Current members
Jay English (MCB Ph.D. student) (he/him)
Jay was born in Odessa, TX and joined the military directly out of high school. After completing his service, Jay obtained a B.S. in Biology from The University of Texas Permian Basin where he worked as an undergraduate researcher studying the effects of endocannabinoids on fatty acid transport across the placental barrier. After matriculation, he obtained his M.S. In Biology with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases from the same school. His work focused on the role of Presenilin Associated Protein in neurodegeneration using amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cell culture and mouse models. Jay continued his research goals in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Ph.D. program at UMass Amherst, where he now studies neural physiology and transcriptomics in both stem cell and patient-derived neuronal culture models of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Beatriz Martinez-Martin (MCB Ph.D. student) (she/her)
Beatriz is originally from San Diego, California and graduated from the University of San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Business Administration. She started her research journey by studying the influence of brush cover and arthropods on avian insectivores but transitioned to working with epilepsy patients in a clinical study at Boston Children’s Hospital. Currently Beatriz is pursuing a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology as a joint member of the Pak Lab and Dr. Sun’s Laboratory for Multiscale Bioengineering and Mechanobiology. Her research interests include engineering new technologies for the optimization of organoid growth and development. When not in the lab, Beatriz is out traveling the world or hanging out with Lydia.
Lydia Proskauer (MCB Ph.D. student) (she/her)
Lydia is originally from Newton, Massachusetts and graduated from Colgate University in 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in molecular biology. She has a background in developmental biology and her undergraduate research focused on characterizing the role of circadian clock homologs in the facilitation of developmental timing in C.elegans. Lydia is currently pursuing her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology and is excited to utilize stem cell technology to understand the impact that genetic variation can have on neurodevelopmental disorders in different individuals. When Lydia isn’t in the lab taking care of her cells, you can find her watching bad reality TV or exploring Amherst with Beatriz.
Matthew Hinderhofer (MCB Ph.D. student) (he, they)
Matt is originally from Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Hampshire College in 2021 with a B.A. in Molecular Biology. At Hampshire, he studied the effect of cannabidiol on colorectal cancer cells. After graduating from Hampshire, they became a research assistant at Harvard University in the Melton Lab SC-Beta Cell Foundry where he researched stem cell differentiation into pancreatic islets for therapeutic application in Type I/II diabetes. After leaving the Melton Lab, Matt assisted in the opening of The Pappas Stem Cell Differentiation Core at UMass Chan Medical School. Matt is now pursuing a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Their research interests are optimizing organoid development and bioinformatic data analysis to improve understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders. When not coding, Matt is an avid music and horror movie fan.
Fumiko Ribbe (Research Fellow) (she/her)
Fumiko started out at Greenfield Community College and transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she received her B.S. in Microbiology in 2017. For her undergraduate research project she studied bacterial membrane proteins and localization in Dr. Yasu Morita’s laboratory. After the graduation, she worked as a lab technician at Dr. Stephen Rich laboratory, where she conducted molecular analysis performing qPCR measurements for tick-borne pathogens. This nurtured her interest in genetic characterization and underlying molecular mechanism of diseases. In September 2021, she joined Dr. ChangHui Pak’s lab as a research fellow and is excited to learn about and work on neuronal differentiation and development that are associated with brain’s disorders.
Gabriella Saint-Vil (Undergraduate Researcher) (she/her)
Gabriella is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst pursuing a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She is currently researching how the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) gene expression affects cell differentiation in brain organoids. She hopes to attend medical school after completing her bachelor’s degree
Kathleen He (Undergraduate Researcher)
Coming soon..
Past members
Danny McSweeney (MCB Ph.D. student)
Thesis title: “Investigating signaling mechanisms of neuronal maturation and synapse function using human induced neuronal cells”
Current position: Senior Scientist II, Novartis
Rebecca Sebastian (NSB Ph.D. student)
Thesis title: “Modeling the contributions of NRXN1 deletions in polygenic neurodevelopmental disorders using forebrain organoids”
Current position: Postdoc, Rutgers (Dr. Jen Mulle’s lab)
Narciso Pavon (NSB Ph.D. student)
Thesis title: “Modeling the dorsal-ventral patterning of the fetal telencephalon using bioengineered forebrain organoids“
Current position: Advisor, NGTx Neuroscience, Eli Lilly & Company
Rafael Gabriel (Undergraduate Researcher)
Honors Thesis title: “Studying the effects of CASK mutations on synaptic development using human-induced neuronal cells”
Current position: Ph.D. student, Brandeis University Neuroscience Program
Juliana Babu (Undergraduate Researcher)
Honors Thesis title: “Investigating the effects of NRXN1 mutations in early forebrain development”
Current position: Ph.D. student, Harvard University BBS Program
Karmen Diep (Undergraduate Researcher)
Honors Thesis title: “Morphogen-gradient induced brain organoids (MIBO): a 3-D model system for in vivo dorsal-ventral patterning in early cortical development”
Current position: Stem Cell Research Associate, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Yoonjae Song (Undergraduate researcher)
Honors Thesis title: “Investigating the Role of Pleiotrophin in Schizophrenia-associated Heterozygous NRXN1 Deletion”
Current position: Research Associate, Mass General Hospital
Ethan Howell (Undergraduate Researcher)
Honors Thesis title: “Investigating TBCK loss-of-function mutations in human induced neurons”
Current position: Ph.D. student, Boston University Neurobiology Program
