Current Students
Top Row (Left to Right): Karol Nawalaniec, Robert Fisher, Abigail Fowler, Sanjana Bhagavatula, Haiyuan (Henry) Sun, Kaitlyn Alimenti, Owen Sanborn, Erin Hennessey, Jason Weis
Bottom Row: (Left to Right): Erin Cullinane, Ali Gulhan, Margot Barroso Zuppa, David Engel
The students of the GPGG are a diverse group. Each has a strong background in research and helps support the strong community and learning environment.
David Engel (Waxman Lab)
David is a sixth year PiBS student in the GPGG program. He is a member of Dr. Waxman’s lab on the Charles River Campus. David’s project is focused on the differentiating different forms of fatty liver disease by identifying unique genetic markers through computational analyses. His hobbies include creating things through drawing, digital painting, and wood carving. At the same time, David likes pushing his physical limits with boxing, a good sparring match, and working out
Erin Hennessey (Kotton Lab)
Erin is a fifth year PhD student in Dr. Kotton’s lab. She is researching gene therapy solutions for ABCA3-associated childhood interstitial lung disease. Erin’s hobbies include playing piano, attending concerts, and exploring the city with a bubble tea in hand.
Jason Weis (Mazzilli Lab)
Jason is a fifth year PhD student in the labs of Sarah Mazzilli. His work will use a variety of spatially resolved multi-omic assays and computational analyses with the aim of identifying biomarkers indicative of tumorigenesis and disease progression of early lung cancer. Outside of the lab, Jason keeps himself busy with swimming and cycling.
Rachael Thomas (Blower Lab)
Rachael is a fifth year GPGG student in the lab of Dr. Mike Blower. The Blower lab is interested in understanding how cell division changes gene expression in mitotic and meiotic cells, and how the process of transcription affects chromosome segregation. Rachael spends her free time knitting and listening to music, podcasts and audiobooks.
Owen Sanborn (Cifuentes Lab)
Owen is a fourth year GPGG PhD student mentored by Dr. Daniel Cifuentes in the biochemistry department. The lab’s focus is in mechanisms of RNA regulation involving microRNA, RNA-binding proteins, and RNA modifications. Owen’s project focuses on developing a single cell approach to mapping microRNA activity in developmental trajectories. In his free time, Owen enjoys running in Boston’s parks and trying new foods.
Lauren Ayers (Kotton Lab)
Lauren is a fourth-year PhD student in the Kotton Lab. Her research interests include lung developmental biology and regenerative medicine, and her research will utilize iPSC-derived alveolar epithelial type I (iAT1) cells. Outside of the lab, Lauren enjoys rowing, cycling, cooking, and spending time with her family (including her cat, Potato).
Kaitlyn Alimenti (Blower Lab)
Kate is a fourth-year PhD student in Dr. Michael Blower’s lab. During division, a cell undergoes drastic structural changes that coincide with alterations to gene expression. Kate is interested in understanding how mitotic transcriptional silencing promotes proper chromosome segregation. In her work, Kate is developing new ways to integrate CRISPR systems with techniques from cell biology and biochemistry. Outside of the lab, Kate enjoys exploring the outdoors, cooking, and cheering on Boston sports teams.
Ali Gulhan (Farrer’s Lab)
Ali is in his third year of a PhD program, conducting research in Dr. Lindsay Farrer’s lab within the Department of Medicine, Biomedical Genetics. His studies focus on the genetic factor influencing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. In his free time, Ali enjoys practicing archery, visiting archaeological sites, and reading mythic narratives.
Joseph Grieco (Zachariou’s Lab)
Joseph is a third-year PhD student in Vanna Zachariou’s lab in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biophysics. The Zachariou lab focuses on therapeutics for chronic pain conditions and investigates signaling pathways and transcriptional adaptations in the brain’s reward center that mediate addiction-like and antinociceptive behaviors. In the lab, he is interested in utilizing various biochemical and molecular biology techniques to investigate mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and signal transduction in the reward pathway and in dorsal root ganglia in models of neuropathic pain, aiming to identify more effective therapeutics for chronic pain. He also has a dog named Chubby, and love to take him for walks to the park and along the beach.
Abigail Fowler (Tay Lab)
Abby is a third-year PhD student in the Tuan Leng Tay Lab. Abby’s project will utilize spatial-omics and single-cell RNA sequencing to study microglia heterogeneity and the blood-brain barrier. Outside of the lab, Abby enjoys cycling, experimenting with sourdough baking, and playing board games.
