Alumni
Since 1999, the School of Biological Sciences has graduated 145 Ph.D. students and has become a leading graduate program in the biological sciences.
Below is a list of alumni, complete with information on their thesis work and current positions and careers.
Salomé Carcy, Ph.D.
Medical Student, Université Paris Cité Médecine
Dr. Salomé Carcy conducted her thesis research in Dr. Hannah Meyer’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “How human and murine T cells meet their fate: cross-species comparison of conventional and innate T cells.” Salomé is continuing her medical degree as part of an MD/PhD program at the Université Paris Cité Médecine in France.
King Hei (Teri) Cheng, Ph.D
Graduate Student, Post
Dr. King Hei (Teri) Cheng conducted his thesis research in Dr. Robert Martienssen’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Transcription-replication conflict resolution by nuclear RNAi.” Teri is currently exploring postdoctoral opportunities.
Danielle Ciren, Ph.D.
Dr. Danielle Ciren conducted her thesis research in Dr. Zachary Lippman’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Decoding cis-regulatory control and evolution of conserved and divergent phenotypes in plants.” Dani is currently exploring science policy positions in Canada.
Marie Dussauze, Ph.D.
Professional Development Associate, Society for Neuroscience
Dr. Marie Dussauze conducted her thesis research in Dr. Florin Albeanu’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Sensorimotor neural representations in the olfactory cortex.” Upon graduation, Marie participated in a Science Policy, Scholars in Residence Program. She is now a Professional Development Associate for the Society for Neuroscience in Washington DC.
Yuzhao (Richard) Hu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scientist, Corteva Agriscience
Dr. Yuzhao (Richard) Hu conducted his thesis research in Dr. Ullas Pedmale’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Role of cryptochromes in chromatin remodeling and DNA damage repair.” Richard is a Postdoctoral Scientist at Corteva Agriscience in Iowa.
Dennis Maharjan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Allen Institute
Dr. Dennis Maharjan conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Cell-type specific regulation of auditory decision-making.” Dennis is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Xiaoyin Chen at the Allen Institute in Seattle, Washington.
Ziyi Mo, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Machine Learning, Meta
Dr. Ziyi Mo conducted his thesis research in Dr. Adam Siepel’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Scalable and robust deep-learning methods power evolutionary-genetic studies of biobank-scale population genomic data.” Mo is a research scientist in machine learning at Meta.
Ziqi (Amber) Tang, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Instadeep
Dr. Ziqi (Amber) Tang conducted her thesis research in Dr. Peter Koo’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Exploring the representational power of genomic deep learning models.” Amber is a research scientist at Instadeep in Boston Massachusetts.
Shushan Toneyan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche
Dr. Shushan Toneyan conducted her thesis research in Dr. Peter Koo’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Evaluating and interpreting genomic insights from sequence-based deep learning for regulatory genomics.” Shushan is a postdoctoral fellow in pharma research and early development at Roche in Zurich, Switzerland.
Jonathan Werner, Ph.D.
Analysis Supplier, University of Toronto
Dr. Jonathan Werner conducted his thesis research in Dr. Jesse Gillis’ laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Transcriptomic approaches for investigating developmental lineage.” Jonathan is an analysis supplier at the University of Toronto.
Cole Wunderlich, Ph.D.
Dr. Cole Wunderlich conducted his thesis research in Dr. Molly Gale Hammell’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Quantifying transposable element expression in single-cell RNA sequencing data.” Cole is exploring postdoctoral opportunities.
Lyndsey Aguirre, Ph.D.
Biological Sciences Tech, Peanuts and Small Grains Research Unit, USDA-ARS
Dr. Lyndsey Aguirre conducted her thesis research in Dr. Zachary Lippman’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Dissection of quantitative epistasis in tomato meristem development.” Upon graduation Lyndsey joined a stealth start-up company in Texas. She is now a Biological Sciences Tech in the Peanuts and Small Grains Research Unit at the USDA-ARS in Oklahoma.
Sara Boyle, Ph.D.
Data Analytics Consultant, Northern Trust
Dr. Sara Boyle conducted her thesis research in Dr. Bo Li’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “The central amygdala encodes nutritional properties and modulates weight gain.” Sara is currently Data Analytics Consultant at Northern Trust in Chicago.
Ilgin Ergin, Ph.D.
Foundation and Corporate Relations Coordinator, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Dr. Ilgin Ergin conducted her thesis research in Dr. Semir Beyaz’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Metabolic regulation of anti-tumor immunity.” Ilgin is the Foundation and Corporate Relations Coordinator at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.
Amritha Varshini Hanasoge Somasundara, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Amritha Varshini Hanasoge Somasumdara conducted her thesis research in Dr. Camila dos Santos’ laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Investigating the role of changes to the mammary gland immune microenvironment in pregnancy-induced oncoprotection.” Amritha is a Senior Scientist with Dr. Ross Levine at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Asad Aziz Lakhani, Ph.D.
Associate, Search and Evaluation, Autobahn Labs
Dr. Asad Aziz Lakhani conducted his thesis research in Dr. Jason Sheltzer’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The role of recurrently observed aneuploidy in tumorigenesis.” Asad is an Associate in Search and Evaluation at Autobahn Labs in Massachusetts.
Diogo Maia e Silva, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, Pathology, Mass General Hospital
Dr. Diogo Maia e Silva conducted his thesis research in Dr. Christopher Vakoc’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Mechanisms of gene transcription by TP63 and the mediator complex in squamous pancreatic cancer.” Diogo is a Research Fellow in Pathology with Dr. Keith Joung at Mass General Hospital in Massachusetts.
Kathryn O’Neill, Ph.D.
Child Health Equity Postdoc, University of Washington, Seattle
Dr. Kathryn O’Neill conducted her thesis research in Dr. Molly Gale Hammell’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Investigations into the contribution of retrotransposon activation in neurodegenerative disease.” Kat is a Child Health Equity Postdoc at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Alexa Pagliaro, Ph.D.
Foundation and Corporate Relations Officer, Whitehead Institute
Dr. Alexa Pagliaro conducted her thesis research in Dr. Stephen Shea’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “A disrupted parvalbumin network state impairs maternal behavior in a mouse model of Rett Syndrome.” Alexa is the Foundation and Corporate Relations Officer at the Whitehead Institute in Massachusetts.
Jenelys Ruiz, Ph.D.
Bioinformatics Analyst, Bioinformatics Resource Center, The Rockefeller University
Dr. Jenelys Ruiz conducted her thesis research in Dr. Camila dos Santos’ laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Characterizing models to study cellular composition changes in
response to pregnancy hormones in the human mammary gland.” Jenelys is a Bioinformatics Analyst in the Bioinformatics Resource Center at The Rockefeller University in New York.
Julia Wang, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Julia Wang conducted her thesis research in Dr. Tatiana Engel’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Interpretable brain state manifold for characterizing heterogeneity.” Julia is a Research Fellow with Drs. Adam Kohn and Ruben Coen-Cagli at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Chengxiang (Charlie) Yuan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore
Dr. Chengxiang Yuan conducted his thesis research in Dr. Jay Lee’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Applications of oligonucleotide ligation in sequencing.” Charlie is a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Weimiao Yu at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore.
Brianna Bibel, Ph.D.
