Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences

Graduate Students

Lauren Adams

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Kelleher
• Research Topic: Top-down proteomic characterization of RAS proteoform signatures in cancer

Moneeza Agha

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: McLean
• Research Topic: Functional organization of commissural interneurons mediating left-right alternation at different speeds of locomotion in larval zebrafish

Gloria Alvarado

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Lane
• Research Topic: An investigation of cytokine expression dynamics in individual macrophages during Salmonella infection

Heidi (Schmit) Anderson

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of mitochondria and altered cytoplasmic dynamics in the asymmetric retention of heat shock aggregates

Xavier Anderson

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling regenerative decisions

Brooke Angell

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Brickner

Katherine Berman

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Lucks
• Research Topic: Uncovering intermediate structural motifs and rearrangements in RNA folding pathways of prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems

Ronald Biggs

• Entry Year: 2014
• Lab: Marko
• Research Topic: Understanding the function of SMC complexes, topoisomerase II and histone post-translational modifications in controlling the structure and mechanics of mitotic chromosomes

Jonathan Boucher

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Leonard
• Research Topic: Programmable gene therapy vector tropism and in vivo cell therapy via engineered vesicles

Evan Buechel

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Pinkett
• Research Topic: Investigation of the molecular mechanism regulating Pdr1 transcriptional activity

David Bushhouse

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Lucks
• Research Topic: Linking transcriptional dynamics to RNA folding and riboswitch function

Eduardo Campos Chávez

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Mondragón

Matthew Capek

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Gallio
• Research Topic: Investigations into the evolution of nocifensive and thermosensory behavior in insects

Lucas Carter

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Backman

Gabriel Cavin-Meza

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: The roles of Ran GTPase and Aurora A Kinase in C. elegans acentriolar meiotic spindle assembly

Siyu Chen

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: He
• Research Topic: Structural visualization of key intermediates in the NHEJ pathway by single particle cryo-EM

Luyi Cheng

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Lucks
• Research Topic: Uncovering the role of cotranscriptional folding in riboswitches

Edric Choi

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lucks

Liyushang Chou

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Developing immunotherapy targeting immune suppression using spherical nucleic acids (SNAs)

Eleanor Clark

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Investigating positional patterning systems of body-wide homeostasis and regeneration

Karlin Compton

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: LaBonne
• Research Topic: The role of H3K4 methylation in formation and maintenance of the vertebrate neural crest

Ely Contreras

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Schmidt
• Research Topic: Understanding the role of M2 ipRGCs in behavior

William Corcoran

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Leonard
• Research Topic: Investigating miniproteins as synthetic receptor binding domains to enable soluble ligand-sensing cell-based therapeutics

Emily Czajkowski

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Investigating the components of spindle assembly and stability that allow for faithful chromosome segregation in C. elegans and M. musculus

Nicolas Daffern

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Radhakrishnan
• Research Topic: Dynamics and evolution in the NR5A sub-family of nuclear receptors

Eleanor Degen

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Blythe
• Research Topic: Characterization of the in vivo affinity of the morphogen Bicoid for target enhancers

Simrita Deol

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Leonard
• Research Topic: Developing next-generation natural killer cell-based therapies through evaluation of tumor targeting strategies, therapeutic outputs, and signal integration strategies

Nikita Divekar

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Characterizing the ring complex in C. elegans oocyte meiosis

Stephenie Droll

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Characterizing two putative tumor suppressors in epidermal homeostasis and cancer progression

Vasin Dumrongprechachan

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Kozorovitskiy
• Research Topic: Genetically-targeted neuroproteomics of striatal neuromodulation

Elizabeth Duvall

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Braun

Molly Frey

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Scott
• Research Topic: Immunotheranostic probing of the pancreatic cancer microenvironment with nanocarriers possessing spion-loaded biomimetic ligand coronas

Kevin Gallagher

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Carthew
• Research Topic: Morphology directed fate specification during the retinal patterning of Drosophila melanogaster

