Sarah successfully defended her thesis, “Under Pressure: Keratin 9 Regulates Mechanosensitive YAP1 Signaling in the Palmoplantar Epidermis,” on February 23, 2026, earning her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology. We congratulate Sarah on completing her dissertation and delivering one of the best thesis defenses in years. She will pursue her postdoctoral studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. We wish her continued success in her future career.

We are thrilled to announce that Cat, the Coulombe lab, and their collaborators have published a groundbreaking new study titled, “ Keratin 15 promotes a progenitor cell state in basal keratinocytes of skin epidermis ” in the Journal of Cell Biology . Congratulations to Cat and the entire research team for their dedication and impressive achievement! The article can be viewed by following the link .

We are delighted to welcome Evelyn, a graduate rotation student, to the Coulombe lab. Evelyn joins as part of her first-year training in PIBS and will be working closely with Sarah, a senior graduate student on exciting projects related to lab research. Please join us in welcoming Evelyn to the Coulombe Lab — here's to a productive and enjoyable rotation!