Education SB and SM, MIT; Sc.D. Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology

I am leading development of the SETG life detection instrument for Mars. I apply engineering and computational tools to facilitate the study of biological systems, including sequence analysis, automation of high-throughput screening, and aging.

chrisc@mit.edu, +1-617-253-0786, http://web.mit.edu/chrisc/www/

Education B.S. and Ph.D. at UCLA

Interests Identifying novel molecular determinates of aging and age-related diseases

When not in the lab I enjoy watching whatever my Tivo has recorded for me, taking naps, and dreaming of the warm weather in sunny California.

curran@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-724-7081

Education B.S., M.S., Chemistry Leiden University, The Netherlands; Ph.D., Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Interests Mechanism and function of small RNA-mediated processes in C. elegans

I am interested in how small RNAs silence their targets. Currently, using both genetic mutants and a genome-wide RNAi screen, I am analyzing the negative regulation of RNAi in C. elegans. Through these analyses I hope to gain more insight into the RNAi pathway and into the function of small RNAs in C. elegans.

fischer@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-3319

Education B.Sc. Biochemistry at University of Lisbon, Portugal; Ph.D. University of Lisbon/Northwestern University

I am interested in a group of toxic RNA species, containing nucleotide repeats in non-coding regions. Expansions of non-coding nucleotide repeats have been associated with a number degenerative disorders. My research focuses on the identification of pathways and mechanisms that regulate this RNA-dependent pathogenic process.

garcia@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-3321

Interests Enjoying the simple pleasures of life, especially my family, home and friends

I came to MGH to work for Dr. Gary Ruvkun in the Department of Molecular Biology in 1998. It is a pleasure to work with such wonderful, intelligent and caring people. Before my arrival at MGH I was the proprietor of an ice cream franchise in Newton, MA. My husband and I also own a catering business, Boston Festive Concessions.

sacchetti@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-726-5956

Postdocs:

Marty Newman, from Hammond lab at University of North Carolina

Education B..S. Elec. Eng., UT-Austin; M.S/Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University

Interests Life on Mars, micro/nanofabrication, microfluidics, biosensors, web design, science education outreach

I am developing a sample preparation module and related microfludics for the SETG instrument. I previously worked on a portable real-time PCR system for pathogen detection and functionalized gold-coated silicon nitride cantilevers for the characterization of forces involved in single-cell responses. In my spare time, I enjoy puzzles, web design, travel, photography, spending time with friends and family, and science outreach activities.

clui@mit.edu, +1-617-643-2910, http://web.mit.edu/clui/www/

Education B.A., Pomona College; Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley

I work with the Ruvkun and Ausubel labs, in collaboration with the Chemical Biology Platform and the Imaging Platform at the Broad Institute, to develop automated screening technology and methods to perform C. elegans RNAi and chemical compound screens.  We use automated worm sorting, liquid handling, image acquisition and image analysis to carry out high throughput screens yielding high content data.  We are currently exploring 1) RNAi screens to identify novel genes involved in metabolism and 2) chemical compound screens to identify novel anti-infectives as models to develop generally applicable methodologies to perform a wide range of screens using C. elegans as a model organism.

aconery@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-3413

Education BA, Biological Sciences, German Area Studies, Cornell University; PhD, Genetics, Harvard University

Interests microRNAs, development, classical music, gardening, tennis

I am interested in how microRNAs regulate the development of C. elegans.  I have focused on how let-7 and its paralogs act together to direct the terminal differentiation of the stem-cell-like hypodermal seam cells and exit from the molting cycle.  I am also elucidating how the transcriptional programs that direct these events are carried out.

hayes@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-388-1961

Education Harvard College Undergraduate

I am working under the guidance of Sylvia Fischer and Chi Zhang to identify negative regulators of RNA interference in C. elegans.

ahwang@fas.harvard.edu

Education B.A., Washington Univ., St. Louis; B.A. and M.Sc., Oxford University; PhD. in planetary science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Interests Global warming on Mars, biodiversity of inaccessible ecosystems

