Alyssa’s dissertation work was accepted at Development! Well done to Alyssa and all the authors who contributed.

november 2024


The MKW lab attended the International Zebrafish Conference in Kyoto, Japan! Ailen was selected for a talk and Chris and Margaret presented posters. What a great opportunity to share our work and meet with our fellow zebrafishers!

august 2024


DDMT student Adya Verma joined us for her first laboratory rotation. Welcome!

july 2024


Our lab’s very first graduate student, Alyssa Emig, successfully defended her dissertation! Congratulations to the newly minted Dr. Emig!!

june 2024


june 2024

UAB undergraduate student Tosin Sanusi has joined us for the summer through the BCM SMART program. Welcome, and we hope you enjoy your first wet lab experience!


april 2024

Grad student Shania Pintor will be pursuing her PhD work in our lab, and we couldn’t be more excited!


february 2024

Grad student Alyssa Emig’s dissertation work is out as a preprint! She shows that the temporal dynamics of morphogen signaling, including Nodal and BMP, can determine which tissue in an embryo undergoes morphogenesis. Hooray!


november 2023

Our lab’s first preprint is on BioRXiv! We show that neural tube development in zebrafish is more similar to mammals than we thought, highlighting their potential for modeling neural tube defects. Congrats to first author Jacie!


CCB graduate student Shania Pintor joined the lab for her second rotation… welcome, Shania!

october 2023


Grad student Alyssa won the Society for Developmental Biology Paul Henion award. Way to go!

july 2023


The entire lab traveled to the Stafford STEM academy to introduce elementary and middle school students to scientific research and the zebrafish system. It was a lot of work, but getting young people engaged in science is worth it! Thanks to the whole lab for your hard work!

june 2023


may 2023

Grad student Margaret Eisenbrandt has joined the MKW lab for her dissertation work. Welcome, Margaret…we’re delighted to have you on board!


april 2023

The MKW lab publishes its first collaborative preprint with the Mosimann and Burger labs at University of Colorado Anschutz. Congrats to first author Agnese and to our own Jacie MacGowan for her contributions!


march 2023

Postdoc Ailen won second prize for the MCB department retreat poster session… after only 6 months in the lab! Congratulations!


march 2023

The MKW lab welcomes first year graduate student Margaret Eisenbrandt for a lab rotation… we are excited to have you join the team!


december 2022

Grad student Alyssa received the notice of award for her NIH F31 fellowship… congratulations on this well deserved honor!


november 2022

The MKW lab attended the Southwest Regional SDB meeting in Austin, which Margot helped organize. We saw old friends, made some new ones, and Alyssa won a poster prize!


Dr. Ailen Soledad Cervino has joined the MKW lab as a postdoctoral researcher… we are so excited to have you in the lab, Ailen!

october 2022


August 2022

The MKW lab welcomes first year students Angel Andrews and Tessa Steenwinkel for their term 1 rotations!


July 2022

Our review article entitled Gastrulation morphogenesis in synthetic systems is now in press! It is part of a special ‘Synthetic Biology’ issue of Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. Congrats to first author Alyssa Emig!


june 2022

The MKW lab received its first R01 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development! This generous grant will fund our work on the fundamental mechanisms of tissue-specific morphogenesis.


june 2022

Grad student Alyssa Emig was honored with the prestigious Bert W. O’Malley, M.D. Student Scholar in Medical Research Award. Way to go, Alyssa!


june 2022

The MKW lab has 2 new members… welcome to our new Research Assistant Colby Allred and SMART program summer student Megan Hansen!


february 2022

Margot was featured in Development’s “Transitions in development” interview series! Check it out here.


january 2022

MSTP student Joshua Keefe joins for his term 3 lab rotation… welcome, Josh!


The very first publication from our young lab has been accepted for publication in JoVE. Congratulations to first author Alyssa!

June 2021


Undergraduate student Fariz Nazir joins the lab for the summer through BCM SMART program. Happy to have you on board, Fariz!

June 2021


may 2021

First year graduate student Yasmeen Hamed joined the lab for her third rotation. Welcome, Yasmeen!


may 2021

Postdoc Chris Small won 2nd place for his Southwest regional SDB flash talk… go, Chris, go!


March 2021

Grad student Alyssa passed her qualifying exam with flying colors and is now an official PhD candidate! Congratulations, Alyssa!


March 2021

Dr. Chris Small has officially joins the lab as our first postdoc… Welcome, Chris!


Soon-to-be postdoc Chris successfully defended his dissertation… Congratulations, Dr. Small! We are looking forward to having you join us here in Houston soon.

February 2021


DDMT student Mara Cardenas joins the lab for her term 2 lab rotation! Welcome, Mara!

October 2020


July 2020

Alyssa Alaniz was awarded a competitive TPEHS predoctoral training grant! Congratulations, Alyssa!


Margot was awarded the 2020 Chi-Bin Chien award by the International Zebrafish Society, which recognizes contributions to zebrafish research by early stage investigators.

April 2020


April 2020

The lab received an NIEHS P30 pilot project grant to expand its research into environmental factors affecting neural tube development!


february 2020

Welcome to our first graduate student, Alyssa Alaniz!


The lab welcomes its first member (other than Margot), Jacie MacGowan!

january 2020


The Williams lab opens its doors in the Center for Precision Environmental Health at Baylor College of Medicine… We are SO excited to get started!

November 2019