Current Lab Members

 

Joshua Bembenek

Principal Investigator

Josh started the lab in 2012 to use the worm to investigate mechanisms of cytokinesis. He did his thesis work in Hongtao Yu’s lab at UT Southwestern working on the regulation of mitotic exit. He then worked with John White at UW Madison using advanced microscopy techniques and C. elegans. After John’s retirement he worked with Yixian Zheng at the Carnegie Institute and then Gyorgyi Csankovszki’s lab at UM.

Josh likes outdoor activities and references to outdated pop culture nobody understands.

Cody Saraceno

Postdoc

Cody just joined the lab, stay tuned for more details. 

 

Shane Kowaleski

Graduate Student

Shane joined the lab in the Fall of 2023 and is making great progress studying the regulation of vesicle transport by outer kinetochore proteins in the oocyte. A graduate of Detroit Mercy, Shane is learning worms and cell cycle regulation quickly!

 
 

Alexis Bridgewater

Technician

Alexis just started in the lab Spring of 2024 and has been helping get the lab organized and move projects forward. A jack of all trades, Alexis has built some 3D printed objects for the lab and is using her skills with adobe illustrator, in addition to getting started with worms.

 

Former Lab Members

Postdoctoral Research Associates

Chris Turpin

2022-2024

n/a

Michael Melesse

2016-2019

Postdoc at Oak Ridge

Aude S. Ada-Nguema Peden

2014-2015

Went to Law School

Diana Mitchell

2012-2014

Instructor in University of Idaho

Graduate Students

Chris Turpin

2016-2022

Postdoc in our lab

Xiaofei Bai

2013-2018

Postdoc in Andy Golden's lab at NIH

Ryan Simmons

2014-2015

BCMB Graduate student in Mariano Labrador’s Lab

Technicians

Hayden Norris

2022-2024

n/a

Dillon Sloan

2016-2020

Graduate student at UNC

Chris Turpin

2014-2016

BCMB Graduate Student

Lindsey Uehlein

2012-2014

Parker Hannefin

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Bailey Peters

2018-2021

Ryan Troll

2019-2020

Joseph Benthal

2016-2019

Graduate student at Vanderbilt

Alicia Salamanca

2016-2019

Kylie Schall

2017-2019

Kayla McCracken

2018-2019

Bolorzul Dorjsuren

2016-2018

Jody Toperzer

2016-2017

Paige Parker

2015

Ben Nebenfeuhr

2014-2016

Postbac at NIH, grad student at CU Boulder

Brandon Reagan

2014

Graduate student in Tessa Burch-Smith’s lab

Krishine Gosine

2013-2015

Medical School

Quincey Caylor

2013-2015

Technician in Bill Kelly’s lab at Emory

Amirah Anderson

2013-2014

Keith Arnwine

2013

Marion Laforest

2012-2015

Masters degree

Taylor Winkler

2012

High School Students

Chris Niemenski

2022

Roksha Doddabele

2016-2017

Undergraduate at Duke