Hae-Rim Lee

Hae-Rim obtained her M.Sc. in Botany and Microbiology from Yeung-Nam University in Korea. Her graduate work in the lab of Ki-Joong Kim in the Department of Taxonomy and Ecology at Korea University focussed on the phylogeny and evolution of jasmin. Her postdoctoral work took her from plants via genomics to planarians, and in the Van Wolfswinkel lab she studies the impact of transposons on planarian biology.

Axel Poulet

Axel obtained his M.Sc. from Auvergne University in France specialising in bioinformatics and data modelling. He continued to obtain his PhD from Auvergne University and Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK working on 3D analysis of chromatin organization in a joint project between the labs of Christophe Tatout and David Evans. In the Van Wolfswinkel lab Axel continues this passion and studies the chromatin organisation of planarian cells.

Axel can tell you all you want to know about New Haven restaurants or about computational pitfalls - especially if you bring coffee.

Sudheesh Allikka Parambil

Sudheesh obtained his M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Mahatma Gandhi University in India. His PhD work in the lab of Rakesh Laishram at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology focussed on the regulation of RNA 3' end processing. In the Van Wolfswinkel lab he is disentangling the regulatory RNA pathways in planarians.

Andrew Verdesca

Andrew is a graduate from Brown University with a double major in Biology and English. He has a passion for aging research and in the Van Wolfswinkel lab he is exploring the mechanisms that planarians use to maintain their apparently indefinite life spans.

Andrew also is an extremely fast skier and talented writer which he uses for making complex science accessible to a wide audience.

Karina Ascunce

Karina received her B.A. from Harvard University, with a major in Neuroscience and a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy. She splits her time between the Van Wolfswinkel Lab and the Carlson lab to develop planarians into a full-fledged model for neuronal regeneration.

Karina is known to put out hilarious and informative polls for the YSB 2nd floor on topics nobody had thought about before.

Mariana Witmer

Mariana received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Brown University, and fell in love with the mix of molecular and developmental biology while working on sea urchins. Mariana is fascinated by RNA condensates and she studies the contributions of nuage to stem cell regulation.

Mariana has a passion for baking and makes the best sourdough you ever tasted.

Kaspar Mazeika

Kaspar graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a major in Biology. He is interested in a wide range of topics around developmental biology, genomics, and bioinformatics.

He also enjoys skiing, scuba diving, and going to concerts with friends.