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Zaganjor Lab


Principal Investigator

Elma Zaganjor

Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

My research interests are in the role of mitochondrial metabolism in disease. My lab focuses on identifying the molecular mechanisms by which mitochondrial sirtuins protect from age-related disease, cancer, and diabetes.

I performed graduate training at UT Southwestern Medical Center in the laboratory of Dr. Melanie Cobb, studying the mechanisms of cancer metastasis. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Marcia Haigis at Harvard Medical School I studied the role of mitochondrial metabolism in cell fate decisions in the context of cancer biology and normal development.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Woo Yong Park

Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

In February 2022, I obtained my Ph.D. from Kyung Hee University, where I studied the role of mitochondria dynamics in adipocyte beiging, as well as the molecular mechanisms that regulate this process. My recent research interests include establishing the significance of mitochondrial metabolisms, specifically the role of a one-carbon cycle, in deciding the fate/development of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs).

Graduate Students

Alex Eddie

Graduate Student, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

I graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville then received my master’s degree from Lipscomb University. In the Zaganjor lab I am studying the role of the immune system in normal adipose function and in obesity.

Alexandria Porcia Haynes

Graduate Student, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
I graduated from Belmont University with a B.S. in Chemistry. My research focuses on how changes in glutamine metabolism during obesity affect cell fate and organismal health.

Nguyen-Anh Nguyen

Graduate Student, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

I graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Earlham College in 2021. My Ph.D. project focuses on examining the molecular mechanisms of lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. 

Undergraduate Students

Claudia Montufar Leon

I am a graduate of the Biomedical Engineering program at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. I did my undergraduate training at UPCH in the Reproductive Biology and Fertility Preservation Laboratory of Dr. Sergio Romero, where I studied novel techniques for in vitro maturation of oocytes for patients who cannot undergo hormonal treatment. My research interests include cell fate decisions, developmental biology and stem cell research. In the future I intend to pursue a PhD.

Zayedali Shaikh

I am a second-year undergraduate from Queens, NY, pursuing a major in Cellular and Molecular Biology. I am passionate about molecular biology as well as medicine and aspire to work in healthcare in the future.