About
This page tells the stories of lab members both in and outside the lab. Enjoy!
Flash Bang Project Descriptions
Lab focus: measuring forces on the cellular level
We primarily build sensors to measure cellular forces; however, Khalid also gives us freedom to pursue our own interests, which has led us into synthetic biology, nano-engineering and gene therapy.
Topic Descriptions
Measuring force: Victor, Roxy, Josh, Aaron, Ally, Anna, Dale, Rong, Kevin
Synthetic biology: Jessica, Nusaiba, Brendan, Alisina, Aysha
Nanotech: Jing, Han, Yixiao
One-Word Descriptions
Gold Nanoparticles: Victor, Han, Nusaiba, Brendan
Nanorods: Han
RNA splicing: Jessica*
Force sensors: Victor, Roxy, Josh, Aaron, Ally, Anna, Dale, Rong, Kevin
*Projects currently unrelated to force
Measuring force: Victor, Roxy, Josh, Aaron, Ally, Anna, Dale, Rong, Kevin
Synthetic biology: Jessica, Nusaiba, Brendan, Alisina, Aysha
Nanotech: Jing, Han, Yixiao
One-Word Descriptions
Gold Nanoparticles: Victor, Han, Nusaiba, Brendan
Nanorods: Han
RNA splicing: Jessica*
Force sensors: Victor, Roxy, Josh, Aaron, Ally, Anna, Dale, Rong, Kevin
*Projects currently unrelated to force
Salaita Lab Members - Fun Facts and Published Works
Come chat with us about our work! Atwood Hall, 5th floor
Victor Ma
Focus: Force team
Joined: February 2014
About: Victor is extraordinarily smart, doing his undergrad work at Hong Kong Baptist University and becoming an author on numerous publications. He was the first in the lab to start running agarose gels and has become quite proficient. He likes to work late and finds everyone's jokes hilarious, even those at his expense. In his free time, he enjoys playing League of Legends and Destiny. He also likes collecting guitars and practicing on them. And, I am told that he once sang at a club. He makes bets about numerous things with Kevin - such as who can get the best MALDI spectrum - and, of course, takes part in the push-up contests. Yvonne was his lab mentor.
Joined: February 2014
About: Victor is extraordinarily smart, doing his undergrad work at Hong Kong Baptist University and becoming an author on numerous publications. He was the first in the lab to start running agarose gels and has become quite proficient. He likes to work late and finds everyone's jokes hilarious, even those at his expense. In his free time, he enjoys playing League of Legends and Destiny. He also likes collecting guitars and practicing on them. And, I am told that he once sang at a club. He makes bets about numerous things with Kevin - such as who can get the best MALDI spectrum - and, of course, takes part in the push-up contests. Yvonne was his lab mentor.
Victor: Featured Photos
Jessica Petree
Focus: DNAzyme team; RNA-splicing
Joined: February 2014
About: I absolutely love all my labmates and the crazy things they do. They are my lab family. I'm very passionate about research, trying to perform as many experiments as possible, while also being realistic. A challenge! My dream job is to be a super efficient research scientist that also loves and mentors students. Even when things don't work, I find science exhilarating. I've taken charge of the Nanopure water system, our new -80C freezer, and the lab's inventory. For my work, I perform a lot of SDS-PAGE. In my free time, I enjoy reading Scripture and Fantasy novels, writing and hanging out with my husband John and my son Isaiah.
Current project: I'm working on a project related to RNA gene therapy! It's completely awesome. For details, please contact me!
Joined: February 2014
About: I absolutely love all my labmates and the crazy things they do. They are my lab family. I'm very passionate about research, trying to perform as many experiments as possible, while also being realistic. A challenge! My dream job is to be a super efficient research scientist that also loves and mentors students. Even when things don't work, I find science exhilarating. I've taken charge of the Nanopure water system, our new -80C freezer, and the lab's inventory. For my work, I perform a lot of SDS-PAGE. In my free time, I enjoy reading Scripture and Fantasy novels, writing and hanging out with my husband John and my son Isaiah.
Current project: I'm working on a project related to RNA gene therapy! It's completely awesome. For details, please contact me!
