Directory

Graduate Program Director:
Dr. Meg Stratton
mstratton@umass.edu

Associate Graduate Program Director:
Dr. Tom Maresca
tmaresca@bio.umass.edu

IDGP-Office@umass.edu

MCB Mailing Address:
203 French Hall
University of Massachusetts Amherst
230 Stockbridge Road
Amherst, MA 01003-9316

Please submit general inquiries to the IDGP Office using the following Google form:

Name Contact Information Research Interests
Ruth Adafia

PhD Student

R. Craig Albertson

Professor, Biology

336 Morrill II South

Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Berent Aldikacti

PhD Student

Dominique R. Alfandari

Professor of Developmental Biology, Veterinary and Animal Sciences

661 North pleasant street, ISB 427B

Cell migration in Developmental systems

Seema Amin

PhD Student

Lauren Andrews

Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

N265 Life Sciences Laboratories

Uncovering genetic design rules to reprogram regulation and metabolism in living cells for applications in health and biotechnology

Efecan Aral

PhD Student

Kathleen F. Arcaro

Professor of Environmental Toxicology, University of Massachusetts

Office:  LSL 529
Lab:  LSL N540

Breast Cancer: Assesing Individual Breast Cancer Risk

Courtney C. Babbitt

Associate Professor, Biology

Associate Professor, Commonwealth Honors College

Morrill 2, Room 360

Evolutionary Genomics

Hyerim Ban

PhD Student

Kimberly Barker

MS Student

Daniel Barnes

MS Student

Michael J.F. Barresi

Professor of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience, Smith College

Developmental Neurobiology, Assistant Neuron and Glial Cell Interactions; Astroglial Cell Development in the CNS

Madelaine Bartlett

Associate Professor, Biology

374B Morrill IV South

Evolution of plant development; Molecular evolution

Tobias Baskin

Professor, Biology

375F Morrill IV South

Regulation of Plant Morphogenesis During Growth & Development

Christine Battle

PhD Student

Joseph Bergan

Associate Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

We seek to understand the principles of how social and defensive stimuli are encoded in the activity of neurons, and how this process can be modulated by behavior state, experience, and neuromodulation.

Eric L. Bittman

Professor Emeritus, Biology

420G Morrill III South

Circadian Rhythms, Reproduction, and Seasonal Changes in Brain Function

Katharine R. Bittner

PhD Student

Jeffrey L. Blanchard

Associate Professor, Biology

Morrill III Room409

Microbial cellular and community networks; influence of environmental change on the evolution of molecular processes; systems biology; bioinformatics

Stephanie Brody

PhD Student

Maxwell Campbell

MS Student

Nathan Canniff

PhD Student

Adrija Chakrabarty

PhD Student

Jianhan Chen

Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

S585B Life Science Laboratories

Computational Biochemistry & Biophysics

Min Chen

Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

865 LGRT B

Application of Proteins in Biotechnology; Functional Mechanism of Membrane Protein Pores, Channels and Transporters

Alice Cheung

Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

LGRT 1226

Molecular and cell biology of male-female interaction and polarized cell growth in plant reproduction

Peter Chien

Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts

LSL N325

Regulated Protein Degradation in Bacterial Cell-Cycle Progression

Wen–Chuan Chou

PhD Student

Soonkyu Chung

Associate Professor, Nutrition

211 Chenoweth

Obesity, Brown adipocytes, Adipose Inflammation, Dietary polyphenols, Epigenetics

Eugenia Clerico

Research Assistant Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

LSL N361

Hélène Cousin

Research Assistant Professor of Veterinary and Animal Science, University of Massachusetts

427N ISB

Cranial Neural Crest Migration during Embryonic Development

Aliyah Dalier

PhD Student

Edward P. Debold

Associate Professor of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts

158 Totman Building

Muscle Myosin in Cardiovascular Disease and Muscular Fatigue

David DeCoeur

PhD Student

Nathan Derr

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College

Sabin-Reed Hall 435

Biophysical and cell biological mechanisms of the cytoskeletal molecular motors dynein and kinesin

