Cheeseman Lab

Meet a Whitehead Postdoc: Ally Nguyen
Postdoc Profile

Ally Nguyen is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman’s lab investigating genes involved in chromosome segregation during mitosis. We sat down with Nguyen to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

The Caf: A Kendall Square Institution
Whitehead Culture

For nearly 30 years, Salt Creek Catering — led by husband-and-wife team Jim Nally and Tina Truedson — has served Whitehead Institute with delicious food made in-house and reasonably priced. The Whitehead Cafeteria, affectionately known as “the Caf,” is a nexus of the Institute’s community as well as a culinary keystone for people working around Kendall Square. 

Meet a Whitehead Postdoc: Leah Bury
Postdoc Profile

Leah Bury  is a postdoc in the lab of Whitehead Member Iain Cheeseman, where her research is focused on understanding transcription of DNA into RNA at the centromere, a region of the chromosome important in cell division.

Architecture of protein complex hints at its foundational function in chromosome segregation
Protein form and function

The Constitutive Centromere-Associated Network (CCAN) plays a foundational role in the machine that directs chromosome segregation during cell division. On the left is a model of the complete machine (the kinetochore) attached to the microtubule that provides the power for chromosome segregation. The right side depicts the direct interactions between CCAN sub-complexes based on Whitehead scientists’ research as viewed from above the CENP-A nucleosome, either occuring on a single nucleosome (top) or or between two nucleosomes (bottom).”