Jessica: Featured Photos
Roxanne Glazier
Focus: Force team; FLIM
Joined: Fall 2014
About: Roxanne joined the lab from the Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME). She takes three classes at Tech, along with her lab duties - so she has a busy schedule! Hailing from from up north, she says she is enjoying getting to know Atlanta. She is a dedicated worker, enjoys talking with lab members energetically and is excited about her project. We've had many fun conversations. She invited the lab to her apartment for Rosh Hashanah and spent from 2 - 8 pm cooking! She's a great cook - her deserts were delicious. I ate my first starfruit while there.
Joined: Fall 2014
About: Roxanne joined the lab from the Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME). She takes three classes at Tech, along with her lab duties - so she has a busy schedule! Hailing from from up north, she says she is enjoying getting to know Atlanta. She is a dedicated worker, enjoys talking with lab members energetically and is excited about her project. We've had many fun conversations. She invited the lab to her apartment for Rosh Hashanah and spent from 2 - 8 pm cooking! She's a great cook - her deserts were delicious. I ate my first starfruit while there.
Roxanne: Featured Photos
Josh Brockman
Focus: Super-resolution microscopy
Joined: Fall 2014
About: Josh also hails from the Tech/Emory joint program of biomedical engineering (BME). He's extremely enthusiastic, excited and energetic - happily talking to anyone and everyone about science, his project, and life. He enjoys relating random facts that he's read about - including how weathermen calculate weather patterns and chance of rain - which is highly entertaining. You never know what he might say. Very fun-loving and buoyant, he provides a very carefree and jovial atmosphere to the lab. He is currently in charge of our STORM microscope.
Joined: Fall 2014
About: Josh also hails from the Tech/Emory joint program of biomedical engineering (BME). He's extremely enthusiastic, excited and energetic - happily talking to anyone and everyone about science, his project, and life. He enjoys relating random facts that he's read about - including how weathermen calculate weather patterns and chance of rain - which is highly entertaining. You never know what he might say. Very fun-loving and buoyant, he provides a very carefree and jovial atmosphere to the lab. He is currently in charge of our STORM microscope.
Josh: Featured Photos
Hanquan "Han" Su
Focus: Force team; nanotech
Joined: Fall 2014 About: Han came into the PhD program in chemistry fall 2014 and started out working with Zheng. He works hard, reads papers, and enjoys joking around with other lab members. He is also quiet and serious-minded, preferring to work late. I think Han will be a great lab member, and I'm excited about his project. He's joined the illustrious team of force sensor builders! |
Aaron Blanchard
Focus: DNAzyme team; nanotech
Joined: September 2015 About: From the Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME), Aaron has just joined us and is excited to try out ideas new ideas and directions related to Kevin's nanotech work! He did undergraduate research in drug delivery using hydrogels. He plans to be reading up on literature, getting a good foundation for an application for nanotech projects in the lab. He has taken on Kevin's undergraduate student Jacob Yi, works hard, and thinks a lot about his work. I've enjoyed getting to know him. |
Nusaiba Baker
Focus: DNAzyme team
Joined: September 2016
About: Our lab's first MD / PhD student, Nusaiba is tackling the interface of clinical and benchwork. She is fun-loving, happy and likes to make jokes.
Joined: September 2016
About: Our lab's first MD / PhD student, Nusaiba is tackling the interface of clinical and benchwork. She is fun-loving, happy and likes to make jokes.
Allison Ramey
Focus: force / nanotech
Joined: September 2016
About: Ally hails from the Georgia Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME)!
Joined: September 2016
About: Ally hails from the Georgia Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME)!
Anna Kellner
Focus: Force team
Joined: September 2016
About: Anna hails from the Georgia Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME)!
Joined: September 2016
About: Anna hails from the Georgia Tech / Emory biomedical and engineering program (BME)!
Alisina Bazrafshan
Focus: DNAzyme team
Joined: December 2016
About: Alisina is an awesome, enthusiastic student who loves his work. He always has a smile ready to hand, and is very proactive toward his goals.
Joined: December 2016
About: Alisina is an awesome, enthusiastic student who loves his work. He always has a smile ready to hand, and is very proactive toward his goals.
