Recognizing her many contributions within and beyond the Cristea Lab, Krystal received the Molecular Biology Distinguished Postdoc Service Award at MOL Retreat 2025. Krystal was specifically highlighted for her teaching at the McGraw Writing Center and as a lecturer for Virology. Congratulations, Krystal!

The Department of Molecular Biology had its annual conference, where the lab was represented by Matt, James, and Will. Matt delivered a talk on his lysine lactylation work, while James and Will presented posters on the virus microenvironment and organelle remodeling across herpesvirus infections. Great work, everyone!

Peter was awarded an F31 Fellowship with the NIH to fund his remaining graduate studies! Good work, Peter!

Nearly the entire Cristea Lab attended US HUPO 2025 in Philly, giving a variety of talks and poster presentations. Most notably, Ileana received the Catherine E. Costello Award for Exemplary Achievements in Proteomics and gave a wonderful plenary talk on her scientific journey. Good work, team!

Ileana and Peter each presented at a Mass Spectrometry in Microbial Sciences conference organized by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their talks were both met with great questions and excitement. I'm sure they also didn't mind a break from the cold and snow in New Jersey!

James and Will Rodriguez each presented their work on virus-induced oncogenic and oncomodulatory mechanisms at the Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) Scientific Summit. Congrats to both of you on such great talks!

Tavis presented his work at the Molecular Biology Departmental Retreat, which was voted the best talk of the conference! Congratulations, Tavis!

Matt, Will, and Peter all gave talks at the International Herpesvirus Workshop in Portland, OR. Great science and great coffee!

Krystal and Will Hofstadter represented the Cristea Lab at the American Society for Virology (ASV) conference in Columbus, Ohio. Each gave talks that were met with great questions and excitement. Another good year at one of our favorite conferences!

Will received a fellowship with the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research to support his work on organelle remodeling during infection with oncogenic gamma-herpesviruses. Congrats, Will!