Visiting Professor of Biochemistry, Saint Mary’s College of California
Dr. Brianna Bibel conducted her thesis research in Dr. Leemor Joshua-Tor’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Regulating the regulator: Phosphorylation-mediated regulation of the RNAi effector protein Argonaute.” Bri was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Danica Fujimori’s laboratory at UCSF. She is currently a Visiting Professor of Biochemistry at Saint Mary’s College of California.
Alberto Corona, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Alberto Corona conducted his thesis research in Dr. Stephen Shea’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Sex-dependent neural activity underlying parenting behavior in mice.” Alberto is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Paul Kenny’s laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Bruno Gegenhuber, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
Dr. Bruno Gegenhuber conducted his thesis research in Dr. Jessica Tollkuhn’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Epigenomic organization and activation of brain sex differences.” Bruno is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Michael Greenburg’s laboratory at Harvard University.
Benjamin Harris, Ph.D.
Computational Biologist, Lyell Immunopharma
Dr. Benjamin Harris conducted his thesis research in Dr. Jesse Gillis’ laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Evaluating the functional landscape of Blood and Brains using scRNAseq.” Ben is currently a Computational Biologist at Lyell Immunopharma.
David Johnson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Invent at Seattle Children’s Postdoctoral Scholars Program
Dr. David Johnson conducted his thesis research in Dr. Alea Mills’ laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Elucidating the effects of depleting BRPF1 in human glioblastoma.” David is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Siobhan Pattwell in the Invent at Seattle Children’s Postdoctoral Scholars Program.
Christopher Krasniak, Ph.D.
Research Data Scientist, Somatus
Dr. Christopher Krasniak conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Mesoscale imaging and inactivation in a standardized visual decision-making task.” Chris is currently a Research Data Scientist at Somatus in New Hampshire.
Shaina Lu, Ph.D.
Senior Data Scientist, R&D, Miltenyi Biotec
Dr. Shaina Lu conducted her thesis research in the laboratories of Drs. Jesse Gillis and Anthony Zador. Her thesis was entitled “The replicability of spatially-resolved transcriptomics for modern neuroscience.” Upon graduation, Shaina joined Eagle Genomics as a Bioinformatics Scientist. She is currently a Senior Data Scientist in Research and Development at Miltenyi Biotec in Massachusetts.
Luqun Shen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University
Dr. Luqun Shen conducted his thesis research in Dr. Stephen Shea’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Perceptual categorization and neural representations of vocal stimuli.” Luqun is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Alex Kwan’s laboratory at Cornell University.
Martyna Sroka, Ph.D.
Scientist, Relay Therapeutics
Dr. Martyna Sroka conducted her thesis research in Dr. Christopher Vakoc’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Myodifferentiation of rhabdomyosarcoma.” Martyna is currently a Scientist at Relay Therapeutics in Massachusetts.
Ran Yan, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Parthenon Therapeutics
Dr. Ran (Rena) Yan conducted her thesis research in Dr. Douglas Fearon’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Tumor immunogenicity and plasticity of cancer-associated fibroblasts orchestrate the host immune response to mouse pancreatic cancer.” Rena is currently a Senior Scientist at Parthenon Therapeutics.
Benjamin Berube, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Ohalo Genetics
Dr. Benjamin Berube conducted his thesis research in Dr. Robert Martienssen’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Epigenetic control of meiotic recombination and drive.” Ben is currently a research scientist in monocot breeding and biotechnology at Ohalo Genetics in California.
Elizabeth Hutton, Ph.D.
Senior Computational Biologist, ArtisanBio
Dr. Elizabeth Hutton conducted her thesis research in Dr. Adam Siepel’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Identifying genotype-specific genetic vulnerabilities in CRISPR knockout screens.” Lizzie is currently a Senior Computational Biologist at ArtisanBio in Colorado.
Matt Lee, Ph.D.
Clinical Science Liaison, TG Therapeutics
Dr. Matt Lee conducted his thesis research in Dr. Lloyd Trotman’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Endocytic regulation of PTEN.” Matt is currently a Clinical Science Liaison, TG Therapeutics in St. Louis, Missouri.
Katarina Meze, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Structural Biology, Sanofi
Dr. Katarina Meze conducted her thesis research in Dr. Leemor Joshua-Tor’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Mechanism of structured RNA degradation by the human exonuclease Dis3L2.” Katie was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Nils Walters’ laboratory at the University of Michigan. She is currently a Senior Scientist in Structural Biology at Sanofi in Massachusetts.
Alexandra Nowlan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, UNC Chapel Hill
Dr. Alexandra Nowlan conducted her thesis research in Dr. Stephen Shea’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “An amygdalo-cortical circuit for multisensory processing in maternal behavior.” Ally is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Zoe McElligott’s laboratory at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Sofya Polyanskaya, Ph.D.
Consultant, Scitaris
Dr. Sofya Polyanskaya conducted her thesis research in Dr. Christopher Vakoc’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “A nuclear phosphatase-kinase signaling complex that supports acute myeloid leukemia.” Sofya is currently a Consultant at Scitaris in Berlin, Germany.
Ngoc (Tumi) Tran, Ph.D.
Machine Learning Scientist, Relay Therapeutics
Dr. Ngoc Tumi Tran conducted her thesis research in Dr. Alexei Koulakov’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “DeepNose: Using artificial neural networks to represent the space of odorants.” Tumi is currently a Machine Learning Scientist at Relay Therapeutics in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Emilis Bružas, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Medical Strategy, FCB Health
Dr. Emilis Bružas conducted his thesis research in Dr. Mikala Egeblad’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The role of immunity in breast cancer dormancy and recurrence.” Emilis is currently the Associate Director of Medical Strategy at FCB Health in New Jersey.
Hamza Giaffar, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSD
Dr. Hamza Giaffar conducted his thesis research in Dr. Alexei Koulakov’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The primacy model and the structure of olfactory space.” Hamza is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Mikio Aoi’s laboratory at UCSD.
Jacqueline Giovanniello, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA
Dr. Jacqueline Giovanniello conducted her thesis research in Dr. Bo Li’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Characterizing amygdala-pallidal circuitry and its role in a 16p11.2 microdeletion model of ASD.” Jackie is conducting postdoctoral research with Dr. Kate Wassum at UCLA.
Kristina Grigaityte, Ph.D.
Senior Data Scientist, Merck
Dr. Kristina Grigaityte conducted her thesis research in Dr. Mickey Atwal’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Comprehensive sequencing analyses of high-throughput single T cells in humans.” Upon graduation, Kristina joined Tempus Labs as a data scientist. She is now a senior data scientist at Merck.
Jue Xiang Wang, Ph.D.
Consultant, Boston Consulting Group
Dr. Jue Xiang Wang conducted her thesis research in Dr. Hiro Furukawa’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Decoding GluN2C/2D-specific NMDA receptor antagonism.” Jue is currently a Consultant with Boston Consulting Group in New York City.
Georgi Yordanov, Ph.D.
Equity Research Associate, Cowen and Company
Dr. Georgi Yordanov conducted his thesis research in Dr. David Tuveson’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Myc and Spdef: two transcription factors hijacked by pancreatic cancer.” Georgi is currently an Equity Research Associate at Cowen and Company in New York City.
Anqi Zhang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
Dr. Anqi Zhang conducted her thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Representations in Rodent Primary Visual Cortex During Visual Discrimination.” Anqi is conducting postdoctoral research with Dr. Florian Engert at Harvard University.
Giorgia Battistoni, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Cambridge, CRUK
Dr. Giorgia Battistoni conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “A novel perspective on heterogeneity during development and epigenetic reprogramming of the mouse male germline.” Giorgia is currently a postdoctoral research associate with Drs. Gregory Hannon and Shankar Balasubramanian at the University of Cambridge (UK) and Cancer Research UK.
