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Lab Members

PI

Marija Zanic, Ph.D.

Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Professor of Biochemistry

Ph.D. Physics, University of Texas at Austin


marija.zanic@vanderbilt.edu

 

Lab Staff

Amruthanjali Thankappan

Senior Research Assistant

M.S. Biotechnology, Amrita School of Biotechnology


amruthanjali.thankappan@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

Postdocs

Abdullah Bashar Sami, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ph.D. Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Wyoming


abdullah.bashar.sami@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

Graduate Students

Todd Blakely Jr. B.S.

Graduate Student, Biochemistry

B.S. Biochemistry, University of Puget Sound


todd.blakely.jr@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

 

Anna C Cassidy, B.S.

Graduate Student, Cell and Developmental Biology

B.S. Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh


anna.c.cassidy@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

 

Laura B. Richardson, B.S.

Graduate Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Kentucky


laura.b.richardson@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

Undergraduate Students

Courtney Coleman

Undergradute Junior

Majoring in Medicine, Health and Society


courtney.p.coleman@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

 

Nolawi Alemayehu

Undergraduate Freshman

Majoring in Biological Sciences and Minoring in Computer Science


nolawi.t.alemayehu@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

J.C. Salubre

Undergraduate Freshman

Majoring in Biochemistry and Chemical Biology


jhon.christian.b.salubre@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

 

Alison Zou

Undergraduate Freshman

Majoring in Computer Science


alison.zou@vanderbilt.edu

 

 

 

Lab Alumni

Elizabeth Lawrence, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2015-2024
Ph.D. Cell and Molecular Biology, McGill University
Next: Dean’s Fellow at Manchester University

Nicole C. Rodgers, B.A.
Graduate Student
2017-2023
PhD Chemical and Physical Biology, Vanderbilt University
Next: NIH IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Saptarshi Chatterjee
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2021-2022
PhD Physics, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Next: Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech University

Veronica J. Farmer
Graduate Student
2016-2022
PhD Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University
Next: Postdoc at Duke University

Goker Arpag
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2016-2022
PhD Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Next: Assistant Professor at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey

Matthew Rogers
Graduate Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2020-2022
MS Chemical Engineering, Vanderbilt University
Next: process engineer at Merck & Co., Inc

Tara Hickman
Research Intern
Summer 2021
BS Physics, Willamette University
Next: PhD student in Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

Claire Strothman
Graduate Student
2016-1021
PhD Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University
Next: postdoc at Northwestern University

Stephanie Wang
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Computer Science
2018-2021
Class of 2021
Next: Medical Student at Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania

Cayetana Arnaiz
Graduate Student
2018-2020
MS Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University
Next: PhD student at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hailey Lovelace
Research Intern
2019-2020
BS Physics, Clemson University
Next: PhD student in Engineering at the University of Michigan

Masahiro Kato
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Mechanical Engineering
2019
Class of 2021
Awarded VUSE Summer Research Scholarship, summer 2019
Next: Business Technology Consultant at Deloitte Consulting, Washington DC

Blake Hanan
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Biomedical Engineering
2018-2019
Class of 2021
SyBBURE student
Next: PhD student in Bioengineering at Harvard

Sarah Hall
Research Assistant I
2018-2019
BS Biochemistry, University of Virginia’s College at Wise
Next: MS Virginia Tech School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences

Alvina Adimoelja
Visiting Undergraduate Researcher, Biomedical Sciences, University of Oxford, England
2017 summer
Expanding Horizons Scholar, Corpus Christi College

Stephanie Batalis, B.A.
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Class of 2017
2016-2017
Next: Graduate student at Wake Forrest University

Wooseong Choi
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Class of 2018
2016

Bailey Heneghan
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Medicine, Health and Society, Class of 2020
2018
Awarded Vanderbilt Undergraduate Summer Research Program (VUSRP) Scholarship, summer 2018

Ki Oh
Research Assistant I
2015-2016
BA Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University
Next: MD/PhD student at SUNY Stony Brook

Marija Podolski
Visiting Research Fellow, Cell and Developmental Biology
2015-2016
Ph.D. Biophysics, MPI-CBG and TUD, Dresden, Germany
Next: Postdoc at UC Berkeley

Olivia Purtell
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Mathematics, Class of 2018
2015-2018
Next: PhD student in Economics at UNC Chapel Hill

Anika Rahman
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Chemical Engineering and Mathematics, Class of 2016
2014-2016
Next: QGenda, Inc.

Isaac Richardson
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Chemical Engineering, Class of 2019
2017-2018
Awarded Vanderbilt University School of Engineering (VUSE) Summer Research Scholarship, summer 2017
Next: PhD student in Chemical Engineering at University of Colorado at Boulder

Nikita Thomas
Undergraduate Research Assistant, SyBBURE student, Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2017
2015-2017