Current Laboratory Members
HEAD OF LAB
Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D.
Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor; Investigator, HHMI
E-mail: Elaine.Fuchs@rockefeller.edu
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Christine Long
Phone: 212.327.7953
Fax: 212.327.7954
E-mail: Christine.Long@rockefeller.edu
Please contact Christine for reprint requests.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPIST
Hilda Amalia Pasolli, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor
E-mail: Hilda.Amalia.Pasolli@rockefeller.edu
Amalia received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the National University of Cordoba, Argentina. She conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Wieland Huttner at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and after that went back to Argentina as Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Center for Electron Microscopy, Cordoba National University, Argentina.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Rene Adam
Graduate Student
E-mail: Rene.Adam@rockefeller.edu
Rene received his BSc. and MSc. degrees from the Karl-Franzens-University in Graz, where he worked on lipid metabolism with Dr. Rudolf Zechner. He is currently a graduate student in the Rockefeller University PhD program. In the Fuchs lab, he is interested in posttranslational modifications in skin morphogenesis and stem cell activation.
Amma Asare
Graduate Student
E-mail: Amma.Asare@rockefeller.edu
Amma received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a MD-PhD student in the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD PhD Program where she will complete her PhD as a graduate student at the Rockefeller University. Her research interests are epidermal squamous cell carcinoma and stem cell morphogenesis.
Chiung-Ying Chang
Graduate Student
E-mail: Chiung-Ying.Chang@rockefeller.edu
Chiung-Ying received her B.S./M.S. degrees from the National Taiwan University and is currently a graduate student in the Rockefeller University Ph.D. program. Her research interest is in transcriptional regulation of skin development.
Evan Heller
Graduate Student
E-mail: Evan.Heller@rockefeller.edu
Evan received his B.A. in biochemistry from Columbia University and is currently a student in Rockefeller's Ph.D. program. He is interested in the role of polarity proteins in epithelial stratification.
Kenneth Lay
Graduate Student
E-mail: Kenneth.Lay@rockefeller.edu
Kenneth received his BSc in Biomedical Sciences from Imperial College London and is currently a student of The Rockefeller University's PhD program. He is interested in the transcriptional regulation of hair follicle stem cell activity and the hair cycle.
Tamara Ouspenskaia
Graduate Fellow
E-mail: Tamara.Ouspenskaia@rockefeller.edu
Tamara received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from McGill University in Montreal. She is currently a graduate student in the Rockefeller University PhD program. Her research interests are adhesion and cytoskeletal regulation of skin development.
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES & FELLOWS
Slobodan Beronja, Ph.D.
NIH, Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Slobadan.Beronja@rockefeller.edu
Slobodan received both his Honorary B.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He worked with Dr. Ulrich Tepass in the Department of Cell and Systems Biology, where he addressed the function of polarized membrane traffic in establishment and maintenance of epithelial cell polarity. His current research is in the development of epidermal squamous cell carcinoma.
Ting Chen, Ph.D.
Department of Health, NYSTEM Award Postdoctoral Fellow
NYSCF Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Ting.Chen@rockefeller.edu
Ting received her B.S from Xiamen University in Xiamen, China and her Ph.D. from University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. During her Ph.D. training, Ting worked on nucleocytoplasmic transport and mitosis with Dr. Ian G. Macara. Her research here in the Fuchs lab focuses on the transcription regulation of epidermal stem cells.
Ellen Ezratty, Ph.D.
Women and Science Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: Ellen.Ezratty@rockefeller.edu
Ellen received her Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University. She completed her Ph.D. thesis work with Gregg Gundersen at Columbia University, where she studied how microtubules regulate focal adhesion disassembly during cell migration. Her current research interests are cell polarity and adhesion during stem cell activation.
Alicia Rodriguez Folgueras, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Email: Alicia.Folgueras@rockefeller.edu
Alicia received her Ph.D. from the University of Oviedo, Spain. During her Ph.D., she studied the in vivo functions of proteases in normal physiology and disease in the lab of Dr. Lopez-Otin. Her current research focuses on the transcriptional mechanisms underlying stem cell maintenance and activation.
Maria Genander, Ph.D.