Lital Chartarifsky, Ph.D.
Associate Medical Director, FCB CURE
Dr. Lital Chartarifsky-Lynn conducted her thesis research in Dr. Anne Churchland’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Visual, auditory and multisensory decision-making: behavior and neural circuits.” Upon graduation, Lital was a Biotechnology Program and Business Development Coordinator at CSHL. She is currently an Associate Medical Director at FCB CURE in New Jersey.
Talitha Forcier, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, New York University
Dr. Talitha Forcier conducted her thesis research in Dr. Justin Kinney’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Precision measurement of cooperative interactions in transcriptional regulation in living cells.” She is currently conducting postdoctoral research with Dr. Molly Hammell at New York University.
Sanchari Ghosh, Ph.D.
Content Specialist, bioRxiv
Dr. Sanchari Ghosh conducted her thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Corticostriatal plasticity in learning and reversal of auditory-motor associations.” Sanchari is a Content Specialist for bioRxiv, the preprint server for Biology.
Michael Gutbrod, Ph.D.
Senior Associate, SANTÉ Ventures
Dr. Michael Gutbrod conducted his thesis research in Dr. Rob Martienssen’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Chromosomal Functions of RNA Interference and Small RNAs in Early Mammalian Development.” Michael conducted his postdoctoral training in Dr. Manolis Kellis’ laboratory at MIT. He is now a Senior Associate at SANTÉ Ventures in Massachusetts.
Laura Maiorino, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT
Dr. Laura Maiorino conducted her thesis research in Dr. Mikala Egeblad’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Identification of cancer-cell intrinsic and host-mediated cellular mechanisms of metastasis through intravital imaging.” She is now a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Darrell Irvine’s laboratory at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. Laura was awarded a JSMF Postdoctoral Fellowship Award in Understanding Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems.
Sashank Pisupati, Ph.D.
Machine Learning Scientist, Limbic
Dr. Sashank Pisupati conducted his research in Dr. Anne Churchland’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Lapses in perceptual judgements reflect exploration.” He conducted postdoctoral research in Dr. Yael Niv’s laboratory at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. Sashank is now a Machine Learning Scientist at Limbic in the UK.
Yu-Jui (Ray) Ho, Ph.D.
Bioinformatic Specialist II, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Yu-Jui (Ray) Ho conducted his thesis research in Dr. Molly Hammell’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Single-cell sequencing to understand resistance mechanism in melanoma.” Ray is a Computational Biologist in Dr. Scott Lowe’s laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Daniel Kepple, Ph.D.
Engineer, Meta
Dr. Daniel Kepple conducted his thesis research in Dr. Alexei Koulakov’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “A exploration of olfactory spaces.” Daniel was a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at the Samsung Artificial Intelligence Center and is now an Engineer at Meta in New York City.
Fred Marbach, Ph.D.
Senior Laboratory Research Scientist, Francis Crick Institute
Dr. Fred Marbach conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Projection-neuron activity in auditory cortex during perceptual decisions.” Fred was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Marcus Stephenson-Jones’ laboratory at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre. He is now a Senior Laboratory Research Scientist with Dr. Andreas Schaefer at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK.
Paul Masset, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, McGill University
Dr. Paul Masset conducted his thesis research in Dr. Adam Kepec’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Building confidence: behavioral and neural signatures for metacognition.” Paul was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratories of Dr. Venkatesh Murthy and Dr. Naoshige Uchida at Harvard University. In January 2024, he will start his own laboratory at McGill University in Canada.
Onyekachi Odoemene, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, ML Solutions Lab, Amazon
Dr. Onyekachi (Kachi) Odoemene conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anne Churchland’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Accumulation of visual evidence for decision making in mice.” Kachi was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Chou Hung’s laboratory at the Army Research Laboratory. He then joined Booz Allen Hamilton and later, Capital One, as a Data Scientist. He is currently a research scientist in the ML Solutions Lab at Amazon.
Brittany Cazakoff, Ph.D.
Student, Stanford Law School
Dr. Brittany Cazakoff conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Shea. Her thesis was entitled “State and learning dependent activity in olfactory granule cells.” Brittany is currently a student at Stanford Law School.
M. Joaquina Delas Vives, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, The Francis Crick Institute
Dr. Joaqunia Delas Vives conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Role of long noncoding RNAs in hematopoiesis.” Joaquina is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. James Briscoe’s laboratory at The Francis Crick Institute.
Justus Kebschull, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, The Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Justus Kebschull conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Exploiting DNA sequencing technology for high-throughput neuroanatomy.” Justus conducted postdoctoral research in Dr. Liqun Luo’s laboratory at Stanford University. He is now an Assistant Professor at The Johns Hopkins University, where his lab studies the evolution of the brain.
Matthew Koh, Ph.D.
Research Engineer, ASAAP
Dr. Matthew Koh conducted his thesis research in Dr. Florin Albeanu’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “A novel optical method for controlling and recording from neural circuits.” After graduation, he completed the Insight Data Science program before joining Bloomberg LP. He is currently a Research Engineer at ASAAP in New York.
Maria Nattestad, Ph.D.
Senior Software Engineer, Google
Dr. Maria Nattestad conducted her thesis research in Dr. Michael Schatz’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Computational methods for analysis and visualization of long-read sequencing data in cancer genomics.” She is currently a Senior Software Engineer at Google.
Annabel Romero Hernandez, Ph.D.
Director of AI for Drug Discovery and Molecular Modeling, SFL Scientific
Dr. Annabel Romero Hernandez conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Hiro Furukawa. Her thesis was entitled “ Molecular mechanisms of inhibition and subtype specificity in NMDA receptors.” Upon graduation, Annabel joined Regeneron Pharmaceuticals as a scientist. She is now director of AI for drug discovery and molecular modeling at SFL Scientific in Massachusetts.
Abram Santana, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
Dr. Abram Handly-Santana conducted his thesis research in Dr. David Tuveson’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Distinct populations of fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer.” Abram is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Joan Brugge’s laboratory at Harvard University.
Charles Underwood, Ph.D.
Professor, Radboud University
Dr. Charles Underwood conducted his thesis research in Dr. Robert Martienssen’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Epigenetic and genetic control of transposon silencing and meiotic crossover in Arabidopsis thaliana.” After completing his studies, Charlie worked as a Scientist at KeyGene in the Netherlands, before becoming a Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. He is now a Professor at Radboud University in The Netherlands where his lab studies how sexual plants recombine their chromosomes during reproduction to generate genetically diverse cells.
Robert Aboukhalil, Ph.D.
Software Engineer, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Dr. Robert Aboukhalil conducted his thesis research in the laboratories of Drs. Michael Wigler and Mickey Atwal. His thesis was entitled “Elucidating cancer evolution using single-cell sequencing and comparative genomics.” Upon graduation Robert became a Bioinformatics Software Engineer in California. He is currently a Senior Software Engineer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Arkarup Banerjee, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Dr. Arkarup Banerjee conducted his thesis research in Dr. Florin Albeanu’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Identity and intensity encoding in the olfactory bulb.” Arka conducted postdoctoral research in Dr. Michael Long’s laboratory at NYU. He is now an Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where his lab investigates the neural circuits in the brain that underlie vocal communication in mammals.
Colleen Carlston, Ph.D.
