Featured Researchers

Jun Hee Lee, Ph.D. Associate Professor Molecular & Integrative Physiology Medical School Lee Lab Scientific interest video We study the relationship between stress, aging and metabolism, focusing on the following projects: (1) Stress-inducible Sestrins and their role in age- and obesity-associated metabolic pathologies, (2) Biochemical mechanisms underlying physiological functions of Sestrins, (3) Pathogenetic mechanisms of…

  Alyssa English, Ph.D. Postdoctoral research fellow Human Genetics, Medical School Faculty-Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Moon Moon Lab Website Alyssa’s LinkedIn Alyssa’s Twitter Alyssa’s Google Scholar Mutations in EIF2AK2, a crucial regulator of protein biosynthesis, memory storage, and synaptic plasticity, are associated with the genetic neurodevelopmental disorder Leukoencephalopathy, Developmental Delay, and Episodic Neurologic Regression (LEUDEN) syndrome…

    Sydney Rosenblum Graduate Student Program in Chemical Biology Rackham Graduate School Faculty-Mentor: Amanda Garner Garner Lab   Broadly, I am interested in RNA and RNA-protein interactions as drug targets and using chemical biology to develop methods of probing or inhibiting those interactions. How does RNA relate to your research interests, and why? I…

Rachel Torrez Graduate Student, Ph.D. Candidate Department of Medicinal Chemistry College of Pharmacy Faculty-Mentor: Dr. Amanda Garner and Dr. Melanie Ohi Twitter: @torrez_rach  Linkedin Ohi Lab Garner Lab My research focuses on using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to study the structure and function of an enzyme called DICER1. DICER1 is a large, highly dynamic, multidomain…

Maha Hanafi, Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy Alumna, April 2021 Faculty-Mentor: Professor Nouri Neamati LinkedIn: Maha Zidan My research involves drug discovery where I focus on identifying novel anticancer agents for the treatment of various cancers especially pancreatic cancer being one of the most aggressive malignancies. I am always excited about my research and…

Dawen Cai, Ph.D. Associate Professor Cell and Developmental Biology, Medical School Biophysics, LS&A Affiliated with Neuroscience Graduate Program, Medical School Cai Lab Michigan Expert   What is the role of RNA in your research? We use scRNAseq to identify transcription factors that play critical roles in determining neuronal subtypes. Is there a layman image to…

Michelle Paulsen Research Laboratory Specialist Intermediate Bru-Seq Lab – Mats Ljungman Lab (Center for RNA Biomedicine core facility) Radiation Oncology, Medical School Website What is the role of RNA in your research? In the Ljungman Lab, RNA features predominantly as we developed the Bru-seq suite of techniques almost 20 years ago.  Bru-seq is a next…

Arushi Varshney, Ph.D. Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics Medical School Faculty-Mentor: Stephen C. J. Parker Google scholar LinkedIn  Twitter Through my research, I aim to better understand how predisposition to complex metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) is encoded in our DNA. I employ computational and statistical approaches to analyze large high-throughput data sets…

    Becky Glineburg, Ph.D. Postdoctorate Neurology, Medical School Faculty-Mentor: Peter Todd, M.D., Ph.D. Google Scholar I’m fascinated with how nucleic acid structure dictates various molecular pathways and mechanisms. Currently I’m investigating how GC-rich RNA repeat expansions promote an aberrant form of translation (RAN translation) and how this process contributes to neurodegenerative disease. I am…

Megan Trotter, Ph.D. Candidate Human Genetics,Medical School Faculty-Mentor – Dr. Sundeep Kalantry LinkedIn Kalantry’s Lab   What are your research interests? I study epigenetic factors that influence X-chromosome inactivation. X-inactivation takes place in female mammals to equalize X-linked gene expression to that of males. However, even in cells that have undergone X-inactivation, there is still…

  Karen Montoya, Ph.D. Candidate Chemistry, College of LSA Faculty: Nils G. Walter LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/karen-montoyaa I am interested in chemistry at the interface with biology and medicine. I have always had an interest in understanding the pathology of a disease. Through my research, I am working on a diagnostic tool that detects microRNA (miRNAs) molecular…

    Ameya Jalihal, Ph.D. (alumnus, graduated in December 2020) Chemistry, College of LSA Faculty: Nils G. Walter Dissertation Defense, Thursday, December 10, 2020 “To find and to form: Strategies for intracellular molecular target search and higher-order assembly” Ameya Jalihal, advisor: Nils G. Walter Google Scholar LinkedIn What are your research interests? I’m interested in how…

Meredith Purchal Ph.D. Candidate Program in Chemical Biology, College of LSA Faculty: Kristin Koutmou and Markos Koutmos Koutmos lab Koutmou lab Linkedin What are your research interests? I am primarily interested structurally characterizing the interactions between RNA and RNA modifying enzymes using x-ray crystallography. Post transcriptional modification of RNA is widespread and ubiquitous, adding a…

Jiaqiang Zhu, Ph.D. Candidate Biostatistics, School of Public Health Principal Investigator/Faculty: Xiang Zhou Group (http://xzlab.org ) What are your research interests? My research interests involve the development of efficient statistical methods and computational tools for large-scale genomic studies, including bulk and single cell RNA sequencing, bisulfite sequencing, and spatially resolved transcriptomics. How does RNA relate…

  Tasha Thong Graduate Student Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health Faculty: Justin Colacino Twitter: @tashathong Instagram: tashathong Google Scholar: Tasha Thong   What are your research interests?  My research is focused on uncovering the biological basis for racial disparities in breast cancer by exploring the relationship between normal mammary stem cells, genetics, and…

Kristin Koutmou Assistant Professor Chemistry, College of LSA Website: koutmoulab.com Twitter: @KoutmouLab Cells face the daunting challenge of synthesizing the correct number of proteins at the right time with high fidelity. My lab studies how cells control the process of protein synthesis by the ribosome. We are developing and implementing analytical, biochemical, and biophysical approaches…

Maria G. Castro, Ph.D. Professor, Neurosurgery and Cell and Developmental Biology Medical School Tweeter: @castro2355_mg Research Gate: Maria G. Castro LinkedIn Lab Website Google Scholar: Maria G Castro Dr Castro’s research program focuses on epigenetic regulation of brain cancer progression, uncovering the role of oncometabolites in the tumor microenvironment.  Her program also aims to develop immunotherapies…

Daniel Wilinski, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow; Principal Investigator/Faculty Dr. Monica Dus Department Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology College of LSA My research is aimed at understanding how metabolism modulates the control of brain RNAs. Currently, I am investigating how dietary sugar impacts dynamic neuronal RNA modifications which are necessary to maintain proper glucose homeostasis. NIH National…

Patricia Wittkopp, Ph.D. Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Sally L. Allen Collegiate Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, College of LSA Lab Website Google Scholar My research aims to understand the genetic, molecular, and evolutionary mechanisms responsible for phenotypic differences within and between species. Changes in gene expression are…

Lydia Freddolino, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Biological Chemistry, Medical School Lab website Google scholar profile In general, I’m interested in how and why bacteria make decisions. We have a love/hate relationship with bacteria: half the time we want them to make things for us, the other half, we want to kill them. Knowing how the regulatory…