Andrew Doig

PhD Student

Kairong Dong

PhD Student

Lea Dooerries

MS Student

Gerald B. Downes

Professor, Biology

427C Morrill 2

Development and function of spinal cord networks

Divya Dubey

PhD Student

Jay English

PhD Student

Stephen J. Eyles

Extension Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Director, Mass Spectrometry Core, Institute for Applied Life Sciences

S503 Life Science Laboratories

Biological mass spectrometry, protein folding and dynamics

Michelle Facette

Assistant Professor, Biology

Morrill IV S, 375D

Cell polarization and asymmetric cell division; cytoskeletal regulation; cellular physiology

Michelle Farkas

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

745C LGRT B

Development and Application of Chemical Biology Methods for the Study of Cancer Progression and Metastasis

Carline Fermino do Rosario

PhD Student

Matthew Finkelberg

MS Student

Rafael A. Fissore

Professor and Head, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427A ISB

Ca2+ Release Mechanisms in Mammalian Oocytes during Maturation and Fertilization

Patrick Flaherty

Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics

LGRT 1444

Statistical machine-learning methods for genomic and biomedical data analysis

Neil St. John Forbes

Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts

N525 Life Sciences Laboratories

Engineering Tumor-Targeting Therapies

Cristina Ford

MS Student

Joshua Foster

PhD Student

Dylan Frank

PhD Student

Lillian Fritz–Laylin

Associate Professor, Biology

Morrill II Room 340

Quantitative Evolutionary Cell Biology

Scott C. Garman

Associate Graduate Program Director, MCB; Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

LGRT 1230

Structural biology of glycoproteins in human disease

John G. Gibbons

Associate Professor, Food Science

Genomics, Evolution, Bioinformatics

Kaitlyn Gilliam

PhD Student

Lori Goldner

Professor of Physics, University of Massachusetts

Has-407A

Single Molecule Biophysics

Kyla Gomard–Henshaw

PhD Student

Charlotte Gridley

MS Student

Kevin Guay

PhD Student

Taylor Guertin

MS Student

Hanling Guo

PhD Student

Yizhan Guo

PhD Student

Jeanne A. Hardy

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

745A LGRT B

Design of allosteric pathways in caspases and phosphatases; x-ray crystallography

Thomas Harrington

PhD Student

Rebecca Hartman

PhD Student

Lili He

Associate Professor, Food Science

344 Chenoweth Laboratory

The analysis of chemical, physical and biological targets in complex systems

Daniel N. Hebert

Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts

LSL N327

Protein Folding, Quality Control and Degradation of Membrane Glycoproteins

Alejandro P. Heuck

Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts

LGRT 1228

Bacterial Pathogenesis

Matthew Hinderhofer

PhD Student

Kaito Hioki

PhD Student

Tyler Hogan

PhD Student

Nicole Houppermans

PhD Student

Sungwoo Hwang

MS Student

Kiserian Jackson

PhD Student

Abigail Jensen

Associate Professor, Biology

414A Morrill III South

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of vertebrate retinal development and retinal disease.

Taewon Jeon

PhD Student

D. Joseph Jerry

Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427P ISB

Tumor Suppressor Genes and the Cellular Basis for Susceptibility to Breast Cancer

Juan M Jiménez

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

N575 LSL

Fluid flow characteristics and fluid flow-dependent biomolecular pathways relevant to diseases and processes in the body.

Parag Juvale

PhD Student

Igor A. Kaltashov

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

N369 Life Sciences Laboratory

Architecture and Dynamics of Transport Proteins

Ilia Karatsoreos

Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences

Morrill IV North N216

The general research objective in our lab is to understand the neural and physiological systems that the brain and body use to protect us from harm and adapt to changes in the environment. We focus on biological rhythms, stress, immunology, and metabolism

Rolf O. Karlstrom

Professor, Biology

330 Morrill 2

Developmental neurobiology; axon guidance and forebrain patterning

Laura A. Katz

Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College

201 Burton Hall, Smith College

Genome evolution and biodiversity studies of microbial eukaryotes

Paul S. Katz

Professor, Biology

106 Morrill 3

Neuroethology, central pattern generators, single neuron RNA-seq, developmental neuroscience, evolution of neural circuits, molluscan systems