Medical Student, University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Colleen Carlston conducted her thesis research in Dr. Christopher Hammell’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Prion-like pqn-59 affects C. elegans developmental timing through microRNAs.” After graduation, Colleen completed a clinical molecular genetics fellowship at the University of Utah and received her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. She is currently a Clinical Fellow in Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts.
Silvia Fenoglio, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Tango Therapeutics
Dr. Silvia Fenoglio conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Context-specific dependencies in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer.” Silvia conducted postdoctoral research in Dr. Michael Hemann’s laboratory at MIT. She is now a Senior Scientist at Tango Therapeutics in Massachusetts.
Tyler Garvin, Ph.D.
VP Operations, Underground Cellar
Dr. Tyler Garvin conducted his thesis research in Dr. Michael Schatz’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Algorithms for the analysis of cancer genomics with advanced sequencing technologies.” Tyler is currently the VP of Operations at Underground Cellar in California.
Anja Hohmann, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Cell Therapies at Be Biopharma
Dr. Anja Hohmann conducted her thesis research in Dr. Christopher Vakoc’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Function and inhibition of BRD9 in acute myeloid leukemia cells.” After completing her studies, she joined Constellation Pharmaceuticals. She is now the Senior Director of Cell Therapies at Be Biopharma in Massachusetts.
Lisa Krug, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Kallyope
Dr. Lisa Krug conducted her thesis research in Dr. Josh Dubnau’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Retrotransposon activation contributes to neurodegeneration in a Drosophila TDP-43 model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.” Lisa is now a senior scientist at Kalloype in New York.
Özlem Aksoy (née Mert), Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Pfizer
Dr. Özlem Aksoy performed her thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “The biological role of an atypical E2f family member, E2F7.” Özlem conducted postdoctoral research in Dr. William A. Weiss’s lab at University of California, San Francisco. She is now a Senior Scientist at Pfizer in California.
Mitchell A. Bekritsky, Ph.D.
Senior Manager, Bioinformatics, Illumina
Dr. Mitchell Bekritsky conducted his thesis research in Dr. Michael Wigler’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Detecting de novo microsatellite mutations in a population of families with sporadic autism.” Mitch is now a bioinformatics scientist at Illumina in Cambridge, UK.
Stephane E. Castel, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Variant Bio
Dr. Stephane Castel conducted his thesis research in Dr. Rob Martienssen’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Transcriptional regulation in the context of DNA replication by RNA interference in fission yeast.” Stephane was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Tuuli Lappalainen at the New York Genome Center. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Variant Bio in Washington State.
Kristen Marie Delevich, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Washington State University
Dr. Kristen Delevich conducted her thesis research in Dr. Bo Li’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Synaptic effects of Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 loss-of-function in the medial prefrontal cortex and thalamofrontal feedforward inhibitory circuit.” Kristen conducted postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Linda Wilbrecht at the University of California, Berkeley. She is now an Assistant Professor at Washington State University where her lab is interested in the functional changes in the nervous system that accompany adolescence.
Wee Siong Sho Goh, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory
Dr. Wee Siong Sho Goh performed his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Biogenesis and function of piRNAs.” He conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. William F. Burkholder at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of A*STAR in Singapore. Before becoming an independent GIS Fellow at the Genome Institute of Singapore. Sho is now an Assistant Professor at Shenzhen Bay Laboratory in China where his lab studies the regulation and function of RNA modifications and epitranscriptomic factors in human diseases.
Sang-geol Koh, Ph.D.
Scientist, {mind}
Dr. Sang-geol Koh performed his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The role of callosal projections in auditory coding.” Following graduation, Sang-geol moved to South Korea to develop a biotechnology start-up company, {mind}
Ian D. Peikon, Ph.D.
Co-founder & CSO, Cajal Neuroscience and Venture Partner, Lux Capital
Dr. Ian Peikon conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Encoding of neural circuit information into DNA” and was awarded the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award for this work. In 2016, Ian was named one of Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 in science for his graduate work on the connectome. Ian worked shortly with GoogleX as a product engineer before joining the biotech start-up Kallyope. Ian is currently the Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Cajal Neuroscience and a Venture Partner at Lux Capital in New York.
Nilgün Tasdemir, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Pfizer
Dr. Nilgün Tasdemir performed her thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Investigating the role of Brd4 in cellular senescence and normal tissue homeostasis.” Nilgün conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Nancy Davidson at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2019, Nilgun was awarded an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award. She is now a Senior Scientist at Pfizer in New York.
Elvin Wagenblast, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Elvin Wagenblast conducted his thesis research with Dr. Gregory Hannon. His thesis was entitled “A molecular characterization of breast cancer progression, including onset, tumor growth and metastasis.” Elvin conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. John Dick at the University of Toronto, where he studied hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia. He is now an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where he studies childhood leukemia using CRISPR-based genome editing approaches.
Jack G. Walleshauser III, Ph.D.
Head of Analytics, Spotlight Therapeutics Inc.
Dr. Jack Walleshauser performed his thesis research in Dr. Leemor Joshua-Tor’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Insights into the molecular interactions within the Lin28-let-7 pathway.” Jack conducted research with Dr. Anna Pyle at Yale University, where he studied the structure and function of large RNAs. He was a Research Scientist at Plexxikon and is now the Head of Analytics at Spotlight Therapeutics in California.
Susann Manchado (née Weissmueller), Ph.D.
Strategic Assistant (Chief of Staff) to President Global Drug Development, Novartis
Dr. Susann Weissmueller conducted her thesis research with Dr. Scott Lowe. Her thesis was entitled “The impact of chromosome 17p alterations on cancer.” Susann was a healthcare equity research associate with Roth Capital Partners and a Strategic Partnering Associate at Roche. She is now a Strategic Assistant to the President of Global Drug Development at Novartis in Switzerland.
Cinthya J. Zepeda Mendoza, Ph.D.
Medical Director, Cytogenetics and Genomic Microarray, ARUP Laboratories. Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology at University of Utah
Dr. Cinthya Zepeda Mendoza conducted her thesis research in Dr. David Spector’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Impact of copy number variation on chromatin interactions at the mouse 4qE2 chromosome region.” After graduation, Cinthya moved to Harvard and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital for postdoctoral work with Dr. Cynthia Morton followed by a fellowship in Genetics and Genomics at the Mayo Clinic. She is currently a Medical Director of Cytogenetics and Genomic Microarrays at ARUP Laboratories and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at University of Utah.
Philippe Batut, PhD.
Assistant Professor, Columbia University
Dr. Philippe Batut conducted his thesis research in the lab of Dr. Thomas Gingeras. His thesis was entitled “Promoter evolution in Drosophila: non-coding transcription and transposon-driven innovation.” Philippe conducted his postdoctoral research with Dr. Mike Levine at Princeton University. In January 2024 he will start his own research group at Columbia University in New York.
Dario Bressan, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute
Dr. Dario Bressan conducted his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “A novel technology for the space-specific recovery of biological molecules.” Dario is continuing his work as a research associate at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Institute and the University of Cambridge.
Melanie Eckersley-Maslin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Peter Mac Cancer Centre
Dr. Melanie Eckersley-Maslin conducted her thesis research in Dr. David Spector’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Characteristics of random monoallelic gene expression during embryonic stem cell differentiation.” Melanie conducted postdoctoral research at the Babraham Institute at the University of Cambridge with Dr. Wolf Reick. She is now an Assistant Professor at the Peter Mac Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia, where her lab studies epigenetic reprogramming in stem cells.
