Current and Past Students
- 2024
Zainab Ahmed
Maxwell Allison
Max graduated with a B.S in Biology from Tufts University in 2022, where he studied the mechanisms of CAG/CTG nucleotide repeat fragility in the Freudenereich lab. From 2022 to 2024, Max worked as a research technician in the Kadoch lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute studying the interactions of different transcription factors and the mSWI/SNF complex in
multiple cancer types. He is interested in understanding the mechanisms that control
chromatin regulation. Outside of lab, Max enjoys hiking, cooking elaborate meals, and biking.
Hannah Bochniak
Hannah is interested in the intersection of DNA and genetics with medical issues. Hannah enjoys going to the gym, playing soccer and reading. Fun fact: Hannah collects keychains from every new place she travels to! 
Abigail Booth
Abby holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She began applying her knowledge by joining the molecular biology group at Abveris and advancing technical skills, namely sequencing of hybridomas and single cells, and honing her troubleshooting abilities. She then moved into the research operations group at Matchpoint Therapeutics where she was able to expand her understanding of small molecule drug discovery and immunology. 
Charly Campanella
I received a B.S. in Biology from St. John Fisher University in Spring 2024. During my time at Fisher, I worked in the Murphy Lab, which studied how certain disruptions to erythropoiesis can lead to specific anemias and other blood disorders like MDS. We also looked into finding alternatives to specific biochemical reagents to make research more affordable at PUIs. I am currently interested in pursuing research focused on cancer pathogenesis and immunology. I enjoy reading books and baking for others in my free time. 
Caroline Casella
Caroline received her B.A. in Biological Sciences from Macaulay Honors College and Hunter College in 2023. While a student at Hunter College, she began working in the Bratu Lab. After graduation, she continued her work there studying spatial-temporal mRNA regulation, and processing body (P-body) formation and organization in Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and crocheting.
Aparna Dileep
Aparna holds a BS-MS in Biology from the Indian Institute of Science and Research Kolkata in India. During her master's thesis, she investigated the function of PIL13 in thermo morphogenesis. Following her graduation, she joined IISc Bangalore as a research assistant, concentrating on Cancer immunology. Currently, her research interest centers around understanding how the tumor microenvironment influences cancer metastasis. Beyond her academic pursuits, she finds enjoyment in listening to music and reading books. 
Emma Downey
Emma graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Spring 2024. During her time at Georgia Tech, she worked in the Lab for Cellular and Macromolecular Engineering under Dr. Krishnendu Roy. Her projects focused on using lung-in-chip devices to investigate the effects of lung adenocarcinoma as well as influenza A virus. She is interested in pursuing research in cancer biology, immunology, and translational work. In her free time, she enjoys running, baking and reading. 
Catherine Finnerty
Catherine graduated from The College of Saint Rose in the spring of 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. In her undergraduate career, she was a research volunteer and intern at Albany Medical College in the Higgins and Samarakoon Lab. There, she studied nuclear transducers of the HIPPO pathway in the context of chronic kidney disease. In her free time, Catherine likes to exercise, watch movies, and hang out with friends. Pakshal Jain
Md. Rakunuzzaman Khan
Md. Khan completed his BSc in Biotechnology from BRAC University, Bangladesh, in 2023. During his undergraduate studies, he worked as a research intern at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, which provided him with valuable experience and insights into medical biotechnology. His undergraduate research focused on inter- and intra-species chromosomal gene transfer through bacteriophages, which has significant applications in gene therapy and personalized medicine. Md. Khan's research interests span a broad range of topics in cancer biology, including safe and targeted therapeutic approaches (such as gene and cell therapy) for metastatic cancer cells, DNA repair mechanisms, genome editing using CRISPR technology, computational biology, and translational molecular medicine research. In his spare time, he enjoys playing and watching sports, particularly cricket and soccer. Md. Khan is thrilled to be part of the MCB program at Stony Brook University and eager to continue pursuing his passion for cancer research. Benteng Ma
Gillian Moschetta
Gillian received her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Biology from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2020 and 2021, where she was member of the Sharma Lab studying and synthesizing novel metastatic breast cancer chemotherapy compounds. After graduating, she joined Dr. Jodie Babitt’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital as a research technician studying iron regulation and related disorders. Her work focused on bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs), specifically Bmp5 and Bmp2, and their signaling relationship with coreceptor proteins HFE and HJV within epithelial cells which regulate iron in the liver and other major organs. Gillian enjoys gardening, spending time at the beach, eating good food, and bird watching. She especially loves her pet Kiwi the lovebird and her many aquarium fish. Kevin Moti
Frederick Peetz
Frederick is interested in cancer, cellular signaling and cell motility. He enjoys hiking, reading and going to the gym. He has played the violin for 14 years! Alma Quijano
Daisy Rubio
- 2023
Colin McLaughlin
Colin McLaughlin holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cell Biology from Binghamton University. He has worked at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the Lee and Westcott labs focusing on spatial transcriptomics and immunotherapy models of cancer. His current research interests include characterizing the immune response to tumor development as well as the correlation between brain cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. 
