Congratulations to the 2026 Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Fellows!

Zara Weinberg was a 2021 Leading Edge Fellow and beloved member of the Leading Edge community (pictured at the 2023 Leading Edge Symposium). 

Zara was an outstanding scientist who used synthetic biology to control cell behavior. She embodied the spirit of Leading Edge with her commitment to community, transparency, elevating others, and an abundance mindset. She is woven into the fabric of Leading Edge and we miss her terribly. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) is named in her honor.

Zara died of cancer in October, 2025. 

2026 Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Fellows

Airi Yoshimoto

Molecular rulebook for wiring homeostatic circuits

Postdoc, Stanford University

Yijun Yang

Maternal cardiac metabolism in pregnancy and postpartum

Postdoc, University of Pennsylvania

Alexandra Wells

Mechanistic discovery of anti-viral innate immune effectors

Postdoc, UTSW

Simran Virdi

Active sensing mechanisms of audition in flies

Postdoc, Vanderbilt University

Archana 

Venkataraman

Hormonal Control of Visceral Pain

Postdoc, UCSF

Emery Usher

Flexible proteins and their dynamic roles in circadian rhythms

Postdoc, UC Santa Cruz

Mariana Tannus Ruckert

ER-mitochondrial contacts in pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis

Postdoc, University of Michigan

Wenzhi Song

Neuronal regulation of immune-stem cell crosstalk

Postdoc, Rockefeller University

Kathryn Shelley

Designing light-driven protein motors

Postdoc, University of Washington

Selin Schamiloglu

Synaptic basis of temporal learning

Postdoc, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Julia Peloggia de Castro

Maternal-Fetal metabolic crosstalk during pregnancy

Postdoc, UCLA

Ines Patop

The subcellular RNA kynetics in neurodegeneration

Postdoc, Harvard Medical School

Ruhi Patel

The neural and molecular basis of parasite behavior

Postdoc, UCLA

Suranjana Pal

Spontaneous activity-driven development of neocortical circuits

Postdoc, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis

Bernie Simone Owusu-Yaw

Targeted delivery of CNS gene therapies 

Postdoc, Brigham and Women's Hospital

LaShae Nicholson

Transcriptional mechanisms of metabolic stress-induced neuronal circuitry dysfunction

Postdoc, Yale University

Sivapratha Nagappan-Chettiar

Mechanisms of neuronal activity-dependent synapse refinement

Postdoc, Boston Children's Hospital

Dallas Mould

How environmental context governs phage-bacteria interactions 

Postdoc, Yale University

Jessica Moore

Mechanisms of astrocyte-vascular communication during development and stress 

Postdoc, Duke University

Deka Mohamed

Dissecting epigenetic contributions to plant developmental tunability

Postdoc, Stanford University

Sierra Marable

Gene regulatory networks underlying jaw development

Postdoc, Caltech

Annie Ly

Live single-cell resolution of hypothalamic feeding circuitry

Postdoc, Rutgers

Xi (Lucy) Lu 

Single-cell profiling of chemokine-driven immune responses

Postdoc, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Deirdre Logsdon

Defining early human embryonic and extra-embryonic development

Postdoc, University of Colorado Boulder

Anna Lipkin

Electrophysiological function of axons in neurological disorders

Postdoc, National Institutes of Health

Ellen Lesser

Developmental regulation of electrical specialization in neurons

Postdoc, University of Colorado Boulder

Mia Konjikusic

Organelle specific regulation of neuronal function

Postdoc, UCSF

Veronika Kondev

Ventral hippocampal control of motivated behavior

Postdoc, Mt. Sinai

Cayla Jewett

Physiologic DNA damage in multiciliated cells

Postdoc, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Lucia Ichino

Cis-regulatory control of human development

Postdoc, Stanford University

Erin Huiting

Exploring plant genomics to discover new innate immune proteins across the plant kingdom

Postdoc, UC Davis

Maggie Horst

Designing functional proteins and other polymers

Postdoc, UCSF

Isabella Gaeta

Dynamics of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions captured by imaging live mice

