Holland Lab | Presentations

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Presentations

SoCal Users of Magnets (SCUM) Meeting

Posted on September 28, 2025

in Presentations, Uncategorized

by Holland Lab

Great time this weekend at UC Irvine attending the SoCal Users of Magnets (SCUM) Conference 2025!Our group had the opportunity to share exciting new research:Kevin Chalek (Postdoc) — Pushing the Boundaries of Solid-State NMR for Understanding Dragline Spider Silk StructureYuan Li (Postdoc) — Calcium Environments, Proton Defects, and Facet-Dependent Fluoride Interactions in Hydroxyapatite Nanostructures Probed by Multinuclear Solid-State NMRAli Kiaeefar (PhD Student) — Conformational Structure, Dynamics and Assembly of Native Silkworm Silk Proteins by Solution NMR and ModelingLado Shapakidze (PhD Student) — Molecular Structure and Dynamics of Basic Amino Acids Adsorbed on Various Silica Nanostructured SurfacesIt was wonderful catching up with colleagues across the community and reconnecting with lab alumna, Haley Swanson now at Bruker.Grateful for the vibrant SoCal magnetic resonance community and the chance to connect with new colleague Jose Uribe at SDSU Imperial Valley and collaborators at UCSD and UC Riverside! ...

Soft Matter Conference at USD

Posted on September 12, 2025

in Presentations, Students

by Holland Lab

Our lab had a great time yesterday at the Frontiers in Soft Matter and Macromolecular Networks conference at the University of San Diego! PhD students presented their research on silk protein structure, function, and assembly: Alexia de Loera – Structural Insights into the GGX Domain of Spider Silk MaSp1 Using Solution NMR and Molecular ModelingAli Kiaaefar – Conformational Structure, Dynamics, and Assembly of Native Silkworm Silk Protein by Solution NMR and ModelingDavit Alimbarashvili – Structural Biology of Aciniform Spider Silk Guides Biomimetics for a New Class of BiomaterialsMS student John Malki also presented:Use of Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Solid-State NMR to Determine Beta-Sheet Crystallization of Native B. mori Silkworm Fibroin Films Assembled on Various SurfacesSpecial thanks to Prof. Rae M. Robertson-Anderson for chairing the conference. Beautiful campus, lots of engagement with SoCal colleagues, and great discussions with researchers from across the country! ...

Silk Gordon Research Conference (GRC)

Posted on August 13, 2025

in Presentations, Students, Travel

by Holland Lab

In July the lab attended the 2nd Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Silk at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI! Our lab was out in full force — research scientist David Onofrei, postdoc Kevin Chalek, graduate student Alexia de Loera, and even the PI all presented posters. Alexia also gave a short talk on her poster at the GRS, and David delivered a short poster talk as well.We covered a wide range of silk science: Pre-assembled silk spinning states Recombinant protein solution NMR (in collaboration with Thomas Scheibel’s group, U. Bayreuth) DNP-MAS NMR of spun fibers to probe sidechain packing And a PI poster on prey wrap spider silk biomimetics informed by native structure and assembly.Huge thanks to Keiji Numata and Chris Holland for organizing such a dynamic and inspiring conference. Great science, great people, and exciting directions ahead in silk materials research! Look forward to the next one! ...

ACS Spring 2025 Meeting

Posted on June 4, 2025

in Presentations, Students

by Holland Lab

Recently wrapped up an exciting and inspiring week at the ACS Spring 2025 Conference right here in San Diego!Our lab had a fantastic presence, with postdocs Yuan Li and Kevin Chalek delivering great talks on:Solid-State NMR of morphologically distinct hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (Yuan)Spider silk fibers and their structural insights via SSNMR (Kevin)We also had a strong poster showing from our grad students:Alexia de Loera, Lado Shapakidze, Davit Alimbarashvili, and John Malki — presenting exciting work on the Bio-Nano Interface and Spider Silk projects.Special shoutout to undergrads Alexa Aishia Flores and Brianna Duarte, who presented a joint poster on validating AlphaFold-predicted spider silk structures using SSNMR data—a critical step toward bridging computational predictions with experimental structural biology. They're mentored by Kevin Chalek and did a fantastic job!Proud of the whole team for representing the lab so well—excellent science, thoughtful discussions, and strong community engagement all around. ...

Prof. Holland’s Seminar in CSRC Colloquium

Posted on May 5, 2024

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

For anyone interested in our latest research results on spider silk formation, a link to a recent talk is provided below. The talk was given as part of the Computational Science Research Center (CSRC) Colloquium series at SDSU. The title was "Integrating Experimental Biophysics and Computational Tools to Elucidate Spider Silk Formation". In recent years, we have significantly grown the computational and simulation aspect of our silk research efforts to include coarse grained and atomistic molecular dynamics simulation (MD) together with predictive modeling (AlphaFold2). We have found that combining experimental biophysical data with computational approaches is providing an unprecedented level of understanding across hierarchical length and timescales for spider silk assembly.Link to the CSRC You Tube Page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJvN5lbSvVM&t=1967s ...

