Sperm head–tail attachment
Investigates how Spag4 connects the nucleus and centriole during sperm development.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Danielle Buglak
Investigating the mechanisms of sperm head–tail connection.
About
Danielle Buglak studies how the sperm nucleus connects to the centriole and flagellum. Using Drosophila, she investigates the roles of Spag4 and nuclear pore complexes in sperm development.
Her doctoral work examined how nuclear-envelope proteins and centrosomes regulate endothelial adhesion, polarity, migration, and blood-vessel formation.
Expertise
Sperm development, nuclear-envelope biology, centrosomes, vascular cell biology, Drosophila genetics, cell culture and imaging
Interviews
2024 / JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
First person – Danielle Buglak and Kathleen Holmes
An interview accompanying their work on sperm nucleus–centriole architecture.
Read the interview ↗Education & career
2022–present
Postdoctoral Fellow
NHLBI, NIH · Nasser Rusan
2022
Ph.D. · Cell Biology and Physiology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Victoria Bautch
2016
B.A. · Cell/Molecular Biology
Washington and Jefferson College · Spanish minor
Research highlights
Nuclear pores in spermatids
Examines how nuclear pore complexes contribute to nuclear–centriole attachment.
Endothelial cell organization
Studied SUN proteins and centrosomes in endothelial junctions, polarity, and vascular lumen formation.
Publications
- The Nuclear Pore Complex Facilitates Centriole-Nuclear Attachment in Spermatids.
- Sperm Head-Tail Coupling Apparatus Diversity and Common Themes.
- Molecular models of the sperm head-tail coupling apparatus.
- The proximal centriole-like structure maintains nucleus-centriole architecture in sperm
- Nuclear SUN1 stabilizes endothelial cell junctions via microtubules to regulate blood vessel formation.
- SMAD6 transduces endothelial cell flow responses required for blood vessel homeostasis.
- Excess centrosomes disrupt vascular lumenization and endothelial cell adherens junctions.
- BIO 131 C. elegans Behavioral Laboratory Manual
Recognition
- 2026 Best Poster (Top 10%), NHLBI Research Retreat
- 2025 Best Oral Presentation, NHLBI Research Retreat
- 2024–present NHLBI Lenfant Fellowship
- 2019–2021 American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship
- 2016 Valedictorian and Phi Beta Kappa, Washington and Jefferson College
Selected talks
2025
NHLBI Research Retreat
Best Oral Presentation
2023
Cell Bio · ASCB/EMBO Meeting
Boston, Massachusetts
2021
MiBio/iBGS Branching Out Symposium
Virtual
Teaching & mentoring
Mentors postbaccalaureate researchers in sperm development and cell biology. Her trainees include Sara Burr, Katie Munch, and Emma Burns, as well as undergraduate and rotation students from her doctoral work.
Service
Served as NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) Co-Chair and a member of the NIH Fellows Committee (2023–2025). Contributes as a FARE and poster judge, career-development panelist, and scientific reviewer.