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Megan Agajanian, graduate student in Ben Major’s lab, successfully defended her PhD, “Kinase regulation of WNT signaling” Feb. 16.

Megan Agajanian, first place poster winner at Lineberger retreat
Dr. Megan Agajanian

Megan will begin a postdoc at Stanford University with Dr. Roel Nusse this summer.

Among her accomplishments, Megan was the recipient of a prestigious HHMI Gilliam Fellowship in 2018. The award provided support for her research on the cascade of proteins that make up the WNT signaling pathway.  This pathway is critical for embryonic development and is commonly misregulated across diseases, including numerous cancer types, bone density disease and several neurodegenerative diseases. The focus of her research was the AAK1 protein, a kinase the Major lab identified as an inhibitor of WNT signaling.

Megan also earned a F31 fellowship and an F99/K00 fellowship that will accompany her to her new postdoc position.

Congratulations to our new Dr. Agajanian! We wish you all the best!