Current
Mary Teruel
Principal Investigator
Favorite Scientist: My favorite scientist is Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). I grew up in Buffalo, NY, a city that had its glory years back in the late 19th-early 20th centuries by being the western terminus of the Erie Canal, as well as the first American city to have widespread electric lighting thanks to its proximity to Niagara Falls. I have always loved visiting Niagara Falls and seeing how the hydroelectric plants harness the enormous energy of the falls to power much of New York State. Nikola Tesla designed the first hydro-electric power plant in the world in Niagara Falls. This was the final victory of Tesla’s Alternating Current, which is today lighting the entire globe, over Thomas Edison’s Direct Current.
Hobbies: skiing, running, traveling and experiencing new cultures, and enjoying the awesome weather, arts, and open-mindedness in the San Francisco Bay Area!
Biographical Sketch: Click Here ยป
Email: mteruel@stanford.edu
Robert Ahrends
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Interests: Signaling networks involved in cell differentiation, Protein quantitation, analytical chemistry and chromatography
Education: Diploma Biology, U. of Giessen ; Ph.D. Chemistry, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Favorite Scientist: I have always thought Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) and Robert Koch (1843-1910) were the most impressive scientists. With no training in their individual fields, careful experimentation and great observation, both were able to develop some very complex new ideas, which were the basis for genetic and microbiology today.
Hobbies: Hiking, road biking, and tango dancing
Email: rahrends@stanford.edu
Bamini Balaji
Graduate Student
Research Interests:Signaling networks involved in cell differentiation, Protein quantitation, analytical chemistry and chromatography
Education: B.S Chemical Engineering, Caltech
Favorite scientist: Howard Florey and Ernst Chain for their work on purification and extraction of penicillin from fungus. It was admirable that they finally realized the potential of this antibacterial drug 10 years after its discovery by Alexander Fleming.
Hobbies: Boardgames, South Indian classical singing and amateur photography
Email: bamini@stanford.edu
Casey Haaland
Undergraduate
Email: chaaland@stanford.edu
Kyle Kovary
Research Assistant
Education: B.S. Biochemistry, U.C. Santa Cruz
Favorite Scientist: Alfred Hershey for his famous and elegant “Blender Experiment.” He was able to convince the still fragmented biology field that DNA, and not protein, was the carrier of genetic information.
Hobbies: Outside of lab I like to bike ride, camp, surf, and travel
Email: kkovary@stanford.edu
Asuka Ota
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education: B.S Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics, UCLA; Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular, & Integrative Physiology, UCLA
Favorite Scientist: George Boole for his contribution in logic and probability, and providing the basis for binary code. Martin Rodbell for the identification of G-proteins and his contribution in signaling transduction.
Hobbies: climbing, cooking, music
Email: aota@stanford.edu
Jaime Larios
Research Technician
Email: jlarios@stanford.edu
Stuart Jeung
Administrative Associate
Email: stuartj7@stanford.edu
Lab Alumni
Ellen Abell
Education: B.S. George Fox University
Former Position: Life Sciences Research Assistant, 2009-2011
Current Position: Medical Student, Loma Linda University
Bryce Aebi
Former Position: Undergraduate Intern
Current Position: Undergraduate at Brown University
Chris Brunson
Former Position: Stanford Undergraduate Researcher
Current Position: Life Sciences Research Assistant, Stanford University
Kangbeom Kwan
Former Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Position: Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology, Wonkwang University, Chonbuk, South Korea
Byung Ouk Park
Education: B.S., Ph.D. Biochemistry, Gyeongsang National University, Korea
Former Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Position: Research Scientist, Institute for Basic Science, South Korea