Karol Nawalaniec (Grishok Lab)
Karol is a third-year PhD student working in the lab of Dr. Alla Grishok in the department of Biochemistry. His project focuses on the role of nuclear Dicer and small RNAs (sRNAs) in oncogenic gene upregulation in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Outside the lab, I enjoy exploring the outdoors, gardening, plant-keeping, and routing for the Boston Celtics and Connecticut Huskies.
Sanjana Bhagavatula (Monti Lab)
Sanjana is a third-year PhD student in Dr. Stefano Monti’s lab. Her research will use a variety of computation analyses to understand the molecular mechanisms by which aging contributes to the etiology of head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinomas. Outside of the lab, Sanjana enjoys running, baking sourdough bread, and traveling.
Emily Kirchner (Mews Lab)
Emily is a third-year PhD student in the lab of Dr. Philipp Mews. Her work focuses on the role of metabolic enzymes on epigenetic regulation and chromatin organization, specifically in neuropsychiatric and substance use disorders. Outside of the lab, Emily spends her time in the yoga studio and running along the Charles.
Erin Cullinane (Mazzilli Lab)
Erin is a third-year PhD student in the Mazzilli lab. The lab’s focus is to develop models aimed at unraveling the regulatory mechanisms of epithelial and immune interactions involved in the progression of premalignant lesions, specifically focusing on understanding lung squamous cell carcinoma. Outside the lab, Erin can often be found baking in the kitchen or attending concerts. She also loves to hike and spend time with her family.
Margot Barroso Zuppa (Leshchiner Lab)
Margot is a third- year PhD student in Dr. Leshchiner’s lab. Her research interests include aging, cancer genomics, and novel therapeutics. Outside the lab, Margot enjoys running along the Charles River and dancing Cuban salsa.
Haiyuan (Henry) Sun (Hawkins Lab)
Henry is a third-year PhD student in the lab of Dr. Finn Hawkins. The Hawkins Lab is interested in how the human lung is maintained and responds to injury with a particular focus on the airway epithelium and disease of the airways. Outside of the lab, Henry enjoys running, baking, and tossing a frisbee.
Saylor Williams (Isaac Lab)
Saylor is a second year PhD student in GPGG working in the lab of Dr. Stefan Isaac. Her project focuses on how different stressors and diseases alter the regulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Outside the lab, saylor enjoys going to the movies, running, cafe hopping around Boston, and spending time with her cat.
Connor Malloy (Kotton Lab)
Connor is a second year PhD student in Dr. Darrell Kotton lab. He is researching cell & gene therapy strategies for ABCA3-associated childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD). Outside the lab, Connor enjoys exploring the outdoors, painting, and cheering on his hometown Philly sports teams.
Keyu (Chloe) Li (Perissi Lab)
Chloe is a second year GPGG PhD student in Dr. Valentina Perissi’s lab. Her research work focuses on the characterization of the mitochondrial protein NEURL4 and its functional pathways in vivo with both computation al and molecular approaches. In her free time, she is passionate about her animals (Elle and Roe Roe the tabby sisters), arts and crafts, and being a good tourist in both her own city and while exploring a new place.
Elizaveta (Lisa) Berson (Perissi-Isaac Lab)
Lisa is a second – year GPGG PhD student. She is co-mentored by Dr. Valentina Perissi and Dr. Stefan Isaac. She is interested in understanding the role of subpopulation of mitochondria that localized near the nucleus. She is currently developing purification system to isolate perinuclear mitochondria and will be characterizing it using genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics approaches. Outside of the lab, Lisa enjoys hiking, practicing yoga, snowboarding, and traveling.
Isabel Kaplan (Fisher’s Lab)
Isabel is a second year GPGG PhD student in Dr. Shannon Fisher’s lab. Her research focuses on uncovering the genetic causes of non-syndromic craniosynostosis (CS) in zebrafish models using molecular biology and computational techniques. Outside of lab, Isabel enjoys running, reading history books, and cheering for the Boston Red Sox.
Pranav Narnur (Monti Lab)
Pranav is a second year PhD student in Dr. Stefano Monti’s lab in the department of Computational Biomedicine. He is interested in developing and applying computational methods toward the study of cancer genomics. In his free time, he enjoys watching a variety of sports and movies, reading books, and exploring the city.
Jackson Smith (Szalat Lab)
Jackson is a 3rd year MD-PhD student (G1) in the GPGG PhD program in Dr. Raphael Szalat’s lab. He is using computational approaches to understand the pathogenesis of plasma cell disorders including multiple myeloma and AL amyloidosis. He is currently using single-cell RNA sequencing to profile the bone marrow in AL amyloidosis patients. Outside of the lab, Jackson loves playing racket sports and cycling.
