URMC / Center for RNA Biology / People / Trainees Trainees ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZPost-Doctoral Fellows and StudentsElizabeth Abshire Ph.D.Post-Doctoral FellowMaquat LabEmail ElizabethAbshireKadijah Abston M.S.Graduate StudentLi LabEmail KadijahAbstonResearch Interest: Define the information carriers in semen underlying Pb-induced transgenerational behavioral alterations.Sara AliGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail SaraAliKelly Anderson Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateAnderson LabEmail KellyAndersonChen BaoGraduate StudentErmolenko LabEmail ChenBaoResearch Interest: mRNA stem-loops can pause the ribosome by hindering A-site tRNA bindingMargarita Belinite Ph.D.Post-Doctoral FellowErmolenko LabEmail MargaritaBeliniteEmily BerryGraduate StudentMello LabEmail EmilyBerryResearch Interest: Understanding the role of lncRNA Neat1 in maintaining cell identity.Rachel Bonn-BreachGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail RachelBonn-BreachResearch Interest: Structure and specificity of cyclic peptides in complex with HIV TAR provides insight into inhibitor developmentChapin Cavender M.S.Graduate StudentMathews LabEmail ChapinCavenderResearch Interest: Capturing the Influence of Structural Context and Solvent in Fixed-charge Force Fields for RNASai Chavali M.S.Graduate StudentWedekind LabEmail SaiChavaliResearch Interest: Arginine Forks Are a Widespread Motif to Recognize Phosphate Backbones and Guanine Nucleobases in the RNA Major GrooveHana Cho Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateMaquat LabEmail HanaChoMichaelle Chojnacki Ph.D.Postdoctoral FellowDunman LabEmail MichaelleChojnackiLily CiscoGraduate StudentLueck LabEmail LilyCiscoResearch Interest: Pathomechanism of skeletal muscle weakness and degeneration in Myotonic DystrophyBrandon DavisGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail BrandonDavisResearch Interest: Elucidating guide-RNA design rules for efficient and highly specific Cas13 RNA-targeting in human cellsThareendra (Teddy) De Zoysa M.S.Graduate StudentPhizicky LabEmail Thareendra (Teddy)De ZoysaResearch Interest: Similarities and differences in tRNA quality control decay pathways in evolutionarily distant yeast speciesDakarai EsgdailleGraduate StudentMello LabEmail DakaraiEsgdailleResearch Interest: Understanding the roles of lncRNA Neat1 in regulating gene expression and early oncogenesis.Justin GalardiGraduate StudentKielkopf LabEmail JustinGalardiResearch Interest: Distinguishing the roles of TatSF1 and U2AF65 paralogues in HIV vs. host gene expressionXueyang HeGraduate StudentBoutz LabEmail XueyangHeOmar HedayaGraduate StudentYao LabEmail OmarHedayaResearch Interest: The Role of DDX3X in the Translation of Cardiomyocyte Transcription FactorsChristina Heil Ph.D.Post-Doctoral FellowLueck LabEmail ChristinaHeilLisa Houston M.S.Graduate StudentGrayhack LabEmail LisaHoustonResearch Interest: Mechanisms Which Maintain the Reading Frame During Ribosome StallsMolly HulverGraduate StudentBoutz LabEmail MollyHulverFeng JiangGraduate StudentYao LabEmail FengJiangResearch Interest: Cracking the Function of PRRC2B in Translation InitiationEng Soon Khor Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateYao LabEmail Eng SoonKhorWooree KoGraduate StudentLueck LabEmail WooreeKoResearch Interest: Exploring the use of suppressor tRNAs for suppression of nonsense mutations in the CFTR gene as a potential treatment for cystic fibrosisSean LindleyGraduate StudentAnderson LabEmail SeanLindleyDebanjana MajiGraduate StudentKielkopf LabEmail DebanjanaMajiResearch Interest: Structure and Function of the Disease-Relevant Pre-mRNA Splicing Factor U2AF2James McSally Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateMathews LabEmail JamesMcSallyBryan MeyerGraduate StudentDunman LabEmail BryanMeyerAbhinav MittalGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail AbhinavMittalResearch Interest: Identifying common features of piRNA precursors using computational and biophysical approachesAdrian Moises Molina VargasGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail Adrian MoisesMolina VargasResearch Interest: RNA biology, CRISPR-Cas systems. Understanding gRNA design rules for efficient and specific Cas13 RNA-binding in human cells.Rina Nagao Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateMaquat LabEmail RinaNagaoJulia NicosiaGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail JuliaNicosiaYi PanGraduate StudentYu LabEmail YiPanPornthida Poosala Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateAnderson LabEmail PornthidaPoosalaJoseph Porter Ph.D.Post-Doctoral FellowLueck LabEmail JosephPorterXavier Rambout Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateMaquat LabEmail XavierRamboutGriffin SchroederGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail GriffinSchroederResearch Interest: Structural Analysis of a Riboswitch Reveals Long-Range Interaction Spine Bridging Distant DomainsMatthew SippleGraduate StudentLueck LabEmail MatthewSippleResearch Interest: Characterizing the molecular underpinnings of muscle excitability in Myotonic Dystrophy and the development of potential therapeuticsYoshita SrivastavaGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail YoshitaSrivastavaResearch Interest: Structure and effector-binding analysis of a PreQ1-III riboswitch suggests a fold that is tolerant to binding pocket mutationsMonika TasakGraduate StudentPhizicky LabEmail MonikaTasakResearch Interest: tRNA modifications and quality control decay pathways in evolutionarily distant yeast speciesJennifer TwardowskiGraduate StudentMello LabEmail JenniferTwardowskiResearch Interest: Evaluating the Potential of Tumor Suppressor p53 to Preserve Pancreatic Acinar Cell IdentityArica VanderWalGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail AricaVanderWalResearch Interest: The Role of Csx28 in CRISPR-Cas13b Anti-Phage DefenseLi XieGraduate StudentLi LabEmail LiXieResearch Interest: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms that Control Tissue Homeostasis and Somatic Stem Cells.Mikaeel Young Ph.D.Post-Doctoral FellowDunman LabEmail MikaeelYoung