Online Adolescent and Adult Vaccine Quiz from the CDC

Well chalk this one up into the “helpful” category. The CDC has released an interactive online quiz about vaccine recommendations. The quiz itself asks about your sex, age, your exposure to certain environments (i.e. frequent travel to other countries), and a small amount of your medical history. Once you’ve filled out the 11 questions and submitted you’ll see a list of suggested vaccines. Adolescent and … Continue reading Online Adolescent and Adult Vaccine Quiz from the CDC »

The Kast Lab focuses in on microscope history at the Dutch School of Southern California

This previous weekend we had four members of The Kast Lab get into character, teach, and educate students at the Dutch School of Southern California on the importance of microscopes, invented by Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.   Did you know that Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch scientist that is credited with creating the first microscope?   Well, during the celebration of Dutch Scientists … Continue reading The Kast Lab focuses in on microscope history at the Dutch School of Southern California »

Martin highlights rare disease work at USC Norris Ambassador luncheon

On Thursday October 22 W Martin Kast gave an enlightening talk to during a Friends and Family luncheon titled, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About HPV, Cervical, and Head & Neck Cancers, but were afraid to ask.” The USC Norris Ambassadors learned of the unique research being done by Martin Kast, PhD, and his lab during a Friends and Family Luncheon on Oct. 22. … Continue reading Martin highlights rare disease work at USC Norris Ambassador luncheon »

Julia Taylor Honored with Young Investigator Award

On Friday, August 21st Kast lab member Julia Taylor was given a young investigator award at Moving Targets 2015. Julia presented a poster outlining recent work published by several members of the lab entitled “Human papillomavirus-exposed Langerhans cells are activated by stabilized Poly-I:C,” and was 1 of 3 graduate students chosen from the 44 individuals presenting work at the conference. The translational science behind that … Continue reading Julia Taylor Honored with Young Investigator Award »

Top Prize Won in 2015 BeHEARD Rare Disease Science Challenge

For more background and up to date information on the Treeman project, visit our new research page dedicated to this topic. The Kast Labs very own Martin Kast,  Joseph Skeate, and Andrew Woodham were awarded an “Ultimate” prize in the 2015 BeHEARD Rare Disease Science Challenge from The Rare Genomics Institute. The prize, provided by Cypher Genomics (valued between $50,000-$100,000), will help us finally push … Continue reading Top Prize Won in 2015 BeHEARD Rare Disease Science Challenge »

Immunology LA 2015

This previous Friday we had members of The Kast Lab attend and participate in the 5th annual Immunology LA conference! Joseph Skeate and Julia Taylor both presented work during the day, and Dr. Kast chaired the session on Translational Immunology and Immunotherapy.   Joseph was one of 12 individuals throughout the day that was selected to give an oral presentation. He took the stage and … Continue reading Immunology LA 2015 »

H-index upgrade!

    W. Martin Kast’s H-index recently edged up to 64. It is believed that any scientist with an H-index over 60 is considered a “truly unique” individual within a given field, and we know this to be true about Martin! Congrats Martin!   The H-index is a measurement of both productivity and scientific impact in the peer-reviewed community.

Martin Teaches Parents About HPV at USC-NAI

This previous weekend Dr. W Martin Kast gave a presentation in both English and Spanish at the USC Neighborhood Academic Initiatives (NAI) Saturday Academy.   Dr. Kast spoke with 200 NAI (mostly Latino) parents about HPV induced cervical cancer and the importance of vaccinating their children (both boys and girls) with Gardasil. Brenda Farfan was a fabulous English/Spanish translator for the event! What made Martin’s … Continue reading Martin Teaches Parents About HPV at USC-NAI »

Joseph Skeate Awarded Research Fellowship

We are proud to announce that our new/renewed student, Joseph Skeate, has been awarded a 1-year Keck/Graduate School Ph.D. Fellowship for his studies starting in the fall of 2015. This winter Joseph was accepted into the Programs in Biomedical and Biological Sciences (PIBBS) program at the Keck School of Medicine and we are thrilled that he will be continuing his education here at USC. The … Continue reading Joseph Skeate Awarded Research Fellowship »