Postdoc, Yale University

Martha Echevarría-Andino

Skeletal stem cell differentiation during limb development

Postdoc, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Natasha Claxton

Biomaterial-enabled cell therapies in menopause and sickle cell disease

Postdoc, Tulane University

Sarah Cherkaoui

Decoding lipid function in cancer

Postdoc, Princeton University

Nikita Bhalerao

Molecular mediators of cancer cachexia

Postdoc, UMass Chan Medical School

Merci Best

MAPT-driven integrated stress response at the axon initial segment

Postdoc, Boston University

Meenakshi Asokan

Sex hormone-driven reorganization of neural dynamics during social choice

Postdoc, Princeton University

Alicer Andrew

Deep immunophenotyping of HIV and CMV-specific T cell responses

Postdoc, Gladstone Institutes

2025 Leading Edge Fellows

Cel Welch

Addressing medical needs with bio-integrated electronics


Postdoc, Stanford University

Lianna Wat

Diet-dependent regulation of neuronal metabolic function

Stanford University

Maria Toro Moreno

How pathogens drive host genome innovation

Postdoc, Fred Hutch

Sarah Talley

Spatiotemporal dynamics of CNS inflammasome activation

Postdoc, Loyola University Chicago

Xulu Sun

Neural dynamics of mental simulation and flexible decision-making

Postdoc, UCSF

Virginia Savy

Metabolic regulation of epigenetic reprogramming at fertilization

NIH-NIEHS

Amelie Raz

Defining and engineering germline stem cell identity


Postdoc, Whitehead Institute

Kali Pruss

Maternal gut microbiota in pre- and post-natal development

Postdoc, Washington University in St. Louis

Caterina Profaci

Mechanosensation at the blood-brain barrier and choroid plexus

Postdoc, Scripps Institute

Sarah Pierce

Developing RNA-based therapies for rare genetic diseases

Postdoc, Harvard University

Melissa Pamula

Mitochondria function during the egg-to-embryo transition

Postdoc, Whitehead Institute

Kehinde Odufowora 

Pain-targeted therapeutic discovery through structural biochemistry


Postdoc, Yale

Patricia Nano

Maps and mechanisms of human brain development

Postdoc, UCLA

Ariana Musa de Aquino

Tumor microenvironment and the role of cancer-associated fibroblast in tumor metabolism in PDAC

Postdoc, Henry Ford

Nour Mimouni

Smells like motherhood: Investigating olfactory plasticity and maternal stress vulnerability during pregnancy and postpartum

