Lab Alumni

We are proud to celebrate the past and present achievements of our lab alumni!

Please keep in touch. We love to hear from you.

Dave was a postdoc in our lab from 2012 to 2016.

He discovered the ability of disordered proteins to generate steric pressure and drive membrane remodeling.

Dave is now a Senior Scientist at Merck & Co. in New Jersey where he leads a team that works on the development of biologic therapeutics.

Dr. David Busch

Dr. Avinash Gadok

Avi was a graduate student in our lab from 2012 to 2017.

She developed liposomes that use the connexin pathway to deliver chemotherapeutics to the cellular cytoplasm.

Avi worked as a Staff Scientist at Flagship Pioneering and as a consultant with Boston Consulting Group. She is now Director of R&D at Abbvie.

Dr. Wilton Snead

Wilton was a graduate student in our lab from 2013 to 2018.

He discovered the ability of steric pressure among membrane-bound proteins to drive membrane fission.

Wilton is now a Postdoc in the lab of Amy Gladfelter at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dr. Zachary Imam

Zach was a graduate student in our lab from 2014 to 2018.

He developed liposomes that use the membrane phase separation to trigger membrane fusion, driving molecular delivery to the cytoplasm.

Zach is now a Staff Scientist at Nanotein Technologies.

Dr. Chi (Aimee) Zhao

Aimee was a graduate student in our lab from 2014 to 2019.

She characterized the impact of receptor-receptor binding interactions on endocytosis, and developed novel, cell-derived targeted drug delivery particles.

Aimee is now a staff scientist at 10X Genomics, in the SF Bay Area.

Dr. Andre DeGroot

Andre was a graduate student in our lab from 2015 to 2020.

He developed simple, equilibrium thermodynamic models that can accurately predict partitioning of receptors into endocytic structures.

Andre worked as a staff scientist at Sana Biotech before deciding to attend medical school.

Dr. Wade Zeno

Wade was a postdoc in our lab from 2016 to 2020.

He discovered the ability of intrinsically disordered proteins and protein networks to sense membrane curvature.

Wade is now a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Andrea Trementozzi

Andrea was a graduate student in our lab from 2017 to 2021.

She developed novel vesicle-based vehicles for the delivery or drugs, genes, and polymers to cells.

Andrea is now a staff scientist in an Austin area biotech startup.

Dr. Kasey Day

Kasey was a postdoc in our lab from 2018 to 2021.

She discovered the role of protein liquid phase separation in the catalysis of clathrin-

mediated endocytosis.

Kasey is taking some time away from her tremendously successful scientific career to raise her young family.

Dr. Justin Houser

Justin was a doctoral student in our lab from 2017 to 2022.

He designed FRET-based polymeric sensors of crowding at membrane surfaces. Using this approach, he quantified the ability of disordered proteins to generate steric pressure at membrane surfaces.

Justin is now a staff scientist with Acuity Spatial Genomics.

Dr. Kristin Graham

Kristin was a doctoral student in our lab from 2018 to 2023.

She discovered the ability of protein condensates to polymerize and bundle actin filaments.

Kristin is now a postdoctoral scientist at Genentech.

Dr. Feng Yuan

Feng was a doctoral student in our lab from 2018 to 2023.

He discovered the ability of protein condensates to drive concave bending of lipid membranes. He also demonstrated the role of ubiquitin in catalyzing endocytosis.

Feng is now a postdoctoral scientist at UC Berkeley.

Undergraduate Alumni

Our lab is proud to have worked with many talented undergraduates over the years. They enrich our research with their hard work, enthusiasm, and fresh perspectives.

Aly Lydak, Biomedical Engineering, now working in the biotechnology industry
Noel Yang, Biomedical Engineering, now in medical school
Sabah Jamal, Biomedical Engineering, now working in the biotechnology industry
Arjun Sangani, Biomedical Engineering, now in medical school
Gabriel Ortiz, NSF REU Summer Student (Summer 2021), undergraduate at Harvard University
Beverly Red, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2019 – Spring 2020)
Ajay Thatte, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2018-Spring 2021), now a graduate student at UPenn, NSF Fellow
Jacob Hochfelder, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2019-Spring 2021), now a graduate student at MIT
Sybrina Kerr, NSF REU Summer Student (Summer 2019), undergraduate at Claflin University
Kolby Killion, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2018-Summer 2019), now working in biotech
Daria Bentley, NSF REU Summer Student (Summer 2017), now attending graduate school
Minhao (Mike) Wu, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2017-May 2019), now working in the biotech industry
Meghan LaMonica, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2017-Present), now a grad student with UT Austin BME, Yankeelov Lab
Morgan Mendecino, Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2016-Summer 2018) – now at UT Law student
Ryan Perkins, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2016-May 2018)
Amanda Merriwether, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2016-Summer 2018) – now a UC Berkeley grad student, NSF Fellow
Natalie Miroballi, Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2015-Summer 2017) - now working in biotech
Hisham Ali, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2015-May 2019) – now in medical school at UT San Antonio
Aaron Alpar, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2015-Summer 2018) – now a graduate student at U Chicago
Laura Kenyon, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2015-May 2018) – graduate of UT Southwestern Medical School
Belle Parizot, Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2015-Summer 2016) - now in medical school
Fatema Nagib, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2015-Summer 2016) - now in the biotech industry
Grant Ashby, NSF REU Summer Student (Summer 2016) – now a graduate student at UT Austin
Stefan Bordovsky, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2015-Spring 2016) - now working in industry
Sydney Wendt, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2016-Fall 2016)
Brian Li, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2014-Summer 2016) – now a graduate student at UC Berkeley, NSF Fellow
Connor Vershel, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2014-Spring 2016) – now a medical student at UT Houston
Sean Thomas, NSF REU Summer Student (Summer 2015)
Michael Bonahoom, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2015)
Varun Bora, Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2013-Spring 2015)
Katherine Ha, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2014-Spring 2015) – Currently working at Smith and Nephew
Noor Momin, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2012-Present) – graduated with her PhD from MIT, NSF Fellow
Mansi Raythatha, Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2013-Spring 2014) – Currently working for Merck Inc.
Saad Jafri, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2013-Spring 2014) – Currently a medical student at UNT Health Science Center
Isac Lee, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2013-Spring 2014) – Currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins
Justin Houser, Biomedical Engineering (Summer 2012-Summer 2014) – Now a graduate student in our group
David Aguilar, Biochemistry (Fall 2012)
Jerin Jose, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2012-Summer 2013) – Graduate of UT Southwestern Medical School
Jacob Sacks, Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2012-Spring 2013) – Currently a graduate student at the University of Washington
Ansel George, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2012-Spring 2013) – Currently a research assistant at Weill Cornell Medical College
Paul Gonzales, Biomedical Engineering (Spring 2012-Spring 2013) – Currently working as a nurse practitioner