David Kovar
Principal Investigator
BS – Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
PhD – Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (Go Boilers)
Postdoc – Yale University, New Haven, CT
Actin cytoskeleton self-organization
Hobbies:
Anything sports, especially coaching my kids, finding my inner fission yeast

Cristian Suarez
Staff Scientist
PhD – Commissariat á l’énergie atomique (CEA), Grenoble, France
Exploring actin filament nucleation in fission yeast
Hobbies:
Boiling eggs, pairing peanuts & cheese, working out, squash, tv series, reading, getting decorative hair designs

Rachel Kadzik
Staff Scientist
PhD – University of Pennsylvania
Actin network assembly and disassembly in C. elegans
Hobbies:
Woodworking, baking, painting/drawing and other arty activities, gardening, slingshot aficionado

Katie Homa
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD – University of Chicago
Self-organization of the actin cytoskeleton
Hobbies:
Sports, music, eating candy, obsessively tracking the PGA Tour, walking my dog

Vilmos Zsolnay
Graduate student (Biophysical Scienes)
BA – Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Material properties of the actin cytoskeleton (Co-advised by Gregory Voth)
Hobbies:
Swimming in the lake, chess, learning something new, wearing hats

Sarah Yde
Graduate student (CMB)
B.S. and B.A. – Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Actin organization
Hobbies:
Running, hiking, traveling, cooking, petting dogs

Kash Baboolall
Graduate student (Biophysical Sciences)
BA – Amherst College, Amherst, MA
LIM mechanotransduction (Co-advised by Margaret Gardel)
Hobbies:
Kickboxing, Cooking, Meeting new cats, writing, reading

Wen-Hung Chou
Graduate Student (Biophysical Sciences)
BS – National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Regulation of non-muscle myosin assembly by F-actin (Co-advised by Margaret Gardel)
Hobbies:
Baseball/softball, reading, watching YouTube videos, winning lab game night

Aidan McCambridge
Graduate student (CMB)
B.S. – Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana
Actin sorting in C. elegans
Hobbies:
Going on road trips, chasing cats, doing automotive and home remodeling work, hiking

Ali Erani
Research Technician
B.S. – University of Chicago
Alignment of filaments in the cytokinetic ring
Hobbies:
Crocheting, reading (especially philosophy), Dungeons & Dragons, crossword puzzles

Hannah Ye
Undergraduate researcher
BA – University of Chicago, expected 2023
Biological characterization of actin-binding proteins in C. elegans
Hobbies:
Reading (if it’s not for school!), swimming, playing the piano, painting, cooking

Liam Leeming
Undergraduate researcher
BA – University of Chicago, expected 2025
In vitro characterization of nucleation promoting factors
Hobbies: IM sports, lifting weights, bagpiping, reading
LAB ALUMNI
Former postdocs & graduate students
– Meghan O’Connell – Senior Scientific Writer, Shirly Ryan AbilityLab
– Caitlin Anderson
– Maximax Weiss – Meat man, Memphis & Meats
– Alisha Morganthaler – Scientist II, CSL Behring
– Alyssa Harker – Data Scientist, The J.M. Smucker Company
– Thomas Burke – Postdoc, University of Wisconsin, WI
– Dennis Zimmermann – Senior scientist, NanoView Biosciences
– Jenna Christensen – Postdoc, UCSD School of Medicine, San Diego, CA
– Jonathan Winkelman – Postdoc, UChicago, Chicago, IL
– Yujie Li – Computer nerd, Computer & Stuff
– Jen Sees – Works at “Be the Match”
– Andrew Bestul – Postdoc, Stowers Institute, Kansas city, MO
– Bonnie Scott – No one knows
– Colleen Skau – No one knows
– Erin Neidt – Teacher in Chicago
Former undergraduates
Arnau Argemi
Adrianna Vera
Diane Alkatout
Namrata Garg
Alice Fok
Agnieszka Grzegorzewska
Agnieszka Pawlik
Bonnie Scott
Noah Younger
Wenjing Zong
Rachel Brown
Kovar Lab Pets!

Henry Doodlebop Erani-Katz-Jensen
Human: Ali
Henry Doodlebop Erani-Katz-Jensen, MD, PhD, LPhD, is a world-famous computer scientist. Henry delights in being smooshy.
Ginsburg
Human: Katie
Hobbies: Playing outside, laying on the couch, barking at children, outsmarting humans

Franklin
Human: Sarah

Eggwardo
Human: Cristian
Eggwardo enjoys chilling, having fun, and spending time philosophizing about his eggsistence.

Paddington
Human: Hannah

Sulu
Human: Liam

Pickles
Human: Hannah

Kaju
Human: Kash

Nooch
Human: Kash

Henle
Human: Aidan

Zot
Human: Aidan

Bobo
Human: Rachel

Penny
Human: Rachel