For the past two years, Sarah has helped develop the SETG life detection instrument for a future mission to Mars; prior to that, she completed field seasons in Antarctica, Australia and Madagascar, conducted research at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and worked at mission control for the NASA Opportunity and Spirit Mars Rovers. Sarah also co-founded Common Hope for Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating healthcare deficiencies in Kenya, and she serves as a consultant at United Nations climate change negotiations. She is a Goldwater, Truman and Rhodes Scholar, and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. Sarah is currently on leave, working as a White House Fellow in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

sjohnson@fas.harvard.edu

Education BS, MS, Rostov State University; PhD, University of Wyoming

I work in the Ausubel and Ruvkun labs, using C. elegans to study the conserved mechanisms of organismal defenses to stresses and infection with pathogens. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, hiking and swimming.

kirienko@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education BS Biology, Trinity College

ford@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-3413

Education A.B., Princeton University, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco

Interests Appetite regulation and behavioral responses to physiologic stress

I am interested in physiologic stress:  the ways in which environment imposes stress on an organism, how stress is sensed at a cellular level, and the mechanisms by which stress signals are relayed to the nervous system to produce a highly adaptive dispersal behavior.

jmelo@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-3322

Education Ph.D., Oregon State University

Interests RNA silencing pathways

I am interested in the mechanisms by which microRNAs silence target messanger RNAs and how transcripts are routed, or avoid routing, into RNA silencing pathways involving small interfering RNAs. Outside of the lab I enjoy snow/skate/surfboarding, swimming in the ocean, indie rock, folk rock, rock climbing, and exploring boston by bike.

montgomery@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education B.S., Nat. Univ. of Misiones, Argentina ; Ph.D. Univ. of Buenos Aires, Argentina

For millions of years, animals with genes predisposing them to eat a lot and gain weight, as well as to distinguish nutritious from deficient diets, and to endure starvation, would have survived famines and enjoyed an evolutionary advantage. The shared ancestry of Caenorhabditis elegans and humans supports our search for genes that control eating, food choices, and fat accumulation. I aim to discover and characterize novel conserved genes that regulate the selection, intake, and storage of nutrients in C. elegans.

eorourke@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education BS Biological Sciences, UC Davis; PhD Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley

Interests small RNAs, chromatin structure, germ-line organization

I am characterizing factors involved in transposon silencing and endogenous small RNA pathways in C. elegans using genetic, cytological, and biochemical methods.

phillips@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education B.S. Chemistry and Biology, Caltech; Ph.D. Biophysics, Harvard University

Interests Small RNA pathways, protein-nucleic acid interactions, xenosensing

yqi@fas.harvard.edu

Education Dipl-Biochem, Univ. of Tuebingen and Max Planck Inst. for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany; PhD, Molecular Biology, IMP, Vienna, Austria

Interests Regulation of lifespan and/or aging.

I am interested in the molecular mechanisms that control the rate of aging and thereby lifespan of eukaryotic organisms. Outside the lab I enjoy various sports and photography.

riedel@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education B.S., Biology, Lock Haven Univ.; M.S., Microbiology, Univ. of New Hampshire.

Interests bacteria, life on Mars, host-microbe interactions: symbioses and pathogenicity

rowedder@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu,+1-617-643-2910

Education B.A., Biology, Brown University; M.A., Science Education, NYU

Interests Developmental Biology, Genetics, Mechanical Machines, Bugs, Food, Education and People!

As a model of a complex developmental program I investigate how C. elegans determines when to molt and when not to. I am also interested in how the when of molting is coordinated with the how across different tissues and in different environmental contexts. This worm usually molts four times during its development and then stops once it reaches sexual maturity; some components of the molting cycle and machinery are conserved amongst the four molts, and some are unique. I have identified a novel heterochronic gene that is required both for the completion of a molt as well as their cessation in adults; significantly it is highly conserved in humans.

russel@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education B.S. Microbiol. & B.S.M.B.B., Univ. of Idaho; Ph.D., Washington Univ. in St. Louis

Interests Influence of natural microbes on host metabolism and physiology

C. elegans, like us, encounters a broad range with microbes over its lifetime.  To survive, C. elegans has adapted to be highly tuned to microbial cues that allow it discriminate friend from foe.  I utilize lab-raised strains that have been domesticated on E. coli plus their wild cousins and naturally associated microbes to identify conserved host-microbial response pathways that influence C. elegans physiology and metabolism. Outside of the lab, I enjoy photography, hiking, softball, cooking, urban exploration and home renovation.

