Postdoctoral Fellow Profiles

malorie.blancard@gmail.com

Searle Building

PhD - Sorbonne University

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Research Description

Malorie earned her PhD in Human Genetics from Sorbonne University in Paris in 2018. There, she focused on the identification of new variants causing cardiac arrhythmias with a risk of sudden death by using exome sequencing analysis and functional studies on calcium channels. She is interested to pursue her career on rare cardiac arrhythmias using other relevant technologies such as genome sequencing and hiPSC. She started her first postdoctoral research in Burridge Lab in February of 2019 and works on hiPSC models of sudden cardiac death.

Research Description

mahmood.dalhat@northwestern.edu

PhD - King Abdulaziz University

Research Description

Mahmood is interested in uncovering the crosstalk between RNA oxidation and RNA acetylation in chronic oxidative stress.

PhD - The University of Texas at Austin

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Research Description

Orhi joined the DeCaen group in 2021 where he is applying structural biology methods to study ion channel biophysics in the context of renal disease and bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Orhi’s research interests focus on the dysregulation of polycystin ion channel variants that cause autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and transporters involved in bacterial biofilm organization.

PhD - University of Galway, Ireland

Research Description

Ning's work is to develop atrial cardiomyocyte differentiation from hiPSCs and model atrial fibrillation disease.

MD, PhD - Washington University in St. Louis

Research Description

The digestive system executes numerous, complex, well-coordinated tasks to mediate metabolism, gastrointestinal motility, nutrient absorption, and waste excretion. Proteins implicated in normal gastrointestinal physiology or disease states have been coopted or targeted to generate protein-based therapeutics. Yet, development of luminally-acting protein-based therapies remains challenging due to (i) inherent limitations in drug stability or delivery that arise from peptide and antibody scaffolds, (ii) limited exploration of protein designs, and (iii) harsh conditions imposed by low pH and protease activity within the gastrointestinal environment. Miniproteins represent an emerging class of drug scaffolds that, given their length of 30-80 residues, are perfectly suited for the design, screening, and optimization of target inhibition/activation, proteolytic stability, and tissue penetration. Vasilios's research will leverage recent advances in computational protein design with generative artificial intelligence and nucleic acid-based display methodology to develop novel miniprotein-based therapeutics for luminal gastrointestinal disorders.

louise.kimura@northwestern.edu

PhD - University of São Paulo

Research Description

Louise Kimura is a versatile researcher specializing in the fields of toxinology, pharmacology, and neuroscience. With a master's degree focusing on freshwater stingray envenomation and a PhD exploring chronic pain development under environmental enrichment exposure, Louise possesses expertise in biochemical, immunological, physiological, and behavioral testing methodologies. Currently engaged in postdoctoral research investigating the role of primary cilia in neurons and kidney cells, Louise's work underscores her commitment to unraveling complex biological mechanisms. Beyond research, she has a prolific publication record, actively participates in scientific events, and aspires to establish her own laboratory. Driven by a passion for discovery and innovation, Louise seeks to lead a dynamic research team dedicated to advancing scientific understanding in her field.

kirill.korshunov@northwestern.edu

Tarry Building

PhD - Florida State University

Research Description

Calcium is a universal second messenger that regulates many crucial biological processes, including gene transcription, immune cell activation, and the development of synaptic plasticity. A ubiquitous mechanism that regulates these and other factors of calcium homeostasis is called store operated calcium entry (SOCE). SOCE is mediated by the ER-bound proteins STIM, which activate the calcium channel Orai that produce SOCE. SOCE is a crucial for the functionality of the immune system and in non-excitable cells. However, even though STIM and Orai are expressed within the central nervous system, their roles within the CNS are less well defined. Kirill's research examines the roles of STIM and Orai in hippocampal-mediated learning and memory and neuronal excitability, synaptic transmission, and plasticity. Through this research, the Prakriya Lab hopes to gain a better understanding of SOCE's involvement in the function of neuronal and behavioral properties, and its broader impact within the CNS.

qianru.li@northwestern.edu

PhD - Wuhan University

Research Description

Qianru’s research focuses on RNA translation. She is interested in developing new experimental approaches to understand genome-wide RNA translational regulation. She also studies the roles of translation factors underlying cancer progression, which is expected to offer biological insights into translational dysregulation in cancer.

ted.litberg@northwestern.edu

PhD - University of Denver

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Research Description

Ted's goal is to expand protein stability assays based on cDNA display proteolysis. The lab's current system, although powerful (able to test thousands of proteins simultaneously), is limited by the size of the proteins we can test (up to 80 amino acids). By scaling up to full-size proteins the Rocklin Lab will be able to test stabilities of disease-relevant proteins and provide protein stability datasets for structure prediction/protein design tools.