Holland Lab Attends ENC Conference

Posted on April 14, 2024

in Awards, Presentations, Students, Travel

by Holland Lab

The Holland Lab attended the Experimental NMR Conference (ENC) at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA https://www.enc-conference.org/Conference-2024. This is the premier conference in experimental magnetic resonance including solution and solid-state NMR and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The lab gave two talks and presented three posters. Lab post-doc, Dr. Kevin Chalek's talk was on Sunday (4/7) in the Young Scientist Symposium titled "Studying Sidechain Interactions in Dragline Spider Silk Fibers Using MAS Solid-state NMR and DNP". Kevin also presented a poster on the same topic Tues/Thurs. Research scientist and SDSU NMR Facility Manager, Dr. David Onofrei gave a talk in the Biomolecular Solution NMR Session on Tuesday (4/9) titled "Using CS-ROSETTA to Probe Assembly of Intrinsically Disordered Spider Silk Proteins in Solution". PhD grad student, Hannah Johnson presented a poster on Tues/Thurs titled "Solution NMR of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Native Major Ampullate Spider Silk Proteins Indicates Arg and Tyr Influence Pre-Assembly". PhD grad student, Yuan Li presented a poster on Mon/Wed titled "The Calcium Sites of Hydroxyapatite with Different Morphologies and Crystal Phases Investigated by 43Ca MAS Solid-state NMR". Yuan was also awarded an ENC graduate student travel award to support her attendance. Congrats Yuan!!! Below is a picture from the Lab Dinner at the Fish Hopper in Monterey where we caught up with Lab alumni, Dr. Haley Swanson, who is now Bruker NMR West Coast Sales Rep. We had fantastic discussions regarding our upcoming 600 MHz Ascend NMR magnet install and some plans for new cutting edge probes in Diffusion and Solid-state NMR for the future. Check out the picture from dinner below: ...

Prof. Holland Presents at AFOSR Grant Review

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Awards, Presentations, Travel

by Holland Lab

In December 2023, Prof. Holland attended the AFOSR grant review in Ft. Walton Beach FL. The talk was a transitional talk where Prof. Holland discussed the close out of the lab's previous grant on spider silk and natural materials research and discussed new research directions for the new grant that just started in September 2023. ...

Holland Lab Attends Soft Matter Conferences at University of San Diego

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

In October 2023, the Holland Lab attended the Soft Matter Conference at the University of San Diego. PhD graduate student Hannah Johnson presented her recent work using solution NMR to understand liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of spider silk proteins as an important intermediate step en route to spider silk formation. Post-doc, Dr. Kevin Chalek presented his recent work on using solid-state NMR to probe dragline and prey wrap spider silk structure in the fibrous form. New PhD graduate student Alexia De Loera presented her solution NMR work on spider silk protein biomimetic peptides. Undergraduate Julian Aldana presented his recent work on molecular dynamics simulation of silk proteins. A number of other new undergraduate and graduate students from the lab also attended to learn more about nationally recognized Soft Matter physics and chemistry researcher. ...

Holland Lab Attends ACS National Meeting

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations, Travel

by Holland Lab

In August 2023, the Holland Lab attended the ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Prof. Holland gave a talk titled: "Combining Solution NMR and Modeling to Determine Structural Ensembles of Spider Silk Proteins". The presentation focused on how the lab is combining coarse grain and atomistic molecular dynamic (MD) simulation together with CS-ROSETTA determined structural ensembles to understand spider silk protein structure in solution. The talk was in the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of Materials Session. ...

Holland Lab Attends Gordon Research Conference on Silk

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations, Travel

by Holland Lab

In July 2023, the Holland Lab attended the first Gordon Research Conference on Silk at Bryant University in RI. PhD graduate student Hannah Johnson presented her work on using solution NMR to understand liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of native spider silk proteins as an intermediate step in spider silk assembly. Post-doc, Dr. Kevin Chalek, presented his solid-state NMR work on dragline and prey wrap spider silk structure. And, Prof. Holland gave a presentation titled: "Combining Biophysical Methods to Understand Spider Silk Formation". ...

Prof. Holland Presents Seminar to NJACS NMR Topical Group

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

In February 2023, Prof. Holland presented to the NJACS NMR Topical Group. The presentation was titled: "Elucidating Spider Silk Structure and Assembly with NMR". The seminar focused on how the lab is combining solution NMR, solid-state NMR and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to understand spider silk formation. ...