bsamuel@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education B.S. Tsinghua University

Interests Regulation and function of microRNAs

I am interested in how the biogenesis and function of microRNAs are regulated through the worm development.

shi@fas.harvard.edu, +1-617-726-5973

Education B.S. in Crop Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, University of Illinois UIUC

Interests longevity regulation, weight lifting, cooking, free food acquisition specialist

My goal is to elaborate the contributions of specific stress response pathways to the regulation of longevity in C. elegans. We attempt to study these pathways in a context similar to those in which the pathways evolved: as mechanisms for the worm to respond to environmental and xenobiotic stress.

david_shore@med.harvard.edu, facebook.com

Education B.Sc. Tel-Aviv University. Israel; M.Sc, Bioinformatics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel;  Ph.D, Life Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel                                 

Interests small RNA-mediated pathways, MicroRNAs, RNAi, Phylogenetic profiling, bioinformatics, genomic data

Several recent studies have sought to identify novel genes in the small RNA-mediated pathways. Even as these gene lists are highly likely to contain novel candidates the limited overlap of these screens may indicate a large false positive rate and may reflect limited sensitivity and specificity. In an effort to more comprehensively identify genes that contribute to small RNA pathways, I experimentally and computationally collect different genome-scale data sets including: Phylogenetic profiles, protein-protein interaction, expression databases, RNAi phenotypes, genetic interactions, interolog interactions, mass spectrometry data and RNAi screens to detect genes involved in microRNA and siRNA. I am applying various bioinformatics and statistical methods to evaluate each dataset’s predictive power and integrate the different resources and establishing a list of high-confidence candidate.

tabach@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-0029

Education S.B., Nuclear Engineering (MIT) (expected)

Interests Astrobiology, ionizing radiation, collider physics, community involvement

I am exploring the effects of cosmic radiation on reagents for the SETG team. We hope to show that PCR reagents are robust against ionizing radiation comparable to that expected on a Mars flight.

cyrusv@mit.edu, +1-706-587-3715

Education B.S., Peking University; Ph.D., University of Rochester

Interests Aging and human lifespan

Aging is a universal phenomenon in living organisms ranging from yeast to human. Many physiological activities such as energy metabolism, reproductive probabilities and tissue repair are disturbed with advancing age. Using C. elegans as a model, I am interested in investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying late-onset obesity, age-associated reproductive senescence and late defect in wound healing.

Meng.Wang@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education B.S., Fudan University; Ph.D., Wadsworth Center

Interests Soma-germline distinction and its connection with RNAi

In metazoans, soma and germline carry distinct functions. Recently, our lab showed that this distinction requires the worm homologue of the Retinoblastoma gene, lin-35. lin-35/Rb mutants misexpress germline-specific markers in the soma. These worms are also more efficient at RNAi and show abnormal RAS activation. I wish to use genetic as well as functional genomic methods to understand how Rb prevents soma from germlinizing, and whether there is any connection between germlinization, RNAi and RAS signaling.

wux@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education Bachelor of Medicine, Peking University Health Science Center; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University

My research interest is focused on characterization of the negative regulation of the RNAi pathway using C. elegans neurons as a model system. I am carrying out a drug-based selection screen and an RNAi-based enhancer screen to systematically identify negative regulators antagonizing the RNAi response, and am characterizing their functions by genetic and biochemical means. My passions outside the lab are gardening, reading books and spending time with my family and friends.

czhang@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education Harvard College Undergraduate

rim@fas.harvard.edu

Education B.Sc. Biological Sciences and M.Sc. Biosciences and Biotechnology at Univ. of the North of Rio de Janeiro State, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

guinevere@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu, +1-617-643-3322

Education B.S. Biochemistry, UNC Chapel Hill; Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences, UC San Diego

Interests Small RNA pathways

I am interested in the mechanisms by which small RNA-directed silencing pathways sense and respond to environmental signals, and in turn, how messenger RNAs are selectively targeted for silencing during these processes.

dowen@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu

Education Ph.D., Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology

Interests DNA sequencing, Bioinformatics, Microbiology

As part of the SETG team, I am interested in applying the latest sequencing technologies to help us understand diseases with unknown or suspected infectious etiology and improve healthcare.

tzhu@mit.edu