Sophia (Siyang) Long
Sophia is a Research Assistant in the Trotman Lab at Cold Spring Harbor. https://www.trotmanlab.org/. Her research interests is in metastatic prostrate cancer. She enjoys reading and going to see musicals on Broadway.
Fun Fact: I have weird double-jointed fingers that creep people out!
Sophia has a B.A and M.S. from Boston University in Biology with a specialization in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics. She worked at the Ravid Lab in the Boston University School of Medicine, focusing on the JAK2 V617F mutation's role in myeloproliferative neoplasms using human cell lines. She also worked in SMAGL at Boston University, under the guidance of Dr. Christopher Schmitt.
Jiyao Chai
Jiyao received his BS degree in Bioengineering and Bioprocess Engineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology and SUNY-ESF respectively in 2021, and his MS degree in Biochemistry & Cell Biology from Stony Brook University in winter 2022.During his master study and as a Research Technician after graduation, his research mainly focused on the cellular mechanism of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and the structure of the Spindle Pole Body during meiosis.He is also interested in lipid transfer research, stem cell related research, protein structure research and cancer biology. 
Auntara Nandi
"Auntara graduated with a Bachelor's in Pharmacy from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, in 2022. During her undergraduate tenure, she worked at Buck Institute for Research on Aging, where she was involved in developing a novel transgenic mouse model to detect and eliminate senescent cells in a tissue-specific manner. Later, she joined Harvard Medical School as a research assistant, primarily focusing on developing AAV-based gene therapies for Usher Syndrome. In her spare time, she loves to travel, explore new places, and indulge in the delightful world of painting." 
Monica Alexander
Monica graduated with a BS in Biology from the University at Albany in the spring of 2023. She completed her undergraduate honors thesis in the Welsh Lab at UA’s Cancer Research Center investigating the differential effects of vitamin K compounds on the triple negative breast cancer cell line SUM159PT. Other undergraduate projects conducted through Brookhaven National Laboratory focused on plant metabolomics and theoretical drug design for the SARS-CoV-2 RdRp. Her current interests broadly include cancer biology, human disease mechanisms, and clinical research. 
Francesco Castelli
“Hello I’m Francesco Castelli, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Molecular biology with a minor in Applied Statistics from Stephen F Austin University. I like to play basketball and listen to audio books in my free time. Go Rockets!” 
Justin Clarke
Justin graduated with a BS in Biology from Adelphi University in 2016 and went on receive a MS in Biology with a concentration in Molecular and Cell Biology, also from Adelphi in 2018. His undergraduate and graduate research involved investigating the role of the VHL tumor suppressor gene in both neuroendocrine pancreatic beta cells and human breast cancer cells. From 2019-2023, he worked as a Research Technician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NY City as part of the Integrated Genomics Operation R&D and Single Cell groups. His current research interests include investigating the clinical and translational medical application of cancer genetics and genomic medicine. Other interests include history, politics and science fiction. 
Yan Zhong Wong
Yan Zhong completed his Bachelor's Degree in Life Sciences at the National University of Singapore in 2019, and worked as an Assistant Research Officer in Temasek Life Sciences Laboratories before graduating with a MS by Research in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Edinburgh in 2021, having worked on an in silico C. elegans oxygen-sensing neuron model and manipulation of polycomb complexes in cell culture. Time permitting, he enjoys writing, travel, and amateur video game development.
Daniel Toobian
Daniel Toobian received his B.S. in Biochemistry/Cell Biology and B.A. in Philosophy from UCSD in 2020. He then received his M.S. in Biology from UCSD in 2021 while working on PPAR signaling and macrophage function as well as CCDC88A's function in neutrophils in the Pradipta Ghosh lab. After graduation, Daniel worked as a Research Associate in the Michael Karin lab assisting with projects on Kupffer cells and the progression of NAFLD to liver fibrosis and liver cancer. 
