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:

Ceramics, woodworking, 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

Sarah Yde

Sarah Yde

Graduate student (CMB)

seyde@uchicago.edu

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

Effect of capping protein on network competition        

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

 

Aidan McCambridge

Aidan McCambridge

Graduate student (CMB)

amccambr@uchicago.edu

B.S. – Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana

Contribution of profilin to network competition in vitro      

Hobbies:

Going on road trips, chasing cats, doing automotive and home remodeling work, hiking

 

Sarah Christensen

Sarah Christensen

Graduate student (Biophysical Scienes)

sarahchristensen@uchicago.edu

BS – McGill University, Montreal

In-vitro characterization of TTH-1 (Co-advised by Allison Squires)

Hobbies:

Zoning out, ballet, flute, various stereotypical Canadian sports, maple leaves, sewing

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

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

Julia Mastracci

Julia Mastracci

Undergraduate Researcher

jmastracci@uchicago.edu

B.A. – University of Chicago, expected 2026

Characterization of C. elegans ACT-2 in vitro

Hobbies:

Being an undergraduate, watching movies, volleyball

LAB ALUMNI

Former postdocs & graduate students

– Wen-Hung Chou
– Vil Zsolnay – Bain & Company Consulting
– Meghan O’Connell – Senior Scientific Writer, Shirly Ryan AbilityLab
– Caitlin Cash – Medical Writer, Clinical Thinking
– Maximax Weiss – Meat man, Memphis & Meats
– Alisha Morganthaler – Senior Scientist, 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
Rae Brown
Hannah Ye

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