Postdoc, Columbia University

Katie Martin

Hunger modulation of behavior and underlying neural circuits

Postdoc, UCSD

Brea Manuel

Comparative Study of Genome Packaging Mechanisms in HIV-1 and MoMuLV

Postdoc, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Mable Lam

Glial membrane trafficking in development and neuroplasticity

Postdoc, Stanford University

Miri Krupkin

HIV Viral RNA structure and function 

Postdoc, Stanford University

Elaine Kouame

Epigenetic regulation of the maternal-fetal interface

Postdoc, UCSF

Megan Kirchgessner

Functional maturation and plasticity of the developing auditory cortex

Postdoc, NYU

Sumin Kim

Dynamics of Polycomb-mediated chromatin interactions

Postdoc, MIT

Shubhangini Kataruka

Epigenetic reprogramming during mammalian embryogenesis and maternal aging

Postdoc, Yale University

Geraldine Jowett

Stem cell and reproductive biology

Postdoc, Cambridge University

Andrea Jones

Biomaterials for estrogen receptor modulation after ischemic stroke

Postdoc, Duke University

Leanne Iannucci

Engineering stem cell fate and signaling gradients with optogenetics

Postdoc, NIH

Allison Girasole

Neural circuit mechanisms underlying motivated behaviors

Postdoc, Harvard Medical School

Florencia Fernandez Chiappe

Neural basis of mosquito host-seeking

Postdoc, Boston University

Tonie Farris

Molecular mechanisms of ubiquitin-mediated neurodevelopmental disorders

Postdoc, Duke University

Hannah Reiley

The neurobiology of dopamine dysfunction in stimulus processing

Postdoc, Vanderbilt University

Erin Doherty

Mechanism of viral immune evasion strategies

Postdoc, UC Berkeley

Xiaoyun Ding

Axon-glia interaction in health and diseases

Postdoc, Baylor College of Medicine

Maria Bustillo

Molecular and mechanical regulation of brain development

Postdoc, NYU

Julia Brunner

Cell state dependent metabolic programs

Postdoc, MSKCC

Debbie Bhattacharya

Transcriptional regulation of tumor heterogeneity

Postdoc, Stanford University

Ashley Anderson

Convergent molecular mechanisms in rare neurodevelopmental disorders

Postdoc, Baylor College of Medicine

Krisha Aghi

Hormonal sculpting of thermoregulatory neural circuits

Postdoc, UCLA

2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Fellows

Postdocs

Lindsey Young

Expanding the Toolkit for Structural Cell Biology by Cryo-Electron Tomography

Postdoc, UC San Diego


Helen Yang

Descending control of walking in Drosophila

Postdoc, Harvard Medical School

Simone Webb

Human embryonic development

Postdoc, Newcastle University


Shuyu Wang

Behavioral and neural mechanisms of social attachment in prairie voles

Postdoc, UC San Francisco


Sissy Wamaitha

Human germ cell lineage emergence

Postdoc, UCLA


Katia Troha

Mechanisms of asymptomatic infection


Postdoc, Salk Institute

Reika Tei

A generalizable design strategy for antigen-gated, engineered receptors and enzymes

Postdoc, Stanford University


Simón(e) Sun

Neuronal epigenetic regulation by estrogen receptor beta

Postdoc, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Ashley Smart

Identifying the neural mechanism of interval timing 

Postdoc, Stanford University


Amanda Shaver

Genetic causes of resistance to anthelmintic compounds

Postdoc, Johns Hopkins 


Katherine Savell

Molecular and cellular substrates of experience and memory encoding in the brain

Postdoc, NIDA, NIH


Melissa Roth

Regulation and dynamics of photosynthesis and metabolism

Postdoc, UC Berkeley

Ashlan Reid

Electrical and molecular maturation of sensory cortex

Postdoc, New York Medical College/CSHL


Varsha Rajshekar

4D nuclear organization of the nucleolus and heterochromatin

Postdoc, UC Berkeley


Mónica Quiñones-Frías

Structural dynamics of neuronal endoplasmic reticulum and its contacts

Postdoc, Brandeis University

Joan Pulupa

Imaging Genome Organization and Transcriptional Regulation in Olfactory Neurons


Postdoc, Columbia University


Danielle Porter

The neuronal mechanisms that control reproductive function and metabolism

Postdoc, University of Michigan


Connie Phong

Mechanisms underlying robustness of developmental regulatory systems against environmental perturbations


Postdoc, Stanford University

Lauren Penfield

Cell interactions during collective migration and phagocytosis

Postdoc, UC Santa Barbara


Vicky Moya

Scalable methods for mapping cell type-specific connectivity in the brain

Postdoc, Boston University


Krissy Lyon

Astrocyte-neuron interactions in neurodevelopment

Postdoc, Salk Institute


Xinping Li

Neural mechanisms underlying behavioral flexibility


Postdoc, Princeton University


Elizabeth Lawrence

Microtubule dynamic instability in vitro

Postdoc, Vanderbilt University


Lisa Kursel 

Molecular evolution of meiotic proteins


Postdoc, University of Utah

Maiko Kitaoka

Genome quality control in post-meiotic sperm development

Postdoc, Whitehead Institute


Skylar King

The role of surfactant protein A in cardiovascular disease

Postdoc, University of Missouri School of Medicine


Stacey Kigar

Neuroimmunology of stress-induced behavioral changes

Postdoc, University of Cambridge


Riss Kell

Sea urchins as marine animal models of cancer resistance

Postdoc, Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute


Mandira Katuwal

Molecular mechanisms of long term memory


Postdoc, Harvard University


Courtney Johnson

Watching the brain boot with new adaptive 4D microscopy methods

Postdoc, Janelia Research Campus


Miranda Hunter 

Spatial regulation of melanoma invasion


Postdoc, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Victoria Hung

Ribosome heterogeneity in gene regulation and cell fate

Postdoc, Stanford University

Tegan Horan

Regulation of crossover formation in meiosis

Postdoc, Cornell University


Juliana Hofstätter Azambuja

Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying brain tumor progression

Postdoc, University of Pittsburgh


Farah Haque

Microtubule-based regulatory mechanisms underlying signaling

Postdoc, Massachusetts General Hospital

Eartha Mae Guthman

Plasticity of hormone-sensitive neural circuits

Postdoc, Princeton University

Jessica Gray

Single cell insights into evolution and development

Postdoc, Harvard Medical School

Anita Gola

Immune-stem cell interactions in the epidermis

Postdoc, Rockefeller University


Pragya Goel

Signaling structure for dopamine coding in the striatum


Postdoc, University of Minnesota

Gina Gallego-Lopez

Metabolism of host-parasite interaction


Postdoc, Morgridge Institute


Lam-Kiu Fong

Membrane protein function in Alzheimer's disease

Postdoc, UCSF

Erin Flaherty

The role of the protocadherin gene cluster in neurodevelopment and
implications for neurodevelopmental disorders

