Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences

Graduate Students

Rogelio Alvarado

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Tullman-Ercek
• Research Topic: Exploring how genetic and chemical modifications on MS2 Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) can lead to enhanced drug delivery

Nikki Amarillo

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Christensen
• Research Topic: Investigating the effects of dynein-dynactin motor complex variation on its diverse cellular functions

Brooke Angell

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Brickner
• Research Topic: Elucidating the molecular mechanism of transcript buffering

Aidan Balagtas

• Entry Year: 2026

Alexander Bemben

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Christensen
• Research Topic: Investigating the Functional and Mechanistic Results of Heterogeneity in the Dynein Complex

Gillian Berglund

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Bao

Defne Bish

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Blythe
• Research Topic: Characterizing the mechanism involved in Polycomb gene silencing during early development

Caroline Bond

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Meade
• Research Topic: Exploring and hijacking E3 ligase, SPOP, in the context of cancer therapeutics

Katherine Bond

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Hartmann

Julianna Bourgeois

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Glucosylceramidase spherical nucleic acids for enhanced BBB transport and lysosomal activity recovery in neurodegeneration

Delfin Buyco

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Kamat
• Research Topic: Determining the role of lysosomal cholesterol transporter Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) function on the biophysical properties and structure of lipid membranes

Alana Caldwell

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Zhang, Xiaoyu
• Research Topic: Exploring and hijacking E3 ligase, SPOP, in the context of cancer therapeutics

Eduardo Campos Chávez

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Mondragón
• Research Topic: Structural and biophysical studies of the T-box riboswitch

Lucas Carter

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Backman
• Research Topic: Interrogating the molecular modulators of chromatin organization via genomic screening

Nicholas Chamberlain

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Regulation of keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation by nucleocytoplasmic acetyl-CoA

Jacob Cohen

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Studying how the biological form of antigen componentry, mRNA vs peptide, of nanovaccines undergo distinct cellular processing and antigen presentation

Corinne Croslyn

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Blythe
• Research Topic: The role of gap genes in directing spatial patterns of polycomb-mediated H3K27me3 in Drosophila embryogenesis

Madeline Daniel

• Entry Year: 2026

Tisha Dash

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Du/Lü

Omar De León Vélez

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Klein

Chengzhe Duan

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Investigating the effects of organelle inheritance on cellular fitness and aging

Emily Faul

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Lane
• Research Topic: Investigating single-cell spatial and temporal regulation of innate immune signaling in epithelial cells responding to Listeria infection

Yilin Feng

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Hartmann
• Research Topic: Developing methodologies to engineer and synthesize bacteriophages for therapeutic and environmental applications

Miranda Flores Escobar

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Christensen
• Research Topic: Investigating the coordination of complex nuclear movement by multiple dynein adaptors

Connor Forsyth

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Mirkin/Stegh
• Research Topic: Immunotherapeutic cGAS agonist DNA dendrons for the treatment of leptomeningeal metastasis

Irving Francisco Dominguez

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Vafabakhsh

Tina (Jiayu) Fu

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Lucks
• Research Topic: Investigating the roles of nascent RNA/RNA polymerase interactions in determining RNA folding and function with an emphasis on transcription termination

Anna Gilstrap

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Pinkett
• Research Topic: Capturing mechanisms of substrate translocation in the non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae Sap ABC transporter

Lucy Grossmann

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Petersen

Brent Groubert

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Brickner
• Research Topic: Defining the molecular mechanism of epigenetic inheritance of H3K4me2 during transcriptional memory

Elias (Qingxu) Guan

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Understanding the effect of directional and positional input for planarian wound response and regeneration

Qingyue Guo

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Keten

Zhuoling He

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Bozza
• Research Topic: Cell type specification and gene choice bias in the mouse main olfactory system

Janet (Fengting) Huang

• Entry Year: 2026

Richard Hwang

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lee
• Research Topic: Motion sickness signals in cerebrospinal fluid

Chloe Jackson

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Pinkett
• Research Topic: Investigating the differential dimerization of transcription factors regulating the drug response in yeast

Alexis Jacob

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Brickner
• Research Topic: How nucleoporin-dependent spatial organization of the yeast genome impacts transcription

Olivia Jones

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Developing a modular protein-DNA scaffold for controlled assembly and immune activation

Rivaan Kakkaramadam

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Backman
• Research Topic: Dissecting the role of chromatin polymeric organization in regulating protein localization in neurons

Alexandra Karagiaridi

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Pinkett
• Research Topic: Characterizing the complex assemblies and transport mechanism of the non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae ABC Sap transporter

Lydia Kenney

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Pinkett
• Research Topic: Characterizing the regulatory mechanisms of the Y. pestis ProU Osmoregulatory ABC Importer

Sarah Keuning

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Du/Lü
• Research Topic: Structural and functional investigation of Human Calcium Homeostasis Modulator 2 (CALHM2) under native conditions

Tim (Young Jun) Kim

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Lipid Partitioning as a Mechanism for Cellular Uptake of Spherical Nucleic Acids and the Applications Thereof

Yejin Kim

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Lee

Smrthi Krishnamurthi

• Entry Year: 2026

Kyle Krueger

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Uncovering deeply-conserved genetic regulators of neoblasts in Hofstenia miamia

Tiffany Kuo

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Backman
• Research Topic: Studying the interplay between chromatin conformation, genome connectivity, and transcription in a gene-specific manner

