Congrats to Danielle Swingle for her outstanding PhD defense talk and Q&A on Sept 27, wrapping up the work required for her Ph.D. in the GC Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry. Danielle’s done a great job blending biochemistry, biophysics, and a slate of structural biology methods to advance our studies of bacterial two-component signaling systems – particularly in highlighting how the “standard behavior” of the signaling molecules are (and are not) applicable to new proteins and pathways.  Great examples of this in her 2023 JBC manuscript, and excited by how she built on this in her dissertation work and upcoming paper.

Beyond this, great to see Danielle’s impact on the lab – she’s an excellent scientist, communicator, and improver of the world around her.  Great to see that recognized in many ways, including the broad mix of colleagues, friends, and family both at the ASRC and online for her defense.  Really proud to see another concrete reminder that while a Ph.D. is an ultimate recognition of individual effort and discovery, it is continually supported by spheres of people both within and outside academia.

Finally – thanks again for the key parts played by others, including Danielle’s committee: long-time friend and colleague Sean Crosson (traveling from Michigan State to join in person!), Daniel Keedy (ASRC), Ruth Stark (CCNY), and Derrick Brazill (York College).  Danielle’s use of a rich mix of structural biology methods, from X-ray crystallography to solution NMR to HDX-MS was aided by three research faculty at the ASRC Structural Biology Initiative (Drs. Eta Isiorho, Denize Favaro, and Rinat Abzalimov), yet another example of the rich collaborative environment on our city block among us, CCNY’s Center for Discovery and Innovation and New York Structural Biology Center.