Lab Members

Lindquist Lab Members

Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows
	Simon Alberti, PhD	Rm# 651	alberti at wi.mit.edu	Simon is investigating the impact of prion-based mechanisms on the biology and evolution of yeast.
	Pavan Auluck, MD, PhD	Rm# 649	auluck at wi.mit.edu	Pavan is interested in models of neurodegenerative disease.
	Gabriela Caraveo, PhD	Rm# 649	caraveop at wi.mit.edu	Gabriela is working on identifying genetic modifiers of cellular toxicity in a yeast Parkinson model.
	Jijun Dong, PhD	Rm# 659	jdong at wi.mit.edu	Jijun is investigating the mechanics and structures of yeast amyloid fibers by optical tweezers.
	William Kaya Erbil, PhD		erbil at wi.mit.edu	Kaya is developing individual cell-based imaging systems for yeast and neuronal cells, in collaboration with Jeff Gore in the MIT Physics Department.
	Kendra K. Frederick, PhD	Rm# 657	kendrakf at wi.mit.edu	Kendra is investigating the mechanism of NM oligomer and fiber formation by NMR.
	Melissa Geddie, PhD	Rm# 649	geddie at wi.mit.edu	Melissa is working on modifiers of alpha-synuclein toxicity.
	Sven Heinrich, PhD	Rm# 659	heinrich at wi.mit.edu	Sven is interested in investigation of the mechanism and identification of new regulators of prion formation of neuronal CPEB.
	Walker Jackson, PhD	Rm# 655	wjackson at wi.mit.edu	Walker is interested in why different mutations to the mammalian prion protein gene cause different neurodegenerative diseases.
	Daniel Jarosz, PhD	Rm# 653	jarosz at wi.mit.edu	Dan J. is interested in the mechanisms by which Hsp90 influences the expression of phenotypic variation and allows new traits to become genetically fixed.
	Rajaraman Krishnan, PhD	Rm# 655	krishnan at wi.mit.edu	Ram is investigating the interactions of Hsp104p with the yeast Sup35p and Rnq1p.
	Catherine McLellan, PhD	Rm# 649	mclellan at wi.mit.edu	Catherine is interested in the modulation of function of cancer related proteins by Hsp90.
	Marc Mendillo, PhD	Rm# 653	mendillo at wi.mit.edu	Marc is a studying the role of the heat shock response in cancer.
	Elena Nabieva, PhD	Rm# 655	nabieva at wi.mit.edu	Elena is a computational biologist analyzing data from a variety of disease model systems and screens.
	Christopher Pacheco, PhD	Rm# 657	pacheco at wi.mit.edu	Chris is working on Parkinson disease-related genes in collaboration with Dr. Richard Myers.
	Lauren Pepper, PhD	Rm# 653	pepper at wi.mit.edu	Lauren is working on N-rich proteins in malaria.
	Sandro Santagata, MD, PhD	Rm# 657	santagat at wi.mit.edu	Sandro is interested in using the heat shock response as a sensor for bioactive molecules that can be used to treat brain tumors.
	Mikko Taipale, PhD	Rm# 655	taipale at wi.mit.edu	Mikko is investigating how Hsp90 modulates the relationship between genotype and phenotype in human cancer cells.
	Daniel Tardiff, PhD	Rm# 653	tardiff at wi.mit.edu	Dan Tardiff is using yeast and neuronal models to study modulators of TDP-43 proteinopathy.
	Daniel Termine, PhD	Rm# 653	termine at wi.mit.edu	Dan Termine is interested in biochemical pathways in cellular toxicity in neurodegenerative disease.

Senior Research Scientists

	Chee-Yeun Chung, PhD	Rm# 649	cychung at wi.mit.edu	Chee-Yeun is studying mechanisms of cell death in dopaminergic neurons.
	Luke Whitesell, MD	Rm# 663	whitesell at wi.mit.edu	Luke is interested in preventing cancer from being triggered or progressing by targeting cellular stress responses and the molecular chaperones regulated by them.

