Current trainees

Mentor: Dr. Melody Li

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Mentor: Dr. Kali Kappel

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Mentor: Dr. Xinshu Xiao

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Mentor: Dr. Avi Samelson

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Mentor: Dr. Joe Loo and Jason Zhang

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Mentor: Dr. Kariann Backus

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Mentor: Dr. Yi-Rong Peng

Research project: I am interested in the development of high acuity vision in humans. The fovea is a specialized central region of the macula in primates, which is absent from all other mammals, enabling high-acuity vision essential for reading, writing, driving, and recognizing faces. I want to better understand mechanisms involved in the preferential specification of cone photoreceptors in the fovea during fetal development.

Mentor: Dr. Michael Lawson

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Mentor: Dr. Rosalie Lawrence

Research project: Mitochondrial homeostasis depends on coordinated mechanisms that regulate organelle turnover and function, including activation of the mitochondrial Integrated Stress Response (mito-ISR) to adapt gene expression to mitochondrial stress and mitophagy to clear damaged mitochondria. Recent studies suggest crosstalk between the mito-ISR and mitophagy in response to mitochondrial dysfunction; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this interplay and how chronic ISR signaling affects mitophagy remain poorly understood. Applying targeted CRISPRi screening and biochemical approaches, Erika seeks to identify key regulators of this relationship and decipher how sustained ISR activation impacts mitochondrial quality control. 

Mentor: Dr. Jose Rodriguez

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Mentor: Dr. Margot Quinlan

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Mentor: Dr. Robert Clubb

Research project: Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium responsible for a plethora of infectious diseases and is carried by approximately 30% of the world’s population. It’s growth and survival in the human body depends on its ability to uptake iron from human heme during infections via the Iron-regulated surface determinant (Isd) system, which is composed of an ATP-powered transmembrane ABC transporter, cell wall heme-binding receptors, and cytoplasmic heme oxygenase enzymes. My research focuses on the de novo development and optimization of peptide-based inhibitors that disrupt iron import in S. aureus by binding to IsdE, one of the key proteins in the Isd pathway, by using computational, structural, and cell-based methods. With the growing concerns of microbial resistance to antibiotics, the results of these studies will lay the groundwork for a new class of precision therapeutics that disarm multidrug-resistant S. aureus by cutting off its access to heme-iron. 

Mentor: Dr. Stefan Petrovic

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Mentor: Dr. Samantha J. Butler

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Mentor: Dr. Alexander Spokoyny and Danielle Schmitt

Research project: I develop bioorthogonal boron-cluster tags to expand the palette of probes used in stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy. By integrating these tags with existing probes, I aim to enable multiplexed imaging of dynamic metabolic processes.