Wenyi Yang
Wenyi received her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from the Southern University of Science and Technology, China in 2023. Her undergrad thesis was done at UCSF about the cell signaling pathway in secretory autophagy and its relation to cancer progression. Wenyi would like to focus more on the combination between cancer biology and exosome formation in her future study. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing, traveling and cooking. 
Lirong Chan
Lirong graduated from Colgate University in 2021 with a B.A. in Molecular Biology. After college, she went on to pursue an M.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from SBU, during which she worked on a collaborative project between Martin lab and Luk lab and studied chromatin regulation in zebrafish embryos. 
Eric Girardi
Eric Girardi graduated from Brown University with an B.S. in Neuroscience. Broadly, he is interested in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. He hopes his aging research will let him and others live longer, giving him more time to find other interesting topics to research, hang out with his friends more, and do more cool stuff. - 2022
Lu Jia
Lu received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Zhejiang University in China and her
undergrad thesis was about cell junction maintenance in spermatogenesis. Lu
proceeded to complete her Masters in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at SBU, where
her research focused on RNA profiles in embryonic diapause.
Luiz Alberti
Luiz received his B.S in Biomedical Sciences at Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil. He received his M.S in Biosciences and Biotechnology at Instituto Carlos Chagas/FIOCRUZ, investigating the role and interaction partners, in vivo and in silico, of Trypanosoma cruzi STI-1 protein. In his free time, he likes to read, drive and sleep. 
Sagarika Choudhury
I have completed my M.Tech degree from India with academic research experiences in human genetics and food technology. Later I moved my focus to an industry where I worked in cancer clinical research and data management. I recently graduated from New York University, doing my second Master's where I worked on pathways involved in the expression of pioneer factor Zelda in sex reversal using Drosophila melanogaster as my model system. I am a trained dancer and love to do Indian classical form Kathak and enjoy cooking in my spare time.
Xiaoteng Niu
Xiaoteng received her MS in pharmaceutical science from University of Southern California.
Later, she joined in Dr.Hongtao Yu’ s Lab at Westlake University as a research assistant. Her
research focused on understanding the function of genome stability in human development using 2D model (e.g. stem cell) and 3D model (e.g. organoid). She enjoys reading and cooking in her free time.
Guan Lai
Guan received his B.S. degree in Biology from UC Riverside in 2017 and his M.S. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine from University of Southern California in 2022. He completed his master’s thesis research in the Vermulst lab with a project that focused on exploring the mechanisms that control organellar protein distribution in cells and their relationship with aging. He is extremely excited to be part of the MCB program and looking forward to further pursuing his interests in aging research at Stony Brook University. 
Amartya Pal
I graduated with a BS-MS in Biology from the Indian Institute of Science and Research (IISER) at Tirupati in India. For my MS thesis, I worked on deciphering the role of SOX9 in ovarian cancer stemness, chemoresistance and mitochondrial dynamics. In addition to this, I have been a part of the iGEM IISER Tirupati 2019 team, in which we were awarded a Gold medal at Giant Jamboree, Boston, USA. Prior to joining Stony Brook University, I was working as a Junior Research Fellow at the NCCS, India. My interest lies in understanding the properties that drive stemness in cells and how some of them can be misregulated to become cancerous. Hiking and playing video games are keys to my stable oxytocin levels while travelling and watching movies keep my adrenaline in check. 
Yangle Yu
I am from China, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Medicine in Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2018. After graduation, I worked as a research assistant at Yushi Yao’s lab in Zhejiang University. My research focused on the memory of innate immune cells in asthma and acute kidney injury. I am excited to be a part of MCB program at SBU. In my spare time, I enjoy cooking, reading and listening to music. 
Qizhong Yao
Qizhong graduated from Central-South University in 2019 and received an
M.S degree in biotech at Brandeis University in 2021. His research was
focused on the anticancer application of post-trial drugs and traditional
Chinese medicine.
Anushka Ojha
Anushka Ojha completed her bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from
Mount Carmel College, India. She received her master’s degree in
Molecular Biology & Human Genetics, from Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India in 2019, with a specialization in Cancer Biology. Since
then, she has been involved in paediatric leukaemia related research, focusing on Minimal Residual Disease status in B-ALL and T-ALL. She is a travel-enthusiast and loves hiking, trekking and indulging in adventure activities in her spare-time. - 2021
Jun Jie Chen
Jun Jie Chen received his Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences in 2021 from Cornell University. He spent his undergraduate in the Alani Lab at Cornell investigating novel gene interactions that affect meiotic crossing over. 