 

Hyuna Kim

PhD Student

Young–Cheul Kim

Associate Professor of Nutrition, University of Massachusetts

206B Chenoweth

Impact of Nutrients and Dietary Bioactive Components on Chronic Diseases

Michele M. Klingbeil

Associate Professor of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts

N269 Life Science Lab

Parasitology, the replication and repair of mitochondrial DNA (kinetoplast DNA network) in African trypanosomes

Mike Knapp

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

512 LGRT Tower A

Biological and Inorganic Chemistry; Enzyme structure and mechanisms, Hypoxia sensing, Metalloenzymes, Redesign of the second coordination sphere

Oguz Can Koc

PhD Student

Ashish Kulkarni

Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

N565 Life Sciences Laboratories

Immunoengineering
Nano-immunotheraputics
Immunotheranostics
Bio-inspired Materials
Drug Delivery

Riley Kussmaul

MS Student

Jun–Goo Kwak

PhD Student

Thomas Laskarzewski

PhD Student

Gwenael Layec

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology

110 Totman Building

Musculoskeletal Physiology, Bioenergetics, Mitochondria, Cardiovascular Physiology, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy/imaging

Jungwoo Lee

Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

N567 Life Sciences Laboratories

Translational Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Daniel Li

MS Student

Pamelia Lim

PhD Student

Zhenhua Liu

Associate Professor of Nutrition, University of Massachusetts

209 Chenoweth

Nutrition and Cancer Prevention

Emily Lopes

PhD Student

Li–Jun Ma

Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

LSL N433

Fungal comparative genomics, eukaryotic genome evolution and organism adaptation

Olivia Macrorie

MS Student

Daniel Macveigh–Fierro

PhD Student

Sibongile Mafu

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

LSL N431

Biological chemistry of plant natural products

Jesse Mager

Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427M ISB

Developmental Biology: Cell-Cell Signaling

Simin Manole

PhD Student

Thomas J. Maresca

Graduate Program Director, MCB; Associate Professor of Biology

436 Morrill IV South

Ensuring Genomic Integrity through Cell Division

Craig T. Martin

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

862 LGRT B

Transcription; Protein-DNA Interactions

Beatriz Martinez–Martin

PhD Student

Jose Martinez–Montes

PhD Student

Jessica McGory

PhD Student

Lynne A. McLandsborough

Professor of Food Science, University of Massachusetts

248 Chenoweth Laboratory

Involvement of Bacterial Surface Molecules in Attachment to Food and Food Processing Surfaces

Danny McSweeney

PhD Student

Orvin Mejia

MS Student

Mark S. Miller

Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology

106 Totman Building,

Aging, Exercise, Skeletal Muscle, Muscle Mechanics, Sex Differences

Lisa M. Minter

Associate Professor of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427K ISB

Notch signaling in autoimmune diseases

Ekaterina Mironova

PhD Student

Matthew D. Moore

Assistant Professor of Food Science

Room 250, Chenoweth Laboratory

Food microbiology; food and environmental virology; eukaryotic virus-bacteria interactions; portable detection and sequencing platforms; viral inactivation strategies and therapeutics; viral concentration techniques.

Sarah Moore

Assistant Professor of Engineering, Smith College

Yasu S. Morita

Associate Professor of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts

N275 Life Science Lab

Mycobacterial Pathogenesis: Glycobiology, Biochemistry, and Cell Biology

Mandy Muller

Assistant Professor of Microbiology

101B Morrill Science Center IVN

Using viruses as a tool to understand cell biology

Murugappan Muthukumar

Wilmer D. Barrett Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts

A212 Conte Research Center

Statistical Mechanics of Polymers

Saman Nayyab

PhD Student

Bao Nguyen

PhD Student

Jamie Northup

PhD Student

Justyne Ogdahl

PhD Student

Barbara A. Osborne

Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427F ISB

Immunoglobulin Gene Diversification; Induction of Apoptosis in Lymphocytes

Stephanie L. Padilla

Assistant Professor of Biology

LSL N227

Sex hormones, feeding behavior and body weight homeostasis, circadian rhythms, women’s health

