Principal Investigator
Dirk Hockemeyer
Assistant 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
Staff Research Associate
Yogendra Verma
Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology
Shoolini University, India
M.S in Biotechnology
California State University, Channel Islands
Research Interests:
I am interested in studying the use of cell pluripotency and genome editing techniques in generating effective and relevant degenerative disease models, for further investigating their etiology.
E-mail address: [Insert here]
Graduate Students
John Boyle
Ph.D. Candidate in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Research interests in the lab:
Telomere length plays an integral role in both cancer and aging. My project investigates the effects of telomere length dynamics in tumorigenesis.
E-mail Address: [ ]
Sara Seunga Choo
Ph.D. Fellow Hellman Fellow 2015-2018
University of California, Berkeley
B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Research interests in the lab:
I study the mechanism of telomere length homeostasis in human embryonic stem cells and its disruption in Dyskeratosis Congenita
E-mail address:
Rebecca Bartke
Ph.D. Candidate in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research interests in the lab:
I am investigating the roles of nucleases in telomere maintenance.
E-mail address:
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.
E-mail address:
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 interest 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.
E-mail address:
Shayan Hosseinzadeh
Ph.D. Student in Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
B.S. in Biochemistry
University of California, Santa Barbara
Research interest in the lab:
I am interested in developing genome editing methodolgies to interrogate cis-regulatory element structure in human embryonic stem cells.
Postdoctorals
Antonio Maffia
Ph.D. in Genetics, Molecular and Cell Biology
Institute of Molecular Genetics , University of Pavia, Italy
M.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology
University Of Pavia, Italy
Research interest in the lab:
Replicating telomeres can become a challenge for cells. My work will help understand the different strategies employed to overcome this challenge.
E-mail address:
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.
E-mail address:
Hanqin Li
Siebel Stem Cell Fellow
Postdoctoral Associate at the Innovative Genomics Institute
University of California, Berkeley
Ph.D. in Nueroscience
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.
E-mail address:
Undergraduate Researchers
Undergraduate Lab Assistants
Joshua Verdejo
B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology, Neurobiology
Minor in Music
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2021
Lauren Aguilar
B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2022
Chloe Nguyen
B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2023
Natalie Liu
B.S. in Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Class of 2024