
Current Lab Members

Sagalowsky Professor of Biology
Professor of Biology
Indiana University
B.S. Chemistry, Eastern Illinois University
Ph.D. Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship, HHMI/University of Utah

Alfa Dhakal
Cell, Molecular and Cancer Biology Graduate Student
M.S. Biological Sciences, Purdue University Northwest
M.Sc. Biotechnology, National Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
B.Sc. Biosciences, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, India
Sampurna Dutta
Genome, Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Student
Integrated B.S., M.S. Biological Sciences, Indiana Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata India

Gabby Favors
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Neuroscience, B.S. Biochemistry
Expected May 2027

Leanne Kelley, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
B.S. Biology, Dennison University
Ph.D. Biology, Syracuse University

Emma Lamb
Genome, Cell and Developmental Biology Graduate Student
B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Louisville
Accelerated M.S. in Biology, University of Louisville

Meghana Mohankumar
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Biochemistry (Expected May 2026)


Emma Winland
Biochemistry Graduate Student
B.S. Biomedical Science, Mount St. Joseph University

Boyoon Yang
Biochemistry Graduate Student
B.S. Biological Science, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, South Korea

Maria Anferova
Undergraduate Researcher
B.S. Neuroscience, B.S. Biology
Expected May 2027
Winter 2024 Lab Picture

Former Lab Members
If you are missing from this list, please contact Heather and give her an update on where you are!
She would love to hear from you.
Mike Washburn, Ph.D. (former graduate student) – currently Associate Director of R &D at IDT, Boulder CO
Emily Wheeler Ph.D.,(former undergraduate student) – currently a Senior Applied AI Scientist at Genentech
Jingyi Chen (former undergraduate exchange student) – currently a graduate student at The Scripps Research Institute
Amber Thomas (former graduate student) – currently a lab manager at the University of Colorado, Denver
Nick McCrory (former volunteer researcher) – currently a medical student at Duke University School of Medicine
Ashanti Matlock (former undergraduate student) – completed her Ph.D. at Ohio State University
Haider Al-Awadi (former undergraduate student) – currently a M.D./M.P.H. student at IU School of Medicine
Ashley Anderson (former undergraduate student) – currently enrolled in the B.S./M.S. STEM Education Program at IU
Sarah Deffit, Ph.D. (former postdoctoral fellow) – currently an adjunct faculty member at Tacoma Community College
Eimile Oakes, Ph.D. (former graduate student) – currently a Medical Writer at Global Medical Writing and Translation
Aidan Manning (former research associate) – Ph.D. student at UC, Santa Cruz and now Bioinformatics Scientist
Justin Peterson, M.S. (former graduate student) – currently a Scientist II at Thermo Fisher Scientific
Pranathi Vadlamani, M.S. (former research associate) – currently a graduate student at Northwestern University
Whitney Carroll (former laboratory technician) - currently a medical student at Marian University
Suba Rajendren, Ph.D. (former graduate student) - postdoc at Vanderbilt University and now Process Development ScientistHalle Stump, M.S. (former research associate) - currently a graduate student at Wake Forest University
Amanda Lawson (former undergraduate student) - currently a graduate student at Vanderbilt University
Rachel Michelson (former high school student) - currently in the B.S. Computer Science program at Columbia University
Reshma Raghava Kurup, Ph.D. (former graduate student) - currently an application scientist at EclipseBio, San Diego CAAika Noguchi (former high school student) - currently a Wells Scholar at Indiana University
Chinnu Salim, Ph.D. (former postdoctoral scholar) - currently a Staff Scientist at Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Ananya Mahapatra, Ph.D. (former graduate student) - currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Wellcome Sanger Institute
Emily Erdmann, Ph.D. (former graduate student) - currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Grace Sappington, M.S. (former graduate student) - currently a Cell Biologist II at ATL
Dyuti Pant, M.S. (former graduate student) - currently a MRes student at Imperial College London












