiro is nominated by an undergraduate student for EUSA teaching award. "has been a very good lecturer... with engaging powerpoint and clear explanations. he's also been a great help... listening our feedback and acting very promptly."
January 2017
A new research assistant, Kathryn, has started.
October 2016
New PhD students, Charlotte and Pedro, have started.
August 2016
The centre created glass arts and had an exhibition in Glass House at Botanical Garden in Edinburgh. It includes Fiona's work inspired by a meiotic spindle, and Mila and Hiro engaged conversations with general public about art and science.
August 2016
A new postdoc, Ricardo, has started.
July 2016
Congratulations to Mila and Manuel. Their paper on a histone demethylase (Lid/Kdm5) in meiotic chromosome architecture has just been accepted for publication in PLoS Genetics!
June 2016
Mila was selected to give a talk at Gordon Research Seminar on meiosis, and presented her research as a poster at Gordon Research Conference on meiosis (both in New Hampshire, USA). Hiro also presented Pierre's work as a poster at the same Gordon Research Conference.
April 2016
In the past year, Manuel, Robin, Mariana, Pierre and Mila won talk or poster prizes in various meetings. Very successful year for Ohkura lab!
April 2016
The biennial internal symposium was held at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology in attendance of the international scientific advisory board. Hiro gave a talk on an exciting new finding of the lab. Mariana and Mila presented their new findings as posters. Mila won the best poster prize! Well done to Mila!
April 2016
Pierre gave a selected talks, and Mila and Mariana presented posters in British Meiosis meeting in London. Pierre won the best talk prize, and Mariana won a poster prize! Well done to Pierre and Mariana!
March 2016
Mila, Mariana and Sophie helped Science Festival in Dunbar. Thanks to all people who shared a fun with us.
February 2016
Hiro is nominated by an undergraduate student for EUSA best overall teacher award. "Always kind and approachable, clear lecture note. Excited about his field."
December 2015
Our sentin paper is chosen for this month's Journal Club and Biosight (Podcast) in J Cell Biol. You can download our paper (PDF) and Poadcast from JCB Journal Club without subscription.
November 2015
Robin, Ian and Hiro helped a drop-in microscope demonstration "Life through lens" at the Botanical Gardens Edinburgh. Thanks to all people who shared a fun with us.
November 2015
Congratulations to Agata, Fiona and Mariana. Their paper on roles of Sentin in kinetochore-microtubule attachment in oocytes has just been accepted for publication in J Cell Biol!
October 2015
Congratulations to Agata. Her collaborative paper with Dr McKim's lab on roles of kinetochores in oocytes has just been published in PLoS Genetics!
September 2015
Robin presented a poster on spindle bipolarity in Drosophila oocytes at the EMBO Workshop on Cell Cycle in Budapest.
August 2015
Hiro gave an invited talk on chromatin attachment to nuclear pores, and Manuel and Fiona presented posters on chromatin organisation and kinetochore-microtubule attachment in oocytes at the EMBO Conference on Meiosis in Oxford.
August 2015
Congratulations to Manuel. His paper on chromatin attachment to nuclear pores has just been accepted for publication in Genes & Development!
July 2015
Hiro demonstrated and taught their fly dissection skills to school pupils in a "Kickstart" event. They enjoyed an experience of what a life at a university is like.
June 2015
A collaborative work with Dr. Yasu Saka's lab (Aberdeen) on a mathematical model for bipolar chromosome attachment in mitosis and meiosis has just been accepted for publication in BMC Biology!
May 2015
Mariana was selected to give a talk at the Scottish Drosophila Meeting in St Andrews, and presented her work on spindle maturation in oocytes. Manuel and Robin presented posters.
April 2015
Pierre was selected to give a talk at the British Microtubule Meeting in Edinburgh, and presented his work on a novel microtubule nucleation pathway specific to meiosis. Mariana, Fiona and Robin presented posters.
April 2015
The Wellcome Trust Centre had a bi-annual symposium (Centre retreat) in Pitlochry, Scotland. Congratulations to Robin! Robin's talk at the meeting has been selected for the best talk prize. He presented his work on the new role of 14-3-3 in spindle bipolarity in oocytes. Pierre and Mila presented posters on their works. Finally Pierre won archery competition! A successful retreat for the Ohkura lab.
February 2015
Manuel and Robin were selected for talks, and Pierre and Mila presented posters in British Meiosis meeting in Newcastle. Manuel won the best talk prize! Well done to Manuel!
February 2015
Congratulations to Robin. His paper on CLIP proteins in Drosophila and mammalian neurone has just been accepted in Molecular Biology of the Cell!
December 2014
Congratulations to Elvira. Her paper on new chromosome condensation factors in oocytes has just been accepted in J Cell Sci!
