Welcome to the Dallman Lab Website!
  Our research uses zebrafish to better understand how changes in genes affect behavior.
News Fall 2022
  • Melissa Ifidzhen will be joining UMBio to pursue her PhD and is rotating in the lab this fall.  Welcome Melissa!
News Summer 2022
  • Pilot Blue muffin study in people with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome and SYNGAP1 launches at Atrium Health led by Dr. Baharak Moshiree with help from Dr. Jessica Sang and amazing coordinators Jessica Kearney-Bryan, Jamie Crawford, and Li Thomanzetto-Finzetto. Thank you to participating families!
  • Graduate Student Sureni Sumathipala successfully defends her dissertation work on "Context-dependent hyperactivity in syngap1a and syngap1b zebrafish models of ASD/ID." She will be moving to North Carolina in September to start her post doctoral training with Kurt Marsden https://bio.sciences.ncsu.edu/people/kcmarsde/.  Congratulations Dr. Sumathipala!
  • Graduate student Elizabeth Davidson attends the International Zebrafish Conference in Montreal and gets lots of feedback on her work using genetically encoded calcium indicators to quantify nutrient-sensing in zebrafish models of SYNGAP1 syndrome. Congratulations Elizabeth!
  • Masters student Millie Rogers transfers to the PhD program.  Congratulations Millie!
  • With support form the Simon's Foundation, rising senior Suha Khan is hired as a technician to help outcross and genotype the shank3abC ASD model for submission to  the Zebrafish International Resource Center in Eugene Oregon. Congratulations Suha!  
  • Rising senior Nathalie Doherty is awarded a UM Beyond the Books Fellowship to conduct summer research.  Congratulations Nathalie!  
  • Rising senior Fabrizio Darby is selected to participate in the BP-ENDURE Neuroscience Pipeline summer program at Washington University in St Louis. Congratulations Fabrizio! 
  • Rising junior Asia Almarales is selected for a summer SPARK internship at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Congratulations Asia!
  • Julia, April Mann, Barbara Whitlock, Adina Sanchez-Garcia, and Nikki Traylor-Knowles attend STEM write Institute at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to learn strategies for using writing in large lecture classes as a way to enhance learning. Though we were warned it would be hot, we Miamians found the weather quite refreshing.
News Spring 2022
  • Julia attends SFARI PI meeting in NYC in springtime!
  • Julia presents lab research at Keystone Symposium Conference on the Gut Brain Axis in Banff Canada. 
  • Julia and Dr. Baha Moshiree talk at the NIH R13-sponsored Candid Conference focusing on the need for more research into the underlying causes of gastrointestinal symptoms in autism http://www.candidgi.com/presentations/
  • Jessica Sang, a GI Fellow working with Dr. Baha Moshiree wins Wake Forest Shark Tank for her project “Constipation Blues: A Novel Non-Invasive Gut Transit Test”. that uses a web application, Stripes Symptom Tracker and a Blue Muffin meal, prepared the Naked Tart Bakery  as a non-invasive, objective measure of gut motility that can be done at home.
News Fall 2021
  • Undergraduate Asia Almarales joins the lab!  Welcome!
  • Our work is highlighted in an article from Spectrum by Sarah Deweerdt: https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/what-studying-worms-flies-and-fish-says-about-autism/
  • Julia Dallman participates in the third annual synapse round table at the American Epilepsy Society: https://www.syngapresearchfund.org/webinars/3rd-annual-synapse-roundtable
News Summer 2021
  • Undergraduates Caroline Baum, Vic Song, and Natalie Doherty join the lab!  Welcome!
  • Collaboration with Dr. Baharak Moshiree, Dr. Andres Jimenez Gomes, and Dylan Baker to better understand GI symptoms in people with Phelan McDermid Syndrome and SYNGAP1 gets going with the first virtual session June 30th.  Thank you to all participants!