Marek Kudla, Ph.D.
Director of Bioinformatics, Ardigen
Dr. Marek Kudla conducted his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Quantitative description of microRNA target site occupancy in mouse embryonic stem cells and derived cells of neuronal lineage.” Marek conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Nick Ingolia at UC Berkeley. He is currently the Director of Bioinformatics at Ardigen in Poland.
Katie Liberatore, Ph.D.
Molecule Design Director, Cibus
Dr. Katie Liberatore conducted her thesis research in Dr. Zachary Lippman’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Investigating the roles of gene dosage and stem cell maintenance in the regulation of plant shoot and inflorescence architecture.” Katie did a postdoctoral fellowship at the USDA Cereal Disease Laboratory. She is now the Molecule Design Director at Cibus in Minnesota.
Hassana Oyibo, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Synthetic Biology, Tessera Therapeutics
Dr. Hassana Oyibo conducted her thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “A high throughput sequencing approach to mapping synaptic connectivity in the brain.” Hassana was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Georg Keller at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland where she later became a viral vector core lead scientist. She is currently a senior analytical scientist at Ring Therapeutics in Massachusetts.
Michael Paulter, Ph.D.
Head, Genomic Services, Platform Genetics; and Research Associate, Vineland Research and Innovation Center
Dr. Michael Pautler conducted his thesis research in Dr. David Jackson’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Meristem size and determinacy in maize.” Mike is currently the Head of Genomic Services at Platform Genetics a spin-off company from the Vineland Research and Innovation Center in Canada.
Zinaida Perova, Ph.D.
Project Lead, European Bioinformatics Institute
Dr. Zinaida Perova conducted her thesis research in Dr. Bo Li’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Synaptic changes in the medial prefrontal cortex in susceptibility and resilience to stress.” She conducted her postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Tiago Branco at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the University of Cambridge. Zina is currently a Project Lead at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in Cambridge, UK.
Yevgeniy Plavskin, Ph.D.
Visiting Clinical Associate Professor, New York University
Dr. Yevgeniy Plavskin conducted his thesis research in Dr. Marja Timmermans’ laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Regulation of the auxin response by an ancient small RNA pathway.” Eugene did his a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Mark Siegel in NYU’s Department of Genomics and Systems Biology, where he studied the genetic networks underlying phenotypic evolution. He is now a Visiting Clinical Associate Professor at New York University.
Joshua Sanders, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO, Sanworks, LLC
Dr. Joshua Sanders conducted his thesis research in the lab of Dr. Adam Kepecs. His thesis was entitled “A computational framework for understanding decision confidence.” Josh conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Duda Kvitsiani at the Danish Research Institute for Translational Neuroscience and Århus University, where he studied the brain circuits that underlie foraging behavior. He recently started his own company Sanworks, which develops automated systems for Neuroscience research, and streamlines access to them through an online assembly service.
Kaja Wasik, Ph.D.
Co-Founder at Variant Bio and Gencove
Dr. Kaja Wasik conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Unusual aspects of piRNA pathways in mice and flatworms.” Kaja was an intern at Topspin Partners and Accelerate Long Island, which together help fund innovative, early stage biotech start-up companies. Kaja joined the biotech start-up, EpiBone, where she was a research scientist. She was then a postdoctoral research associate with Dr. Joe Pickrell at the New York Genome Center. Kaja is currently the co-founder of two biotechnology companies, Gencove and Variant Bio, both located in New York City.
Megan Bodnar, Ph.D.
Team Lead, Neochromosome, Inc.
Dr. Megan (Bodnar) Hogan conducted her thesis research in Dr. David Spector’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “The dynamics of pluripotency genes upon differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells.” Megan conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Thomas Zwaka at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where she studied the regulation of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells. Megan is currently a Team Lead at Neochromosome in New York City.
Joseph Calarco, Ph.D.
Dr. Joseph Calarco conducted his thesis research in Dr. Robert Martienssen’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “A System to Study Chromatin Dynamics Through Pollen Development.” Joe conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Gerald Crabtree at Stanford University where he investigated the roles of chromatin remodeling during mammalian development. Joe sadly passed away in 2016.
Saya Ebbesen, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Medical and Scientific Strategy, BluPrint Oncology
Dr. Saya Ebbesen performed her thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “RNAi Mouse Models of Breast Cancer Tumor Suppressor Genes.” Saya conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. David Lyden at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. Saya then joined BGB Group, a medical communications agency in New York City, as a medical writer. She is now the Associate Director of Medical and Scientific Strategy at BluPrint Oncology in London.
Eyal Gruntman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough
Dr. Eyal Gruntman conducted his thesis research in Dr. Glenn Turner’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Integration Properties of Kenyon Cells in the Drosophila melanogaster Mushroom Bodies.” Eyal conducted his postdoctoral research with Dr. Michael Reiser at HHMI Janelia Farm. He is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough in Canada, where his lab uses flies to study fundamental visual computations.
Paloma Guzzardo, Ph.D.
Head of Target Biology, Variant Bio
Dr. Paloma Guzzardo conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Identification and characterization of novel components of the Drosophila piRNA pathway.” Paloma worked as a Program Evaluation Consultant at the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. She then joined Horizon Genomics in Vienna, Austria as a team leader and later became a Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. She is currently the Head of Target Biology at Variant Bio in New York.
Maria Pineda, Ph.D.
Co-founder and CEO, Envisagenics, Inc.
Dr. Maria Luisa Pineda conducted her thesis research in Dr. Raffaella Sordella Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Substrate specificity of receptor tyrosine kinases is critical for selective signaling.” She has been consulting for private equity investment firms in Long Island and NYC, Canrock Ventures and Golden Seeds. Maria established the first bioinformatics solutions company in New York, Envisagenics, Inc.
Felix Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Bioinformatics Lead, Scale Biosciences, Inc.
Dr. Felix Schlesinger conducted his thesis research in Dr. Thomas Gingeras’ laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Discovery and Analysis of Transcription at Regulatory Elements.” Upon graduation, Felix joined Illumina as a Bioinformatics Scientist. He is currently a Bioinformatics Lead at Scale Biosciences, Inc. in San Diego.
Petr Znamenskiy, Ph.D.
Group Leader, Francis Crick Institute
Dr. Petr Znamenskiy conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Role of corticostriatal projections in auditory discrimination.” Petr conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Thomas Mrsic-Flogel. He is now a Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, UK, where his lab studies how specialized circuits of nerve cells in the visual system are wired to help animals perceive and navigate their environment.
Patrick Finigan, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs CMC, Gilead Sciences
Dr. Patrick Finigan conducted his thesis research in Dr. Rob Martienssen’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The origin of novel phenotypic variation in Arabidopsis allopolyploids.” Patrick was an intern at Bayer Healthcare. He is currently an Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs CMC at Gilead Sciences.
Kyle Honnegger, Ph.D.
Data Scientist, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Dr. Kyle Honegger conducted his thesis research in Dr. Glenn Turner’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Neural Coding in the Drosophila Mushroom Body.” Kyle conducted his postdoctoral work with Dr. Benjamin de Bivort at Harvard University. He is currently a Data Scientist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
Elizabeth Nakasone, M.D., Ph.D.
