Elif Sarinay Cenik is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, Austin. She uses genetic, genomic and computational approaches to study how the nucleolus and ribosome maturation are linked to epigenetics and multicellular growth coordination. She has a PhD in RNA biochemistry from Dr. Phillip Zamore’s lab, at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Massachusetts Medical School. She has completed postdoctoral research in Dr. Maria Barna and then Dr. Andrew Fire’s lab at Stanford Medical School. She has been awarded by Stanford School of Medicine Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Walter V. and Idun Berry Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, UT Stars Program and CNS Catalyst Awards. She is currently funded by NIH-NIGMS Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35) and Welch Foundation. She feels passionate about mentoring students, postdocs and producing high-quality, reproducible science. In her free time, Elif enjoys being in nature, connecting with friends, rock climbing, figure drawing and pottery.

 

Qiuxia Zhao is a postdoctoral fellow. She is interested in delineating how ribosome synthesis in specific tissue contributes to coordination of organismal growth in C. elegans. She got her PhD in Genetics from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, eating and walking outside, having new fun experiences.

 

Blythe Bolton is a graduate research assistant and our lab manager. She is interested in the role RNA Polymerase-I in organism health span. In her additional time she keeps our team & lab organized and supported (needless to say we are really grateful for her support :) ) She received her BS in Biology from McNeese State University. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis and volleyball, traveling, and spending time with her dog, Chanel.  

 

Reed Rothe is starting to be a graduate research assistant in our lab. He has recently got a B.S. degree from UT Austin in Biochemistry and a minor in Rhetoric and Writing. He aims to become an industry bioinformatician or researcher. In the lab, he is interested in analyzing high throughput data to illuminate the relationships between ribosome biogenesis components and other cellular pathways. In his free time, he likes to play guitar and saxophone, go hiking, rock climb, and collect vinyl.

 

Raquel Mejia-Trujillo is a a graduate research assistant. She is interested in combining bioinformatic and molecular techniques to characterize how nucleolar elements affect germline chromatin architecture in C. elegans. She received her BS in Computational Biology from UT Austin. In her free time, Raquel enjoys exploring Austin's diverse ecosystems and cuisines.

 

Agustian Surya recently got his PhD from Cell and Molecular Biology ILS Graduate Program. August studied the molecular impacts of single copy loss of function in different ribosomal protein genes on mitochondria, cellular metabolism and organism fitness. He obtained BS at Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia; and MS from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In his free time, August enjoys a long walk in the park, singing in the choir, playing clarinet and discussing global history and politics.

Ayush Desai is an undergraduate researcher and Health Science Scholar pursuing a B.S.A. in Biochemistry. He aims to enter the field of medicine, with a focus on cardiology and pulmonology. In the laboratory, Ayush is interested in investigating the dependence of different nucleic structures on ribosomal RNA transcription. In his free time, he enjoys reading science fiction and fantasy novels and traveling. Additionally, Ayush is a passionate custom keyboard enthusiast

 

Sarah Alami, is an undergraduate work study student. Sarah is currently pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience on the pre-med track. She is interested in pursuing medicine and working with women and children. In her free time, she likes dancing, exercise, and exploring new restaurants around Austin

 

Abhi Gorusu is an undergraduate researcher and a B.S. major in Cell and Molecular Biology on a pre-med track. He is interested in analyzing the impact of growth-arrested worms due to ribosome biogenesis inhibition on wild-type strains during cohabitation. In his spare time, Abhi enjoys cooking Indian cuisine and exploring the great outdoors

 
 

LAB ALUMNI:

  • Trevor Freeman, MA. current position: Bioinformatics Research Associate, UTIA Genomics Center

  • Rekha Rangan, MS. current position: Medical Writer, Avant Healthcare, DWA Healthcare Communications Group

  • Fatemeh Faghihzadeh, PhD. current position: Sr. Scientist, Molecular Templates

Alumni Undergraduate Research Students

  • Amanda Leonita, current position: PhD student in Southwestern Medical School

  • Aneesh Thallapureddy, current position: MD student UT Dell Medical School

  • Brendan Panici, current position: PhD student, Baylor College of Medicine