PhD - Korea University

Research Description

Ameeq studies the dynamics and conformational-heterogeneity of Arrestin-2 tandem-domains, and G-Protein Coupled Receptors involved in dynamic-interplay receptor pharmacology, e.g., biased-signalling whose understanding is crucial for developing new therapeutics.

praeploy.pongpamorn@northwestern.edu

PhD - Hannover Medical School

Research Description

Praeploy joined the Burridge lab in October 2022. She is interested in applying her expertise in hiPSC differentiation to optimize and develop protocols for generating iPSC-derived skeletal muscle and adipose cells for cultivated meat, and for large-scale iPSC cardiac differentiation.

aashutosh.shetti@northwestern.edu

Tarry Building

PhD - University of Illinois Chicago

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Research Description

Aashu's research focuses on the role of Ca2+ in astrocyte function and how alterations in intracellular Ca2+ levels are associated with neuroinflammation. His work evaluates the ion channels, specifically Orai1, which regulate Ca2+ flow within cells and if genetic manipulations of these channels in astrocytes could prove beneficial in neurodegenerative diseases.

During his PhD, he studied the role of blood-brain barrier disruption in Type-2 Diabetes and how impairments in insulin trafficking into the brain can make the Type-2 diabetic brain vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease.

tlawlsrhs@gmail.com

PhD - Sogang University

Research Description

Jingon combines biophysical, biochemical, and cell-based approaches to study the molecular basis of partial agonism, functional selectivity, and allosteric signaling.

PhD - Northwestern University

Research Description

Tianjiao’s doctoral study focused on using molecular and cellular experimental approaches to investigate the mechanism underlying cardiovascular disease and aging, especially on the role of the plasminogen activator system in metabolic-introduced cardiovascular aging. As a postdoc, her current research interest is using experimental genomics approaches to examine the functional role of non-canonical translation and microproteins in human diseases.

yuanfei.sun@northwestern.edu

PhD - Texas A&M University

Research Description

Yuanfei’s research focuses on computational analysis of single-cell spatial omics data in the context of cancer biology, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Specifically, he is interested in developing computer vision algorithms to decipher multiplexed fluorescence imaging and utilizing machine learning and deep learning methods to model single-cell sequencing data. His research aims to characterize the tumor microenvironment, discover biomarkers, investigate tumor-neighboring cell interactions, and predict disease survival outcomes. During his PhD, he studied the application of language modeling and geometric learning techniques in encoding multi-modal protein data for predicting variant effects and enhancing protein engineering efforts.

jane.thibeault@northwestern.edu 

Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center

PhD - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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Research Description

Jane specializes in the intersection between protein biophysics and mass spectrometry. Her work employs cutting-edge mass spectrometry techniques coupled with hydrogen deuterium exchange methods to examine protein folding and stability in a high throughput manner. She aims to uncover fundamental principles that govern the relationship between biophysical characteristics and protein stability, ultimately contributing to the development of enhanced predictive protein dynamics and stability models.

fangjia@northwestern.edu

PhD - Harbin Medical University

Research Description

Fangjia studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters-mediated breast cancer metastasis. Fangjia also specializes in extracellular vesicles and Human papillomavirus in head and neck cancer.

PhD - Medical College of Wisconsin

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Research Description

Nnamdi’s research involves the use of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived models to elucidate the factors and mechanisms involved in the differential susceptibility of different population groups to chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity and neurotoxicity. His findings are expected to provide insights into protective strategies for at-risk chemotherapy patients.

PhD - University of California, Berkeley

Research Description

Sara focuses on using mass spectrometry and cDNA display to learn more about how functional and energetic information is encoded in proteins.

Research Description