Brendan Deal
Focus: DNAzyme team
Joined: December 2016
About: Somewhat soft-spoken, Brendan's quiet demeanor hides a power house of chemistry skills. He's great at tackling problems that seem overwhelming, one piece at a time.
Joined: December 2016
About: Somewhat soft-spoken, Brendan's quiet demeanor hides a power house of chemistry skills. He's great at tackling problems that seem overwhelming, one piece at a time.
Dale Combs
Focus: Force team
Joined: December 2016
About: Dale is full of amusing dry-humor and a nonchalant attitude toward everything he does. He makes great jokes and gives interesting facts of the day, such as the Nature paper he found about scotch tape releasing x-rays in a vacuum.
Joined: December 2016
About: Dale is full of amusing dry-humor and a nonchalant attitude toward everything he does. He makes great jokes and gives interesting facts of the day, such as the Nature paper he found about scotch tape releasing x-rays in a vacuum.
Kevin Fish
Focus: Force team
Joined: December 2016
About: Kevin is one of the first in our group to pioneer work with viruses.
Joined: December 2016
About: Kevin is one of the first in our group to pioneer work with viruses.
Rong Ma
Focus: Force team
Joined: December 2016
About: Rong is one of the sweetest people I know, and worked for four years as a tech before making her way to ATL for graduate school. She has helped setup a lab before and is very independent. I look forward to seeing where her work takes her.
Joined: December 2016
About: Rong is one of the sweetest people I know, and worked for four years as a tech before making her way to ATL for graduate school. She has helped setup a lab before and is very independent. I look forward to seeing where her work takes her.
Yixiao Dong
Focus: Nanotech
Joined: December 2016
About: Having gotten a M.A. before coming to Emory, Yixiao (pronounced YEE-sh-ou) is also very independent, doing nanoparticle work in his rotation completely on his own. He continues to pioneer new chemistries for our lab, and promises to become a great chemist.
Joined: December 2016
About: Having gotten a M.A. before coming to Emory, Yixiao (pronounced YEE-sh-ou) is also very independent, doing nanoparticle work in his rotation completely on his own. He continues to pioneer new chemistries for our lab, and promises to become a great chemist.
Khalid Salaita, PI
Focus: Everything
Started Lab: 2009
About: Khalid works tirelessly to push the boundary of what's possible and aim high. He's full of interesting ideas and loves talking to his students frequently, holding weekly subgroup meetings. He also cares about each of them personally and gives great advice, pushes them to excel, encourages them during hard times, and looks for any and every opportunity to help them advance and get their work in the spotlight. It's common for him to pop into lab during the afternoon and evenings, rotating between members and asking them how they are doing. Although the lab focuses on force measurements, he encourages students to pursue their interests and branch out into other topics as they see fit. He has a son Jad and daughter Dahlia. In his free time, he enjoys making new kinds of yogurt.
Started Lab: 2009
About: Khalid works tirelessly to push the boundary of what's possible and aim high. He's full of interesting ideas and loves talking to his students frequently, holding weekly subgroup meetings. He also cares about each of them personally and gives great advice, pushes them to excel, encourages them during hard times, and looks for any and every opportunity to help them advance and get their work in the spotlight. It's common for him to pop into lab during the afternoon and evenings, rotating between members and asking them how they are doing. Although the lab focuses on force measurements, he encourages students to pursue their interests and branch out into other topics as they see fit. He has a son Jad and daughter Dahlia. In his free time, he enjoys making new kinds of yogurt.
Khalid: Featured Photos
Junior Members
Nick Colona, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology
Mentor: Yun Zhang, Josh Brockman
In lab: Jan 2015 - Aug 2016
Nick, a high school student, has been under the tutelage of several lab members and done lots of MALDI and HPLC. He works hard and enjoys watching any and all techniques the lab performs.
In lab: Jan 2015 - Aug 2016
Nick, a high school student, has been under the tutelage of several lab members and done lots of MALDI and HPLC. He works hard and enjoys watching any and all techniques the lab performs.
Shawn Sun, Emory University, Undergraduate
Mentor: Victor Ma
In lab: Jan 2015 - TBA
Shawn is working closely with Victor on various aspects of his work, including gold nanoparticles and force sensors.