Andrea Laboy-Figueroa

• Entry Year: 2026

Gwendolyn Lam

• Entry Year: 2026

Marie Lamarque

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of PI4P and membrane contact sites on mitochondrial dynamics

Sophia Leng

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Kelleher

Shiqi Liang

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Tullman-Ercek

Elizabeth Lopez

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Wignall

Ilka Lorenzo

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Investigating the mechanism of acentrosomal spindle stability in mammalian oocytes

Ximena Luna

• Entry Year: 2026

Anika Marand

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lane
• Research Topic: Investigating the dynamics of phoP expression during Salmonella infection

Claire Martel

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of post-transcriptional regulation in fate decisions of adult stem cells

Jordy Martinez

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of the Ring Complex (RC) in meiotic spindle architecture using C. elegans oocytes

Madeline Masengarb

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of the PBAF chromatin remodeling complex in epidermal differentiation

Meghan Masotti

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Kozorovitskiy
• Research Topic: Genetically targeted striatal proteomics across development in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder

Tyler Masuda

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Investigating the interface between transcription and mRNA export in the regulation of epidermal homeostasis

Ryan McKeown

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Andersen
• Research Topic: Comparative genome-wide association studies of telomere length variation in selfing Caenorhabditis

Karla Medina

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Backman
• Research Topic: Does chromatin conformation control ovarian cancer stem cell plasticity?

Aidan Meuninck

• Entry Year: 2026

Madeline Nelson

• Entry Year: 2026

Genevieve Nemeth

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Rosenzweig
• Research Topic: Temperature-gated activation of ion channels in flies

Tonatiuh Ocampo

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Synthesis of virus-like particle spherical nucleic acids for enhanced therapeutics

Daisy Ortiz

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Mondragón
• Research Topic: Investigating the structural and kinetic determinants of tRNA recognition in single and tandem T-box riboswitches

Isabelle Palmer

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Bao

Olivia Parson

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Developing Spherical Nucleic Acids as a Platform for CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Therapy

Stefan Pate

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Tyo/Broadbelt
• Research Topic: Identifying unknown enzymatic functions of evolutionary and biotechnological relevance

Aldeb Perera

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Allada
• Research Topic: Identifying the genetic and cellular basis of sleep homeostasis in sNPF+ neurons

Cherlyn (Pornchanan) Pholraksa

• Entry Year: 2026

Maalavika Pillai

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Amaral
• Research Topic: Modeling the topological dynamics of gene regulatory networks

Riley Popp

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Investigating the conserved role of muscle in whole-body regeneration

Ashwini Pullur

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Wignall

Tara Quinn

• Entry Year: 2026

Abby Reese

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Christensen
• Research Topic: Investigating the function of a well-conserved adherens junction protein (Vezatin) in human cells, specifically its relation with the dynein/dynactin motor complex

Cameron Reimers

• Entry Year: 2026

Kristen Rivera

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Pinkett
• Research Topic: Structural and biochemical investigation of the nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Sap ABC transporter mechanism of selectivity and transport

Kyle Roche

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Directing protein corona formation with immunostimulatory spherical nucleic acids

Roger Romero

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Tuning Pro-Reparative Macrophage Polarization to Treat Inflammatory Myocardial Infarction using Spherical Nucleic Acids

Erica Rosario

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Investigating the roles membrane properties and architecture have on membrane contact site formation and function

Yannick Schreiber

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Leonard
• Research Topic: Development of tunable microenvironment-responsive CAR-T cells using synthetic gene circuits to enhance potency and safety

Cale Severude

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Blythe
• Research Topic: Characterizing the functions of cohesin and condensin in Drosophila zygotic genome activation

Gracie Siffer

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Vafabakhsh
• Research Topic: Biophysical Study of the Activation and Signaling Mechanisms in Adhesion GPCRs

Karen Snyder

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Lane
• Research Topic: Investigating the integration of environmental signals over time in Salmonella during infections

Margaret Stapleton

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Kozorovitskiy

Meng Tao

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Zhang, Hao/Wang

Mason Taylor

• Entry Year: 2026

Lexi Terracciano

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Investigating how cells faithfully partition mitochondria and maintain homeostasis during asymmetric cell division

Andrea Tigges

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Kozorovitskiy

Yiren Tu

• Entry Year: 2021
• Lab: Wang/Vafabakhsh
• Research Topic: An optogenetic investigation of the native chromatin accessibility

Syed Uddin

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lee
• Research Topic: Deciphering taste coding in the taste bud

Michael Vannieuwenhoven

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Mondragón
• Research Topic: Comprehensive structural and functional characterization of virulence-regulatory transcription factors found in pathogenic bacteria

Hailey (Qiyu) Wang

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Lackner

Adeline Yates

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of epigenetic modifiers on chromosome segregation and spindle assembly in oocyte meiosis

Xinyu Ye

• Entry Year: 2023
• Lab: Du/Lü
• Research Topic: Structural and Functional Characterization of Sweet Taste Receptors (Tas1R2+Tas1R3)

Janet Zhao

• Entry Year: 2022
• Lab: Kozorovitskiy
• Research Topic: Characterizing the function of bipolar disorder associated genes on mania and depression spectrum behaviours and dopamine neural activity in mice

Yue Zhu

• Entry Year: 2025
• Lab: Amaral

Yuntong Zou

• Entry Year: 2024
• Lab: Lucks
• Research Topic: Predictive modeling of riboswitch function through biophysical and machine learning integration