Holland Lab Attends CSUPERB Conference in Santa Clara, CA

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations, Travel

by Holland Lab

In January 2023, The Holland Lab attended the Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium in Santa Clara CA. Undergraduates Anikin Domingo and Andy Chua presented on isotope enrichment on spider silk proteins for NMR characterization. Undergraduate Julian Aldana presented his recent work on coarse grain and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to understand spider silk protein structure and assembly. And PhD student Hannah Johnson, post-doc, Dr.Kevin Chalek and Professor Holland presented at the NSF-ICORPS session on Spider-silk Inspired Biologics. The latter focused on potential commercialization ideas of the lab's spider silk research. ...

Prof. Holland Attends AFOSR Grant Review

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations, Travel

by Holland Lab

In December 2022, Prof. Holland presented recent work from the lab at the annual AFOSR grant review. The grant and talk is titled: "Hierarchical Assembly of Spider Silk Proteins: Exploring the Structural Biology of Biomaterials from the Atomic to the Mesoscale". The grant and presentation focused on how the lab is combining biophysical methods including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to understand spider silk assembly across hierarchical length scales. ...

Holland Lab Attends SCUM (Southern California Users of Magnets) Conference at University of Santa Barbara

Posted on February 4, 2024

in Presentations, Travel

by Holland Lab

In September 2022, the Holland Lab attended the SCUM conference to present work from the lab that is focused on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). PhD graduate student Hannah Johnson presented her work on using solution NMR to understand spider silk protein spinning dope. PhD graduate student Yuan Li presented her solid-state NMR work on nanoscale hydroxyapatite. And post-doc Dr. Kevin Chalek presented on solid-state NMR structural characterization of spider silk fibers. ...

Dr. Holland to speak at Sheffield Silk Conference in the UK

Posted on July 1, 2017

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

Dr. Holland will be presenting his talk, “The Molecular Mechanisms of Spider Silk Assembly” at the Sheffield Silk Conference in the UK on July 26th....

Mahsa Pahlavan will be presenting a poster about spider silk

Posted on March 29, 2017

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

Mahsa Pahlavanwill be presenting a poster titled, “Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Spider Silk Mini Spidroin Peptide Mimics”...

David Onofrei will be presenting at the CSUPERB Biotechnology Symposium

Posted on January 1, 2017

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

David Onofrei will be presenting a poster titled “Probing Silk Protein Oligomeric Assemblies in Spider Silk with NMR Diffusion Measurements and Cryo-EM” at the CSUPERB Biotechnology Symposium on Jan 5th....

Dr. Holland will give a talk at the National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science program in Malang, Indonesia

Posted on August 1, 2016

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

Dr. Holland will give a talk on “Molecular Mechanics of Spider Silk Assembly” as part of the National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science program in Malang, Indonesia. For more info visit: http://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx?sid=76251 https://vimeo.com/179396251...

American Chemical Society National Conference Presentations

Posted on March 1, 2016

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

The Holland lab will be presenting at the ACS Conference in San Diego. Dr. Holland’s Talk is titled “Molecular Mechanisms of Peptide and Protein Binding at Nanostructured Interfaces.” Haley Swanson’s Poster is titled “Elucidating the Structure & Assembly of Amino Acids on Silica Nanoparticles.” David Onofrei will be presenting a poster titled, “Investigating the unique structure and physical properties of spider prey wrap silk with electron microscopy and solid-state NMR.” The Title of Geri Polido’s poster is “Investigating the Interaction of GsMTx-4 with Lipid Bilayers Using 31P Solid-State NMR, Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Thermal Analysis” Work from our collaborators will also be presented by Dr. Geoffray Leriche on his poster titled, “Cyclohexane Rings Reduce Membrane Permeability to Small Ions in Archaea-Inspired Tetraether Lipids”....

Geri Polido and David Onofrei will be presenting at (CSUPERB) Symposium

Posted on January 2, 2016

in Presentations

by Holland Lab

Congrats to Geri Polido and David Onofrei who will be presenting research posters at the Califonia State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) Symposium. Geri’s poster is titled “Investigating the Interaction of GsMTx-4 with Lipid Bilayers Using 31P Solid-state NMR, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Thermal Analysis” David’s Poster is titled “Structural Analysis and Characterization of Glandular Spider Silk Proteins.”...

Dr. Holland will be presenting at Pacifichem Conference

Posted on December 7, 2015

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by Holland Lab

Sponsored by the American Chemical Society and many similar organizations of nations in the Pacific, the 2015 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem) occurs every five years. Dr. Holland will be presenting his research on biomaterials at this conference in Honolulu, Hawaii titled, “Monitoring Spider Silk Assembly in vitro with NMR”....

Haley Swanson will be presenting ACS Regional Conference

Posted on November 5, 2015

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by Holland Lab

Congratulations to Haley Swanson who will be presenting her research poster, titled “Structural Elucidation of the Nano-Bio Interface: Histidine on Fumed Silica Nanoparticles”, at the American Chemical Society’s Western Regional Conference at CSU San Marcos. Dr. Holland will be talking on “Molecular mechanisms of biomolecule binding at nanostructured interfaces” at the ACS Regional Conference...