Natalie Gilbert

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Blythe
• Research Topic: Investigation into the role of chromatin dynamics in IFN-stimulated gene transcription

David Gittin

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: The role of wound-induced gene expression in planarian regeneration

Elias (Qingxu) Guan

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Petersen

Clare Harper

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Uncovering novel roles of MECA in cellular and mitochondrial function

Laura Hertz

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Lucks
• Research Topic: Investigating distinct structures within the fluoride riboswitch to understand the dynamic cotranscriptional folding process

Patric Ho

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Characterization of GATAD2A-NuRD and its interaction with the BAF complex in regulating epidermal homeostasis

Hannah Horton

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Investigating the functional roles of ring complex components in C. elegans oocyte meiosis

Richard Hwang

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lee

Alexis Jacob

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Brickner

Miranda Jacobs

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Kamat
• Research Topic: Investigating how membrane mechanics affect the expression, folding, and function of a model mechanosensitive channel protein

Kristin Johnson

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: LaBonne
• Research Topic: Role of DNA and histone methylation in the maintenance of pluripotency

Jenna Jouandet

• Entry Year: 2011
• Lab: Gallio
• Research Topic: Neural substrates of decision making in Drosophila melanogaster

Alexandra Karagiaridi

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Pinkett

Nolan Kennedy

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Tullman-Ercek
• Research Topic: Investigating three functions of 1,2-propanediol utilization bacterial microcompartment shell proteins

Christopher Koo

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Rosenzweig
• Research Topic: Heterologous approaches to the characterization of particulate methane monooxygenase

Daniel Kranz

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Klein
• Research Topic: Spatiotemporal characterization of amyloid beta oligomer proteoforms in Alzheimer's disease

Kyle Krueger

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Petersen

Jessica Lenoir

• Entry Year: 2014
• Lab: Horvath
• Research Topic: Negative regulation of TRAF proteins by the immune regulator LGP2

Julie Liang

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Tullman-Ercek
• Research Topic: Elucidating the roles of SPI-1 type three secretion system proteins in regulation and secretion

Brandon Liauw

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Vafabakhsh
• Research Topic: Characterizing conformational and interaction dynamics of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1

Andrew Liu

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Carthew
• Research Topic: Growth control of Drosophila melanogaster wings

Sarah Lloyd

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Characterization of RNA polymerase II pausing as an essential mechanism for regulating epidermal gene expression

Katherine Lo

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Petersen
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of wound-induced genes in planarian regeneration

Anika Marand

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lane

Meghan Masotti

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Kozorovitskiy

Alexander McFarland

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Hartmann
• Research Topic: Examining the role of multidrug-efflux pumps in conferring tolerance to biocides and antibiotics in the indoor microbiome

Andrew Montequin

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: LaBonne
• Research Topic: Patterning the vertebrate neuroectoderm

Nicolas Moya

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Andersen
• Research Topic: The origins of Caenorhabditis briggsae hyperdivergent genomic regions

Juhi Narula

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Wignall
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of a conserved kinase in acentrosomal spindle organization using Caenorhabditis elegans oocytes

Amy Neely

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Bao
• Research Topic: Characterizing the role of nucleoporins in epidermal gene regulation

Joy Nyaanga

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Andersen/Mangan
• Research Topic: Impact of dietary variation on phenotypic plasticity in developing Caenorhabditis elegans

Jun Young (Daniel) Oh

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Dombeck
• Research Topic: Immediate early gene Fos and Arc expression during CA1 place field formation

Brett Palmero

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Tullman-Ercek

Krishna Paranandi

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Spherical nucleic acids as a disease-modifying therapy in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Jungsoo Park

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Mirkin
• Research Topic: Design and use of IDH1-targeting spherical nucleic acids with enhanced gene knockdown efficacy for glioblastoma multiforme

Omar Payán Parra

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Yang
• Research Topic: Studying the formation of long-distance genomic interactions during mouse cerebellar development