Staff Scientist

Kent Matlack, PhD

Rm# 651

kmatlack at wi.mit.edu

Kent is interested in developing new yeast models of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and Alzheimer's.

Visiting Scientist

Vikram Khurana, MD, PhD

khurana at wi.mit.edu

Vik is interested in stem cell-based therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases and is collaborating with the laboratory of Rudolf Jaenisch.

Graduate Students

Randal Halfmann	Rm# 651	halfmann at wi.mit.edu	Randal is identifying new prions in yeast and examining how they influence yeast evolution.
Charles O'Donnell	Rm# 635	cwo at mit.edu	Charlie is working on algorithms for investigating NM structure. Charlie is co-mentored by Bonnie Berger in the Department of Applied Mathematics at MIT.
Sebastian Treusch	Rm# 653	treusch at wi.mit.edu	Sebastian is interested in identifying and characterizing proteins that are required to induce and maintain [RNQ+] and potentially other yeast prions.
Julie Valastyan	Rm# 659	beckenst at wi.mit.edu	Julie is working on factors that influence the toxicity of the human Parkinson's disease-asspciated protein, alpha-synuclein, in yeast.
Benjamin Vincent	Rm# 649	bvincent at wi.mit.edu	Ben is probing the heat shock response and the evolution of drug resistance through the characterization of novel small molecules.

Undergraduate Students

Stephanie Bachar MIT UROP Class of 2011	Rm# 653	bachar at mit.edu	Stephanie is characterizing Hsp90-dependent genes and phenotypes in yeast.
Christine Hazlett MIT UROP Class of 2011	Rm# 657	hazlett at wi.mit.edu	Christine is studying mechanisms of amyloid fiber formation.
Richard Manfready MIT UROP Class of 2011	Rm# 649	ram at wi.mit.edu	Richard is assessing the role of polyamine transport proteins in the cytotoxic mechanism of alpha-synuclein.
Ambar Mehta MIT UROP Class of 2012	Rm# 659	ambar91 at mit.edu	Ambar is investigating the differential effects of nutritional sources on alpha-synuclein toxicity.

Technical Associates

Valeriya Baru	Rm# 641	baru at wi.mit.edu	Lera works on biochemistry and molecular biology of human diseases, and differentiation of mouse ES cells.
Yelena Freyzon	Rm# 637	freyzon at wi.mit.edu	Yelena works on in vivo and in vitro models of human diseases and manages the lab mouse colony.
Haesun Han	Rm# 655	han at wi.mit.edu	Haesun works on high-throughput screening in yeast models of neurodegenerative disease.
Ed Hyoungtae Kwon	Rm# 657	kwonh at wi.mit.edu	Ed works on heat shock proteins and cancer biology.
Artur Topolszki	Rm# 655	artur at mit.edu	Artur is a vital member of ongoing projects to determine the normal function of PrP, the role of several genes in prion disease, and the study of PrP mutant induced toxicity in mice.
Melissa Topolszki	Rm# 655	duquette at mit.edu	Melissa is helping out with a variety of projects in the lab, including but not limited to studies of heat shock factor one (HSF1) in cancer.

Lab Manager

Brooke Bevis, PhD

Rm# 659

bevis at wi.mit.edu

Brooke is classifying and characterizing modifiers of toxicity in the yeast Parkinson's disease model.

Executive Assistant

Kate Harmon, M.Ed., M.B.A.

Rm# 661

harmon at wi.mit.edu

Kate coordinates communication within the lab and between the members of lab and the outside world. She assists Dr. Lindquist and members of the lab with scheduling, travel arrangements, record keeping, purchasing, document preparation and general lab administration.

Lab Administrator

Robert Burger

Rm# 661

burger at wi.mit.edu

Bob performs financial accounting, ordering, and personnel management for the Lindquist and Matsudaira labs, and liaisons with the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Project Manager, Communications and Grant Development

Karen Allendoerfer, PhD

Rm# 663

allendoe at wi.mit.edu

Karen manages communication and development of scientific activities for the Lindquist Lab. She manages and assists in the preparation of scientific aspects of grants and fellowships, edits manuscripts, and maintains the lab website.