Junior Researcher, Translational and Clinical Research, University of Hawaii Cancer Center
Dr. Elizabeth Nakasone conducted her thesis research in Dr. Mikala Egeblad’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled, “A stromal CCL2/CCR2 signaling axis regulates chemotherapeutic response in a mouse model of breast cancer.” Beth graduated from the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii and did her residency at UCLA Health in California and her oncology fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. She is currently a Junior Researcher in Translational and Clinical Research at the University of Hawaii’s Cancer Center.
Frederick Rollins, Ph.D., MBA
Director, Competitive Intelligence, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca
Dr. Frederick Rollins conducted his thesis research in Gregory Hannon’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The genetics and epigenetics of erlotinib resistance in non-small cell lung cancer.” Fred then graduated from the accelerated MBA program at The Johnson School of Graduate Management at Cornell University. Fred joined L.E.K. Consulting, where he was a Senior Engagement Manager. He is now a Director of Competitive Intelligence at AstraZeneca.
Zhenxun Wang, Ph.D.
Adjunct Junior Principal Investigator at Singapore Eye Research Institute, Adjunct Assistant Professor Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Dr. Zhenxun Wang conducted his thesis research in Dr. Adrian Krainer’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “The mechanism and manipulation of pk-m alternative splicing.” Wang conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Bing Lim at the Genome Institute of Singapore. He is currently an Adjunct Junior Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore where his laboratory is deciphering the roles of glaucoma risk genes in glaucoma pathophysiology.
Amy Rappaport, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Translational Immunology, Gristone Oncology
Dr. Amy Rappaport conducted her thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Dissecting tumor suppressor and tumor maintenance genes in poor prognosis acute myeloid leukemia.” Amy conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Leisa Johnson at Genentech in San Francisco, where she developed mouse models of cancers to identify and validate therapeutic targets. She then joined a highly publicized biotech start-up company in Palo Alto as an assay development scientist. She is currently a Senior Director in Translational Immunology at Gristone Oncology in California.
Claudio Scuoppo, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist, Sapience Therapeutics, Inc.
Dr. Claudio Scuoppo conducted his thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Architectural Models of Tumor Suppression in Lymphoma.” Claudio conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Riccardo Dalla-Favera at the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University, where he later became an Instructor. Claudio is currently a principal scientist at Sapience Therapeutics, Inc. in New York.
Galen Collins, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University
Dr. Galen Collins conducted his thesis research in Dr. William Tansey’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Activator turnover and proteolysis in transcriptional activation.” Galen conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Fred Goldberg at Harvard Medical School where he studied protein degradation and quality control. He is now an assistant professor at Mississippi State University.
Yaniv Erlich, Ph.D.
CEO, Eleven Therapeutics
Dr. Yaniv Erlich conducted his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Compressed sensing.” Yaniv was the recipient of the IEEE-CS/ACM High Performance Computing Ph.D. Fellowship and the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award. He then moved to the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as the Andria and Paul Heafy Family Fellow. In 2015, he moved to the New York Genome Center and the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. He is now the Chief Executive Officer of Eleven Therapeutics in the United Kingdom.
Oliver Fregoso, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Oliver Fregoso conducted his thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Adrian Krainer. His thesis was entitled “Elucidating the functions of splicing regulatory proteins through the use of high-throughput proteomics.” Oliver conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Michael Emerman at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, investigating the replication and pathogenesis of HIV and related viruses. Oliver continues to study viral evolution in his own research lab at UCLA and the David Geffen School of Medicine. He is in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics.
Amy Leung, Ph.D.
Principal Solutions Engineer, DNAnexus
Dr. Amy Leung conducted her thesis research in Dr. William Tansey’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Regulation of chromatin by histone H2B ubiquitylation.” Amy conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Rama Natarajan at the City of Hope, Beckman Research Institute, California, where she later became an Assistant Research Professor and was awarded an NIH K01 award to study the role of long non-coding RNAs in diabetes. Amy is currently a Principal Solutions engineer at DNAnexus in California.
Hiroshi Makino, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Nayand Technological University Singapore
Dr. Hiroshi Makino conducted his thesis research in Dr. Roberto Malinow’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “AMPA receptor dynamics and synaptic plasticity at excitatory synapses.” Hiroshi conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Takaki Komiyama at the University of California, San Diego, where he was looking at the activity of neuronal circuits in behaving animals. He is currently an Assistant Professor, Nayand Technological University Singapor.
Colin Malone, Ph.D.
Co-Founder & Head of Biology, VNV NewCo, Inc.
Dr. Colin Malone conducted his thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Gregory Hannon where he was the recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. His thesis was entitled “Evolution, inheritance and specialization of transposon control pathways in Drosophila.” Colin conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Ruth Lehmann at The Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, supported by a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation fellowship. In 2015, Colin moved to Columbia University Medical Center, where he was Director of Genomic Analysis and Technical Operations an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine. He is now the Co-Founder & Head of Biology at VNV NewCo, Inc.
Katherine McJunkin, Ph.D.
Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Katherine McJunkin conducted her thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Inducible RNAi targeting essential genes.” Katie conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Victor Ambros at UMass Medical Center. Where she studied the post-translational regulation of microRNAs in C. elegans development. In 2015, Katie was awarded an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award. She is currently a Tenure Track Investigator and Acting Section Chief, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH.
Shraddha Pai, Ph.D.
Investigator, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Dr. Shraddha Pai conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Carlos Brody. Her thesis was entitled “Neuroanatomical localization of timing-specific brain loci in the rat.” Shraddha conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Gary Bader at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto. In 2014, she was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship and a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant to support her research. She is currently an Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto Canada where her lab works to improve data-driven clinical decision-making by finding genomic and multi-omic signatures that match cancer patients to the most effective treatments with the fewest side effects.
David Simpson, Ph.D.
Freelance Data Scientist and Strategy Consultant
Dr. David Simpson conducted his research in Dr. William Tansey’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Regulation of Myc-induced apoptosis in the mammary epithelia.” David was the recipient of a US Army Medical Research and Material Command Breast Cancer Research Program Predoctoral Fellowship. David is conducting postdoctoral research with Dr. Alejandro Sweet-Cordero at Stanford University identifying therapeutic targets for lung cancers. He is now a Freelance Data Scientist and Strategy Consultant.
Oliver Tam, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, NYU Institute for Systems Genetics
Dr. Oliver Tam conducted his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Characterization of small RNA populations and DNA methylation in mammalian development.” Oliver was awarded a Human Frontiers in Science fellowship for his postdoctoral research, which her performed with Dr. Janet Rossant at The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto and then with Dr. Molly Hammell at CSHL. Oliver joined ARUP Laboratories, a non-profit enterprise of the University of Utah that offers complex medical diagnostic tests as a sequencing analyst. He is now a Research Scientist at the NYU Institute for Systems Genetics in New York.
Allison Blum, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Scientific Affairs, Pfizer Research and Development
Dr. Allison Blum conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Josh Dubnau. Her thesis was entitled “Rutabaga signaling in distinct circuits supports short versus long-term memory in Drosophila.” Allison worked as the laboratory manager for Dr. Ruth Lehmann’s laboratory at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, NYU School of Medicine. She is currently the Senior Director, Scientific Affairs, Pfizer Research and Development in New York.
Daniel Chitwood, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Dr. Daniel Chitwood conducted his thesis research in Dr. Marja Timmermans’ Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Patterning in leaves via a cascade of small RNAs.” He conducted postdoctoral research with Drs. Neelima Sinha and Julin Maloof at the University of California, Davis. He then joined the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis as an assistant Member. He is now an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. His lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying the diversity of plant morphologies, including leaf shapes and shoot architectures.
