Current projects are led by Jim, Cathy, or run as a multi-PI collaboration. Every project pairs a biological question with new measurement technology.
Led by Jim & Cathy
We discovered that actin treadmilling drives compartmentalized cytoplasmic flows, or “tradewinds,” that carry soluble proteins to the cell’s leading edge. This is a previously unknown principle of intracellular organization. We are now asking how migrating cells control where and when soluble proteins are delivered, and how flow and molecular retention together shape protein availability across the cell.
See Nat Commun 2026 and the Curr Biol Dispatch
Led by Cathy & Jim
Cell migration and adhesion drive cancer metastasis, tissue development and wound healing. We map how the molecular organization of adhesions and the actin cytoskeleton turns extracellular-matrix probing into directed migration, and we work toward forecasting a cell’s behavior from its molecular organization.
Current support: National Science Foundation
Led by Cathy
To see individual proteins in living cells, you need to control when fluorescent molecules turn on and off. With the Lavis Lab at HHMI Janelia, Cathy established a practical framework for using spontaneously blinking dyes for live-cell super-resolution imaging and SOFI. These dyes switch on and off by themselves, without harsh chemicals or damaging light (watch the video). We also work to lower the technical and financial barriers to super-resolution so that smaller and non-specialist labs can use it.
See Nat Methods 2026 · Support: HHMI Janelia Visiting Scientist program
Led by Jim
Jim designs and builds the lab’s custom microscopes. With W.M. Keck Foundation support, the lab developed “pointillized microscopy,” tools to visualize and control molecular dynamics across a single cell. Earlier, with collaborators, Jim and Cathy helped bring super-resolution (PALM, iPALM) and Bessel-beam light-sheet microscopy into living cells.
Past support: W.M. Keck Foundation (“Pointillized microscopy”); HHMI Janelia Advanced Imaging Center
How actin treadmilling creates flows that carry proteins to the front of a migrating cell.
How dyes that switch on and off by themselves let us see individual proteins in living cells, without harsh chemicals or damaging light.
mo·lec·u·lome \mə-ˈle-kyə-lōm\
A characterization of the reproducible molecular behaviors that give rise to a specific cellular function. This can be the dynamics of an individual molecule, or the reorganization of a structure composed of one or more molecular species in time and space.