Current Lab Members
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Mary Gehring
David Baltimore Chair in Biomedical Research, Whitehead Institute; Professor of Biology, MIT
B.A., Biology, Williams College; Ph.D., Plant Biology, UC Berkeley
Mary is interested in all aspects of epigenetics and seed biology.
mgehring at wi dot mit dot edu
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Lindsey Bechen
Technical Associate
B.A., Biology, Amherst College
Lindsey’s research focuses on the function of DNA demethylation during plant growth and development.
lbechen at wi dot mit dot edu
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Dayishaa Daga
Technical Assistant
B.A., Biological Science, Data Science, Mount Holyoke College
Dayishaa is assisting with several projects in the lab.
ddaga at wi dot mit dot edu
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Beverly Dobson
Administrative Lab Manager
Beverly manages the lab’s budget, among many other essential administrative duties.
bmdobson at wi dot mit dot edu
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Junsik Choi
Postdoctoral Associate
B.S. and M.S., Applied Life Chemistry, Seoul National University; Ph.D., Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University
Junsik is interested in endosperm chromatin structure.
jc2842 at wi dot mit dot edu
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William Shaw
EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow
MBiolSci, Biochemistry, University of Sheffield; Ph.D., Bioengineering, Imperial College London
Will is a joint postdoc with Mo Khalil at Boston University. He is developing and applying a bioengineering and synthetic biology toolkit to plants.
willshaw at wi dot mit dot edu
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Souraya Khouider
Postdoctoral Associate
B.S. and M.S., Genetics, Epigenetics, and Human Genetics, Pierre and Marie Curie University; Ph.D., Molecular Biology and Genetics, IBENS
Souraya is investigating the mechanisms and function of endosperm domain-specific gene imprinting.
khouider at wi dot mit dot edu
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Roman Podolec
EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow
B.S, M.S. and PhD, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Roman is investigating PRC2 function during endosperm development and in apomixis.
rpodolec at wi dot mit dot edu
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Joo Young Lim
Postdoctoral Associate
B.S., M.S. and Ph.D., Plant Science, Seoul National University
Joo Young recently joined the lab and is exploring various projects.
jlim at wi dot mit dot edu
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Sonia Boor
Postdoctoral Associate
Sc.B., Biochemistry, Brown University; Ph.D., Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sonia recently joined the lab and is interested in our projects focused on climate and sustainability.
sboor at wi dot mit dot edu
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Elizabeth Hemenway
MIT Biology Graduate Student
B.S., Biology, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Elizabeth’s research focuses on the dynamics of DNA methylation and demethylation during plant growth and development.
hemenway at wi dot mit dot edu
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Alex Tang
MIT Biology Graduate Student
B.S., Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, UCLA
Alex is investigating the function of RNA Pol IV in seeds.
amtang at wi dot mit dot edu
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Carly Martin
MIT Biology Graduate Student
B.A., Biology, College of William and Mary
Carly is using single-nuclei RNA sequencing to investigate aspects of seed development and maternal-offspring communication.
camart at wi dot mit dot edu
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Ann Yang
MIT Biology Graduate Student
B.A., Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University
Ann has recently joined the lab and is interested in seed biology.
annyang at wi dot mit dot edu
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Alysse Pusey
MIT Undergraduate, ‘24
Alysse is working with Carly on plant peptides.
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Kylee Cogdill
MIT Undergraduate ‘26
Kylee is working with Carly to validate our Arabidopsis single-nuclei seed atlas.
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Markey Freudenberg-Puricelli
MIT Undergraduate ‘25
Markey is an EAPS major working with Roman on a genetic screen relevant to apomixis.
Lab Alumni
Technicians
Katherine Novitzky, 2016-2018; EpiCypher
Johan Jaenisch, 2013-2014; Technical Portfolio Manager, Sound Agriculture
Elias Scheer, 2013-2014; Postdoc, Liston Lab, Weill Cornell Medicine
Morgan Moeglein, 2010-2014; Assistant Professor of Biology, Norwich University
Other Researchers
Rocio Nunez-Vasquez, Visiting PhD Student, Center of Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain, Summer 2023
Dyna Louis, LEAH Knox Scholar, Summer 2022; Undergraduate, UMass Lowell
Amr Saadeldin, Visting Master’s Student, 2021-2022; PhD student, Baylor College of Medicine
Laura Bouza, Visiting PhD Student, Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Madrid, Spain, 2022
Maria José Aranzana, Sabbatical Visitor, Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics, Barcelona, Spain, 2020
Lauren Resnick, High School Teacher, Summer 2018 & 2019
Briana Valenti, High School Teacher, Summer 2015
Aurore Bochnakian, Visiting Master’s Student, 2015; Life Sciences Consultant
Graduate Students
Deborah Pohlmann, 2015-2021; Patent Agent, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Colette Picard, 2013-2018; NIH Postdoc, Steve Jacobsen Lab, UCLA
Robert Erdmann, 2011-2016; Assistant Professor, University of Minneosta Rochester
Undergraduates
Luke Young-Xu, Williams to Whitehead Researcher, Summer 2023; Undergraduate, Williams College
Sofia Haug, Course 7, MIT ‘25, 2022-2023
Pratheek H. Pandesha, Khorana Scholar, Summer 2019; PhD Student, Dept. of Biology, Washington University
Drew Cohen, Williams College ‘20, Summer 2019; MD-PhD student
Joshua Derrick, Course 6-7, MIT ‘20, 2017-2019; PhD Student, Ludington Lab, Johns Hopkins University
Gabriella Lopez Perez, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, MSRPBio Summer 2019; PhD student, Davis Lab, MIT Biology
Eleanor Wintersteen, Course 7, MIT ‘19, 2017-2018; Teaching Resident in Montana
Timothy Duerr, SUNY Cortland, MIT-Amgen Scholar, Summer 2017; Postdoc, Monaghan Lab, Northeastern University
S. Dean Lee, UMass Amherst, MSRPBio Summer 2015; PhD Student, Ting Wu Lab, Harvard
Veronica Echevarria, UMass Amherst, MIT-Amgen Scholar, Summer 2015
Postdocs
Rebecca Povilus, 2017-2023; Geneticist, Vegetable Crop Germplasm Center, USDA-ARS, Lake Geneva, NY
P.R.V. Satyaki, 2014-2022; Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of Toronto Scarborough
Xiao-yu Zheng, 2017-2020; Senior Bioinformatic Scientist, Influenza Division, CDC
Ben Williams, 2013-2020; Assistant Professor, Dept. of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC Berkeley
Maja Klosinska, 2011-2017; Associate Professor, Dept. of Biology, Millersville University
Daniela Pignatta, 2011-2015; Director, Dyno Therapeutics