Recent Graduates

The 2009 graduating students, their thesis topics and their faculty mentors follow.

TAULANT BACAJ
B.S., Carroll College
Glia are required for sensory neuron morphology and function in Caenorhabditis elegans
Shai Shaham

SOURABH BANERJEE
B.Sc., St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi
M.Sc., Indian Institute of Technology
Studies of G Protein Coupled Receptors Incorporated into a Novel, Nanoscale, Membrane-mimetic System
Thomas P. Sakmar

CAMERON D. BESS
B.S., University of California, Santa Cruz
Analysis of Cellular Factors Involved in Adeno-associated Virus Type 2 Entry
Sanford M. Simon

KIVANÇ BIRSOY
B.S., Bilkent University
Transcriptional Regulation of Adipocyte Function
Jeffrey M. Friedman

PRABHJOT SINGH DHADIALLA
B.S., B.A., University of Rochester
A Role for Adult Stem Cells and Tumor Necrosis Factor in Peripheral Nerve Development
Sidney Strickland

NADYA DIMITROVA
Sc.B., Brown University
Characterization of a Novel 53BP1-dependent Mechanism That Promotes Nonhomologous End Joining of Deprotected Telomeres by Increasing Chromatin Mobility
Titia de Lange

STEFANO DI TALIA
Laurea, University of Naples Federico II
Cell Size Control and Asymmetric Cell Fates in Start of the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Cell Cycle
Frederick R. Cross and Eric D. Siggia

HOLGER L.J. DORMANN
Diploma, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Regulation of Heterochromatin Protein 1 by Phosphorylation of Histone H3 and the HP1 Hinge Domain
C. David Allis

BEN DRAPKIN
B.S., Yale University
Peak Mitotic Cyclin Permits Mitotic Exit
Frederick R. Cross

ELIZABETH M. DUNCAN
A.B., Dartmouth College
Regulated Histone H3 Proteolysis during Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation
C. David Allis

ROBERT R. FLAVELL
B.A., Wesleyan University
Novel Interactions of the Hormone Leptin Revealed by PET Imaging in Rodents and Rhesus Macaques
Tom W. Muir

SARAH GARRETT INJAC
B.A., Columbia University
Regulation of Spindle Assembly by TPX2 and Aurora A Kinase during Mitosis in Human Cells
Tarun Kapoor

MICHAEL GELFAND
B.S., Yale University
M.S., Yale University
A Model of the Production of Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emission in the Tokay Gecko
A. James Hudspeth

ELIZABETH A. GEORGE CISAR
B.S., The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Mechanism of Signal Transduction by the Staphylococcus aureus Quorum Sensing Receptor AgrC
Tom W. Muir

DORUK GÖLCÜ
B.S., Bilkent University
Perceptual Learning of Object Shape
Charles D. Gilbert

DOEKE ROMKE HEKSTRA
M.Sc., Leiden University
Population Dynamics in a Model Closed eEcosystem
Stanislas Leibler

ELIZABETH ANNE HELLER
B.A., University of Pennsylvania
Synaptic Protein Profiling in the Mammalian Brain
Nathaniel Heintz

JESSICA HOWELL
B.A., University of Pennsylvania
Mechanistic and Physiological Studies of the Insulin-dependent Regulation of Foxa2
Markus Stoffel

KUO-CHIANG HSIA
B.S., Fu Jen Catholic University
M.S., National Yang-Ming University
Architecture of a Coat for the Nuclear Pore Membrane
Günter Blobel

MARTIN KAMPMANN
M.A., University of Cambridge
Biophysical Characterization of Structure and Dynamics of Nuclear Pore Complex Components
Günter Blobel

ERICA C. KEEN
B.S., Yale University
Transfer Properties of the Hair Cell-afferent Fiber Synapse
A. James Hudspeth

EVAN ZANE MACOSKO
A.B., Harvard College
The Neural Circuitry of Social Behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans
Cori Bargmann

TRUDY M. MCCALL
B.S., University of California, Irvine
The Manipulation of Apical Dendritic Plasticity and the Consequences for the Effects of Chronic Stress
Bruce S. McEwen

MELISSA NOEL
B.S., University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Novel Roles for the Tissue Plasminogen Activator System in the Development of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Regulation of Contextual Learning after Stress
Sidney Strickland

JONATHAN NOWAK
B.A., The University of Chicago
Specification and Function of Early Hair Follicle Stem Cells
Elaine Fuchs

JUSTIN C. PAUL
B.A., The Johns Hopkins University
Fibrin Formation and Dissolution in the Progression of amyloid- Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease
Sidney Strickland

VALENTIN PIËCH
M.Sc., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich
Perceptual Learning, Long-range Horizontal Connections and Top-down Influences in Primary Visual Cortex
Charles D. Gilbert and George N. Reeke Jr.

ANDREW JAMES SCHILE
B.S., Harvey Mudd College
Regulation of Apoptosis by XIAP Ubiquitin Ligase Activity
Hermann Steller

MARK SCHROEDER
B.S., Cornell University
Hierarchy and Cis-regulation in Drosophila Segmentation: Rules for Pattern Formation and Clues to Evolution
Ulrike Gaul

NICOLAI SIEGEL
Sc.B., Brown University
Regulation of Gene Expression in Trypanosoma brucei
George A.M. Cross

DUNCAN SMITH
B.A., University of Cambridge
The Role and Fate of Branch Site-U2 snRNA Pairing during Pre-messenger RNA Splicing
M. Magda Konarska

JOANNA LOUISE SPENCER
B.A., Yale University
Physiological Effects of Estradiol in the Mouse Hippocampal Formation
Bruce S. McEwen

TILL STROWIG
M.Sc., Berlin Technical University
Of Mice and Men: Studying Innate and Adaptive Immunity against the Epstien-Barr Virus
Christian Münz

GRACE TENG
B.S., Yale University
Regulation of Immunoglobulin Gene Diversification by Noncoding RNAs
F. Nina Papavasiliou

JACLYN E. TETENBAUM-NOVATT
B.A., Brandeis University
M.S., Brandeis University
Biochemical Analysis of the Protein-Protein Interactions Involved in Karyopherin-mediated Transport across the Nuclear Pore Complex
Michael P. Rout

CHRISTOPHER TINKLE
B.A., The University of Texas, Austin
Dissecting the Functions of Classical Cadherins in Skin
Elaine Fuchs

KELLY-ANNE TWIST
B.Sc., B.Sc. Hon., Victoria University of Wellington
Structural Studies of Three Factors That Affect the Prokaryotic Transcription Cycle: Microcin J25, Lambda Q and T4 GP33
Seth A. Darst

MARC PAUL WAASE
B.S., Cornell University
The in Vivo Characterizations of Two Novel Genes in Mus musculus: ADAM11 and StARD5
Jan L. Breslow

HOMARE YAMAHACHI
Licenciado, University of Buenos Aires
Circuit Dynamics of Adult Visual Cortex
Charles D. Gilbert

SATOSHI YOSHIMURA
B.S., The University of Tokyo
Dissecting the Development and Function of Caenorhabditis elegans Glia with Mutations of the mls-2 and vab-3 Genes
Shai Shaham

YUN ZHONG
B.E., Osaka University
M.Eng., Osaka University
Biochemical and Genetic Studies of Beclin 1 Function in Autophagy
Nathaniel Heintz