Meet our lab members

David Kovar

Principal Investigator

drkovar@uchicago.edu

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

Cristian Suarez

Staff Scientist

csuarez@uchicago.edu

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

Rachel Kadzik

Staff Scientist

rkadzik@gmail.com

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

Katie Homa

Postdoctoral Researcher

homak@uchicago.edu

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

Vilmos Zsolnay

Graduate student (Biophysical Scienes)

vzsolnay@uchicago.edu

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

Sarah Yde

Graduate student (CMB)

seyde@uchicago.edu

B.S. and B.A. – Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

Actin organization               

Hobbies:

Running, hiking, traveling, cooking, petting dogs

Kash Baboolall

Kash Baboolall

Graduate student (Biophysical Sciences)

kdbaboolall@uchicago.edu

BA – Amherst College, Amherst, MA

LIM mechanotransduction (Co-advised by Margaret Gardel)

Hobbies: 

Kickboxing, Cooking, Meeting new cats, writing, reading

 

Wen-Hung Chou

Wen-Hung Chou

Graduate Student (Biophysical Sciences)

whchou@uchicago.edu

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

Aidan McCambridge

Graduate student (CMB)

amccambr@uchicago.edu

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

Ali Erani

Research Technician

aerani@uchicago.edu

B.S. – University of Chicago

Alignment of filaments in the cytokinetic ring

Hobbies:

Crocheting, reading (especially philosophy), Dungeons & Dragons, crossword puzzles

Hannah Ye

Hannah Ye

Undergraduate researcher

hannahye@uchicago.edu

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

Liam Leeming

Undergraduate researcher

lleeming@uchicago.edu

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

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

Franklin

Human: Sarah

Eggwardo

Eggwardo

Human: Cristian

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

Paddington

Paddington

Human: Hannah

Sulu

Sulu

Human: Liam

Pickles

Pickles

Human: Hannah

Kaju

Kaju

Human: Kash

Nooch

Nooch

Human: Kash

Henle

Henle

Human: Aidan

Zot

Zot

Human: Aidan

Bobo

Bobo

Human: Rachel

Penny

Penny

Human: Rachel