Meet the new faculty who are expanding LSI's footprint across campus

In 2000, the University of Michigan broke ground on a building with a unique mission: to bring together researchers from across scientific disciplines and collocate them in one space where they could spark new collaborations and innovative approaches to biological problems. Since then, all the faculty members of the Life Sciences Institute operate their research labs in what is now Mary Sue Coleman Hall, while holding joint appointments in academic departments across campus.

This fall, for the first time, the LSI is expanding its reach beyond the walls of Mary Sue Coleman Hall with the addition of two new faculty members. Assistant Professor Chelsey Spriggs, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Jay Brito Querido, Ph.D. are full members of the LSI faculty but will maintain their labs within their academic departments.

“The expertise of both Dr. Spriggs and Dr. Brito Querido dovetail perfectly with the LSI’s strengths and cutting-edge technological resources in structural and chemical biology,” says LSI Director Roger Cone, Ph.D. “The time is right to grow our institute’s reach and impact — and allowing faculty appointments outside the building enables this growth while also fostering even greater opportunities for cross-department collaboration.”

The Spriggs lab is located in the Biological Science Research Building, where Spriggs holds an appointment as assistant professor of cell & developmental biology at the U-M Medical School. Brito Querido will maintain his lab in the Medical Sciences Research Building as part of the Department of Biological Chemistry.

Meet the new faculty: