Students of the Genetics Program
Year of entry into the Program is indicated in parentheses.
Disha Aggarwal (2017)
Disha graduated with a B. Tech. in Biotechnology from D.Y. Patil University, Mumbai, in 2014 and earned her M.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology from Brandeis University in 2015. She subsequently worked as a Research Associate at Moderna Therapeutics and then at CRISPR Therapeutics. Disha is pursuing her dissertation under the guidance of Dr. David Spector. Her project involves studying the role of long non-coding RNAs in breast cancer using patient-derived tumor organoids.
Likes: Traveling, sketching and painting, cooking, and beer
Dhivyaa Anandan (2022)
Dhivyaa graduated with a B.A. in Molecular Cellular Biology and Economics from Vanderbilt U in 2019. As an undergraduate, she worked in Dr. Rachelle Johnson's laboratory identifying novel dormancy regulators of bone metastatic breast cancer. After graduating, she worked as a research technician in Dr. Megan McNerney's lab at The University of Chicago studying the role of higher order genome architecture in hematopoiesis and the development of myeloid neoplasms. She joined the MSTP at Stony Brook in 2020 and is now pursuing her dissertation research in Dr. Camila dos Santos's lab at CSHL.
Likes: Baking, reading, beaches, exploring the city
Maryam Azmi (2020)
Graduating in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Biology from SBU, Maryam specialized in developmental genetics and joined the Biochemistry and Cellular Biology Master's Program in Fall 2019. From there, she transitioned into the PhD Program in Genetics in Fall 2020. During her master's training, Maryam worked in Dr. Dave Matus's lab where she co-first authored an inquiry-based laboratory learning module to prepare undergraduates for course-based and independent research experiences. Maryam is now undertaking her doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Holly Colognato, where she is studying the effects of metformin on developmental myelination.
Likes: Anime, video games, nail art, serving masala chai and desserts to guests and loved ones, family, and being called by her nickname, Minnie
Sam Chiappone (2019)
Sam graduated in 2013 with a BS in Biochemistry from SUNY Geneseo. Sam subsequently spent time at Cold Spring Harbor where he discovered the importance of vitamin B6 in acute myeloid leukemia proliferation. In the lab of Dr. Yusuf Hannun at Stony Brook, Sam's research has focused on the cellular networks surrounding ceramide, the central family in the class of bioactive lipids known as sphingolipids. Sam discovered the importance of the transcription factor FOXA1 in controlling the sphingolipid rheostat in breast cancer and also works on the control of the phosphoproteome by ceramide through Protein Phosphatase 2A.
Likes: Food and tennis
Charlie Chung (2018)
Charlie received a B.S in Biology from Stony Brook University and an M.S in Biotechnology from the City College of New York. His previous research interests primarily included molecular techniques, and his more recent interests involved E. coli genetics as a tool for identifying novel antibiotic targets. Charlie is now working at CSHL under the mentorship of Semir Bayez.
Likes: Animals, video games, food, reading (working on it)
Alexander Cicala (2024)
Alex graduated with a B.S. In Molecular Biology from UW-Madison in 2020, before working in Dr. Fotis Asimakopoulos' laboratory studying the role of extracellular stromal remodeling on the immune microenvironment of tumors at UCSD. He joined the MSTP at Stony Brook in 2022 and is now completing his dissertation research in the lab of Dr. Peter Westcott at CSHL.
Likes: Sports, reading, coffee
Luiz Carlos de Oliveira Jr (2021)
Luiz Carlos received his B.S. in Biological Science from University of São Paulo, Brazil. He started his career studying deleterious SNPs in HLA genes. In his master’s degree, he investigated deleterious SNPs near sites under positive and balancing selection using human populations. He is most interested in human genetic diversity and is carrying out his doctoral research in Adam Siepel's group.
Likes: Music, soccer and coffee - very Brazilian!
Shivani Deshpande (2023)
Shivani graduated with an integrated BS-MS degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune in May 2023. For her MS thesis project, she investigated a trafficking protein involved in the transport of AAV (adeno-associated virus), a viral vector used commonly for gene therapy. During her doctoral studies, she looks forward to learning about and contributing to more therapeutics and genetic technologies. She loves cats and has one tattooed on her arm (not her cat, she doesn't have a cat).
Likes: Music, Bollywood, reading, and discussions over tea
Katie graduated with a B.S. in Bioscience with a minor in Chemistry from Farmingdale State College in 2018 and earned her M.S. in Biochemistry and Cellular Biology from Stony Brook University in 2020. Her master’s research consisted of studying spindle pole body segregation in meiosis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Dr. Aaron Neiman’s lab. Katie is currently pursuing her dissertation project under the guidance of Dr. Ando van der Velden.
Likes: Spending time with my dogs, video games, going to the beach, and food (particularly sushi)
Fatima Ejaz (2023)
Fatima earned her Bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Wesleyan University. She recently completed her Master's degree in Biology, with a focus on a thesis investigating the genomic divergence among six distinct populations of the freshwater fish species Rhinichthys atratulus. At SBU, her aspiration is to explore research in the realms of cancer genetics and genomics, facilitating its translation into therapeutics and medicine.
Likes: Walks, cartoons, food, prayers, and sleep
Onur was born and grew up in Turkey. He received his B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Istanbul Technical University in 2018. He then worked at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he investigated the epigenetic mechanisms of intestinal stem cell reprogramming in response to dietary fatty acids in the lab of Dr. Semir Beyaz, where he has remained for his doctoral work. He is broadly interested in epigenetic regulation of gene expression.
Likes: Playing guitar, traveling and hiking
Santiago Espinosa de los Reyes (2021)
Santiago graduated from U of Richmond in 2017 with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Computer Science. Santiago began Stony Brook’s MSTP in 2019, and he is in the lab of Dr. Christopher Vakoc at CSHL. His work in the Vakoc lab focuses on uncovering the mechanisms behind NRF2 dependency in non-small cell lung cancer. Santiago plans to pursue an oncology research residency program upon completion of his MD/PHD.
Likes: Manchester United, cooking, traveling
Nelson Gautier (2019)
Nelson graduated from the University of Georgia in 2019 with a BS in Genetics. As an undergrad, he worked with thermophilic anaerobic bacteria in an effort to better utilize untreated biomass for biofuel production under the guidance of Dr. Janet Westpheling. He then worked on the genetic characterization of switchgrass, a DOE biofuel candidate crop, in Dr. Katrien Devos’s lab. Nelson has joined the group of Ando van der Velden to pursue his dissertation research.
Likes: Cooking, traveling, food, listening to music, and water activities
Sogol Ghanbari (2024)
Sogol was so highly interested in Genetics that she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in this field. During her master's thesis at Tarbiat Modares University in Iran, she worked on non-coding RNAs to find and validate a great internal control for miRNA qRT-PCR experiments in breast cancer using TCGA miRNA-seq data. She then worked as an R&D manager in a genetics laboratory to help prevent cancer in susceptible people by having a personalized healthy lifestyle dictated by their genomes. Now she wants to pursue her doctorate at Stony Brook University in the field of cancer diagnosis.
Likes: Dancing, traveling, cooking, hot tea, Persian foods
Rohini Guin (2024)
Rohini graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in Biology, where she conducted personalized vaccine research with Dr. Periasamy Selvaraj. She went on to complete a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the NIH with Dr. Beverly Mock, looking at the role of mTOR complexes across cancers and GVHD. She joined the MSTP in 2022 and is completing dissertation research with Dr. Tobias Janowitz, looking at the role of combination diet and pharmacology in expanding the therapeutic window for cancer treatment.
Likes: Reading, hiking, oil painting
Xiao Han (2019)
Xiao earned her B.S. in Biological Science from Sichuan University in 2019 and studied at the University of Notre Dame in 2018 as an exchange student, studying prostate cancer immunotherapy and penile cancer oncogenesis. Xiao is completing her dissertation work in the research group of Dr. Mikala Egeblad, who recently moved from CSHL to Johns Hopkins U. Her project studies pancreatic cancer metastasis to the liver, with a focus on how the immune system controls whether dormant cancer cells remain dormant or awaken.
Likes: Cooking, baking, traveling, snorkeling, cats
Kimberly Hane (2021)
Kim graduated from Cedar Crest College in 2021 with two B.S. degrees, one in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology and the other in Forensic Science. Her undergraduate research focused on applying DNA methylation to forensic biology. Kim is currently conduction research in Dr. Bruce Stillman's laboratory, where she is using yeast as a model organism to study DNA replication.
Likes: Anime, watching TV shows, reading, listening to music, playing video and tabletop games, kayaking, and hot tea
Jason Harper (2024)
Jason graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry in 2024. During his undergraduate career, he studied keratin 17's role in the tumor microenvironment in Dr. Joel Saltz's lab, as well as the role of sphingolipids in the oncogenicity of KRas-transformed rat intestinal epithelial cells in Dr. Yusuf Hannun's lab. He is interested in studying epigenetics, particularly its role(s) in cancer.
Likes: Sketching, badminton, book reading, LEGOs, watching basketball/baseball, and playing with my puppy
Chenjun received his B.S. in Biological Science from Huazhong Agricultural University in 2022 and studied at Peking University for summer research and a graduation project in 2021 and 2022. He undertook COVID-19 vaccine development in Dr. Mingqian Feng’s lab and budding yeast nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio research in Dr. Chao Tang’s lab. He is interested in systems biology, pursuing fundamental and quantitative laws behind biological phenomena. Chenjun has joined Dr. Bruce Futcher's lab to carry out his dissertation work.
Likes: Jogging, swimming, badminton, and studying the philosophy of science
Paige Henderson (2024)
Paige just finished her BS in biology with a statistics minor at Muhlenberg College, where she worked in a behavioral neuroscience lab looking at bumblebee odor preference and perception. She is excited to be at Stony Brook to learn more about genetics and its relation to human disease.
Likes: Music, baking, tea, reading, and dancing (I've done ballet most of my life!)
Qingting Hu (2021)
Qingting received an MS degree from China Three Gorges University and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Hubei Minzu University. She subsequently worked as a Research Associate in cancer research at both University of Kansas Medical Center and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. At KUMC, she focused on the role of CCL2 signaling in breast ductal carcinoma in situ progression. Qingting's main project at CSHL was to study the role of PTPs in the neuronal disease CDKL5 deficiency disorder. Qingting is now conducting her doctoral research under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Lukey.
Likes: Movies, traveling, and painting
Yujia Ji (2022)
Yujia earned her Bachelor's degree in Biological Science from University of Vermont in 2019 and MS in biology from New York University. She studied the gene expression response of Candida Albicans quiescence induced by nutrient starvation with Dr. David Gresham. For her dissertation research, Yujia has joined the lab of Dr. Michael Lukey.
Likes: Dancing, playing piano, and playing computer games
Yijie Kang (2023)
Yijie earned her Bachelor's degree in Biological Science from Sun Yat-Sen University in 2020 and MS in Biology from New York University in 2022. For her master’s thesis, she combined transcriptome data with neural electrophysiological activities. She is interested in using mathematical or computational methods to understand genetic topics.
Likes: Badminton, anime, hanfu, video games, and fan fiction
Abhay Kanodia (2018)
Abhay completed his undergraduate degree in Biotechnology in 2014 at SRM University, India. He obtained his M.S. degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from Brandeis University in 2016. Subsequently, he worked at Sanofi- Genzyme and then at Dana Farber Cancer Institute as a laboratory technician. His research experience has piqued his interest in understanding the tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy. His current work is being carried out in the lab of Dr. Yusuf Hannun.
Likes: Hiking, swimming, cooking, binging Netflix and traveling
Shareef Khalid (2024)
Shareef graduated with a B.S in Biology from LUMS in Lahore Pakistan in 2016, followed by an M.S in Bioinformatics from Georgia Institute of Technology. He has worked in academia and pharma on using human genetics to understand how genetic variation can modulate the risk of diseases and help us develop safer therapeutics. He's interested in evolutionary biology, understanding how selective pressures have shaped our genomes.
Likes: NBA and Broadway musicals
Hamidreza Khodajou Masouleh (2024)
After graduating with a B.Sc. in Biology-Animal Sciences from the University of Guilan in 2015, Hamidreza continued his studies in the Biochemistry Master’s Program at Kharazmi University and earned his M.Sc. in 2018. For his master’s thesis, he worked on herbal bioactive compounds, cancer chemoprevention, and discovering natural-based remedies against hepatocellular carcinoma. Being fascinated with exploring new approaches in cancer treatment, Hamidreza is highly interested in cancer epigenetics, where he believes the future of personalized cancer therapy lies.
Likes: Soccer, hiking, swimming, jogging, reading, and thriller movies
TanChun Kuo (2022)
TanChun graduated in 2018 with B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Statistics from UC Davis and earned his M.S. in Bioinformatics from Boston University in 2020. He then joined the Zaidi Lab at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai focused on the development of a humanized antibody to FSH as a therapeutic drug for obesity and osteoporosis. TanChun has chosen the lab of Dr. Nick Tonks for his dissertation work.
Likes: Road cycling, traveling, hiking and food
Alex obtained his BS in Medical Laboratory Technology from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana in 2016 and completed his Master's in Biomedical Science at Florida Atlantic University. At Stony Brook, he is studying genomics of local adaptation using the threespine stickleback fish as a model organism. His research focuses on the population dynamics that maintain standing genetic variations that underlie rapid evolution in this species, the functional roles of these variations, and the selection pressures that act on them. His goal is to apply the knowledge from these studies to understand human disease at the genomic level.
Likes: Reading, writing, biking and watching soccer
Nguyen Minh Thy (Trace) Le (2024)
Trace graduated with a BS in Biochemistry and a BA in Computer Science from Knox College, Illinois in 2024. While at Knox, she studied the regeneration of a single-celled organism called S. coeruleus and did an honors thesis on microRNA functions in cnidaria.
Likes: Tea and coffee, swimming, watching documentaries, and comic books
Steven Lewis (2021)
Steven graduated with a B.S. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and History from Yale University in 2018. After staying at Yale for a year studying red blood cell transfusion rejection immunity in the lab of Dr. Stephanie Eisenbarth, Steven joined the MSTP at Stony Brook in 2019. Steven is currently working in the lab of Dr. Camila dos Santos at CSHL and excited to combine an epigenetic and immunological perspective to better understand BRCA1 breast cancer tumor progression.
Likes: Running, biking and watching the Mets
Timothy Maher (2022)
Tim graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology from Wagner College in 2018. As an undergrad, he studied the relationship between antibiotic-induced perturbation of the microbiome and asthma pathogenesis in Dr. Martin Blaser’s lab at NYU School of Medicine. In 2018, he joined Dr. Carrie Lucas’s lab at the Yale School of Medicine where he studied rare genetic immune disorders. In 2020, Tim joined the MSTP at Stony Brook and is working in Dr. Semir Beyaz’s lab at CSHL, where he is studying how metabolic pathways alter immune cell function and how they can be targeted in cancer therapy.
Likes: Golfing, football and hanging with his dog Rylie
Jordan Pearson (2021)
Jordan earned her BA in Biological Basis of Behavior at U of Pennsylvania. There she studied the relationship between taste and energy density under Dr. Michael Tordoff at Monell Chemical Senses Center. She then spent two years in Dr. Paul Greengard’s lab at Rockefeller U studying Parkinson’s disease with a focus on senescence in dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. In 2019, she joined the MSTP at Stony Brook and is currently in Dr. Doug Fearon’s Lab at CSHL, where she is studying how cancer cells evade the immune system.
Likes: Running, hiking, cooking, all the desserts, and all the dogs
Shaobo Qin (2018)
Shaobo received a B.S. in Biotechnology from Sichuan University in 2015. She described two new species of Liuixalus as an undergraduate. Following her graduation, she worked as a lab technician in State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy (China), where her research focused on hepatocellular carcinoma. Shaobo is pursuing her dissertation research in the laboratory of Dr. Scott Powers.
Liam Shanley (2022)
Liam graduated from Binghamton University with a BS in Biological Sciences and a BA in German Studies in 2021. Undergraduate research topics included glutamate transport and environmental toxicity of metformin. He also worked as a Research Technician at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, performing single cell genomics/transcriptomics in the Wigler Lab. He has remained at CSHL for his dissertation work, which is being carried out under the guidance of Dr. Chris Vakoc.
Likes: Jeopardy, Minecraft, and the Mets baby love the Mets alright baby let's go get a home run baby love the Mets let's go Mets
Longling (Silvia) Shui (2023)
Silvia graduated in 2022 with a B.S. in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology from North Carolina State University, with double minors in Genetics and Statistics. As an undergrad, she studied long non-coding RNA in HIV disease using CRISPR-dCas9 knockdown technology in Dr. Xinxia Peng’s lab. After graduation, she joined Dr. Mikala Egeblad’s lab as a technician helping with breast cancer metastasis and immunology research. She is interested in immunology and cellular interactions. MBTI personality: ENTJ
Likes: Animals but no insects, singing, anime, video games, MBTI personalities
Kamil Taneja (2023)
Kamil graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2019 with a degree in Neuroscience. During his undergraduate and post-graduation years, Kamil studied retinitis pigmentosa, Marfan Syndrome, uveal melanoma, and genetically high myopia in cell lines and mouse models. Kamil joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at SBU in 2021 and is currently studying small cell lung cancer in the lab of Christopher Vakoc at CSHL.
Likes: Coffee, reading, movies, and tennis
Courtney Tello (2019)
Courtney earned a BS in Biochemistry from St. Thomas Aquinas College in 2018. As an undergraduate, she completed two REU programs. At Colorado State, she investigated the localization of the SHE1 protein in S. cerevisiae to help determine how SHE1 inhibits dynein and spindle movement during mitosis. At Clemson U, she built the cloning vector pcDNA3.1/Zeo(+)/hFas and transfected it into HeLa cells, with the aim of introducing human Fas protein into cancer cells. Courtney is a Turner Fellow at Stony Brook, where she is working under the guidance of Dr. Ben Martin.
Likes: Running, dancing, hiking, drawing, being with family and friends
Alice Wang (2023)
Alice graduated with a BS in Allied Health Science and a minor in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut in 2019. After graduation, she worked as a postgraduate research associate in Dr. William Damsky's lab at Yale University studying inflammatory skin diseases. She joined the Stony Brook MSTP in 2021 and is currently studying cancer cachexia with Dr. Tobias Janowitz at CSHL.
Yuqianxun (Harriet) Wu (2023)
Harriet graduated with a BS/MS degree in Bioengineering with highest honors from Northeastern University in 2022. During college, she worked to discover a 3D model for predicting natural C. elegans intestinal bacteria interactions. For her master’s project, she investigated deep reinforcement learning for the control of microbial co-cultures in bioreactors. After graduation, she worked for a year at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute as a full-time research technician studying translocations in renal cell carcinoma with Dr. Srinivas Viswanathan.
Likes: Traveling, skiing, frisbee, food, and aero club
Lucia graduated with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in global studies from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019. As an undergrad, she worked in the lab of Dr. X. William Yang investigating the pathological cell-cell interactions in Huntington’s disease and characterizing the pathways behind Huntington’s disease modifiers. She joined the MSTP at Stony Brook in 2019 and is now working in Dr. Adrian Krainer’s lab at CSHL. Her research interests are in alternative splicing and its role in disease.
Likes: baking, trivia, movies and tv, sports, and annoying my cat
Narges Zali (2018)
Narges graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from Shahid Beheshti University, Iran, in 2008. She earned an MA in Molecular and Cell Biology from CUNY and an MPH focusing on epidemiology and research methods from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She then worked as a Research Associate at Mount Sinai. Her research focus has been on rare genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and hereditary colorectal cancer. Narges is now pursuing her doctoral research in the laboratory of Bruce Stillman at CSHL.
Likes: Swimming, biking, fashion, reading