Series

Postdoc Profiles

Whitehead Institute is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists, especially postdocs. Get to know a few of these remarkable scientists through these profiles. 

Two researchers sit together and compare a 3D printed molecule to models on a computer screen
Profiles

Sonia Boor is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Mary Gehring’s lab studying how to make the crop plant pigeon pea more resilient against climate change. We sat down with Sonia to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Jullien Flynn is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita’s lab studying satellite DNA and its potential links to disease. We sat down with Jullien to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Sunny Das is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Robert Weinberg’s lab studying how breast cancer metastasizes or spreads to other tissues. We sat down with Sunny to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Asaf Maoz is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Valhalla Fellow Kipp Weiskopf’s lab studying new immunotherapy strategies to treat cancer. He is also a clinical fellow in medical oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Mass General Hospital. We sat down with Asaf to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Pavana Rotti is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Olivia Corradin’s lab studying the neurobiology of opioid use disorder. We sat down with Pavana to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Sheri Grill is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann’s lab studying germ cells, the cells that become eggs and sperm. We sat down with Sheri to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Jesse Platt is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young’s lab studying mechanisms of insulin resistance. He is also a practicing gastroenterologist and hepatologist. We sat down with Jesse to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Marine Krzisch is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab who works on making better models with which to study neurological diseases. We sat down with Marine to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Haley Licon is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido’s lab studying how the parasite Toxoplasma gondii switches between stages during infection. We sat down with Haley to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab. 

Arash Latifkar is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel’s lab studying RNA viruses to learn more about the lifecycle of RNA. We sat down with Arash to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Anh Nguyen is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Ankur Jain’s lab studying molecules in soil-dwelling amoebae that, in humans, can contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. We sat down with Nguyen to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Han Tran is a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow in Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann’s lab studying endoplasmic reticulum biology in the context of the cells that make eggs and sperm. We sat down with Tran to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Jordana Bloom is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Page’s lab studying how hormonal changes during menopause affect gene expression throughout the body. We sat down with Bloom to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Jonathan Nelson is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita’s lab studying how dividing cells maintain their genomes. We sat down with Nelson to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Jason Matos is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Jing-Ke Weng’s lab studying how plants make medicinal molecules. We sat down with Matos to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Jessica Spinelli is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Sabatini’s lab studying how mitochondria function in low oxygen environments. We sat down with Spinelli to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Ann Boija is a senior researcher in Whitehead Institute Member Richard (Rick) Young’s lab studying the role of cellular structures called condensates in gene regulation. We sat down with Boija to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Melissa Pamula is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann’s lab studying the cells that make and become eggs and sperm. We sat down with Melissa to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Adrianna San Roman is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Director and Member David Page’s lab investigating sex differences in human health. San Roman’s work is supported by the Arthur W. Brill and Carol Tobin Brill Postdoctoral Fellowship and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship. We sat down with San Roman to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Kutay Deniz Atabay is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien’s lab investigating regeneration, including how neuronal circuits regenerate in various organisms including planarians, a type of flatworm. We sat down with Atabay to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Xin Tang is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab investigating brain disease and developing approaches to discover new therapies. We sat down with Tang to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Elizabeth Boydston is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido’s lab investigating the pathogen Toxoplasmsa gondii. We sat down with Boydston to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Sonia Iyer is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Founding Member Robert (Bob) Weinberg’s lab investigating ovarian cancer. We sat down with Iyer to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Alexsia Richards is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab investigating how dangerous tropical viruses interact with the brain. We sat down with Richards to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Benjamin Sabari was a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Richard (Rick) Young’s lab investigating how the molecules involved in gene regulation organize into large collective assemblies called condensates. As of January 2020, Sabari is running his own lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. We sat down with Sabari to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Nora Kory is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Sabatini’s lab working on mitochondrial metabolism and transport, where she is also an HHMI fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. We sat down with Kory to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Mike Torrens-Spence is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Jing-Ke Weng’s lab investigating how plants make molecules of medicinal and agricultural interest and how to recreate those molecules using synthetic biology. We sat down with Torrens-Spence to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Izabella Pena is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Sabatini’s lab investigating how toxic proteins associated with neurodegeneration are degraded in cells. We sat down with Pena to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Rebecca "Becky" Povilus is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Mary Gehring’s lab investigating the evolution of reproduction in plants. We sat down with Povilus to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Ally Nguyen is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman’s lab investigating genes involved in chromosome segregation during mitosis. We sat down with Nguyen to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Monther Abu-Remaileh is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Sabatini’s lab investigating the organelles that cells use to remove waste and recycle nutrients. We sat down with Abu-Remaileh to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Kehui “Coffee” Xiang is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel’s lab and a Cancer Research Institute Irvington Fellow supported by the Cancer Research Institute. He is investigating regulation of gene expression by RNA. We sat down with Xiang to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab. 

Tomáš Pluskal is a postdoc in Whitehead Member Jing-Ke Weng’s lab investigating molecules of medicinal interest in plants and the genes that produce them. We sat down with Pluskal to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Isaac Klein is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Richard Young’s lab who is investigating mechanisms of gene transcription. He is also a medical oncology clinical fellow at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. We sat down with Klein to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.

Danielle Tomasello is a postdoctoral fellow investigating neurodevelopmental disorders in Whitehead Institute Member Hazel Sive’s lab. Tomasello is a Simons Center for the Social Brain fellow and was previously Whitehead Institute’s Balkin-Markell-Weinberg Fellow. She is also the creator of The Social Scientist, an outreach and networking site for scientists. We sat down with Tomasello to learn a bit more about her and her experiences in the lab.

Leah Bury  is a postdoc in the lab of Whitehead Member Iain Cheeseman, where her research is focused on understanding transcription of DNA into RNA at the centromere, a region of the chromosome important in cell division.

Boryana Petrova is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Sebastian Lourido’s lab researching parasite metabolism. She has also worked in Whitehead Institute Member Terry Orr-Weaver’s lab. We sat down with her to learn a bit more about her and her experiences in the lab.

Ashley Bonneau is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member Peter Reddien’s lab investigating signaling pathways involved in embryonic development and tissue regeneration. We sat down with Bonneau to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Kacper Rogala is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member David Sabatini’s lab investigating the structure and interactions of proteins involved in an important metabolic pathway. We sat down with Rogala to learn more about him and his experiences in and out of the lab.