In lab: Jan 2015 - TBA
Shawn is working closely with Victor on various aspects of his work, including gold nanoparticles and force sensors.
Jacob Yi, Emory University, Undergraduate
Mentor: Aaron Blanchard
In lab: Sept - Dec 2015
Jacob is assisting Aaron in his particle rollers project!
In lab: Sept - Dec 2015
Jacob is assisting Aaron in his particle rollers project!
Former Members: Graduated Students and Post-docs
*You may see photos of lab members in a fluffy hat. This is a hat I found in my mom's closet and it suddenly became a "thing" for lab members to take pictures of themselves in it. See the collage here. We got Khalid during recruitment weekend 2015. Ha ha!
Kornelia Galior
Focus: Force team
Joined: February 2013 - July 2017
About: Originally from Poland, Kornelia enjoys joking about her Polish heritage, and she, Yvonne and Yuan are always doing things together. In her free time, she plays tennis and goes biking or hiking, enjoying outdoor activities. You never know what she will say or do next. I count her a great friend.
Joined: February 2013 - July 2017
About: Originally from Poland, Kornelia enjoys joking about her Polish heritage, and she, Yvonne and Yuan are always doing things together. In her free time, she plays tennis and goes biking or hiking, enjoying outdoor activities. You never know what she will say or do next. I count her a great friend.
Kornelia: Featured Photos
Yuan Chang
Focus: synthesizing force sensors
Joined: 2012
About: Yuan, one of the lab's sweetest members, gives off a very curious and innocent air. However, don't let that fool you. She knows her stuff! She and Kornelia are best friends, frequently joking with each other, like Kevin and Yang. She's also been one of my best friends in the lab, encouraging me, praying with me about experiments and life and inviting me to hang out at her house and meet her mom, who was visiting from China. She visited home in China last summer and gave me a really cool bone China pendant that I love. Yuan is very self-effacing but loves mentoring students. She also loves organizing lab celebrations, buying utensils and cakes. She has a wonderful Flickr page that she uploads hilarious photos of lab members and activities here. Enjoy! Yuan published a paper and is now working at a contact lens company.
Joined: 2012
About: Yuan, one of the lab's sweetest members, gives off a very curious and innocent air. However, don't let that fool you. She knows her stuff! She and Kornelia are best friends, frequently joking with each other, like Kevin and Yang. She's also been one of my best friends in the lab, encouraging me, praying with me about experiments and life and inviting me to hang out at her house and meet her mom, who was visiting from China. She visited home in China last summer and gave me a really cool bone China pendant that I love. Yuan is very self-effacing but loves mentoring students. She also loves organizing lab celebrations, buying utensils and cakes. She has a wonderful Flickr page that she uploads hilarious photos of lab members and activities here. Enjoy! Yuan published a paper and is now working at a contact lens company.
Yuan: Featured Photos
Yang Liu
Focus: gold nanoparticles
Joined: 2011 - Nov 2016
About: Yang has one of the biggest smiles I know. He prefers to study the literature carefully before launching out on new ideas, counted as one of the labs most thoughtful members. He frequently jokes with Kevin and is one of his primary partners in playing tricks. There are contests between Yang, Weiwei and Victor for doing push-ups in the student offices. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis and basketball with Kevin, Kornelia and Victor. He won the Lester award in 2016 - the most prestigious award given to a graduate student in the Emory chemistry dept. He now is a post-doc at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Biophysics. We will miss him greatly.
Published work: Yang created force sensors from gold nanoparticles arrayed on a surface. Once cells were spread on the surface, he used differently patterned and spaced gold nanoparticle arrays to study integrin clustering. For more information on this work, check out his paper, "Tension Sensing Nanoparticles for Mechano-Imaging at the Living/Nonliving Interface," here.
Joined: 2011 - Nov 2016
About: Yang has one of the biggest smiles I know. He prefers to study the literature carefully before launching out on new ideas, counted as one of the labs most thoughtful members. He frequently jokes with Kevin and is one of his primary partners in playing tricks. There are contests between Yang, Weiwei and Victor for doing push-ups in the student offices. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis and basketball with Kevin, Kornelia and Victor. He won the Lester award in 2016 - the most prestigious award given to a graduate student in the Emory chemistry dept. He now is a post-doc at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Biophysics. We will miss him greatly.
