Moved to https://t.co/qqX1gi2P81! Biophysics of Mitosis @institutrb, @EMBO member; Ex Group Leader @mpicbg, PD @UNI_FIRENZE, @uni_copenhagen, PhD @PMFZAGREB
Beyond thrilled to share that I've been elected as a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU)! Deeply grateful to my group at @institutrb, collaborators, mentors, and family, I didn't get here alone. Photo is from my associate membership, a new one coming soon!
Best paper awards at the Ruđer Bošković Institute 🎉 Thrilled that four of my PhD students and I received an award for our paper “Microtubule poleward flux as a target for modifying chromosome segregation errors.”
We love @SrceHr (“Srce” means “Heart”), our University Computing Center and an amazing collaborator! It was great to give a talk at "Days of e-Infrastructure" and celebrate SRCE’s 55th anniversary. Happy birthday, SRCE! 🎉 #SrceDEI2026
What an inspiring few days in Dubrovnik at #SpindleCroatia2026, which @nenad_pavin and I organized for the 4th time. Outstanding science and many warm reunions with colleagues from around the world! Huge thanks to the whole spindle community!!
I’m tenured! Thank you so much to everyone here, mentors, lab mates, colleagues, and the meiosis/centromere community for your support. This achievement was made possible by all the hard work by my amazing lab members over the past 6 years!🥳
In the closing talk of #SpindleCroatia2026, Helder Maiato @mitosisrocks discussed how dividing cells adapt to karyotype evolution. Using Indian muntjac (2N=6/7) and Chinese muntjac (2N=46) cells, they showed that high chromosome number is a critical mitotic vulnerability.
Monica Gobran @LenartLab showed that when CDK1 is partially inhibited, nuclear pores begin to disassemble, but the overall structure of the nuclear envelope remains intact, similar to closed mitosis. The spindle forms outside the nucleus. #SpindleCroatia2026
Jacques Pécréaux used FRAP of the half-spindle in C. elegans and revealed that only kinetochore microtubules exhibit flux, sliding along pole-anchored ones. The flux is larger on the posterior side, reflecting the imbalance in cortical pulling forces. #SpindleCroatia2026
Régis Giet @RegisGiet showed that, in Drosophila neural stem cells, the number of astral microtubules nucleated by each centrosome determines the spindle position. Asymmetric pushing forces, rather than cortical pulling, dominate spindle positioning. #SpindleCroatia2026
Arp Schnittger examined kinetochores in plant meiosis, focusing on how mono‑orientation of sister kinetochores is achieved in plants. Arabidopsis has a homolog of Csm1, a monopolin component, with a function in kinetochore organization and mono‑orientation. #SpindleCroatia2026
Gautam Dey @Dey_Gautam discussed spindle evolutionary dynamics. In Chlamy, an MTOC forms in prophase to nucleate the spindle, but remains tethered to the basal bodies. By using ExM, they plan to expand every microbial eukaryote on Earth! #SpindleCroatia2026