News-Spring 2021
  • See a webinar from April that outlines our integrative approach to understanding GI and neurological comorbidities:​https://www.syngapresearchfund.org/webinars/an-integrated-approach-to-investigating-gi-and-neurological-comorbidities-caused-by-syngap1-with-drs-dallman-jimenez-moshiree
  • See our review "The Gut-Brain-Microbiome Axis and Its Link to Autism: Emerging Insights and the Potential of Zebrafish Models" published in Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 15 April 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.662916 spearheaded by David James with coauthors Elizabeth Davidson, Julio Yanes, Baharak Moshiree, and Julia Dallman.
  • Preprint of co-first authors Rob Kozol and David James show importance of a brainstem nucleus for a visually-evoked behavior in a two zebrafish models of Phelan-McDermid Syndrome https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-83115/v1 
  • Our highly collaborative study is out today! "Elevated preoptic brain activity in zebrafish glial glycine transporter mutants is linked to lethargy-like behaviors and delayed emergence from anesthesia" in Scientific Reports https://rdcu.be/ceK1m It has been years in the making, is based on a patient case study that provided the motivation for an undergraduate neuroscience lab that I designed when I first arrived at UM 14 years ago. In the case study, a young girl with a genetic condition is anesthetized for a surgery, and when the anesthetic is removed, she does not wake up over the expected time-course. We used a zebrafish model of the genetic condition to show that we could mimic the delayed emergence from anesthesia seen in the girl and identified the altered brain activity in the zebrafish that likely accounts for the delayed emergence described in the case study. 
News-Fall 2020​
  • Dallman and Rawls labs initiate a new collaboration 'Gut intrinsic mechanisms of gastrointestinal dysmotiliy in animal models of ASD.' funded by a SFARI Pilot Award from the Simon's Foundation.
  • Basic Science/Clinical collaboration between Dallman lab, Dr. Baharak Moshiree, and Dr. Andres Jimenez Gomez examining links between GI and neurological symptoms in ASD   is recognized by a Center of Excellence designation from the Bridge the Gap Foundation. https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5e7ced60aea037a7057ea9cb/5effd1c7b01d26cf598dea8b_SYNGAP1%20Resource%20GUIDE%20(2)_2020_Small.pdf
  • Development of a non-invasive whole gut transit assay for children, 'Smurf Cakes' developed with Dr. Baharak Moshiree as well as work from the Dallman lab are highlighted in an article written by Peter Hess from Spectrum News. https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/zebrafish-and-smurf-cakes-link-autism-gene-mutation-to-digestive-woes​
News-Summer 2020​
  • Work from the Dallman lab and live zebrafish are part of the Power of Science exhibit at Frost Science! https://www.frostscience.org/exhibition/powerofscience/
  • #Black Lives Matter
    In the Dallman lab, we aim to foster a research environment that is welcoming.  We are committed to taking a stand against all forms of racism.  We strive to promote lab culture that helps to equalize opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds.  By listening to and learning from one another, we believe that we can make a safer, more inspiring and more productive workplace to improve both science and society. This is a living document we will revisit and amend once per semester.
  • Labs on the Coral Gables Campus are initiating the first round of returning to research with SOPs for shift work, PPE, and physical distancing.​
News-Spring 2020​ News-Fall 2019
  • Ann Goulart joins the lab.  Welcome Annie!
  • Congratulations to David James--selected for a talk @ Zebrafish Neural Circuits & Behavior, Cold Spring Harbor NY, November 20-23 (2019)
  • ​Congratulations to Hamzeh Alturk (undergraduate)--he won the 2019 ABRCMS presentation award in the Neuroscience section, Anaheim CA November 13-16 (2019). 
  • Sandra and Julia organize the first Southeast Regional Zebrafish Conference at Fairchild Tropical Garden December 13, 2019​
  • Congratulations to Ivan Varela- wins best undergraduate poster award @ SRZC.  
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