Published work: Yang created force sensors from gold nanoparticles arrayed on a surface. Once cells were spread on the surface, he used differently patterned and spaced gold nanoparticle arrays to study integrin clustering. For more information on this work, check out his paper, "Tension Sensing Nanoparticles for Mechano-Imaging at the Living/Nonliving Interface," here.
Yang: Featured Photos
Zheng Liu
Focus: nanorods
Joined: 2013 - Nov 2016
About: Our lab's post-doc, Zheng is a quiet person, quick to help and answer questions. He's also one of our labs microscope experts. He typically works into the evenings and his wife has a spot in the student offices where she is frequently seen working alongside him. Zheng finished and published his work. He and his wife had a son, named Vincent. He now has an associate professor position back in China at Wuhan University.
Joined: 2013 - Nov 2016
About: Our lab's post-doc, Zheng is a quiet person, quick to help and answer questions. He's also one of our labs microscope experts. He typically works into the evenings and his wife has a spot in the student offices where she is frequently seen working alongside him. Zheng finished and published his work. He and his wife had a son, named Vincent. He now has an associate professor position back in China at Wuhan University.
Zheng: Featured Photos
Yun "Yvonne" Zhang
Focus: force sensor
Joined: 2012 - Oct 2016
About: Yvonne is awesome! She's the person in lab more than anyone who helps lower my stress levels when I'm worried, giving out loads of sage advice, emotional support and hugs. I'm really going to miss her. She, Yuan and Kornelia form a mod-squad trio of hilarious fun. She's was in charge of maintaining the lab's HPLC. She also always tried to get me to eat unusual Chinese food, including a chicken claw, which I managed to refuse. She's very encouraging, telling me not to take things so seriously and giving me pep talks about life.
Joined: 2012 - Oct 2016
About: Yvonne is awesome! She's the person in lab more than anyone who helps lower my stress levels when I'm worried, giving out loads of sage advice, emotional support and hugs. I'm really going to miss her. She, Yuan and Kornelia form a mod-squad trio of hilarious fun. She's was in charge of maintaining the lab's HPLC. She also always tried to get me to eat unusual Chinese food, including a chicken claw, which I managed to refuse. She's very encouraging, telling me not to take things so seriously and giving me pep talks about life.
Yun: Featured Photos
Carol Schumacher
Focus: notch-signaling
Membership: 2010 - Sept 2015
About: Carol recently graduated and has been the lab's sole worker on Notch signaling. She's quiet and extremely competent, preferring to work behind the scenes to keep the lab running at peak efficiency. She orders all of our everyday lab supplies. Her work also requires frequent use of the microscope and she has worked with protein expression in insect and mammalian cells.
Published work: While conducting her research, Carol discovered that cells are capable of ripping streptavidin off of biotin, previously thought to be impossible because of their strong adhesion. For this work, see her paper, "Integrin-Generated Forces Lead to Streptavidin-Biotin Unbinding in Cellular Adhesions" here.
Membership: 2010 - Sept 2015
About: Carol recently graduated and has been the lab's sole worker on Notch signaling. She's quiet and extremely competent, preferring to work behind the scenes to keep the lab running at peak efficiency. She orders all of our everyday lab supplies. Her work also requires frequent use of the microscope and she has worked with protein expression in insect and mammalian cells.
Published work: While conducting her research, Carol discovered that cells are capable of ripping streptavidin off of biotin, previously thought to be impossible because of their strong adhesion. For this work, see her paper, "Integrin-Generated Forces Lead to Streptavidin-Biotin Unbinding in Cellular Adhesions" here.
Carol: Featured Photos
Kevin Yehl
Focus: nanowalkers
Membership: 2010 - Aug 2015
About: Kevin was the lab prankster and is constantly making wisecracks. He was my mentor during my rotation, as my project was sprung from one of his ideas. However, he preferred to allow me to work on my own and use him as a resource to ask questions. He loves to travel. He's been to the World Cup twice, traveled to a Gorden conference in Germany and been to an internship in Singapore. He also loves playing practical jokes and saying outrageous things to get reactions from people. He is famous for being cosmopolitan and also enjoys eating strange food. He defended his thesis June 24, 2015.
