Zainab Riaz

Doctoral candidate
Education:

MS in Biology - 2015 (LUMS, Pakistan)

BS in Applied Biosciences - 2012 (NUST, Pakistan)

Research Interests:

Parkinson's disease is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder that arises from a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons. In patients with Parkinson’s disease, both genetic mutations and environmental toxins induce mitochondrial dysfunction, resulting in oxidative stress. I am studying the changes in nuclear pore complex in Parkinson’s disease models with oxidative stress. Understanding the precise mechanisms of mitochondrial- nuclear interaction in neurodegeneration will help us devise early intervention strategies in disease progression.

Huifang Xu

Ph.D. Candidate

Diet substantially impacts human health. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are dietary fats that affect various physiological processes and have been related to many health conditions, including brain disorders. My research employs genomic data to investigate the genetic architecture of PUFAs and their health impact on brain disorders. Specifically, I aim to identify genetic variants that influence circulating PUFA levels and determine whether environmental factors, such as sex and diet, modify these genetic effects. Additionally, I will investigate the roles of PUFAs in brain disorders by exploring shared genetic components between PUFAs and brain disorders. These findings can improve personalized nutrition and precision medicine by tailoring dietary recommendations to optimize health and prevent diseases.

Education:

M.S. in Genomics (2020) University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

B.S. in Forestry (2017) Nanjing Forestry University

Research Areas:
Genomics and Bioinformatics

Ching-Ting Huang

Doctoral Student

Sorghum is a promising bioenergy crop due to its ability to produce high yield in low fertility land. In a less favorable environment, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can promote sorghum yield by colonizing sorghum roots and increasing its ability to obtain nutrients. My research will perform a genome-wide scanning to identify genes controlling the symbiosis of sorghum and AMF. This finding can be applied to improve sorghum yield and secure bioenergy production.

Welcome to visit my ORCID iD and follow my twitter account!

Education:

M.S. Agronomy, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

B.S.  Agronomy, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Research Areas:
Genomics and Bioinformatics
Molecular Genetics
Labs (please indicate whose lab you are a member of):
Katrien Devos

Ben Long

Doctoral Student
Education:

B.S. in Biology with Minor in Chinese, Georgia Institute of Technology 2019

Research Interests:

Despite the prominent roles coffee and tea play in cultures around the world, there is still much we can learn scientifically from the plants we use to make beverages. My research is focused on yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria): a caffeine-containing, North American native plant used since pre-colonial times to make tea that now shows promise as a more sustainable, domestic alternative to Asian tea and coffee. By using a combination of field studies and molecular techniques, my goal is to track this plant’s genetic variation through geographical distance to learn more about how this plant evolved its unique chemistry and first colonized North America. This work could not only help us develop better varieties of yaupon for making tea, but also shed light on the role of plant defense chemicals like caffeine in shaping plant evolution and their current geographical ranges.

Labs (please indicate whose lab you are a member of):
Jeffrey Bennetzen

Cullan Meyer

Doctoral Student

My research focuses on how chromatin state can influence the process of mutation in plants. The DNA within cells is wrapped around proteins called histones, which can be chemically modified in different ways to mark that the associated DNA is a gene, transposable element, or something else. These histone modifications can also be recognized by DNA repair machinery to target DNA repair to certain regions of the genome. I'm working to identify which DNA repair pathways have this targeted activity and which histone modifications they recognize. Targeted DNA repair could allow organisms to tune their mutation rate and reduce the chance of mutations in genes and other important regions of the genome.

I mostly work with Arabidopsis thaliana and do a mix of computational and wet lab research. I have experience analyzing several types of next generation sequencing data and developing library preparation methods for detecting mutations.

Education:

B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison

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