Postdoc, Columbia University


Julie Elie

The neuroethology of vocal communication in bats and songbirds

Postdoc, UC Berkeley

Devon Duron Ehnes

iPSC-derived organoids to study development and disease


Postdoc, University of Washington


Laura Desban

Role of microbiota in olfactory-driven social behaviors


Postdoc, University of Oregon

Katherine Deets

Host-virus dynamics in Tetrahymena


Postdoc, University of Utah


Roxana Coreas

Nanomaterial-Biomolecular Interfaces


Postdoc, UC Berkeley


Ansa Cobham

Metabolic adaptations in the blind cavefish

Postdoc, Stowers Institute


Almudena Chaves Perez

Metabolic reprogramming to tailor cell lineage specification in regeneration and cancer

Postdoc, Memorial Sloan Kettering


Amanda Buch

Developing/deploying machine learning of brain/behavior/omics; precision neuropsychiatry

Postdoc, Weill Cornell


Maigen Bethea

Gastrointestinal mechanoreceptors in the regulation of food intake


Postdoc, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus


Udochi Felicia Azubuike

Immune cells in the tumor microenvironment

Postdoc, National Cancer Institute, NIH


Noëlle Antao

Developing 3D models to characterise a human microsporidian parasite


Postdoc, NYU

Gertrude Arthur

Mechanisms of Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Liver Disease (MASLD)-Induced Kidney Injury

Postdoc, University of Mississippi Medical Center


Krista Angileri 

Transposon control as a checkpoint during regeneration


Postdoc, Cornell University



Maureen Akinyi

Mechanisms of spliceosome and RBP interactions that regulate splicing fidelity.

Postdoc, Baylor College of Medicine


Megan Agajanian

Transcriptional regulation of mammary gland development

Postdoc, Stanford


Farah Abdul-Rahman

Gut-borne dissemination of opportunistic pathogens

Postdoc, Memorial Sloan Kettering


Biotech, consulting, foundations

Christine Vazquez

Central nervous system immune evasion strategies of emerging viruses 


Viral immunologist, GSK


He Tian

Directed evolution of biosensors for imaging neural activity

Associate Director, BioNTech


Dorian Rosen

Modulating cellular stress responses to improve outcomes in neurological disorders

Independent consultant


Shermel Sherman 

Estrogen-Responsive Brain-Jaw Circuit in Temporomandibular Disorders

Scientist, BrainXell




Sarah Pfau

The molecular and cellular bases of blood-brain barrier heterogeneity

Senior Scientist, Biogen




Sarah Naomi Olsen

Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation by chromatin complexes


Principal Scientist, Novartis Biomedical Research

Jennifer Kan

Designing and engineering de novo protein functions

Managing partner, Climate Capital Frontier

Lisa Eshun-Wilson

Mitochondrial quality control by diverse proteases

Scientist, Profluent Bio


Andrea d'Aquino

Sustained delivery of GLP-1 receptor agonists for the treatment of diabetes

Freelance writer and strategic consultant


Sisi Chen

Probing the multicellular mechanisms of drug response in heterogeneous immune cell populations