Published work: Kevin published a paper on his work with DNAzymes, catalytic pieces of DNA that can site-selectively cleave RNA (see here). He coated them on gold nanoparticles, showing that they were protected from degradation by nucleases and had increased activity. Upon uptake into a breast cancer cell line, they were able to perform gene knockdown. To read more about this work, check out his paper, "Catalytic Deoxyribozyme-Modified Nanoparticles for RNAi-Independent Gene Regulation," here. He also collaborated with a group in the medical school to show that these particles can act as a therapeutic in vivo. DNAzymes targeting TNFa were injected into rat hearts were shown to improve heart function after a simulated heart attack. For this work, see here. He also produced the world's fastest rolling DNA motor, published in Nature Nanotech here, and picked up by loads of news organizations, including a YouTube interview by Emory. Kevin is just amazing!! He is now working as a post-doc at MIT.
Membership: 2010 - Aug 2015
About: Kevin was the lab prankster and is constantly making wisecracks. He was my mentor during my rotation, as my project was sprung from one of his ideas. However, he preferred to allow me to work on my own and use him as a resource to ask questions. He loves to travel. He's been to the World Cup twice, traveled to a Gorden conference in Germany and been to an internship in Singapore. He also loves playing practical jokes and saying outrageous things to get reactions from people. He is famous for being cosmopolitan and also enjoys eating strange food. He defended his thesis June 24, 2015.
Published work: Kevin published a paper on his work with DNAzymes, catalytic pieces of DNA that can site-selectively cleave RNA (see here). He coated them on gold nanoparticles, showing that they were protected from degradation by nucleases and had increased activity. Upon uptake into a breast cancer cell line, they were able to perform gene knockdown. To read more about this work, check out his paper, "Catalytic Deoxyribozyme-Modified Nanoparticles for RNAi-Independent Gene Regulation," here. He also collaborated with a group in the medical school to show that these particles can act as a therapeutic in vivo. DNAzymes targeting TNFa were injected into rat hearts were shown to improve heart function after a simulated heart attack. For this work, see here. He also produced the world's fastest rolling DNA motor, published in Nature Nanotech here, and picked up by loads of news organizations, including a YouTube interview by Emory. Kevin is just amazing!! He is now working as a post-doc at MIT.
Kevin: Featured Photos
Weiwei Zheng
Focus: quantum dots
Membership: 2012 - August 6, 2015
About: A post-doc in our lab, Weiwei is a very funny and encouraging person with which to work. He likes to practice "the robot" dance moves in lab and frequently jokes about his experiments or things people say. His wife is a great cook! And he has one son, Hunter. He also plays table tennis on the weekends at a club and is quite good. His primary focus in research is investigating quantum dots. He acquired a professorship recently at Syracuse University in New York and moved up there August 6, 2015. I'm very excited to see his lab and research unfold!
Published work: He showed that quantum dots inserted into lipid membranes are protected from oxidation and have a much longer half-life, especially if the membrane is in the gel phase. This work was published in the JACs paper, "Quantum Dots Encapsulated within Phospholipid Membranes: Phase-Dependent Structure, Photostability, and Site-Selective Functionalization." For his paper, see here.
Membership: 2012 - August 6, 2015
About: A post-doc in our lab, Weiwei is a very funny and encouraging person with which to work. He likes to practice "the robot" dance moves in lab and frequently jokes about his experiments or things people say. His wife is a great cook! And he has one son, Hunter. He also plays table tennis on the weekends at a club and is quite good. His primary focus in research is investigating quantum dots. He acquired a professorship recently at Syracuse University in New York and moved up there August 6, 2015. I'm very excited to see his lab and research unfold!
Published work: He showed that quantum dots inserted into lipid membranes are protected from oxidation and have a much longer half-life, especially if the membrane is in the gel phase. This work was published in the JACs paper, "Quantum Dots Encapsulated within Phospholipid Membranes: Phase-Dependent Structure, Photostability, and Site-Selective Functionalization." For his paper, see here.
