Current Lab Members
Mary Teruel
Biographical Sketch: Mary’s_Biosketch
Complete CV: Mary’s_CV
ASCB 2016 Newsletter Writeup
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, mountain biking, traveling and experiencing new cultures, and enjoying the arts, energy, and multi-culturalism in NYC!
Email: mteruel@stanford.edu
Tinghuan Chen
Postdoctoral Fellow
Awards: Stanford Deans Postdoctoral Fellowship; MOST Science Fellowship from the Government of Taiwan
Research Interests: Understanding the bone-fat two-way differentiation switch
Education: Ph.D. in Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan
Favorite Scientist:
Hobbies: Basketball, going to the gym
Email: tinghuan@stanford.edu
Kyle Kovary
Ph.D. Student
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
Atefeh Rabiee
Postdoctoral Fellow
Awards: Novo Nordisk Foundation/Stanford Bio-X Visiting Scholar Fellowship
Education: B.Sc. in Cell and Molecular Biology, M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tehran, Iran; Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, Three years postdoc experience at Copenhagen University, Denmark.
Favorite Scientist: Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, not only because he discovered alcohol, but also he was the first person who produced acids such as sulfuric acids. He was among the first to use humoral theory to distinguish one contagious disease from another. As a Persian polymath, alchemist, philosopher, and physician, Razi’s medical works and ideas became famous among medieval European practitioners and greatly influenced medical education in the Latin West.
My other favorite scientists who inspire me a lot in science are Frederick G. Banting, Charles Best, Bertram Collip, and John Macleod, the team who discovered and extracted the insulin and successfully applied it for treatment of diabetes.
Hobbies: Travel, Biking, Dancing
Email: arabiee@stanford.edu
Joydeb Sinha
Ph.D. Student
Research Interests: Circadian control of adipogenic signaling networks
Education: B.S/M.S Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
Favorite Scientist: François Jacob & Jacques Monod for their work on the lac operon and contributions to our current understanding of gene regulation. Their research provided a fundamental basis for molecular biology by elucidating one of the first examples of transcriptional control and feedback through gene regulatory elements—an idea that pervades biological systems
Hobbies: Cooking, travel, power naps
Email: jsinha@stanford.edu
Stefan Tholen
Postdoctoral Fellow
Awards: German Science Foundation (DFG) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research Interests: Characterizing the mechanisms controlling the rate of adipogenesis in vivo.
Education: Diploma in Biology, University of Göttingen, Germany; Ph.D. in Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany.
Favorite Scientist: Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) for his power of observation. In his absence a mold had grown on a petri dish which itself is nothing unusual. However, this particular mold seemed to have killed bacteria that had been growing in the petri dish. Fleming realized that this mold had potential and discovered penicillin in 1928. Thereby he revolutionized medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic without planning it. Penicillin has saved and is still saving millions of lives each day.
Hobbies: Aquaristics, Running, Skiing, Traveling
Email: stholen@stanford.edu
Zhibo Zhang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education: B.S. in Physics, Nanjing University; Ph.D. in Systems and Synthetic Biology, Peking University, China
Research Interests: Circadian rhythms and control of cell differentiation
Favorite Scientist:
Hobbies:
Email: zhibozhang@stanford.edu
Michael Zhao
Ph.D. Student
Awards: NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship (2017-2019)
Education: B.S. in Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Favorite Scientist: Christian Anfinsen for his work demonstrating that the primary amino acid sequence of a protein contains sufficient information to encode its 3D sequence.
Hobbies: Eating, hiking, basketball, golf, and running (sometimes)
Email: mlzhao13@stanford.edu
Jaime Larios
Research Technician
Email: jlarios@stanford.edu
Taylor Crisologo
Administrative Associate
Email: tlc95@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
Robert Ahrends
Former Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, 2009-2013
Current Position: Independent Group Leader in Systems Biology, Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften, Dortmund, Germany
Awards: Stanford Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2011), German Science Foundation (DFG) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011-2013)
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
Bryce Aebi
Former Position: Visiting Undergraduate Reseacher from Brown University
Zahra Bahrami-Nejad
Ph.D. Student
Research Interests:Signaling networks involved in cell differentiation
Education: B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Marine Biology, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran; M.S. in Biotechnology and Protein Science, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
Favorite scientists: Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution is indeed one of the greatest scientific contributions ever made, and Gregor Johann Mendel (the father of genetics) for his fascinating work on heredity, which became the basis of the modern theory of genetics.
Hobbies: Cooking, running.
Email: zz.bahraminejad@gmail.com
Chris Brunson
Former Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Awards: Stanford Bio-X Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Current Position: Medical Student, UCSF
Nicole Dalal
Former Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Current Position: Medical Student, Duke University
Awards: Stanford Bio-X Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Devon Hunerdosse
Postdoctoral Fellow
Awards: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship
Education: B.A. in Biology, Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. Ph.D. in Endocrinology, University of California, Berkeley.
Favorite Scientists: Jonas Salk, for his campaign for mandatory vaccination and development of the polio vaccine, which contributed to the eradication of this disease. But most of all, his choice to forego personal fortune for the betterment of humanity.
Hobbies: Travel, cooking, national parks
Email: devonh@stanford.edu
Casey Haaland
Former Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Awards: Stanford Bio-X Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Mia Hutchinson
Former Position: Undergraduate Researcher
Current Position: Masters Student in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, Stanford University
Awards: Stanford Bio-X Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Kangbeom Kwan
Former Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Position: Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology, Wonkwang University, Chonbuk, South Korea
Asuka Ota
Former Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Position: Senior Scientist, Emerald Therapeutics, South San Francisco, CA.
Awards: Stanford Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (2012-2013), American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013-2015)
Education: B.S Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics, UCLA; Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular, & Integrative Physiology, UCLAFavorite 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
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
Karen Tkach
Former Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current Position: Senior Science Writer at Biocentury Inc.
Education: B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley; Ph.D. in Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical School, NY, NY.
Favorite Scientist: Barbara Mclintock, who first demonstrated the principles of gene regulation and transposition, and bravely and patiently weathered hostility for contradicting several central dogmas of the time. Mary Clare King, who applies her studies of genetics to human rights work, exemplifying how scientists can use their evidence-seeking approaches for the advancement of social justice.
Hobbies: Running, cooking, volunteer science outreach and tutoring, feminist discourse
Email: karentkach@gmail.com
Sabine van Schie
Former Position: Visiting Scholar
Current Position: PhD Student, Dept. of Biochemistry, ETH Zurich
Education: B.S. and M.S. in Life Science and Technology, Leiden University, Netherlands.
Olivia Wu
Undergraduate
Major: Human Biology
Awards: Stanford Biology Summer Research Program Fellowship
Email: oliviawu@stanford.edu