Melanie Cragan
Melanie is a Research Assistant in Wali Karzai's lab, https://you.stonybrook.edu/karzailab/. Her research interests are in investigating the substrate recognition preferences of Lon protease.Her hobbies include reading, pickleball, shopping, baking and knitting.Fun fact: I'm vegetarian and I've driven to California and back!Melanie has a BS in Biology at Rhode Island College. There, she wrote her undergraduate thesis on her research in the molecular pathways involved in pigment cell migration and differentiation in larval zebrafish.
Jowana Obeid
Jowana received her B.S. degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences from the American University of Beirut in 2016. She later joined the Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology program at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Her research in the Sekiguchi lab focused on examining the DNA damage responses induced by expression of activated KRAS and identifying the DNA repair pathways involved. She received her M.S. degree and a certificate in Precision Health in 2021 from the University of Michigan. 
Deanna Peperno
Deanna received her B.S. in Microbiology with a Microbial Health concentration from North Carolina State University in 2021. She completed her undergraduate research in the Van Landeghem Lab with a project that focused on colon cancer chemotherapy resistance and its relationship to the Enteric Nervous System. She is extremely excited to continue her research in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at SBU with hopes to combine her undergraduate research experience and Microbial Heath degree to explore Immunotherapy.
Esther Opoola
"Passionate about pushing the frontiers of scientific knowledge through research that goes beyond the limits of conventional ideas, I completed my Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry (2016) at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and proceeded to obtain a Master's degree in Biology (2021) from Midwestern State University. My research was focused on analyzing genetic mutations in albino maize and I am excited for the opportunity to be a part of the MCB program here at SBU. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling and reading novels." - 2020
Patrick Sutton
Patrick is a Research Assistant in Christopher Brownlee's lab, https://renaissance.stonybrookmedicine.edu/pharmacological_sciences/brownlee_lab
His research interest is in mitotic spindle orientation.
Patick is a big Mets fan!
Patrick has a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland and a Master's in Biology from NYU working in the Ercan Lab on research related to X-chromosome dosage compensation.
Bingying Xia
My name is Bingying Xia. I am a Chinese Canadian living on long island. I like to draw in my spare time and enjoy going to museums 
Douglas Marr
With a Biology degree from Stony Brook University, Douglas pursues higher places:ready to help society. But as you can very well see, he hasn't lost his sense of whimsy. As he joins his own research space he won't forget his poetry.
Seungtea Kim
I was born in South Korea and moved to the U.S. when I was 16. I found my passion for research during my stay at UW-Madison and Harvard University. My interest in biology stems from questioning what makes life so diverse and how every individual is so unique!
Eunice Kim
Eunice Kim is a first-year MCB Ph.D. student. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2018 with a B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology, she worked as a laboratory technician at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. In her free time, she enjoys baking, doodling, writing short stories, and spending time with friends and family. 
Natalie Mosqueda
Natalie is from Northern California and received a B.S. in Biology with an emphasis in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Oregon in 2018. She then completed a NIH Intramural Research Training Award Fellowship from 2018-2020 working in the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Now as a MCB graduate student, Natalie is excited to immerse herself in the Stony Brook scientific community.
Karishma Mehta
I am Karishma Mehta, a first year MCB graduate student at Stony Brook University. I completed my undergrad in Biotechnology Engineering from India. I am looking forward to this wonderful opportunity to learn as much as I can and give back to help others.
Yinghuan Lyu
I come from China and graduated with a B.S. in Life Sciences and Biotechnology from Wuhan University in 2019. Before starting PhD study at Stony Brook University, I took part in research project in Martin Burke Group in UIUC as a visiting scholar. My hobbies are travelling and exploring delicious cuisine in my spare time. 
Mohammad Fauzan
Mohammad earned his BS in Biology and minored in Chemistry at New Jersey City University. He has worked as a Medical Technician at BioReference's Cancer Genomics lab before transitioning to Stony Brook University. Mohammad enjoys hiking and playing sports.
Grace Himmler
I am Grace Himmler and I graduated with a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Binghamton University this past May (2020). I am excited to begin my PhD here at SBU as I will have the opportunity to learn, grow and develop new skills. My hobbies include hiking, sailing and spending time outdoors. 