Aldeb Perera

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Allada

Emily Pujadas

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Backman
• Research Topic: Genome-wide transcriptional engineering through the regulation of the physical structure of chromatin

Jinkang Qing

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: He

Idalis Ramirez

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Morimoto

Rebecca Rasmussen

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: O'Halloran/Lucks
• Research Topic: Zur- and zinc-mediated ribosomal protein regulation in Escherichia coli

Michael Ray

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Investigating the molecular mechanisms of organelle inheritance and asymmetric fitness-based organelle partitioning

Alexis Reyes

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: He
• Research Topic: Structure and function studies of RSC-mediated chromatin remodeling

Reyvin Reyes

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Rosenzweig
• Research Topic: Investigating methanobactin biosynthesis using heterologous systems

Reese Richardson

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Amaral
• Research Topic: Identifying bias and improving reproducibility in RNA sequencing computational pipelines

Sara Rigney

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: LaBonne
• Research Topic: Understanding the role of cell heterogeneity in pluripotency, lineage restriction and the establishment of neural crest cells

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

Erica Rosario

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lackner

Grant Rybnicky

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Jewett
• Research Topic: Elucidating the mechanisms of type I-B CRISPR-Cas systems in Clostridia species

Michael Schamber

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Vafabakhsh
• Research Topic: Complexity of the conformational dynamics and heterodimerization of the calcium-sensing receptor

Nicolas Scrutton Alvarado

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Yang
• Research Topic: Characterization of a novel neuronal-specific nuclear subcompartment and its mechanism of formation in the mouse cerebellum

Madison Spratt

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Lane
• Research Topic: Characterizing the dynamics of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium virulence expression at the single-cell level

Loraina Stinson

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Andersen
• Research Topic: Identification of C. elegans genetic variation underlying different responses to serotonin modulators

Taojunfeng Su

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Kelleher
• Research Topic: Characterization of MYC proteoform signatures in cancer using top-down mass spectrometry-based proteogenomics

Aaron Sue

• Entry Year: 2012
• Lab: O'Halloran
• Research Topic: Modulating protein folding through intertissue chaperone signaling

Jack Sumner

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Hartmann

Bethany Sump

• Entry Year: 2016
• Lab: Brickner
• Research Topic: Mechanisms of epigenetic transcriptional memory in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Anna Talyzina

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: He
• Research Topic: Structural characterization of human transcription factor IIH in transcription initiation and DNA repair by cryo-EM and comparative analysis of its role in both processes

Elijah Taylor

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Mondragón
• Research Topic: A single-molecule approach to observe domain movement dynamics in type IA topoisomerases

Arielle Thames

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Jewett
• Research Topic: Tolerance, toxins, and titers: interrogating the biology of glycan-mediated immune modulation in three therapeutic spaces

Frank Tucci

• Entry Year: 2019
• Lab: Rosenzweig
• Research Topic: Investigating the role of the membrane in particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) structure and function

Syed Uddin

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Lee

D. Jake VanBelzen

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Brickner
• Research Topic: The molecular requirements and ubiquity of RNAPII promoter poising in epigenetic transcriptional memory

Citlayi Villaseñor

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Kamat

Alex Vogt

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: He

Antoineen White

• Entry Year: 2015
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Functional characterization of novel proteins involved in membrane trafficking

Brett Wisniewski

• Entry Year: 2017
• Lab: Lackner
• Research Topic: Uncovering novel functions and regulators of the mitochondrial fission protein Dnm1 using cell biological, biochemical, and structural approaches

Bingxian Xu

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Braun

Feihong Xu

• Entry Year: 2020
• Lab: Amaral

Yue Yu

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Lee
• Research Topic: Function of taste in regulating feeding behaviors

Ziyu Zhao

• Entry Year: 2018
• Lab: Yang
• Research Topic: Investigation of the organization and regulation mechanism of megaloops in mouse cerebellum