Principal Investigator
Dirk Hockemeyer
Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley
Postdoctoral Fellow in Genetics (2007-2012)
Advisor: Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch, Whitehead Institute
Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology (2002-2007)
Advisor: Dr. Titia de Lange, Rockefeller University
B.S. and M.S. in Biochemistry (1998-2002)
Advisor: Dr. Alfred Nordheim, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen
Graduate Students
Annika Martin
Ph.D. Candidate in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
B.S. in Biophysics
Bringham Young University
Research interests in the lab:
I am developing new methods to pair telomere length analysis with single-cell lineage tracing to investigate high-resolution telomere dynamics during cellular differentiation.
Jesse Dunnack
Ph.D. Student in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Research interests in the lab:
I am interested in the use of engineered stem cells to model disease states, particularly using human cerebral organoids. I hope to apply these methods to study the functional interactions between mutations associated with Parkinson’s Disease.
Shayan Hosseinzadeh
Ph.D. Student in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
B.S. in Biochemistry
University of California, Santa Barbara
Research interests in the lab:
I am interested in developing genome editing methodolgies to interrogate cis-regulatory element structure in human embryonic stem cells.
Anna Horacek
B.S. in Biology and Biological Anthropology
Minor in Chemistry
University of Oregon
Research interests in the lab:
I’m investigating the role of intrinsically disordered protein domains in mediating DNA-protein interactions during stem cell development.
Carter Simington
B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology
University of Arizona
Research interests in the lab:
I am investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate telomere length homeostasis in human embryonic stem cells.
Johannes Schabort
MSc in Veterinary Biomedical Science
Seoul National University
B.S. in Biochemistry
The University of Tampa
Research interests in the lab:
My research in the lab is currently focused on the ALT process and the role it plays in cancer.
Vincent Pham
M.S. in Biology
Tufts University
B.S. in Neuroscience
Brown University
Research interests in the lab:
I am studying the contribution of neural crest cells in the development of the heart and the gene regulatory networks that govern species-specific regenerative response to heart injury. I’m using hiPSC/hESC-derived cardiac organoids (cardioids) to study this in humans.
Postdoctorals
Khaja Mohieddin Syed
Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology
Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Kerala
Integrated M.Sc in Biotechnology & Bioinformatics
Yogi Vemana University
Research Interests in the lab:
In the Hockemeyer lab, (joint with Bateup lab) Khaja is interested to understand Parkinson’s
Disease (PD) risk genes using functional genomics tools in human brain organoid models.
Hanqin Li
Siebel Stem Cell Fellow
Postdoctoral Associate at the Innovative Genomics Institute
University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. in Neuroscience
State University of New York, Buffalo
B.S. in Life Sciences
Nanjing University
Research interest in the lab:
My project studies the functions of genomic elements using high-throughput methods.
Robert Lu
Postdoctoral Scholar at the Li Ka Shing Center
University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. in Medicine
Children’s Medical Research Institute, University of Sydney, Australia
B.S. in Biochemistry
University of Sydney, Australia
Research Interests in the lab:
My project utilizes genetic models of stem cells to study telomere maintenance mechanisms.
Project Managers
Ezgi Booth
Ph.D in Structural and Computational Biology
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
B.A. in Microbiology and Psychology
Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio
Description: Project manager for Team Rio, a multidisciplinary, cross-institutional research team including Hockemeyer lab members, funded by Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP).
Staff Research Associates
Alyssa Powell
M.S. in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
University of Southern California
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
University of California, Davis
Research Interests in the lab: I study the functional interactions between mutations associated with sporadic Parkinson’s Disease by using human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived monolayer and organoid culture systems.
Atul Preetham
M.S. in Biotechnology
University of San Francisco
B.E. in Biotechnology
Vellore Institute of Technology, India
Research Interests in the lab: I use human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs) and Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells (HSPCs) as a model to understand more of the different subunits of the shelterin complex and its association with Telomere Biology Disorders (TBDs).
Stella Tran
B.S. in Biochemistry
Minor in Microbiology
California State University, Long Beach
Research Interests in the lab: I work with Anna on identifying tissue-specific genetic drivers of BRCA2-related cancers and with Hanqin on exploring the roles of POT1 protein in telomere length regulation. I also perform most of the NGS genotyping across the lab.
Aashaka Kalavadia
M.S. in Applied DNA Recombination
New York University
B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology
Minor in Chemistry
California State University, East Bay
Research Interests in the lab: Developing an automation system to create genetic mutations in hPSCs.
Interns
Leonie Sophie von Ondarza
B.S. in General Biology
University of Cologne
Research interest in the lab: I am working on the shelterin protein TRF1, investigating its role in telomere maintenance in human embryonic stem cells.
Undergraduate Lab Assistants
Henry Feng
B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2027
Frances Kueper
B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2027
Kim Lund
B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2026
Ashley Heng
B.A. in Chemical Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2025
Jianpu Gao
B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Data Science
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2025
Broc Vargo
B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Public Health
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2025
Sofia Theodoras
B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Computer Science
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2024
Natalie Liu
B.S. in Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2024
Lauren Aguilar
B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2022
Joshua Verdejo
B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology, Neurobiology
Minor in Music
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2021