Faniya Doswell
I am invested in incorporating a multitude of sciences to question and navigate life. This is shown through my diverse background in sciences such as chemistry, biology, neuroscience, and material science. I plan to ultimately combine these disciplines to investigate, find answers, and formulate solutions, which often begins at the molecular level. 
Leonidas Pierrakeas
Hello! My name is Leonidas Pierrakeas and I am a first year MCB student currently working in the Ed Luk lab. My studies focus on chromatin remodelers and deciphering the histone code to understand how cells utilize DNA compaction to regulate gene expression. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge here at Stony Brook so that I can have a lab of my own some day. - 2019
Mukshud Ahamed
Danielle Guercio
Elijah Haar
Samantha Hayashi
Xinyuan Lei
Heng Liang
Taylor Rahn
Shayan Sarkar
Samantha Stettnisch
Kaela Teele
Yutong Xiao
Zhouyiyuan Xue
Zhouyiyuan is a Research Assistant in Bruce Demple's lab, https://www.pharm.stonybrook.edu/faculty/d/demple
His research interest is in base excision repair.
Haotian Zhang
Kai Zhang
Kai is a Research Assistant in Aaron Neiman's lab,
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/biochem/research/faculty/neiman/#ResearchDescription
Kai's research interest is in cell biology, genetics, and structural biology.
He enjoys traveling and hiking.
Aziz Rangwala
- 2018
Jong Won Yang
Mohammad Mojtaba Sadeghi
Kennedy Wright
Victoria Mingione
Mohammed Hoque
Cynthia Converso
- 2017
Seamus Balinth
Yuxin Cen
Ga-Ram Hwang
Morgan King
Greisly Nunez
Jason Shieh
Sydney Snaider
Tyler Steele
Zheng Sun
Zhezhen Yu
- 2016
Eric Adjei
Michael Beaupre
Robert Morabito
Chun-Hao Pan
Zhe Qian
Maheen Rashid
Danilo Segovia
Jeffrey Stith
Manojit Mosur Swamynathan
- 2015
Julie Bettke
Arnav Choksi
Yixin Hu
Jessica Imperato
Muyang Li
Megan Mladinich
Padmina Shrestha
Jialin Sun
Wenbo Xu
Qian Zhang
- 2014
Yagmur Kan
Deborah Kim
Samia Mohammed
Chitra Mohan
Eric Paulissen
Jinelle Wint
Xiaoyu Zhao
- 2013
Anna Banach
Gregory Carbonetti
Hsiang-Chen Chou
Xianan Liu
Zhimin Liu
Matthew Simons
Dongyan Song
- 2012
Kung-Chi Chang
Song Hwa Choi
Qiwen Dong
Kenneth Lam
Tobiloba Oni
Nithya Sivaram
Hana Goto
Yali Yu
Matthew Elmes
Anthony Rampello
Lu Sun
- 2011
Naishitha Anaparthy
Andrew Fesler
Yang Liu
Xiwei Shan
Chih-Li Lin
Azeez Aranmolate
Justin Snider
Upasna Thapar
Jennifer DeLeon
- 2010
Neha Puri
Hyun-Yong Jeon
William Hanes
Mullick Chowdhury Sayan
Debjani Pal
Beth Harvey
Shriya Sahu
Jennifer Martinez
Yifeng Xu
Liang Jin
Bingyin Wang
Elizabeth Lavoie
Saadat Aleem
- 2009
Shengnan Liu
Sajjad Hossain
Zishuo Hu
Nadia Jaber
Junwei Shi
Xiaoying Wang
Kieun Seok
Brandon Cieniewicz
Salvatore Parrino
- 2008
Ming-Hsuan Ou-Yang
Angad Garg
Namratha Sheshadri
Mihriban Karaayvaz
Nikki Evensen
Taimour Baslan
Dong Hyuk Ki
Lingyin Ge
Mahalakshmi Ramadass
Xin Zhou
Jia Zhu
Krithika Venkataraman
- 2007
Angelina Vaseva
Yi Shang
Kira Schultheiss
Mathangi Ramesh
Deblina Chatterjee
Boris San Luis
Yi Hu
Devin Camenares
David Habiel
Zhixun Dou
- 2006
Marcin Stawowczyk
Assaf Vestin
Chengda Zhang
Deepika Vasudevan
Wangzhi Li
An-yun Chang
Hyejin Cho
Nihan Kara
Joseph Goncalves
Bin Xue
Fauzia Chaudhary
Hye-Won Oh
Dissertation Defenses