Featured Research

Elias Spiliotis, Associate Professor of Biology

Dr. Spiliotis was awarded an R35 grant for his project “Spatial control of membrane traffic by septin GTPases” from the National Institutes of Health. This is particularly exciting as it is only the second R35 grant that Drexel has been awarded. The NIH R35 award, also known as the Outstanding Investigator Award, supports research “in the laboratories of the nation’s most talented and promising investigators.” Work in the Spiliotis lab investigates how specialized cell types such as epithelia and neurons establish and maintain their three-dimensional organization and architecture. Dr. Spiliotis focuses on a family of proteins called septins in these processes. This R35 award will not only help us advance our basic understanding of epithelial and neuronal cell biology, but also be important in developing potential therapies for diseases associated with septin mutations, such as cancer.