Weiwei: Featured Photos
Mingda Zhang
Focus: Nanotech
Membership: Feb - Sept 2014
About: Mingda was a quiet, really nice, eager and determined student. Zheng was his lab mentor and he took charge of a dynamic light scattering (DLS) instrument in the medical school for his research. He decided to move up north to be with his wife, choosing a strong relationship over career. I applaud him for this and though we miss him, I'm very happy for them both!
Membership: Feb - Sept 2014
About: Mingda was a quiet, really nice, eager and determined student. Zheng was his lab mentor and he took charge of a dynamic light scattering (DLS) instrument in the medical school for his research. He decided to move up north to be with his wife, choosing a strong relationship over career. I applaud him for this and though we miss him, I'm very happy for them both!
Daniel Stabley
Focus: Developing force sensors
Membership: 2009 - 2014
About: Daniel is one of the most amazing people I know! He has a booming voice and presence, gave insightful comments during lab meetings and was the lab's leading microscope expert, having worked with it since he came to the Salaita lab. He developed a new type of force microscopy that allowed measurements to be made in the z-direction. He's constantly encouraging and helpful to new students, showing them tricks of the trade. He also was great with Adobe Illustrator and making animations to illustrate his projects. He and his wife Molly moved to Tennessee for his post-doc position and he reports that he's having a fantastic time there! He left a big hole to fill and we all miss him.
Position: postdoc at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in dept of developmental neurobiology
Membership: 2009 - 2014
About: Daniel is one of the most amazing people I know! He has a booming voice and presence, gave insightful comments during lab meetings and was the lab's leading microscope expert, having worked with it since he came to the Salaita lab. He developed a new type of force microscopy that allowed measurements to be made in the z-direction. He's constantly encouraging and helpful to new students, showing them tricks of the trade. He also was great with Adobe Illustrator and making animations to illustrate his projects. He and his wife Molly moved to Tennessee for his post-doc position and he reports that he's having a fantastic time there! He left a big hole to fill and we all miss him.
Position: postdoc at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in dept of developmental neurobiology
Yoshie Narui
Focus: Force sensors
Membership: 2010 - 2013
About: Yoshie was the lab's organizer, famous for her efficiency. She mentored students and also worked on measuring force in the Notch signaling pathway. She was a power-house of knowledge in protein biology and tended to work long hours, 9 am - 9 pm. I was always impressed with her work and a little scared of her amazing competence. I aspire to be like her. Her graduation was very exciting. She spoke her presentation beautifully, without a hint of concern, and was able to graduate in just three and a half years. She and her husband moved to Ohio to take up post-doc positions. Like Daniel, she left a very large hole to fill and I hope that we who come after can live up to her legacy.
Position: postdoc at Ohio State University
Membership: 2010 - 2013
About: Yoshie was the lab's organizer, famous for her efficiency. She mentored students and also worked on measuring force in the Notch signaling pathway. She was a power-house of knowledge in protein biology and tended to work long hours, 9 am - 9 pm. I was always impressed with her work and a little scared of her amazing competence. I aspire to be like her. Her graduation was very exciting. She spoke her presentation beautifully, without a hint of concern, and was able to graduate in just three and a half years. She and her husband moved to Ohio to take up post-doc positions. Like Daniel, she left a very large hole to fill and I hope that we who come after can live up to her legacy.
Position: postdoc at Ohio State University
Former Junior Members: Masters, Undergraduate, High School
*This is sadly not a complete list, including only students I met since I joined in 2013.
Zeynab Mousavi, research assistant from Iran
Mentor: Jessica Petree
In lab: Jan 2016 - April 2016
Zeynab has a M.A. and worked with us to get experience in the biological sciences. She worked with me on a project involving asthma. After her husband finished his PhD at GA Tech, she moved with him to Northwestern, where he is doing his post-doc, and she hopes to enter a PhD program there.
In lab: Jan 2016 - April 2016
Zeynab has a M.A. and worked with us to get experience in the biological sciences. She worked with me on a project involving asthma. After her husband finished his PhD at GA Tech, she moved with him to Northwestern, where he is doing his post-doc, and she hopes to enter a PhD program there.
Edward Fan, Emory University
Mentor: Kevin Yehl
In lab: January 2014 - Sept 2015
Kevin's student Edward Fan has been working with him on nanowalkers, doing some top-notch work. He finished a Masters and graduated Sept 2015.