Dale F. and Betty Ann Frey Postdoctoral Fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
E-mail: Maria.Genander@rockefeller.edu
Maria received her M.Sc. from the University of Uppsala, Sweden and her Ph.D. from the Karolinska Institute where she worked on EphB mediated regulation of intestinal stem cells in the lab of Dr. Jonas Frisén. In Dr. Fuchs lab, she will work on transcriptional regulation of hair follicle stem cells.
Ya-Chieh Hsu, Ph.D.
NYSCF Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Ya-Chieh.Hsu@rockefeller.edu
Ya-Chieh received her B.S. from National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan. She completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Kwang-Wook Choi at Baylor College of Medicine, where she studied the control of growth and proliferation using Drosophila as a model. Her current research focuses on the functional importance of stem cell quiescence.
Meelis Kadaja, Ph.D.
HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Meelis.Kadaja@rockefeller.edu
Meelis received his Ph.D. from the University of Tartu in Estonia, where he worked with Prof. Mart Ustav to study the genomic instability of the host cell induced by the DNA replication of human papillomaviruses. His current research interests are in the transcriptional mechanisms governing stem cell maintenance in skin.
Brice Keyes, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Tarun Kapoor’s NIH training grant
E-mail: Brice.Keyes@rockefeller.edu
Brice received his B.S. from Indiana University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. While at UVA he worked with Dr. Daniel J. Burke on the regulation of mitosis by the spindle assembly checkpoint in budding yeast. His research at The Rockefeller University focuses on stem cell biology and aging.
Anita Kulukian, Ph.D.
Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: Anita.Kulukian@rockefeller.edu
Anita received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her graduate studies in Dr. Don Cleveland’s lab at the University of California, San Diego, where she investigated kinetochore-dependent mitotic checkpoint signaling. Her interests in the Fuchs lab are focused on centrosome function in asymmetric cell division.
Wen-Hui Lien, Ph.D.
Harvey L. Karp Postdoctoral Fellow
Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Wen-Hui.Lien@mail.rockefeller.edu
Wen-Hui received her B.S. from Kaohsiung Medical University and M.S. from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. She completed her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology with Dr. Valeri Vasioukhin at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington, where she studied on understanding the role and mechanism of alpha-E-catenin in regulation of intercellular adhesion, cell proliferation and cancer. Her current research interests are in epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of epidermal stem cells during skin morphogenesis and homeostasis.
Catherine Lu, Ph.D.
NIH/NIAMS Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Catherine.Pei-Ju.Lu@rockefeller.edu
Catherine received her B.S. from National Taiwan University. She completed her Ph.D. in Immunology with Dr. David Roth at New York University, where she worked on the molecular mechanisms of DNA cleavage and transposition by V(D)J recombinase and implications for immune deficiency. Her research interests are in the crosstalk between the epidermis and the immune system.
Shijing Luo, Ph.D.
Miles S. Nadal Postdoctoral Fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
E-mail: Shijing.Luo@mail.rockefeller.edu
Shijing received her B.S. from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Coleen T. Murphy a Princeton University, where she studied aging regulation and mechanisms using C. elegans as a model. In the Fuchs lab, she is interested in dissecting the mechanism of wound repair and its relevance to cancer.
Chen Luxenburg, M.Sc., Ph.D.
HHMI Postdoctoral Associate
E-mail: Chen.Luxenburg@rockefeller.edu
Chen received his Ph.D. in molecular and structural biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science where he explored mechanisms of osteoclast adhesion with Benjamin Geiger and Lia Addadi. His research at the Rockefeller University focuses on the roles of actomyosin-derived forces in skin morphogenesis.
Irina Matos, Ph.D.
Women and Science Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: Irina.Matos@rockefeller.edu
Irina received her Ph.D. in Biomedicine from the University of Porto, Portugal. While in the laboratory of Dr. Helder Maiato at the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, she dissected the mechanisms behind the synchrony of chromosome segregation during mitosis. In the Fuchs lab, she will be studying the importance of cytoskeleton dynamics during skin development.
Naoki Oshimori, Ph.D.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Naoki.Oshimori@rockefeller.edu
Naoki received his Bachelor of Science degree from Chiba University, Japan. He completed his Ph.D. in Biophysics and Biochemistry with Dr. Tadashi Yamamoto at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he studied on the centrosomal regulation during mitosis. His current research interests are in the molecular mechanisms of skin homeostasis and regeneration.
Daniel Schramek, Ph.D.
HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Daniel.Schramek@rockefeller.edu
Daniel received his M.Sc. from the University of Vienna, Austria. He completed his Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Josef Penninger at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology Austria IMBA, where he used genome-wide RNAi screening in adult Drosophila to identify novel regulators of metabolism and obesity. During his PhD he also studied the molecular regulation and the development of lung and mammary tumors. His current research focuses on skin tumorigenesis and metastasis.
Alok S. Shah, Ph.D.
Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Postdoctoral Fellow
E-mail: Alok.Shah@rockefeller.edu
Alok grew up in Mumbai, India, and came to the US for his undergraduate studies at Grinnell College. He then went to the University of Iowa to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Welsh where he worked on human airway motile cilia. His current research interests are to examine microtubule dynamics and stem cell migration.
Scott Williams, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
E-mail: Scott.Williams@rockefeller.edu
Scott received his B.A. from Brown University, and completed his Ph.D. in the Center for Neurobiology & Behavior at Columbia University. His thesis work in the laboratory of Carol Mason focused on axon guidance in the developing visual system. His current research interests are in cytoskeletal regulation of epidermal stratification.
Liang Zhang, Ph.D.
HHMI Postdoctoral Associate
E-mail: Liang.Zhang@rockefeller.edu
Liang Zhang received his B.S. from Peking University, Beijing, China and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. During his Ph.D., Liang worked on miRNA-mediated regulatory network in C. elegans with Dr. Min Han. His research at the Rockefeller University focuses on the miRNA-mediated regulatory network in mouse skin development and skin stem cells.
STAFF
Laboratory Managers
Maria Nikolova, M.S.
Laboratory Manager
Phone: 212.327.7481
E-mail: Maria.Nikolova@rockefeller.edu
Maria received her M.S. degree in Biotechnology from University of Sofia, Bulgaria. Before she joined the Fuchs Lab, Maria worked at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Lufkin.
Please contact Maria for cell culture and media-related issues.
Nicole Stokes
Laboratory Manager
E-mail: Nicole.Stokes@rockefeller.edu
Nicole received her B.S. from Quinnipiac University.
Please contact Nicole at nstokes@rockefeller.edu for mouse requests and shipment of animals to our lab. For more detailed information, please see Materials Request.
Ellen Wong
Laboratory Manager
Phone: 212.327.7481
E-mail: Ellen.Wong@rockefeller.edu
Ellen received her B.A. in Biochemistry at Smith College. She worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before joining Rockefeller University.
Please contact Ellen for antibody-related inquiries.
Molecular Biologists
Sophia Chai
Research Specialist
E-mail: Sophia.Chai@rockefeller.edu
Sophia received her BA in Chemistry from the University of Chicago and her MFA in photography from University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked in the laboratory of Dr. Averil Ma, initially at the University of Chicago, and later on at UCSF before joining the Fuchs lab.
Peter Janki
Research Assistant
E-mail: Peter.Janki@rockefeller.edu
Peter received his BS in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.
June Racelis
Research Specialist
E-mail: June.DelaCruz@rockefeller.edu
June received her Bachelors degree in Biochemistry from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. She has worked previously for Dr. Maximilian Muenke at the National Human Genome Research Institute and for Dr. John York at Duke University Medical Center prior to joining the Fuchs lab.
Please contact June at fuchsmta@yahoo.com for materials requests from our lab, including plasmid constructs and antibodies. For more detailed information, please see Materials Request.
Animal Facility
Angelie Aldeguer
Research Assistant
E-mail: Angelie.Aldeguer@rockefeller.edu
Angelie received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from De La Salle University in the Philippines. She worked at the Transgenic Core Facility at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute before joining Rockefeller University.
Dan Oristian
Research Specialist
E-mail: Daniel.Oristian@rockefeller.edu
Dan recently recieved his Master's degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE where he studied the skeletal phenotype of mice lacking HIP/RPL29, a component of the large ribosomal subunit. He also received his B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University Delaware.
Lisa Polak
Research Specialist
E-mail: Lisa.Polak@rockefeller.edu
Lisa received her B.S. from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urban and her MA in Molecular and Cell Biology from CUNY Hunter College.
Lab Helpers
Denisoon Espinoza
Lab Helper
E-mail: Denisoon.Espinoza@rockefeller.edu
Denisoon received his Bachelor's degree in theater from CUNY City College. He provides integral support to the Fuchs lab.
