We're thrilled to have had so many wonderful people come through the lab.
Pooja Narang, Ph.D, Research Scientist
Pooja received her PhD degree from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India in the field of Computational Chemistry. She has four years of postdoctoral research experience in computational data-analysis, bioinformatics, molecular modeling and in silico drug discovery. Her research interests include understanding the male mutation bias in mammals and understanding evolution of sex chromosomes and their relationship to diseases like cancer.
Tanya Phung, PhD, Research Scientist
Tanya studies population genetics and genomics and is working on studying sex differences in human health and disease.
Tim Webster, Ph.D. , Postdoctoral scholar
Tim is broadly interested in using genomic diversity and divergence to understand evolution and demography. His dissertation research explored the genomic signals of speciation and diversification in the adaptive radiation of macaques, a group of monkeys found in Africa and Asia. In the Wilson Sayres lab, he is interested in contrasting information from the sex chromosomes with that from the autosomes to better understand the role of sex-specific evolutionary and demographic processes in shaping diversity.
Heini Natri, Ph.D. , Postdoctoral scholar
Heini is a Center for Evolution and Medicine postdoctoral fellow with a background in evolution and cancer research. Her research interests focus around genetic architecture, sex bias, and evolution of cancer.
GRADUATE RESEARCHERS: PhD students
Kimberly Olney, Ph.D. Evolutionary Biology, May 2021
Thesis: Characterizing gene expression in human tissues to better understand sex differences in health and disease
Annika Vannan, Ph.D. Neuroscience, April 2022
Co-advised with Dr. Janet Neisewander
Thesis: Coding and non-coding RNA expression in rodent models of cocaine craving
Angela Taravella Oill, Ph.D. Evolutionary Biology , July 2022
Co-advised with Dr. Anne Stone.
Thesis: Assessment of genetic variation in globally diverse human populations and its implications for human health and disease.
GRADUATE RESEARCHERS: MS students
Shawn Rupp, M.S. Biology: Computational Life Sciences, August 2017
Thesis: Comparative Genomics and Novel Bioinformatics Methodology Applied to the Green Anole Reveal Unique Sex Chromosome Evolution
Lidia Peon, M.S. Biology, May 2018.
Thesis: Assessment of a Glossary on Patient Satisfaction and Anxiety Levels in an Oncology Genetic Counseling Clinic
Avery Underwood, M.S. Biology, May 2019.
Thesis: A Search for Parent-of-Origin Effects in the Parasitoid Jewel Wasp Nasonia vitripennis
Yan Yap, MS Microbiology, May 2021
Thesis: Human leukocyte antigen association with Hepatitis B virus-mediated liver cancer
BARRETT HONORS THESES
Kara Schaffer, 2015, Evolutionary perspective suggests candidate genes for variation in Turner Syndrome phenotype
Darius Gallegos, 2017, Building diverse resources for exploratory School of Life Sciences students
Sarah Brotman, 2017, Standard mapping protocols misestimate sex-biased gene expression
Ariel Baber, 2018, Career options for students seeking a degree in the School of Life Sciences
Daniel Cotter, 2018, Genetic diversity across the pseudoautosomal boundary varies across human populations
Anagha Deshpande, 2019, Isoform variation across triple negative breast cancer and prostate cancer
Austin Evanovich, 2019, Patterns of sex-biased gene expression in the human brain
Ndey Bassin Jobe, 2019, The evolution of lactase persistence in the Turkana
Lovender Phiri, 2019, The effects of sex-specific reference on variant calling in hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer)
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS
William Martelly, undergraduate
Fall 2014
David Barclay, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Melinda Jenner, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Ethan Bate, undergraduate
Fall 2015
Chris Negrich, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Jackie Williams, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Jacinda Garcia, undergraduate
Fall 2015
Jada Wang, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2016
Kellie Kodama, undergraduate
Summer 2016
Darius Gallegos, Barrett thesis
Fall 2016-Spring 2017
Ka'anani Amanonce, Fall 2017
Alyssa Harris, Mindlin Foundation funded, Spring 2016-Fall 2017
Brock Williams, Fall 2016-Fall 2018
Arisha Khan, Barrett Honors, Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Anagha Deshpande, Barrett Honors, Fall 2016-Spring 2019
Emma Howell, Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Caroline Erickson, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Marshall Styers, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Joy Cruz, undergraduate
Spring 2015-Summer 2015
Kirk Flamm, undergraduate
Fall 2016
Hein Vu, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2016
Sarah Brotman, Barrett thesis
Fall 2014-Summer 2017
Jocelyn Andrews
Fall 2016-Spring 2018
Ephrance Peninah Kalungi, CLAS USE, Fall 2015-Spring 2017
Michelle Weinstein, Summer 2017-Fall 2017
Selena Cortez, Summer 2017-Spring 2019
Karina Morris, Barrett Honors College, Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Ryan Maner, Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Alix Marinello, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Reena Ygot, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Carlos Meza-Torres, undergraduate; Fall 2016
Parker Shea, undergraduate
Summer 2016
Christopher Sleiman, undergraduate
Spring 2017
Sam Daly, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Summer 2017
Ariel Baber, Barrett Honors College, Summer 2017-Spring 2018
Afeefah Rashid, Spring 2017-Fall 2017
Amanda Wolf, Fall 2016-Summer 2018
Grant Dembrock, Spring 2018-Summer 2019
Lovender Phiri, Barrett Honors, Fall 2017-Spring 2019
Vika Laloudikis, Fall 2020-Spring 2021
Kara Schaffer, Barrett thesis
Fall 2014-Fall 2015
Maggie Walters, undergraduate
Fall 2015
Ashley Amidan, undergraduate
Fall 2014-Spring 2016
Victoria Reid, undergraduate
Summer 2016-Fall 2016
Mostafa Adina, undergraduate
Spring 2017
Sarah Bearman, undergraduate
Fall 2016-Summer 2017
Daniel Cotter, Barrett Honors College, Fall 2014-Spring 2018
Valeria Valverde-Vesling, IMSD Fall 2015-Fall 2017
David Levy, Summer 2016-Spring 2018
Austin Evanovich, Fall 2017-Summer 2019
Suhail Ghafoor
Fall 2017-Spring 2019
Brittney Jimenez, Fall 2020-Spring 2021