Shu-Ling Chiu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Academia Sinica
Dr. Shu-Ling Chiu conducted her thesis research in Dr. Hollis Cline’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “The role of insulin receptor in the development of neuronal structure and function.” She conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Richard Huganir at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is now an Assistant Professor at Academia Sinica in Taiwan where she studies the function and regulation of neurotransmitter receptors.
Keisha John, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Virginia
Dr. Keisha John conducted her thesis research in Dr. Linda Van Aelst’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Characterization of the role of DOCK7 in neuronal development.” She was a recipient of the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. Keisha conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Mary Beth Hatten at The Rockefeller University. She then moved to Florida State University’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. She is now the Associated Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Virginia.
Jeremy Wilusz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Jeremy Wilusz conducted his thesis research in Dr. David Spector’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “3’ end processing of long nuclear-retained non-coding RNAs yields tRNA-like small RNAs.” Jeremy was the recipient of the 2009 RNA Society/Scaringe Graduate Student Award. He was a postdoctoral fellow inDr. Phil Sharp’s lab at MIT and held a held a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fellowship. He then joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to his current position as an Associate Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, where his group studies how non-coding RNAs are generated and regulated.
Hiroki Asari, Ph.D.
Research Group Leader, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL, IT)
Dr. Hiroki Asari conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Auditory System Characterization.” Hiro conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Markus Meister at Harvard University and CalTech, supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2016, he joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) at Monterotondo, Italy, as a group leader in neurobiology. His group investigates the neural circuits of the early visual system in mice, specifically how the retina participates in brain-wide feedback.
Rebecca Bish-Cornelissen, Ph.D.
Head of Discovery and Preclinical Research, Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
Dr. Rebecca Bish conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Myers. Her thesis was entitled “The Function of the Ubiquitin-Binding Zinc Finger Domain in DNA Repair.” Becky was the recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from the American Foundation for Aging Research. She conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Eric Holland at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and then with Dr. Christine Vogel at New York University. She also founded an independent company that provided editorial services to academic researchers. After completing her postdoc, Becky was a scientific editor at D. E. Shaw Research. She is now Head of Discovery and Preclinical Research for the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.
François Bolduc, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, University of Alberta (CA)
Dr. François Bolduc conducted his thesis research in Dr. Tim Tully’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Role of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein and the RNAi Pathway in Drosophila Learning and Memory.” Prior to joining the School, he had completed his medical degree in Sherbrook, Quebec and had practiced pediatric neurology at the Université de Montreal and McGill University’s Montreal Children’s Hospital and Montreal Neurological Institute. François is currently a clinician scientist and associate professor in the Department of Pediatric Neurology and an adjunct associate professor of medical genetics at the University of Alberta, Canada. His lab uses Drosophila to understand the molecular basis of memory in relation to human diseases, such as intellectual disability and autism.
Monica Dus, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, University of Michigan
Dr. Monica Dus conducted her thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Greg Hannon. Her thesis was entitled “Beyond Classical RNAi: towards an understanding of germ cell development and transposon control in the fruitfly D. melanogaster.” Monica then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Greg Suh at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, where she was awarded a Hilda and Preston Davis Postdoctoral Fellowship in Eating Disorders. She is now an associate professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan, studying the molecular basis of appetitive behavior in Drosophila. For 2023-2024, she will also be a White House Fellow in the United States Department of the Navy.
Angelique Girard, Ph.D.
Director of Finance and Administration, Amplitude Studios
Dr. Angelique Girard conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Mammalian Piwi proteins and transposon silencing in the male germline.” She conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Kevin Eggan at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University. Angelique is now the Director of Finance and Administration at Amplitude Studios in Paris, France.
Christopher Harvey, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Christopher Harvey conducted his thesis research in Dr. Karel Svoboda’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Dynamics of Plasticity and Signaling at Individual Synapses.” Chris conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. David Tank at Princeton University, supported by a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation fellowship. He is now an assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and the recipient of a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award. Chris’s lab aims to understand how neural circuits in the cortex implement decision-making.
Wei Wei, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, The University of Chicago
Dr. Wei Wei conducted her thesis research in Dr. Roberto Malinow’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “The Interplay between Amyloid-beta and Neural Activity.” Wei conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Marla Feller at the University of California, Berkeley. She is now an associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago and a recipient of a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship. Wei’s lab studies the synaptic basis of neuronal computation in the retina and the development of synaptic connections.
Darren Burgess, Ph.D.
Senior Editor, Nature Reviews Genetics
Dr. Darren Burgess conducted his thesis research in Dr. Scott Lowe’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “RNAi Genetic Screens for Chemotherapy Response Modifier Genes.” Darren then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Alan Ashworth at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK, before taking a position as an editor at Nature Reviews. He is currently Senior Editor at Nature Reviews Genetics.
Catherine Seiler (née Cormier), Ph.D.
Director, Operational Excellence in Translation Medicine, AstraZeneca
Dr. Catherine Cormier conducted her thesis research in Dr. Yuri Lazebnik’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Caspase activation in unidentified apoptotic pathways.” During her time at the School, Catherine received a PEO Scholar’s award and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. After completing her studies, she joined the Harvard Institute of Proteomics and then Dr. Josh LaBaer’s group at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University as the scientific liaison for the DNASU Plasmid Repository. She is currently a Director of Operational Excellence in Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca in Massachusetts.
Claudia Feierstein, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme (PT)
Dr. Claudia Feierstein conducted her thesis research in Dr. Zachary Mainen’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Representation of Goals, Actions, and Outcomes in Rat Orbitifrontal Cortex.” Claudia was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Pierre-Marie Lledo at the Pasteur Institute. She is now conducting postdoctoral research with Dr. Michael Orger at the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme in Portugal where she studies sensory integration in the neural circuits that guide behavior.
Tomas Hromadka, Ph.D.
Group Leader, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Dr. Tomas Hromadka conducted his thesis research in Dr. Anthony Zador’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Representation of Sounds in Auditory Cortex of Awake Rats.” Tomas was a research scientist in the Laboratory of Auditory Physiology and Pathology in the Institute of Experimental Medicine, an EU Center of Excellence in Prague, Czech Republic. He is now a Group Leader at the Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, where his lab is interested in understanding the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease on brain activity and function.
Elizabeth Murchison, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Cambridge (UK)
Dr. Elizabeth Murchison conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Genetic Studies of Mammalian Dicer.” Liz completed postdoctoral research at the Australian National University and then the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, supported by an Australian Government NHMRC Overseas Biomedical Fellowship. She has received the Eppendorf Young Investigator Award, the Genetics Society Balfour Prize, and the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship. Liz is now a Professor in Comparative Oncology and Genetics and a Wellcome Trust Investigator at the University of Cambridge. Her lab studies the genetics and evolution of contagious cancers in dogs and Tasmanian devils.
Gowan Tervo, Ph.D.
Group Leader, HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus
Dr. Gowan Tervo conducted his thesis research in Dr. Karel Svoboda’s Laboratory wherehe was the recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship. His thesis was entitled “Development of Molecular Systems for the Inactivation of Synaptic Transmission.” Gowan was a Research Specialist with Dr. Alla Karpova at the HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus. He is currently a Group Leader at Janelia where he studies learning in an adaptive environment as it applies to social interactions.
Santanu Chakraborty, Ph.D.