December 2014
Ponsit, a visiting PhD student for 6 months, has arrived from Thailand.
November 2014
Hiro is nominated for an EUSA teaching award by an undergraduate student for the best feedback. "I thank him for encouraging me rather than making me doubt myself. Thank you."
November 2014
A joint lab retreat was held together with Julie Welburn's lab at Medowbank Sport Centre. We had discussion sessions on each other's projects and milestones, and scientific fraud. We also enjoyed playing badminton. Special thanks to Sandeep and Pierre who organised the retreat!
November 2014
Hiro helped a drop-in microscope demonstration "Life through lens" at the Botanical Gardens Edinburgh. Thanks to all people who shared a fun with us.
Oct 2014
Robin and Pierre presented their recent findings as a poster at Jaques Monod Conference on Cell Cycle, held in Roscoff, France.
July 2014
Congratulations to Sara. Her paper on Drosophila Kank has just been accepted in PLoS ONE!
July 2014
Manuel, Fiona and Hiro demonstrated and taught their fly dissection skills to school pupils in a "Kickstart" event. They enjoyed an experience of what a life at a university is like.
June 2014
Congratulations to Dr. Elvira! Elvira has defended her PhD viva successfully.
June 2014
Manuel was selected to give a talk at Gordon Research Seminar on meiosis, and presented his research as a poster at Gordon Research Conference on meiosis (both in New Hampshire, USA). Hiro gave an invited talk at the same Gordon Research Conference.
April 2014
Congratulations to Dr. Agata! Agata has defended her PhD viva successfully.
March 2014
Adele Marston and Hiro organised the British Meiosis Meeting 2014 with great success. Special thanks to all who attended. Elvira gave her talk on chromosome condensation. Congratulations to Manuel for winning the poster prize!
March 2014
Hiro is invited for the 2015 EMBO conference on Meiosis (Oxford).
March 2014
A lab retreat was held at Malmaison Hotel in Leith on 13 March. We had had lively discussion on the latest progress report from each, with a visit to Royal Yacht Britania. Special thanks to Manuel who organised the retreat!
Feb 2014
Mariana, a new PhD student, has arrived from Portugal.
Jan 2014
Hiro is nominated for an EUSA teaching award by an undergraduate student. "His lectures were truly inspiring... Dr. Ohkura managed to keep the students' interest and attention for the whole 50 min of his every lecture... talk about complicated scientific matters without becoming vague and while still remaining very enjoyable and humorous way."
Jan 2014
A happy new year! Congratulations to Karolina. Her paper on EB1 and EB3 aptamers has just been accepted in Molecular Biology of the Cell!
Nov 2013
Hiro is invited for the 2014 Gordon Meiosis Conference (New England).
Nov 2013
A joint lab retreat was held together with Julie Welburn's lab at Edinburgh International Climbing Arena on 21 Nov. We had discussion sessions on each other's projects and milestones, and paper writing. Special thanks to Sarah and Robin who organised the retreat!
Nov 2013
Congratulations to Dr. Sara! Sara has defended her PhD viva successfully.
Nov 2013
The lab has won the 3rd prize for the Centre Halloween pumpkin competition!
Nov 2013
Hiro helped a drop-in microscope demonstration "Life through lens" at the Botanical Gardens Edinburgh. Thanks to all people who shared a fun with us.
Nov 2013
A lab retreat was held at the Pollock Hall (Edinburgh) on 4 Nov. Each presented his/her latest progress and had lively discussion. Special thanks to Pierre who organised the retreat!
Oct 2013
Elvira, Sara and Manuel presented their recent findings as posters at the European Drosophila Research Conference in Barcelona. Hiro chaired the cell cycle session and gave a talk.
Oct 2013
Manuel presented his recent findings as a poster at EMBO Conference, Nuclear Structure and Dynamics, held in France.
Sept 2013
Congratulations to Dr. Karolina! Karolina has defended her PhD viva successfully.
Sept 2013
Mila, a new PhD student, has arrived from Belarus.
Sept 2013
Fiona presented a poster and Hiro gave an invited talk at EMBO Workshop, Drosophila Cell Division Cycle, held in Devon. Both presentation were well received.
July 2013
Congratulations to Heather. Her paper on cell cycle regulation of MAPs has just been accepted in Molecular and Cellular Proteomics!
July 2013
A lab retreat was held at the Waddington Building (Edinburgh) on 29 July. Each presented his/her latest progress and had lively discussion. Special thanks to Elvira who organised the retreat!
June 2013
Congratulations to Nick. His collaborative paper on CLIP-190 mutants has just been accepted in J. Cell Biology!