In lab: January 2014 - Sept 2015
Kevin's student Edward Fan has been working with him on nanowalkers, doing some top-notch work. He finished a Masters and graduated Sept 2015.
Maranatha Genet, Columbia University
Mentor: Kornelia Galior
In lab: May 2015 - Aug 2015 / May - August 2016
Mara was an amazing student! Kornelia told me all the time how helpful she was. She largely worked on expanding our plasmid library, taking plasmids we had in the lab, mini-prepping them, and adding them to our stocks. She was also very encouraging to me when we went ziplining as a lab, and I appreciated her sweet demeanor greatly! I look forward to seeing where science takes her.
In lab: May 2015 - Aug 2015 / May - August 2016
Mara was an amazing student! Kornelia told me all the time how helpful she was. She largely worked on expanding our plasmid library, taking plasmids we had in the lab, mini-prepping them, and adding them to our stocks. She was also very encouraging to me when we went ziplining as a lab, and I appreciated her sweet demeanor greatly! I look forward to seeing where science takes her.
Grace Thomsen, 10th grade home school student
Mentor: Jessica Petree
In lab: June 15 - July 30, 2015
As the first participant in my home school summer program, Grace spent 7 weeks with me, helping to characterize the enzyme I use for my RNA gene therapy project, and I really enjoyed getting to know her and introduce her to the basics of biochemistry research! I look forward to seeing where her career takes her. She meticulously learned how to run RNA electrophoresis mini-gels, performed RNA transcription, came to lab meetings, and brought friends to show around the lab. She will be missed.
In lab: June 15 - July 30, 2015
As the first participant in my home school summer program, Grace spent 7 weeks with me, helping to characterize the enzyme I use for my RNA gene therapy project, and I really enjoyed getting to know her and introduce her to the basics of biochemistry research! I look forward to seeing where her career takes her. She meticulously learned how to run RNA electrophoresis mini-gels, performed RNA transcription, came to lab meetings, and brought friends to show around the lab. She will be missed.
Sam Druzak, Emory University
Mentor: Jessica Petree
In lab: Dec 2014 - May 2015
Sam is the best student I could have asked for, meeting all my expectations for an exceptional undergrad researcher. He joined me as a senior, worked 5-days a week and rapidly learned all I could teach him, taking meticulous notes. He's the best! And he learned how to work with RNA without degrading it - a significant achievement - I could count on him to get experiments done. He graduated with a degree in chemistry May 2015, and is now working for Dr. Li in the medical school, with a contract of two years. I know he will be fantastic!
In lab: Dec 2014 - May 2015
Sam is the best student I could have asked for, meeting all my expectations for an exceptional undergrad researcher. He joined me as a senior, worked 5-days a week and rapidly learned all I could teach him, taking meticulous notes. He's the best! And he learned how to work with RNA without degrading it - a significant achievement - I could count on him to get experiments done. He graduated with a degree in chemistry May 2015, and is now working for Dr. Li in the medical school, with a contract of two years. I know he will be fantastic!
Jeffery Yang, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology
Mentor: Yuan Chang
In Lab: June - July 2014, fall 2014
Jeffery is a high school student, on an internship from the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, working on synthesizing force sensors with Yuan. He was able to present the results of his work at the International Science Fair! We are very proud of him.
In Lab: June - July 2014, fall 2014
Jeffery is a high school student, on an internship from the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, working on synthesizing force sensors with Yuan. He was able to present the results of his work at the International Science Fair! We are very proud of him.
Richard Park, Brown University
Mentor: Yang Liu
In lab: May - August 2014
An undergraduate student from Brown University, part of the Summer Undergraduate Research program at Emory (SURE) and mentored by Yang!
In lab: May - August 2014
An undergraduate student from Brown University, part of the Summer Undergraduate Research program at Emory (SURE) and mentored by Yang!
Kevin Gale, Emory University
Mentor: Zheng Liu
In lab: May - August 2014
Kevin, an undergraduate from Emory in the SURE program, mentored by Zheng. Here he works in the cell culture room.
In lab: May - August 2014
Kevin, an undergraduate from Emory in the SURE program, mentored by Zheng. Here he works in the cell culture room.