Program Director for Sustainable Life Sciences and Associate Professor, Atria University, India
Dr. Santanu Chakraborty conducted his thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Carlos Brody. His thesis was entitled “Analysis and Modeling of Neural Connectivity in a Short Term Memory System.” Santanu is currently the Program Director for Sustainable Life Sciences and and Associate Professor at Atria University in India.
Rebecca Ewald, Ph.D.
International Business Leader Roche AG
Dr. Rebecca Ewald conducted her thesis research with Dr. Hollis Cline. Her thesis was entitled “NMDA receptor subtypes and dendritic arbor morphology.” After completing her studies, Rebecca was accepted into the Management Trainee program at Roche Diagnostics, Europe, where she spent two years in training. She is currently an International Business Leader for Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. within the Roche Group.
Charles Kopec, Ph.D.
Associate Professional Specialist, Princeton University
Dr. Chuck Kopec conducted his thesis research in Dr. Roberto Malinow’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “AMPA receptor trafficking and their effect on spine enlargement during long-term potentiation.” Chuck was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health, NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship to support his research at the School. He conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Carlos Brody studying the processing of temporal information in sensory perception at Princeton University where he is an Associate Professional Specialist.
Marco Mangone, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Arizona State University
Dr. Marco Mangone conducted his thesis research in the laboratory of Dr. Winship Herr. His thesis was entitled “Analysis of the HCF-1 basic region and its role in sustaining cell proliferation.” Marco conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Fabio Piano at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology at New York University. He is currently an associate professor at Arizona State University. His lab is interested in the regulation of gene expression by mRNA processing in C. elegans and human cells.
Ahmet Denli, Ph.D
Associate Editor, Genome Research, CSHL Press
<Dr. Ahmet Denli conducted his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Processing of pri-microRNAs by the Microprocessor Complex.” He then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Fred Gage at the Salk Institute in California. Ahmet is now an Associate Editor of the journal, Genome Research, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Elena Ezhkova, Ph.D.
Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Dr. Elena Ezhkova conducted her thesis research in Dr. William Tansey’s laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Role of the proteasome in gene control.” Elena then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Elaine Fuchs at The Rockefeller University. She is currently a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine where her lab is identifying epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation in the skin.
Michelle Heck, Ph.D.
Research Molecular Biologist, USDA-ARS
Adjunct Associate Professor, Cornell University
Dr. Michelle (Cilia) Heck conducted her thesis research in Dr. David Jackson’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Mechanisms of intercellular communication in Arabodopsis thaliana.” Michelle conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Stewart Gray at Cornell University, Ithaca. She is currently a Research Molecular Biologist in the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Michelle holds adjunct faculty appointments with The Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University. Michelle’s research focuses on insect vector-virus-plant host interactions in agricultural systems. In 2014, she was honored with the Herbert L. Rothbart ARS Early Career Scientist of the Year Award. In 2017, Michelle was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) by the Obama administration.
Zachary B. Lippman, Ph.D.
Professor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Dr. Zachary Lippman conducted his thesis research in Dr. Robert Martienssen’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Transposons, heterochromatin, and epigenetic landscapes in Arabidopsis thaliana.” Zach was the recipient of the prestigious Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award. He then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Dani Zamir at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2008, Zach returned to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he is now a professor and HHMI Investigator. Zach’s lab studies meristem development, especially in relation to crop improvement in tomatoes. His lab is also interested in the genetic basis of hybrid vigor.
Masafumi Muratani, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Tsukuba (JP)
Dr. Masafumi Muratani conducted his thesis research in Dr. William Tansey’s laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Regulation of gene expression by the ubiquitin-proteasome system.” Masafumi conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Richard Treisman at the London Research Institute of Cancer Research UK. He then worked as a Research Associate at the Genome Institute of Singapore within Dr. Huck Hui Ng’s group studying stem cells. Masafumi now leads his own group at University of Tsukuba in Japan, with a focus on genomics and epigenomics in space research.
Ji-Joon Song, Ph.D.
Professor, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Dr. Ji-Joon Song conducted his thesis research in Dr. Leemor Joshua-Tor’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Structural and biochemical studies of Argonaute reveal the slicing mechanism of RISC-RNAi effector complex.” Ji-Joon conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Robert E. Kingston at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University. He is currently a Professor at the KAIST in Korea, where his group is working on determining the atomic structure of chromatin modifying complexes in order to understand mechanisms of epigenetic regulation.
Elizabeth E. Bartom (née Thomas), Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Northwestern University
Dr. Elizabeth Thomas conducted her thesis research in Dr. Michael Wigler’s Laboratory where she was the recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Predoctoral Institute Fellowship. Her thesis was entitled “Exploring repetitive sequences in the human genome.” Elizabeth, conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Aviv Regev at Harvard University’s Center for Genomic Research. She worked as a computational biologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center and then at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, before taking up her current position in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University.
Amy A. Caudy, Ph.D.
Principal, Maple Flavored Solutions
Dr. Amy Caudy conducted her thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s Laboratory. Her thesis was entitled “Mechanism and applications of RNAi.” Amy was awarded the prestigious Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award and was also the recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship. After completing postdoctoral research with Dr. John Atkinson at Washington University, St. Louis, Amy joined the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University as a research fellow. Amy later joined the faculty at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor. She is now a Principal in Scientific Operations at Maple Flavored Solutions in New York.
Ira M. Hall, Ph.D.
Professor, Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Ira Hall conducted his research in Dr. Shiv Grewal’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “A Role for RNA Interfence in Heterochromatic Silencing and Chromosome Dynamics.” Ira’s research contributed to the prestigious AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize during his time at the School. After completing his studies, Ira was appointed as a Cold Spring Harbor Fellow. Ira then established his independent lab at the University of Virginia, studying genome variations in humans. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, where he also served as associate director of The Genome Institute. He is currently a Professor at the Yale School of Medicine.
Patrick J. Paddison, Ph.D.
Professor, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Dr. Patrick Paddison conducted his thesis research in Dr. Gregory Hannon’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “RNA interference in mammals: the quest for illuminating gene function.” During his time at the School, Patrick was the recipient of a US Army Medical Research and Material Comment Breast Cancer Research Program Predoctoral Fellowship. After completing his studies, Patrick became an independent fellow at CSHL. He is now a professor in the Human Biology Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where he uses functional genomics to understand mammalian stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency.
Niraj Tolia, Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Chief, Host-Pathogen Interactions and Structural Vaccinology Section
Dr. Niraj Tolia conducted his thesis research in Dr. Leemor Joshua-Tor’s Laboratory. His thesis was entitled “Structural and biochemical studies of the malaria parasite Plasmodim falciparum protein EBA-175 involved in erythrocyte invasion.” Niraj was associate professor at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis before moving his lab to the National Institutes of Health. Niraj is a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Host-Pathogen Interactions and Structural Vaccinology Section.
Emiliano Rial Verde, Ph.D.
Director, Corporate Development, Bunge Limited
Dr. Emiliano Rial Verde conducted his thesis research in Dr. Holly Cline’s Laboratory, where he was the recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Predoctoral Institute Fellowship. His thesis was entitled “The role of the immediate-early gene arc in synaptic transmission.” Emilano conducted his postdoctoral research with Dr. Yuste at Columbia University. He served as associate principle at McKinsey & Co. Inc., in Geneva, Switzerland, and New York, focusing on strategy and productivity in pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and public sector research. In 2015, Emiliano accepted a position as Director of Corporate Development at Bunge, a major international agrobusiness and food company that aims to ensure food security for the world’s growing population.