ChangHui Pak

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

LSL N225

synaptic adhesion molecules

Sarah Pallas

Associate Professor, Biology

Developmental neuroscience, Sensory neurophysiology

Alexi Panagiotou

MS Student

Om Parkash Dhankher

Professor, Stockbridge School of Agriculture

318 Paige Laboratory

Plant genetic engineering and biotechnology, phytoremediation of soil contaminants

Shelly Peyton

Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts

N531 LSL

Breast Cancer, Metastasis, Drug Resistance, Biomaterials

Leonid A. Pobezinsky

Associate Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427E ISB

Non-coding RNAs in the immune system

Emma Poirier

PhD Student

Lydia Proskauer

PhD Student

Sarah Prostak
Hidayet Putun

PhD Student

Akaansha Rampal

PhD Student

Jenny Rauch

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

The neurodegenerative protein tau and its role in disease progression

Thomas Redden

MS Student

Luke Remage–Healey

Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences

525 Tobin

Neural basis of behavior

Heather N. Richardson

Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Tobin 527

The focus of the Stress and Addiction Lab is to determine the neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress-related disorders using rodent models.

Katherine Rickelton

PhD Student

Stephanie Ridley

PhD Student

Kristyn Robinson

PhD Student

Vincent M. Rotello

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

379 LGRT Tower C

Synthetic Models of Biomolecular Activity

Alissa Rothchild

Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

Alveolar macrophages and innate immunity, immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, host-pathogen interactions

Patrick Ryan

PhD Student

Ana M. Salicioni

Research Assistant Professor of Veterinary and Animal Science, University of Massachusetts

427S ISB

Molecular Mechanisms Responsible for Sperm Function. Role of Testis-Specific Kinases in Male Fertility and as Targets for Contraception

Steven J. Sandler

Professor and Department Head of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts

210 Morrill Science Center IVN

The Molecular Mechanisms of DNA Replication and Homologous Recombination

Carolina Santamaria

PhD Student

Maria M. Santore

Professor of Polymer Science & Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts

A417 Conte Research Center

Interfacial Polymer Physics, Dynamics, and Colloidal Phenomena

Nathan Schnarr

Lecturer of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

613 LGRT

Polyketide Synthase Engingeering

Samantha Schultz

MS Student

Samantha Schultz

PhD Student

Larry M. Schwartz

Professor, Department of Biology

417 Morrill South

Molecular mechanisms that mediate programmed cell death

Thomas Scudder

MS Student

Navya Sebastian

MS Student

David A. Sela

Associate Professor, Food Science

340 Chenoweth Laboratory

Nutrition, human milk, gut microbiome, systems biology, host-microbe interactions/co-evolution, translational research

Tricia Serio

Dean, College of Natural Sciences

LSL N375

Prion cycle regulation in vivo, cellular mechanisms and consequences of protein misfolding and resolution

Jacqueline Sharp

PhD Student

Spencer Albert Shorkey

PhD Student

Andrew Shultz

PhD Student

M. Sloan Siegrist

Assistant Professor of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts

N271 Life Sciences Laboratory

Adaptation of Intracellular Pathogens to the Host Environment

Kelly Simpson

MS Student

Sallie W. Smith–Schneider

Scientist, Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute

Adjunct Research Assistant Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

BayState Medical Center

Signaling During Mammary Gland Development and Carcinogenesis

Augustine Sobo

PhD Student

Daniel Splittstoesser

PhD Student

Jennifer Stadnicki

MS Student

Vanessa Stahl

PhD Student

Andrew Stephens

Assistant Professor of Biology

Nuclear mechanics

Meg Stratton

Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department

LGRT 1226

Molecular level understanding of proteins that are involved in long-term memory formation

