Posts classified under: Faculty

PhD in Statistics (Stanford University)

The Salzman Lab is primarily a computational data science laboratory focused on studying RNA biology with a secondary focus on validation and novel experimental design to enable statistical analysis of RNA expression. The group develops new data science methods to analyze the mechanism and function gene expression and RNA splicing. They design new methodology aiming to uncover how splicing is regulated at a single cell level and is dysregulated in diseases from viral infections to cancer. The Salzman Lab has active work in the area of analysis of massive single-cell sequencing projects such as Tabula Sapiens, spatial genomics and analysis of host response to SARS-CoV-2.

MD and PhD in Cell Biology (Harvard Medical School)

The Rohatgi Lab is working to elucidate the biochemical and cell biological principles that govern signaling pathways that sit at the intersection between developmental biology and cancer. Their toolkit combines bulk biochemical techniques, such as cell-free reconstitution, with microscopy using novel optical probes to study the dynamics of signal propagation in cells. The group strives to develop novel strategies for the manipulation of these pathways for cancer therapies and applications in regenerative medicine.

PhD in Biochemistry (University of California San Francisco)

The goal of research in the Pfeffer Lab is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which receptors are transported between specific membrane compartments in cells and how LDL derived cholesterol is exported from lysosomes. We are pioneers in the study of Rab GTPases that are master regulators of receptor trafficking. Rab GTPase phosphorylation by the LRRK2 kinase was recently linked to familial Parkinson’s Disease. We have discovered a Hedgehog signaling pathway that is blocked in specific neurons in the brain upon Rab phosphorylation, and we are testing a model that may explain in molecular detail, how this event leads to Parkinson’s Disease.

PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology (Yale University)

The Long Laboratory studies the early stages of symbiosis between Rhizobium (also Sinorhizobium) meliloti and and its host plants in the genus Medicago. The symbiosis is uniquely approachable by experiment because each partner can be genetically manipulated, and transgenic organs can be constructed, allowing highly specific genetic tests of various components of signal and response. The lab uses genetics, biochemistry and cell biological approaches to study how cell division, growth, and gene expression arise in each partner due to stimulation from the other.