Senior Director of Platform Technology, Apertura Gene Therapy

Kristyn Carter

Translational biomarkers in Diabetic skin ulcers


Biotech Equity Research Associate, Piper Sandler


Liz Boydston

Specialized organelles for host-parasite interactions

Product Manager
Ginkgo Bioworks


Heike Blockus

Linking synaptic specificity to neuronal circuit function

Senior Scientist
Verge Genomics

Cecilia Blengini

Chromosome segregation during female meiosis in mammals

Senior Scientist, Colossal Biosciences


Sanchari Bhattacharyya

Genotype-phenotype relationship in bacterial systems

Senior Scientist, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research


Faculty 

Rachel Zwick

Epithelial tissue patterning and regeneration

Assistant Professor, NYU


Xiaoxue (Snow) Zhou

Signal transmission in the yeast mitotic exit network

Assistant Professor, NYU


Chuchu Zhang

Molecular and circuit mechanisms of nausea

Assistant Professor, UCLA


Katherine Xue

Ecology and evolution in the human gut microbiome

Incoming Assistant Professor, UC Irvine


Shira Weingarten-Gabbay

Viral non-canonical ORFs as a hidden source for T cell epitopes


Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School


Clarissa Whitmire

Somatosensory neural coding

Senior Lecturer, University of Queensland


Erica Washington

Structure and function of microbial virulence


Assistant Research Professor, Duke University


Genoa Warner

Female reproductive toxicology and endocrine disruption

Assistant Professor, 
New Jersey Institute of Technology


Kate Warde

Hormonal regulation of anti-tumor immunity

Incoming Assistant Professor, University of Chicago


Xinru Wang

Designer proteins to regulate cell signaling

Assistant Professor, Northeastern


Lexy von Diezmann

Regulation of DNA repair outcomes in meiosis

Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota

Anna Vlasits

Circuit function and neurodiversity in the mammalian retina

Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago


Claudia Vásquez

Physics of epithelial lumen stability 

Assistant Professor, University of Washington


Meike van der Heijden 

Neural signals during dynamic cerebellar development

Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech

Supraja Varadarajan

Role of postsynaptic target activity in visual circuit regeneration

Assistant Professor, UTSW


Christina Towers

Autophagy dependence in cancer cells 

Assistant Professor
Salk Institute 


Valerie Tornini

Chromatin modifiers in vertebrate development

Assistant Professor, UCLA

Akanksha Thawani

Transposon structural biology and genome engineering

Incoming Assistant Professor, Columbia University



Tina Termini

Hematopoietic stem cell and vascular regeneration

Assistant Professor, Fred Hutch


Jeannette Tenthorey

Evolution of antiviral defenses

Assistant Professor, UCSF

Tigist Tamir

Defining the role of protein phosphorylation on metabolic enzymes

Assistant Professor, UNC

Cheyenne Tait

Invertebrate neurobiology and behavior

Assistant Professor, Marshall University


Ines Sturmlechner

Age-related T cell dysfunction and its pathophysiological consequences 

Incoming Assistant Professor, UW Madison


Jessica Stark

Engineering (Glyco)immunology


Assistant Professor, MIT


Chelsey Spriggs

Host-pathogen interactions during viral entry

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

Yadira Soto-Feliciano

Transcriptional regulation by chromatin adaptor proteins


Assistant Professor, MIT


Marielena Sosa

Neural circuits of spatial learning and reward memory

Incoming Assistant Professor, CU Boulder


Heather Snell 

Cerebellar contribution to motor and non-motor disorders


Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine

Monique Smith

Social communication of pain and elucidating the neural circuits of empathy

Assistant Professor, UCSD

Janet Song

Genetic basis of human brain evolution

Incoming Assistant Professor, Harvard University


Natalia Shylo

Evolution of developmental mechanisms in reptiles and mammals.

Incoming Assistant Professor, Rowan University


Delia Shelton

Solving grand challenges in environmental and human health 

Assistant Professor, U. Miami

Naima Sharaf

 Structure and function of the Neisseria meningitidis ABC methionine transporter system

Assistant Professor, Stanford University


Anusha Shankar

Avian physiological ecology (energetics, heterothermy) and transcriptomics

Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Hyderabad

Rachel Shahan

Single-cell insights into organ development

Assistant Professor, UCLA


Mohini Sengupta

Neural circuits for motor control in the spinal cord

Assistant Professor, Saint Louis University


Laura Seeholzer

Role of sensory epithelial cells in airway physiology

Incoming Assistant Professor, Stanford University


Rebeca San Martin

Microenvironment influence on the 3D genome of prostate cancer

Assistant professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine


Elise Savier  

Contribution of the secondary visual pathway to vision

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan


Brittany Ross

Bacterial physiology during chronic and acute infection

Assistant Professor, Georgia State


Elle Roberson  

Molecular genetic mechanisms of adult uterine remodeling

Assistant Professor, CU Anschutz


Aleah Roberts

Molecular mechanisms of non-canonical B Cell Receptor endocytosis

Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore


Lauren Rajakovich

Human gut microbial metabolism

Assistant Professor, University of Washington


Kavita Rangan

RNA editing in phenotypic plasticity and adaptation

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins


Deepa Ramamurthy

Neural circuits for attentional selection in sensory cortex

Incoming Assistant Professor, UC Riverside


Novalia Pishesha

Engineered nanobodies as immune modulators for autoimmunity and infectious diseases