Eric R Strieter

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

LGRT 745D

Protein Post-Translational Modifications

Yubing Sun

Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Engineering

N571 LSL

Microengineered stem cells and neural organoids models to study human brain development and diseases

Alexander Suvorov

Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences

Graduate Program Direction, Environmental Heath Sciences

173B Goessmann

Effects on behavior by environmental xenobiotics with endocrine disruptive properties

Louis Taylor

MS Student

Gregory Michael Teicher

PhD Student

Emily Robin Tetrault

PhD Student

Gregory N. Tew

Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts

A617 Conte Research Center

Supramolecular Polymer Science

Nidhi Thaker

PhD Student

Sankaran (Thai) Thayumanavan

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

1540 LGRT Tower C

Biomimetic Organic Molecules and Polymers

Iris Thesmar

PhD Student

Lynmarie K. Thompson

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

Director, Chemistry Biology Interface Training Program

864 LGRT B

Structure and Mechanism of Membrane Proteins

Samuel Tillona

MS Student

Alicia R. Timme–Laragy

Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts

Morrill 1 N425

Developmental toxicology of environmental contaminants, transcription-factor-mediated antioxidant defenses, pancreatic B-cell development

Madeline Tompach

PhD Student

Thomas Tran

PhD Student

Kimberly D. Tremblay

Professor of Veterinary and Animal Science, University of Massachusetts

427C ISB

Stem Cells and Developmental Biology

Sarah Tucker

MS Student

Ludmila Tyler

Senior Lecturer, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

LSL N463

Using the model grass Brachypodium distachyon to understand development and bioenergy traits. 

Kirsten Underwood

PhD Student

Richard Vachet

Professor of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts

N363 Life Sciences Laboratory

Bioanalytical Chemistry: Analytical Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, Protein Folding, Metal-Protein Interactions, Gas-Phase Chemistry, Nanomaterials

Elena Vazey

Associate Professor, Departement of Biology

368A Morrill IVS

Neuromodulation and Neurodegeneration

Gabrielle Villafana

PhD Student

Pablo E. Visconti

Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts

427W ISB

Signal Transduction Pathways During Sperm Capacitation

Manya Vivek

MS Student

Patricia Wadsworth

Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts

Director, IDGP

456 Morrill IV South

Cytoskeletal Dynamics in Living Cells

Elsbeth Walker

Professor, Biology

374C Morrill IV South

Molecular genetic approaches to studying mechanisms of metal ion homeostasis in plants

Caiqin Wang

PhD Student

Dong Wang

Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

LSL N429

Mechanisms of symbiosis between plant hosts and beneficial microbes

Hewan Weldai

MS Student

Janelle Welton

PhD Student

Khadija Wharton

PhD Student

Christine A. White–Ziegler

Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College

Ford Hall 110

Environmental Regulation of Gene Expression in Escherichia coli

Steven A. Williams

Gates Professor of Biological Sciences, Smith College

Ford Hall 113

Molecular Biology of Human Parasitic Diseases/Genome Projects

Sarah Witkowski

Chair and Associate Professor of Exercise & Sport Studies, Smith College

106 Totman Building

Molecular Mechanisms Contributing to Deleterious changes in Myocardial and Vascular Tissue

William Witt

PhD Student

Siu Wong

PhD Student

Hen–ming Wu

Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts

LGRT 1024

Molecular Biology of Plant Development

Siyuan Wu

PhD Student

Hang Xiao

Professor of Food Science, University of Massachusetts

338 Chenoweth Laboratory

Cancer Preventive Dietary Components, Diet-based Strategy for Cancer Prevention

Nagendra Yadava

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biology

Understand how mitochondrial dysfunction leads to neurodegeneration and other age-associated diseases such as diabetes and cancer, and the molecular, biochemical and physiological causes of mitochondrial dysfunction.

Kubra Yigit

PhD Student

Hyejin Yoon

MS Student

Mingxu You

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry

LGRT 867

DNA/RNA nanotechnology, bioimaging and biosensing

Ying Zhang

Post Doctoral Research Associate

Wadsworth Lab, Morrill Science Center III