June 2013
Agata gave a talk on her PhD work in the annual symposium of the Wellcome Trust PhD programme in Cell Biology. Her talk was well received by the audience.
April 2013
Congratulations to Nathalie, Agata and Ana. Their paper on meiosis-specific regulation of Augmin has just been accepted in PLoS Genetics!
April 2013
A lab retreat was held at the Botanical Garden (Edinburgh) on 25 April. Each presented his/her latest progress. Special thanks to Karolina who organised the retreat!
April 2013
The Wellcome Trust Centre had a bi-annual symposium (Centre retreat) in Windermere, Lake District. Congratulations to Heather! Heather's poster at the meeting has been selected for the best poster prize. She presented her proteomics-based multilayered study of microtubule regulation in the cell cycle.
March 2013
Hiro gave an invited talk at the British Meiosis Meeting in Cambridge. Adele and Hiro will organise the next year's meeting in Edinburgh.
March 2013
Hiro is invited to speak at the EMBO Cell Division Cycle Workshop (Exeter) in September.
January 2013
The STEM Society at Craigmont High School (Edinburgh) invited Hiro to give a talk. After a short talk, Hiro together with Sara, Karolina and Sarah (Centre outreach manager) showed students chromosomes, cells and small lives under microscopes.
January 2013
Hiro is invited to chair the cell cycle session at European Drosophila Research Conference (Barcelona) in October.
January 2013
A new postdoc, Robin Beaven, has arrived from Manchester.
December 2012
Elvira gave a talk on her new findings in the annual ICB/ISMB symposium held at The Royal College of Physician, Edinburgh.
December 2012
Hiro is nominated by an undergraduate student for an EUSA Teaching award.
November 2012
Benjamin's work received wide news coverages. They include BBC1 (Scotland), Forth Radio, The Scotsman, The Glasgow Herald, Daily Express, Daily Scottish Mail, Daily Record, Irish Examiner, Irish Evening Herald, Dundee Courier, Metro and various web sites (BBC, SKy, Yahoo). Well done to Benjamin and our press officer Manuel!
October 2012
Agata presented her new findings in a poster at the EMBO meeting on kinetochores and centromeres held in Barcelona.
October 2012
A new postdoc, Pierre Rome, has arrived from France.
September 2012
A lab retreat was held in Waddington Building on 10th September. Each presented his/her latest progress. Special thanks to Heather S who organised and provided wonderful handmade food!
August 2012
The ISAB symposium was held on 30th, 31st August at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology. Hiro gave a talk on an exciting new finding of the lab. Elvira and Manuel presented their new findings as posters.
August 2012
Hiro has been invited to talk at the 5th British Meiosis Meeting held on 27th, 28th March 2013 in Cambridge.
August 2012
We are advertising a postdoc position in the Ohkura lab. The formal advertisement can be found in www.jobs.ed.ac.uk (vacancy reference 3016036). We are very keen to recruit an enthusiastic and talented researcher. If you are interested in it, please contact Hiro.
August 2012
At the end of the month the ISAB symposium is traditionally held in the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology. Hiro is presenting an exciting new finding of the lab.
July 2012
Congratulations to Benjamin and Fiona, whose paper on SRPKs role in karyosome formation and spindle assembly has just been accepted in The Journal of Cell Science!
July 2012
Manuel, Nathalie, Fiona and Hiro demonstrated their fly skills to school pupils as a part of Kickstart. The students learnt how to dissect testes out of fruit fly, and observed meiosis under a microscope.
June 2012
Karolina presented a poster at the EMBO Microtubule workshop in Heidelberg. She discussed her recent finding on peptide aptamers of microtubule reuglating proteins.
May 2012
The Ohkura Lab proudly announces the successful application of Professor Ohkura for the third renewal of his Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship! Hiro is the first person to whom The Trust has awarded the fourth term of the fellowship. A five-year-grant will be given to the research on key questions in meiosis in Drosophila oocytes.
March 2012
Elvira and Benjamin presented posters at British Meiosis meeting in Birmingham. Elvira and Benjamin discussed their findings on mutants defective in chromosome alignment, and the role of SRPK in karyosome formation and spindle assemly in oocytes.
February 2012
Congratulations to Nathalie! Her collaborative study with Profs Raff and St Johnston labs on the role of a gamma-tubulin regulatory subunit in oocytes has been accepted to publication in Biology Open.
December 2011
Congratulations to Manuel! Manuel's poster at Scottish Drosophila meeting has been selected for the best poster prize. He presented his new finding on the karyosome in oocytes.
December 2011
Congratulations to Heather! Her collaborative study with Dr Hardwick and Prof Rappsilber labs on phosphorylation in spindle checkpoint has been accepted to publication in Current Biology.