Assistant Professor, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School


Adriane Otopalik

Mechanisms of behavioral flexibility and evolution


Group Leader, Janelia Research Campus


Molly Ohainle

Cellular Barriers to HIV Infection

Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley


Cameron Ogg

Neural circuits underlying behavioral flexibility

Assistant Professor, Rhodes College 


Nicole Perry-Hauser

The role of latrophillins in cell signaling and synapse formation

Group Leader, University of Glasgow


Cristina Nuevo Tapioles

Mitochondrial biology in RAS-driven cancers and RASopathies

Group Leader, Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid


Lisa-Marie Nisbett 

Exploring the functional relationship between outer membrane biogenesis and lipid export pathways in mycobacteria


Assistant Professor, Cornell


Ally Nguyen

Differential gene requirements for cell division and genome organization

Assistant Professor, CU Anschutz


Jasmine Nirody

Adaptive locomotion through complex environments

Assistant Professor, University of Chicago

Andrea Moffitt 

Genomic methods for liquid biopsies in cancer

Assistant Professor, Emory

Alexandria Miller

Structure and function of a SARS-CoV-2 accessory protein

Assistant Professor, University of Iowa


Maria Mikedis

Stem cell regulation during spermatogenesis

Assistant Professor, Cincinnati Children's

Holly Merta

Organelle-cytoskeleton interactions in cell migration

Biology Instructor, Wharton County Junior College


Taylor Medwig-Kinney

Developmental control of cell biological mechanisms

Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse


Maeve McLaughlin

Bacterial-Phage regulatory interactions 

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan-Flint


Anna Maurer

Understanding host-vector interactions to build better gene therapies

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan


Molly Matty

Microbiome influences on animal behavior 

Assistant Professor, University of Portland

Romila Mascarenhas 

Vitamin B12 trafficking and disease

Assistant Professor, University of Oregon

Bishara Marzook

Epithelial cell biology of Cryptosporidium infection

Group Leader, Gulbenkian Institute of Molecular Medicine


Anne Martin

Identifying how synapse coordination is achieved across a neural circuit

Assistant Professor, University of Iowa


Megan Martik

Gene regulatory networks in vertebrate development and regeneration

Assistant Professor, UC Berkeleyr

Maria Maldonado

Structure and function of respiratory complexes and supercomplexes

Assistant Professor, Monash University

Prerna Malaney

Role of RNA-binding proteins in cancer

Assistant Professor, Dartmouth

Yuan Ma

Develop imaging methods to visualize biomacromolecules and metabolites
in cells


Incoming Assistant Professor, Rice University


Xiaotang Lu

Developing methods for connectomic studies


Assistant Professor, University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign


Glennis Logsdon 

The sequence, structure, and evolution of human centromeres


Assistant Professor, Penn


Theresa Loveless

Synthetic cells that record their own history

Assistant Professor, Rice University

Hannah Ledvina

Bacterial Innate Immune Systems

Incoming Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

Lindsay LaFave

Chromatin state in lung adenocarcinoma

Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Caitlin Kowalski

Resident fungi as gatekeepers of skin health

Incoming Assistant Professor, Dartmouth 


Jennifer Kong

Mechanisms of morphogen sensitivity underlying congenital heart defects

Assistant Professor, University of Washington

Tina Kim

Optical and molecular approaches to studying cortical neural circuits


Assistant Professor, 
Princeton University

Grace Kenney 

Uncovering new enzyme families in natural product biosynthesis


Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh


Aga Kendrick

Intracellular transport regulation

Assistant Professor, Salk Institute


Heidi Kletzien

Mechanisms of age-related head and neck tissue dysfunction and head and neck cancer initiation


Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota


Jessica Kelliher 

Host-pathogen interactions in the cytosol


Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin


Priyanka Joshi

Mechanisms of biochemical homeostasis in aging and age-related diseases


Assistant Professor, Georgetown


Heeun Jang

Neural circuit mechanisms for dehydration risk in aging mice

Incoming Assistant Professor, Iowa State University


Chinyere Iweka

Circadian regulation of immune cell metabolism


Assistant Professor, Case Western


Erin Hisey

Neural circuits underlying learning and forgetting

Assistant Professor, Boston University


Rose Hill

Mechanotransduction in unexpected places


Assistant Professor, OHSU


Zoë Hilbert

New modalities in host-microbe evolutionary conflicts

Assistant Professor, Boston College


Emily Heckman

Development and evolution of neural circuits for sensory perception

Incoming Assistant Professor, Lehigh University


Shan He

Biogenesis of the eukaryotic CO2 concentrating organelle, the pyrenoid

Assistant Professor, UW Madison


Liz Haynes

Imaging neural development across whole-embryo and single cell scales

Incoming Assistant Professor, UW Madison


Liangliang Hao

Engineering precision diagnostics for cancer

Assistant Professor, Boston University


Katie Hatstat

Engineering bacterial signal transduction


Incoming Assistant Professor, University of Washington


Emily Hager

Coordination of cell behavior in complex environments


Incoming Assistant Professor, Bard College


Kathryn Gunn

Structure and mechanism of lipid metabolizing proteins

Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University


Meghna Gupta

Peroxisomal fatty-acid transport and metabolism 


Assistant Professor, OHSU


Lydia Grmai

Inter-organ regulation of reproduction

Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine


Ana Gonzalez-Reiche

Molecular evolutionary dynamics of virus transmission and host-virus interactions

Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai


Aleena Garner

Neural circuits in memory-sensory interplay

Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Jaye Gardiner

Cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer

Incoming Assistant Professor, Tufts University


Leonor Garcia-Bayona

Role of mobile genes in the community interactions of the intestinal microbiota


Assistant Professor, Stanford

Raquel Fueyo

Function and regulation of endogenous retroviruses in early human embryogenesis 


Incoming Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics



Christina Fitzsimmons

RNA epitranscriptomics in health and disease


Incoming Assistant Professor, Michigan State University


Tahra Eissa

Neural and cognitive mechanisms of adaptive decision-making


Incoming Assistant Professor, CU Anschutz


Allison Didychuk

DNA packaging in herpesviruses

Assistant Professor,
Yale University


Clarissa Durie

Visualizing bacterial secretion systems

Assistant Professor, University of Missouri

Anne Draelos

Real-time analysis and stimulation of neuronal populations

Assistant Professor, University of Michigan

Xintong Dong

Defensins and Mrgprs in skin immunity and itch

Assistant Professor, UT Dallas

Catherine Denning-Jannace 

Targeting metallohomeostasis for antifungal drug development


Incoming Assistant Professor, UNC Greensboro


Josefina del Mármol

Structural mechanism of olfaction


Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Joaquina Delás 

Noncoding genome regulation of developmental cell fate choice


Group Leader, University College London


Danfeng Cai

Chromatin organization and transcription regulation

Assistant Professor
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health


Jeeyun Chung

Spatiotemporal regulation of lipid metabolism

Assistant Professor, Harvard 

Jenna Christensen

Intracellular transport diversity in fungal and human cells

Assistant Professor, Northwestern University


Abigael Cheruiyot

mRNA translation in pancreatic beta cells



Assistant Professor, CU Anschutz


Maureen Cetera

Cell coordination during morphogenesis


Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Maria Cecilia Canesso

Cell-cell interactions driving gut inflammation and tolerance


Incoming Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein


Simone Brixius-Anderko

Cytochrome P450 structure/function in human disease


Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Sarah Bowling 

Lineage tracing in early mouse development


Assistant Professor, Stanford University


Ewa Bomba-Warczak

Mitochondrial fidelity in mammalian neurons


Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylania


Lorena Benedetti

Exploring how organelles support neuronal signaling and metabolism.

Incoming Assistant Professor, UTSW


N. Sumru Bayin

Neural stem cell diversity and age-dependent regenerative processes in the brain

Group Leader
Gurdon Institute, Cambridge University

Caroline Bartman

Developing new methods to measure in vivo tumor metabolism

Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Arianna Baggiolini

The developmental chromatin programs underlying oncogenic competence in melanoma

Group Leader, Institute of Oncology Research

Berfin AzizoÄŸlu 

Vascularization in organ development and regeneration


Assistant Professor, UNC


Kilan Ashad-Bishop

Social and structural determinants of cancer disparities


Assistant Professor, University of Miami


Sweta Agrawal

Neural circuits underlying proprioception and motor control

Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech

Rebecca Adikes

Cell migration in vivo


Assistant Professor, Siena College


Sarah Ackerman

Neuron-glia dynamics in circuit development, refinement, and behavior

Assistant Professor,
Washington University School of Medicine

Alice Accorsi

Development and regeneration of complex sensory organs

Assistant Professor, UC Davis